Tag Archives: Talk

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Top 5 Posts For March and All-Time – 4/1/12

Nope, not an April Fool’s joke. Just decided that once a month, we’ll post links to the top 5 All-Time posts here on Edited For Clarity as well as the top 5 for the month. They don’t change drastically from month to month, but it is interesting what people are looking at over time.

First, the top 5 posts from March:

  1. The Wrong Day To Mess With Me - A rant on, well, everything…
  2. WI Gov. Walker – Is He After WI Retirement System Money? - Written months ago, this is still a top story.
  3. Trayvon ‘Aggressive’? Zimmerman ‘Racist’? Neither One Matters - The real question is, was it self-defense? Answer: No
  4. Limbaugh’s Belly Flop Created A Tidal Wave - First real trolls I ever got were from this post, which goes over what Limbaugh did, and the likely consequences.
  5. Santorum Says What Republicans Think - They’re not “gaffes”, they’re not “misspoken” statements. What Santorum says is what the GOP believes, but dares not voice.

And the Top 5 All-Time:

  1. Debt Ceiling Deal: The Devil Is In The Details - This was written just after the announcement of the debt ceiling deal. And yes, it was pretty darn accurate.
  2. WI Gov. Walker – Is He After WI Retirement System Money?
  3. Republicans vs. The Constitution – New Update 8/12/11 - It may be time to update this again, considering the vehemence with which Republicans have been going after rights in the Constitution.
  4. The Far Left Vs. The Far Right – Why The Tea Party Is Getting Its Way - The left could take a lesson from the Tea Party folks in how they got the Republicans to kowtow. You may not agree with their beliefs, but their tactics have proven results.
  5. The Wrong Day To Mess With Me - In one week, this jumped into the top 5 all-time…

Have a favorite? Let us know!

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The Wrong Day To Mess With Me

I’m not in a good mood. My congestive heart failure symptoms are giving me fits today. Weight is up, chest hurts, didn’t sleep. I thought I’d take it easy, not write any political posts, just kind of unplug.

I even, for the most part, just blew off the right-wing posts I was seeing, regardless of how near-sighted, self-centered or just plain stupid they were.

And it was working just fine, until someone decided to turn a post about how to fix Facebook settings into an attack on the left, and Christians on the left in particular.

Don’t ask me why, but it set me off. Maybe my filters are just off today. Maybe I’m just tired of the hypocrisy. Maybe my inner asshole decided it needed to come up for air. Whatever it was, I had a rage come up that made my blood boil. Not a great idea for a guy with a bad ticker.

I let loose on the individual in question, but the anger, the rage is still there. And since writing is my way of making sure I don’t go looking for a bar fight, I decided to get it out. So, if you’re still reading, be prepared – I’m about to vent. As in radioactive steam release vent.

I’m usually fairly mild mannered in my writing. I don’t usually drop the f-bomb. So if that word offends you, feel free to go look for cute kitten pictures now. Because I’m fucking pissed.

Why? Let’s start a little list, shall we?

For example, don’t rail against sharia law, and how Muslims are going to somehow circumvent the Constitution and how you have to pass laws to ensure it never happens, then turn around and tell us that the country should be ruled by your God’s law first, and the Constitution second.

Don’t tell me you defend the Constitution then work to dismantle every bit of it you don’t like.

Don’t find some reason to turn any discussion, no matter how mundane, into an attack on your religion, then turn around and try to tell me you know the difference between a “Christian” and a Christian, just because they don’t agree with everything you say. Or question the faith of the President of the United States.

Don’t tell me you’re all for the civil rights and equality for everyone and then argue against women’s reproductive rights, the rights of homosexuals to marry, or the right of a Muslim church to build a mosque in which to pray.

Don’t rail against Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and the rest of the right-wing blowhards and then ignore it when Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or Bill Maher say something equally as offensive.

And don’t dare bring me the fucking “They do it too” excuse. Don’t. It only shows how stupid you are and how stupid you think I am.

Don’t talk to me about how you represent “the 99%” and then break into buildings. Here’s a clue genius – 99% of people don’t think someone who is breaking the law represents them. Peaceful, persistent protest, yes. Doing shit that is intended to aggravate “the man”, like hurling things at the police or through windows? Not a chance.

Here’s another clue: There really is supposed to be a separation of church and state. You deciding there isn’t doesn’t change history or the Constitution. I’m an agnostic, have been for most of my life. Your ardor for your faith does not give you the right to force me to bend to your beliefs. See “sharia law”.

Oh, and by the way, the 1st Amendment protects you from the government stifling your free speech. It doesn’t protect you from the consequences of voicing your asinine beliefs.

For those who haven’t figured it out, things like Unemployment Insurance and Social Security aren’t “entitlements”. If I paid my money into the system, they were an investment. If your investments are so fucking precious, how about treating these investments with the same amount of care, rather than raid them to fatten your damned offshore Cayman Islands bank accounts.

Don’t tell me it’s too easy to get welfare or assistance, then tell me that I can’t get any medical insurance or food assistance because my disability insurance pays me too much. And my rent is more than half of what I get.

Don’t rail against the President about gas prices (regardless of political stripe) but tell me oil companies need continued subsidies. And don’t tell me gas prices are about supply and demand when we have a surplus and prices are still climbing. Meanwhile, speculators are laughing their asses off as we have to make decisions about whether we eat or put gas in the car. Think that’s an exaggeration? I made that exact decision yesterday.

Don’t tell me that climate change and evolution are “controversial theories”, but insist that “creationism” or “intelligent design” are sound scientific hypotheses.

Don’t tell me about defunding organizations like Planned Parenthood and remove access to birth control, then rail against abortion because of unwanted pregnancies. And when you talk about womens’ pregnancies in terms of barnyard animals I have two words for you: Fuck. Off.

Don’t talk to me about how a racist can’t be a racist because he’s not actually a caucasian while a family buries their young son because he had the temerity to walk back from 7-Eleven with Skittles and iced tea. And don’t even defend the very same racist  who is heard saying “fucking coons” on a 911 tape when the kid he followed, who he vastly outweighed ended up with a hole in his chest from the gun that was fired in “self-defense”.

And you better not try to tell me that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. No, stupid fucking people with access to guns kill people. And no, genius, that doesn’t mean I want to take away your guns. It means there are responsible ways to control who has a gun and when they can have it on them, and if your excuse for carrying it is the Second Amendment, your reading comprehension in terms of the Constitution is embarrassingly low. Look up the definition of “well-regulated militia”, and I’m pretty sure you ain’t it. And it doesn’t give you the right to carry a bazooka like an extension of your johnson. You don’t need a fucking AK-47 to hunt rabbits, moron.

The next person who uses the term “race card” in my presence may get a well-placed fist in the puss. Racism is racism, and I don’t care who is guilty of it. And guess what? It’s out there, uglier than ever. And if you’re black, and you see something that was racist against a black, it’s ok to call it out. And I expect you’ll call out racism against whites, hispanics and Asians. Just like I expect all of them to do the same. Same with anti-Semitism. I don’t care the race, creed or religion of the person being racist. If it’s wrong it’s wrong.

And don’t – don’t - defend a racist remark by trying to redefine it. The word “nigger” is not defined as someone who is lazy or slothful. It’s a derogatory term derived from the mispronunciation of “negro”. So using your definition of it to excuse a bumper sticker that says “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012″ isn’t fooling anyone. If you’re going to be racist, at least have the decency of wearing your fucking hood so we can see you more easily.

Speaking of hoods, wearing a hoodie and jeans isn’t supposed to be a death sentence. And then turning around and saying that the reason a kid got killed was his choice in clothing is the epitome of stupidity and blatant idiocy. Maybe the problem is the perception that someone wearing a hoodie is automatically a thug, you fucking gasbag.

And no, there isn’t a “liberal media bias”. There is a bias to what makes money. Fox is focused on the right because Murdoch realized he could make a buck there. Liberals don’t watch as much TV. If they did, he’d try to suck that market dry too. CNN, MSNBC, and all the rest – they aren’t journalism anymore. They are reporters. They repeat what they’re told and fuck the truth. It’s waht they can get you to watch that’s importannt. How the hell else do you justify nearly 30 Republican debates with the same questions asked over and over and over again, like there was any real chance of the answer changing.

Another clue for some of you – just because Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul call it “gotcha journalism”, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t answer the damned question. If you are asked a question about something you said, it’s your own damn fault for saying it. Blaming the person asking the question and calling it a gotcha question means you realize you opened your fucking mouth when you shouldn’t have, and now you don’t want to have to answer for it. Shut up, and either back your statement or recant it. But asking you about something you said isn’t “gotcha journalism”. It’s follow-up.

Oh, and you rocket scientists on the “professional left”… Just because you had some unrealistic fantasy that the President would fix eight years of backward, destructive policies within 90 seconds of taking office doesn’t mean the rest of us had the same stupid expectation. And the most ridiculous thing you do is then decide you’re going to punish the one guy who actually has gotten things moving in the right direction by not voting for him, or trying to weaken him. Result? You allowed the guys who fucked things up for eight years to gain back the House so they could proceed to spend two years doing nothing but get in the way. Awesome plan. What’s next? Tell folks on the left they should vote for Romney ’cause he’s no different? Oh, right, some of you have already done that. Idiots.

Here’s another thing – shut the fuck up about family values while you’re on your third wife, screwing hookers while you’re in diapers, having sex with Congressional pages or trying to have an illicit homosexual hookup in an airport bathroom while claiming you’re straight. You’re all bunch of hypocrites. And don’t give me the bullshit that the media only covers the screwups on the right because of the bias. They cover the screwups on the right because the right claims to be the arbiters of what are “true family values”. The left doesn’t make that claim, so when they screw up, it’s less of a deal. If the right didn’t spend so much time acting like they were the pristine vestal virgins they want everybody to believe they are, it wouldn’t be as big a deal when they screw up. Bill Clinton got blowjobs in the Oval Office, and they moved to impeachment. Vitter does hookers while wearing a diaper, and he’s still getting voted in. Gingrich is on his third wife – having cheated on the first two – and he’s still running for office. So tell me again, where’s the bias?

I also can’t fathom how the guys who are so concerned about voter fraud can’t even count votes properly in their own caucuses.  They can’t complete a simple primary without accusations of voter fraud within their own people. Maybe that’s why they’re so afraid someone else will do it, even though there is no credible evidence that it happens.

But probably the one thing that really, really pisses me off is the willful, even spiteful ignorance of facts. As the saying goes, you are entitled to your own opinion, even your own conclusion. But you are not entitled to your own facts. Rather than pursue fact and deal with issues based on those facts, there is a culture of simply throwing out conjecture and outright falsehoods and treating them as fact. That’s the willful ignorance. But the spiteful ignorance is when you present the facts, and instead of addressing the facts, the subject gets changed. Can’t win with your argument? Change the argument!

Along a similar line is the incessant use of a straw man argument, based on nothing but hot air. Sure, we all occasionally make an argument based on a misunderstanding of information. But in those cases, most of us, when presented with contradictory facts, will at least concede that we need to do more investigation. That’s perfectly ok – we all have the right to change our minds or be more educated. No, what I get really torqued about are the people who make stuff up out of thin air, and when you call them on it – ask for proof – they move on to the next lie, the next fabrication. They never retract a thing, they never acknowledge the facts in front of them. They just move on to the next piece of bullshit. So why does this piss me off the most? Because these people are the same ones that will demand an unending chain of proof for anything you say, and when you provide it, they’ll still call you the liar, and complain the truth is “manufactured”.

Just stop. Please. It’s bad for my heart to get this pissed off. And you guys are working too hard at it.

There. I got it off my chest. Do I feel better? No. But I’ll have to deal with the fact that sometimes, you can’t fix stupid.

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Limbaugh’s Belly Flop Created A Tidal Wave

I’ve held off writing this post to see if the dust was going to settle. It’s not, so it’s time to put these thoughts into some order.

Rush Limbaugh may not have just killed his own show, but he may have loosened the Gordian Knot that has given the right a stranglehold on talk radio for the last two decades.

First, to what he did. By now, you probably already know that Limbaugh went after Georgetown student Sandra Fluke for her testimony on a hearing convened on women’s reproductive rights and access to contraception. Limbaugh, in his usual bluster decided to call Ms. Fluke a slut, a prostitute and ask that if she wanted him, as a taxpayer to pay for her contraception, she should send him sex tapes.

Of course, he ignored what she actually testified about – that lack of access to contraceptives increases the danger for women who might develop ovarian cysts and other conditions that are helped by the use of contraception. But this post isn’t about arguing the merits of that debate.

No, this is about pointing out that what he did was wrong. Period. As I discussed in our post yesterday, the first thing that needs to be acknowledged is that what he did was flat out wrong. No dissembling, no waffling. It was wrong. It was demeaning, churlish, sophomoric and a whole bunch of other multi-syllabic words describing how bad it was.

The defense of it first came from Limbaugh. He acted like it was no big deal, then offered the standard conservative non-apology apology: “I’m sorry if anyone was offended”. Kind of like saying, “I’m sorry you walked in front of my car while I ran the red light”. They are the cause of the damage, but it’s your fault for being there. Here’s a clue: If you did something wrong, the proper way to apologize is to say “I shouldn’t have done it”. In Limbaugh’s case, it should have been “I shouldn’t have said it”.

But instead, he uses it to rail against his detractors, complaining that they want to curtail his 1st Amendment rights, and that somehow, his words make him the victim, not the bully. And then comes the really infuriating excuse:

They do it too. (Again, see yesterday’s post for my real thoughts on that).

Let’s really break down that idiotic argument, shall we?

First, pretty much every kid I know has heard the “If your friends jumped off a bridge” line from their parents. We all learned that just because someone else does something, it doesn’t give you an excuse to. Period. So the “they did it too” excuse is just a pile of crap. But if you really want to see how it falls apart, ask them who did it. They will point to three names right now – Michael Moore, Bill Maher, and Louis CK. And that right there shows you they have no clue that they are comparing apples to oranges.

How many times has any of those individuals actually influenced anything the left does? Anything? Moore makes movies and spouts his rhetoric. And to be sure, I condemn about half of what he says. He, like Limbaugh, is earning a buck. And no one on the left actually takes advice from Moore, regardless of what the folks at Fox News believe.

Maher and Louis CK are stand-up comics. They offend as part of their act. And yes, I cringe with disgust when I hear some of their jokes because I find the language or attack offensive. But are they major players in the Democratic Party? Not even close. They’re entertainers.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, has been a major player in Republican politics for years. How many times has John Boehner said something, have Limbaugh attack it, and suddenly reverse his tone? Limbaugh scares the Republicans, and until now, has been able to wield his program like a Sword of Damocles over the heads of the Republican Party. If Rush doesn’t like it, it gets quelled quickly.

Which is why comparing what the other guys do to Limbaugh is wrong on so many levels. They aren’t in the same field, much less the same arena of followers. But they also act like Limbaugh has only been offensive this one time. It isn’t true.

“This one time”, or as one commenter described it “a five-minute lapse”, was actually three days of bashing a private citizen. When Maher or Louis CK go after someone, it’s usually someone in the public eye. I have yet to hear them go after someone who is not a public figure. But Limbaugh went on for three days about a private citizen. And whether she is an activist for women’s issues is irrelevant. Had Limbaugh not decided to go after her for three days, the vast majority of people would not have a clue who she is, and she would have been a footnote in the whole contraception brouhaha. Instead, he chose to make her more prominent.

Contrast that to Sarah Palin, who uses every opportunity to promote herself, to the point of using her followers’ money to tour around the country on vacation last year in a bus with her name emblazoned on it. That’s not just in the public eye, that’s sticking your finger in it. This is a person who craves the spotlight. Does this justify using some of the more vulgar language that has been directed at her? No. Just like being President doesn’t justify being called some of the more offensive racist slurs. Those are reprehensible. I condemn that from anyone. But it’s part and parcel of being a public figure.

Sandra Fluke was not a public figure, until Limbaugh made her so.

But the real issue to consider is that she is only the most recent. Here are some choice quotes (h/t to Milt Shook who has compiled these and many more, along with sources):

  • “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
  • “Holocaust? Ninety million Indians? Only four million left? They all have casinos — what’s to complain about?” Source
  • To a black caller who disagreed with him: “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.” Source
  • “Feminism is about victimization. Don’t forget Undeniable Truth of Life Number 24. Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.” Source
  • On Fox & Friends, defending his selection as a Miss America judge, 02/03/2010: “I’m a huge supporter of women. What I’m not is a supporter of liberalism. Feminism is what I oppose. Feminism has led women astray. I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it.” Source
  • On his TV show in 1993, while holding a photo of Chelsea Clinton, then 13: “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” Source
  • On women who protest sexual harassment: “They’re out there protesting what they actually wish would happen to them sometimes.”Source

You get the picture. There are plenty more.

So why now? Why this time? Because the right has been on a tear of late attacking women. Blocking contraception, invasive transvaginal ultrasounds, the Komen Foundation fiasco – all of these have heightened the awareness of women. And Limbaugh thought he was playing to a friendly crowd when he decided to go down this route.

Make no mistake – it was a conscious decision on his part. You don’t keep bringing the topic up for three days by accident. He wanted to milk it because his loyal dittoheads were soaking it up. But the world of social media got hold of it. Ten years ago, this would have flown right by. But now, a movement can be started with a text message and a tweet. And he kept digging.

But before anyone starts complaining about stifling his free speech, let’s remember one thing – no one is saying he can’t say what he wants to say. No, what folks have done is coalesce behind the idea of contacting the companies that advertise during his program to let them know what they are sponsoring, and that if they choose to continue to sponsor that kind of program, they will lose a customer. Free market, baby! Back in the early 2000′s, when the Dixie Chicks released a song critical of the Bush administration, and spoke out against policies they were against, I guarantee there was not a Conservative tear shed for the backlash against them. It was the free market, and their “fans” spoke with their wallets. Limbaugh is no different.

You see, the 1st Amendment guarantees your right to free speech. It protects you from government stifling of that free speech. You know what’s not guaranteed in the 1st Amendment? That there won’t be repercussions from you opening your mouth. It doesn’t guarantee that if you say stupid, offensive things at work that you won’t be fired. You can say them, but the ramifications of that choice are yours. And it doesn’t guarantee that saying “Sorry you were offended” will make it all better.

But Limbaugh’s situation may be leading to a much more dramatic shift – a change in talk radio. It’s been a trend that has been coming for a few years, but may be hastened by the controversy. The fact is, Limbaugh’s listeners are generally older males. They’re loyal, but they’re not a great buying demographic. You know who is?

24-45 year-old Females. Oops.

The demographic that advertisers seek the most, find the most valuable, are exactly who Limbaugh has completely alienated, with little to no chance of ever getting them to listen in the future. And he plays to an older crowd. Old enough that one station manager has been quoted as saying the mean age for a Limbaugh listener is “deceased”. Not a growing demographic, and not one advertisers seek.

While Limbaugh has tried to play this off as no big deal, his distributor Premiere Networks is in full-blown panic mode. They sent out a memo to stations that carry Limbaugh’s show that all of their national advertisers were to be pulled from the show for a two week period that started today. That’s not small potatoes. That’s major revenue loss. Also, you have to understand the dynamics behind Limbaugh’s show and most other talk radio programs. Most shows are given “free” to affiliates, and the ad time during the show is split, with half going to the affiliate to sell, and half going to the show. Good deal for both.

But Limbaugh actually charges for his show, as well as keeping ad time. It is among the most expensive shows, and the ad time on the show has some of the highest rates. With advertisers pulling out of the show at both the national and local level, his show becomes very expensive for a local affiliate to run. Very expensive. And they aren’t in the business of losing money.

And the ad pull wasn’t just for his show. It includes Michael Savage, Sean Hannity – and any other program deemed “controversial” or “offensive”. That’s a big ripple and a very large chuck of revenue.

Meanwhile, another prominent conservative – with a much softer approach – is making headway in the time slot that has been traditionally Limbaugh’s. Mike Huckabee, who has been a contributor for Fox has been hosting his own show, and is gaining popularity. His non-confrontational, friendly style is much more appealing to the golden female demographic, and he has pledged that while he might talk politics, his show will be much more. To with, he recently interviewed Meryl Streep. Imagine that on Limbaugh’s show.

Will this be the end of Rush Limbaugh? Hardly. But he may end up going the way of Glenn Beck, with a much smaller, loyal audience, and much less of the impact on politics he has been able to wield for the last two decades.

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Stop Talking To Ostriches

Image © 2012 Leo Soderman - Creative Commons Non-Commercial

This makes it hard for them to listen... Image © 2012 Leo Soderman - Creative Commons Non-Commercial

I keep myself pretty informed. As much as I can, I base my opinions on data, not other people’s opinions. Yes, I probably have a bias – most people do. But I do try very hard to back my assertions with facts, not conjecture.

I have come to realize that trying to express those opinions to some individuals just isn’t worth the stress.

These individuals come in all stripes. They range from the people who still believe the President is some Manchurian Candidate character whose birthplace is in question to people who complain that their health is failing while lying to the doctor about their diet and medicine regimen. They all make me crazy. And they shouldn’t. It’s my choice to discuss these things with them. And going forward, I’m making a concerted effort not to.

Why? Because they won’t change, they won’t listen to reason, and facts mean nothing. For example – one individual I know was recently admitted to the hospital for a possible stroke. When asked about what they had eaten that day, the response was “Coffee and a cookie for breakfast”. The doctor asked “Aren’t you a diabetic with blood pressure problems?” – the individual couldn’t see how their diet choices were that big of a deal. When asked whether they took their medications regularly, the answer was “Of course”. “Did you take them this morning?” – The answer was no.

This individual’s pantry is filled with a diabetic’s dream – pastries, breads, cookies – every form of bad carbs you can imagine. And yet, they can’t figure out why they can’t lose weight. Instead, they look to fad diets, like drinking “cucumber water”, which results in a temporary loss, but no improvement in the long term. They refuse to acknowledge that their own choices are killing them.

It’s like the proverbial ostrich sticking their head in the sand. If they just ignore the facts, ignore the evidence, and just say “Oh, that doesn’t work for me” without even trying, they think they can just keep on going the way they have.

I see the same thing with conservatives. Their need to hate President Obama is so consuming that facts are irrelevant. Here are some classic examples:

  • He’s going to take away your guns! Except the only gun legislation the President has signed granted the ability to carry concealed weapons in National Parks.
  • He’s a Communist/Socialist/Name your “ist”!  Except bank bailouts, multiple small business tax cuts, and cutting government payroll say otherwise. If they call a Communist, or a Socialist, they have no real concept of the meaning of those words.
  • He’s a foreigner! Yup, this one is still around. The “Donald” is still searching for clues, despite the fact that the Secretary of State in Hawaii has produced both versions of the birth certificate. Regardless of facts, they still want to question his authenticity.
  • He’s destroying the economy! This one makes me crazy. All evidence points the other way. Job losses have essentially stopped, and unemployment has dropped steadily. Of course, once the numbers for the standard measure of unemployment (U3) showed significant improvement, conservatives jumped on the bandwagon to say  that we really should look at the U6 numbers, which take into account ALL unemployment and underemployment. Except, that number is also vastly improved. If the trend for the last 20+ months keeps up, the current administration will reach U6 levels below the levels at which President Obama came into office before the elections. And, the Dow is at levels unseen since before his election. GM is showing record profits, back from the brink of extinction. And corporations are hiring again, and showing record profits in a wide variety of industries.
  • He’s gonna kill us with these gas prices! He wants them higher! A complete twist of the President’s statements. He has said that $5/gal gas prices might reduce demand further, but demand is already at 1997 levels, and the number if rigs drilling in the Gulf is 4x what it was when he took office, despite a one year moratorium on leases. If current production trends hold up (and the industry thinks the projections might be conservative) – with no additional drilling than is already approved – the US is poised to become a net exporter of energy products in about a decade. The price of gas has nothing to do with supply and demand. It’s about speculation.

There are plenty of other examples, like refusing to give the President credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden, or the assertion that somehow, he’s soft on terror because he chooses to work with diplomacy first. Every single one of these is easily refutable with data and facts. But that doesn’t matter.

No, these folks will not change their beliefs. Period. If presented with facts, regardless of how valid, strong, unassailable they are, they will actually redouble their efforts to believe despite all evidence to the contrary. Those facts are perceived as an assault on their very core, and their resulting behavior is to simply stick their heads in the sand and ignore what is right in front of them.

How else do you explain Tea Party proponents who want government “entitlements” slashed, but turn around and say “keep your hands off my Medicare”? They want to cut the very programs that they rely on – but don’t want those programs cut when it comes to their own welfare.

In a nutshell, you won’t change these folks’ minds. The more you show them that the facts are against them, the more entrenched they become. And the deeper their heads dive into the sand.

So, I had to come to a conclusion. I’m not going to try. Their beliefs are so entrenched that no amount of persuasion, fact, data or debate will change their minds. So, the easier solution is to focus on those folks who haven’t buried their heads in the sand, who are open to discussion. The independent thinkers who still value information over rumor, data over innuendo.

And when things continue to get better, the ostriches still won’t see it.

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Update And New Features Coming

Well, dear readers, it’s been quiet around here for a few weeks, but with good reason. On Dec. 22nd, yours truly had a heart attack, which was followed by about two weeks of hospital time. If you’re interested, you can read about the experience at my personal blog here.

Now, I’m back, and with some newly found free time (cough) I’ll be posting more frequently here and catching you up.

In the meantime, we’ve made a few changes just to keep you on your toes.

First, you can now catch Edited For Clarity Live on justin.tv at http://www.justin.tv/EditedForClarity – You can watch it without registering, but if you register, you’ll be notified whenever we put up a live stream. We’ll also be archiving the show on YouTube, so you can watch it whenever you want! The show will still feature live chat, so be sure to chime in and let us know what you are thinking.

Another feature you’ll see soon is Adventures in Healthcare. With my recent hospitalization, I am now officially disabled, if temporarily. That means no income, and insurance has not yet kicked in at my job. So, I have applied for public assistance in a variety of forms. I’ll be relating my experiences as a single dad trying to get help in out healthcare and aid system. My hope is that this is a relatively boring series, My guess is that there will be plenty to talk about.

Keep an eye out for more announcements and updates – and we’ll see you Tuesday night at 9PM PT!

Watch live video from editedforclarity on www.justin.tv

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The Invisible Disease

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about mental health issues and invisible diseases. In the previous post, I shared my personal experiences with being on the caregiver side, and how diseases and disorders take a toll not only on the person suffering, but those who care for them.

This touched off some discussion with friends, one of whom suffers with Lupus. She explained that she often gets the “you don’t look sick” comment and how it almost comes out as if they don’t believe she actually is suffering from something that is potentially deadly.

To give some perspective, I asked her to write a post about what she deals with, in the hopes that it might raise awareness.

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We had been hiking in Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, on a Tuesday. Nothing unusual, it’s our favorite place to go for hiking and relaxing. I woke up early Wednesday morning because my shoulder was itching like crazy. I shook my husband awake and asked him if I had another spider bite or something. He said my entire shoulder area was covered in small red bumps – for that matter so was every other joint on my body. Just the joints – knees, ankles, hips, wrists, etc.

And thus, it began.

The pharmacist told me to get to a doctor, the doctor told me he had never seen anything quite like it. We decided to watch and wait. It didn’t take long. By evening the rash was everywhere, and by the next day my body looked like the comic book character “Thing” from the Fantastic Four. My hands were unrecognizable – I had cauliflower like distortions all over – even the bottoms of my feet. After another round with the local dr. I ended up at the dermatologist, who was just as baffled. She ran numerous tests, biopsies etc., gave me meds and sent me home to, once again, wait. By Friday, I couldn’t walk – the arthritis was so painful, and my joints were so swollen. My kidneys were swollen, and I had a migraine that I will never, ever forget – and never want to experience again.

This was the beginning of a very long journey. Because my liver enzymes were elevated and the rash had spread to my mouth & throat and everywhere imaginable – again, except my face – I was hospitalized. Intravenous Prednisone, antibiotics and fluids saved my life. I am sure of it.

I was sent to 14 specialists in California’s Central Valley. I was first diagnosed with Hepatitis C, then Rheumatoid Arthritis, then Fibromyalgia, then Lyme Disease, back to RA… it went on and on. The initial flare wore off and I was able to get back to teaching, but within a month I was back on the Prednisone, only this time, it didn’t work until they doubled the dosage. In the meantime I had been doing my own research, and I was pretty sure that I was dealing with Lupus.

The first Rheumatologist I saw told me that it was stress, and that I was causing this to happen thru my poor psychological health. How you can look at someone in the condition I was in and seriously say something like that is beyond me. We left and never saw him again.

About 18 months after this all began I was able to get an appointment at Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara. Two days, six doctors and dozens of tests later I was introduced to Dr Timothy Speigel. He spent almost 2 hours with us, examining me, talking with me, going over test results and then telling me what I pretty much already knew – he suspected Lupus, but the test, again, was negative. He wanted me to see Dr. Wallace at UCLA, the nation’s leading expert on Lupus.

Dr Wallace was amazing. He ran tests that no one else thought of (which still amazes me). And although my ANA was still negative, every other test pointed to Lupus. Most importantly, Dr Speigel and Dr Wallace knew that none of the tests for Lupus are truly accurate. The only way to accurately diagnose this disease is thru evaluation of symptoms, patient history and medical tests combined. I finally had a diagnosis, which was a relief, because it helps to know what you are fighting.

That was 16 years ago – and it took almost 3 years to diagnose me. Sadly, my story is not unusual – the average person diagnosed with Lupus has been going thru the same circus I experienced for at least 3 years, many much longer. There are more people, in the US alone, suffering from Lupus, than those suffering with AIDS, Diabetes and Cancer – combined! Yet this year we will see the first release of a new medicine for this disease in over 50 years. Treatment is better, and the diagnosis of Lupus isn’t always a death sentence anymore – but 50 years?

In 16 years I have experienced: Liver involvement, skin involvement, hair loss, neurological involvement (migraines, lupus fog, memory loss), lung involvement, constant pain, (muscle and joint), fatigue and secondary heart involvement. I have left ventricular hypertrophy, which is something athletes can get from over stressing their heart, but because the disease has taken such a huge toll on my body, my heart is working that much harder, thus the LVH. I can’t be in the sun, at all. Just driving the 40 minutes to Visalia will cause me to break out in a rash on any area exposed to the sun.
I had a hysterectomy at the age of 35 – and it was then, as we were reviewing my medical records, that we discovered I have most likely had Lupus since I was about 14 years old.

Lupus is hereditary in the sense that we can pass on a gene that will pre-disposed us to the disease. It takes a trigger, or a stressor to bring the disease to life. For me, it was sulpha-based antibiotics that triggered the “big flare”. Lupus, simply put, is a disease in which the immune system attacks normal, healthy organs and tissue. You would think that I would be super immune to every flu or cold that comes along, but actually, I catch them more easily, and then my immune system doesn’t attack the virus, it attacks my own body. I have become a true germaphobe!

I have been on Prednisone, off and on, since the beginning. I hate it! It makes people gain weight, bloat up and feel “cloudy”. Other meds included Plaquinil, which gave me seizures, and Methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug, which caused major hair loss, I even lost my eyelashes and eyebrows! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a vain person. It’s OK, I admit it! These so called treatments were just that much worse because of what they do to our self image.

Lupus is considered a silent disease because you can’t normally see how it is attacking the body. Unless you watch me, you can’t tell that I am hurting. Lupus patients become experts at hiding how they feel. We have to play the game and try to fool ourselves so that we can get up and live our lives everyday. You can’t see a person’s kidneys or liver being damaged. Depression is huge – dealing with pain and the constant desire to rest/sleep is a real drag on happiness.

Exercise is important and it helps, but the catch is that we sure don’t feel like exercising! I have found which foods I can and can’t eat – and I stay away from anything with MSG and genetically modified foods. The minute I think I have this thing beat, I will experience a flare. Something as simple as going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned causes a flare.

BUT, the key here is that we have a choice – we can choose to give in and let the disease define us, or we can choose to take it one day at a time. We have to listen to our bodies, rest when needed and not give up. It’s easy to feel sorry for ourselves, but that’s a choice too. Everyone has something they are dealing with, whether physical or emotional or stress related – this disease has really opened my eyes and thru the continual process of learning to live with it I have learned a few things.

  1. My problems are not any bigger or any worse than anyone else’s.
  2. We need to remember that people need kindness, because we don’t know what they are facing day in and day out.
  3. Feeling sorry for myself will not make this disease go away.
  4. Talking about it, to spread awareness, is important. Knowledge truly is power. And maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference.
  5. A wonderful doctor told me it’s ok to complain. That it gets the emotional part out and helps us to get on with our day. We just can’t wallow – there is a huge difference.

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These diseases take their toll on everyone, but the sufferer is the one who has to deal with the reality every moment.

A big thanks to Elizabeth Lamar for sharing her story. Elizabeth is the Program manager at CLIPArts, a non-profit in Central California that work to bring the arts to children in low income families. She’s also been my friend for 30 years.

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The Battle Has Begun – From Within And Without

I’m a little bleary eyed this morning. I was up fairly late watching the live streams from #occupysacramento, right up until the arrests began. For about two and a half hours, I watched video and followed Twitter streams, even adding my own commentary as it went along. And realizing there is a bigger problem right now for the “Occupy” movement than the media or even Wall St. itself.

It’s the people who want to attach themselves to it.

Some of them are well meaning. They truly want to help, but have no real clue how to, and in some cases, no real idea why. They want to be a part of something, often connecting with the frustration and anger that the protesters are expressing. But they aren’t protesters themselves. They just want to be a part of it. For those folks, all they really need is some education, and they’ll be ok.

Some, however, are more than “not helpful” – they are setting the efforts back. One in particular comes to mind: Michael Moore.

I have liked his documentaries. While they have a specific bias, I expect that from a documentary filmmaker. That’s what makes the films interesting. But for some reason, he seems to think that his filmmaking style will appeal to the average Joe. And he couldn’t be more wrong. His bombastic on camera stylings, his penchant for snark do not play well in the average American home. He may be 100% right, but his message gets lost in his antics.

But he represents a bigger problem, which was evidenced last night. As I watched the #occupysacramento situation, I saw a calm, peaceful group of protesters discussing what was likely to happen as they stayed past the curfew given to them by the Sacramento PD. They laughed, sang, chanted. And then I saw the @mmflint tweet saying that police were moving in to make arrests – that it was happening right now! I looked at the multiple live feeds. There were no police to be seen. No flashing lights, no jackbooted thugs. Just some folks hanging out.

Arrests did come, nearly two hours later. Definitely not “right now”. Moore wasn’t on the scene, and I don’t know where he was getting his information, but it wasn’t based in reality. He certainly wasn’t looking at the live video.

There were others as well. Like the tweet saying that riot police were moving in and threatening the protesters. Not even close to reality. In fact, there were some police in riot gear. It’s standard procedure when dealing with groups of people. They did not threaten at any time. When the arrests finally came, the police calmly and methodically went to the group of protesters, explained to them how the arrest would happen, assisted each protester individually to their feet, and escorted them to the area where they would be processed. It was done respectfully, without any animosity from either side, no vitriol. A far cry from the “riot police threatening protesters” meme.

What these folks fail to realize is that hyperbole does not move the cause forward. In non-violent protest, you lose your potency when you get people riled up. Non-violent protest works best when the protesters are calm and peaceful, yet resolute. Rosa Parks did not yell and scream that she was being oppressed. She. Just. Sat. Down.

Those who want to paint this as class warfare welcome the hyperbole. It makes them look all the more reasonable. Why deal with the real issues when you can simply let the loudmouths spew exaggerated information, then simply poijnt and them as say “See! They’re just troublemakers!” ?

The over-inflated, over-the-top, stick-it-to-the-man portrayal of this movement by some who want to attach themselves to it will do nothing to move it forward, and everything to set it back.

Meanwhile, there are other groups trying to glom on as well, trying to move their agenda forward with the #OWS movement as a source of momentum. This isn’t really any different than what the Republican Party did – successfully – with the Tea Party. They co-opted the Tea Party energy and translated it into Republican votes. So it’s no surprise groups like MoveOn want to try the same thing. But this movement isn’t about political parties. Those kinds of distinctions are meaningless. The movement is, first and foremost, about getting corporate influence and corporate money out of politics, and holding Wall St. accountable for bad acts that have left the American economy in shambles. Groups trying to use this momentum to move their own agenda will only alienate potential supporters and dilute the effort.

Others jump is as well, like those that will show up whenever there is a camera with “Stop Aid To Israel” and “End The Fed” signs. They have an agenda that has nothing to do with Wall St. or the #OWS efforts. They just see the lights and a place they can promote their cause. They may or may not have a good cause or point, but their presence gives the impression of speaking for the #OccupyWallSt effort. It doesn’t, but convince Mom and Pop who see it on TV of that.

And then there’s groups infiltrating, trying to change the subject, telling the protesters that they should be working to “end the Fed” and leave Wall St. alone. Again, it’s a move that dilutes the focus – and in this case, that’s exactly the goal.

Matt Stoller explains very eloquently why the #OWS movement is so puzzling for some:

This dynamic is why it’s so hard for the traditional political operators to understand #OccupyWallStreet. It must be an angry group of hippies. Or slackers. Or it’s a revolution. It’s a left-wing tea party. The ignorance is embedded in the questions. One of the most constant complaints one hears in DC about #OccupyWallStreet is that the group has no demands. Its message isn’t tight. It has no leaders. It has no policy agenda. Just what does “it” want, anyway? On the other side of the aisle, one hears a sort of sneering “get a job” line, an angry reaction to a phenomenon no one in power really understands. The gnashing of teeth veers quickly from condescension to irritation and back. Many liberal groups want to “help” by offering a more mainstream version, by explaining it to the press, by cheering how great the occupation is while carefully ensuring that wiser and more experienced hands eventually take over. These impulses are guiding by the received assumptions about how power works in modern America. Power must flow through narrow media channels, it must be packaged and financed by corporations, unions, or foundations, it must be turned into revenue flows that can then be securitized. It must scale so leaders can channel it efficiently into the preset creek bed of modern capitalism. True public spaces like this one are complete mysteries to these people; left, right, center in America are used to shopping mall politics.

So, while the Occupy Wall St. folks are protesting Wall St., they face significant battles from within. For the movement to have an increasing chance of success, they must keep at bay these efforts to “direct” their focus, to “hone” their message. They have to keep the myriad other groups from co-opting their momentum. And they must continue to speak to the average American and ignore the calls to fit into the political system. And that may be the most difficult battle of all.

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Miss the 10/4/11 Show? Watch It On Replay!

This week, we talk about the economy and how it can change, and just what those “little people” are doing occupying a park in NYC.

Watch live streaming video from editedforclarity at livestream.com
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Economy: Why Don’t They Get It?

With all the talk about #OccupyWallSt, the question that keeps coming to mind is – Why don’t they get it? I’m not talking about the corporate fat cats who gorge themselves while families struggle to make ends meet. Those guys have a system that’s bought and paid for to ensure they stay just as fat and sassy as they are now.

And I’m not talking about the people in Zucotti Park protesting. They get that the only way to change the system is with massive popular support, growing daily until Washington and Wall St feel enough pressure to change.

So who doesn’t get it? The average American.

Over the past few days, I have been trying to explain the whole Occupy Wall St. idea to a number of people, and they just don’t understand it. They can’t grasp that a group of people can protest against corporate takeover of politics without having a specific set of demands. They don’t understand that true representative democracy isn’t about pushing your individual agenda forward, but figuring out what is best for all. And they don’t seem to understand that in a movement that is less than three weeks old, you aren’t going to have all the answers from the get go.

But what does that have to do with the economy? A lot, as it turns out.

Many have tried to paint this protest as a group of ne’er-do-wells trying to get rid of capitalism. But it’s quite a bit more sophisticated than that. To quote Tim O’Reilly (founder and CEO of tech publisher O’Reilly Media) from his Google+ post this afternoon:

I was hoping to get on camera to voice my support for some of the key ideas behind this protest – that many of the companies in our financial sector have started extracting far more value from our society than they provide to it, and that we need businesses to remember a more honest form of capitalism, where companies make money by providing sufficient value to customers that they are happy to pay for it, where the gap between the amount extracted in profits to owners doesn’t so far outstrip the amount paid to workers in the business that those workers need to go into debt to pay for ordinary living expenses, where government protects all its citizens, not just those who can afford lobbyists, and where society as a whole feels the virtuous circle that can only happen when companies create more value than they capture for themselves.

That’s where the rubber in the protest hits the economy road. This isn’t about destroying capitalism. It’s about making it honest, and frankly, sustainable.

When these corporations reserve the wealth for themselves, by turning huge profits, then taking the profits offshore or using those profits to pay less taxes than the receptionist at the front desk, they are bastardizing capitalism. As O’Reilly points out, true sustainable capitalism delivers more value than it retains.

Why? Because that value is then transferred to the consumer in terms of wages, which are then used to – wait for it – spend on goods produced by these corporations. Which generates more revenue and the cycle perpetuates.

Where else does it affect the economy? The taxes that these companies avoid paying are what we use to improve infrastructure, to pay for services like police and firefighters, and to keep us safe. Every penny they take out of this country is a penny lost to the American people, and countless opportunities lost in terms of improving this country.

Instead, what these companies are doing is pulling the money out, and either hanging on to it – then paying their executives hundreds to thousands of times more than their employees, or they use it to circumvent the one process that we as Americans have to exercise our will – the political process. When a company, hiding behind PACs and interest groups can funnel millions of dollars anonymously to exert their power on the political system, especially to ensure they pay even less in taxes and get subsidies to take their money out of the country, they damage the economy. That’s money that they made from the American people, and instead of supporting those people and delivering value back, they retain the value for themselves.

But this is a death-spiral plan. The more they retain, the less the average American has to pay their bills and purchase their products. It’s ensuring they have a smaller and smaller customer base, just to reap short-term profits. They are killing the American economy so they can retain the spoils for themselves. It will inevitably run up against the law of diminishing returns. At some point, they will no longer have enough money to stay afloat, having given too much to executives and fat cats, and not enough back into the economy in terms of wages and taxes. And then, they’ll cry that they are about to go out of business, and need to be bailed out.

Sound familiar? Of course it does. Within just a few months after banks were given a bailout, they began paying their execs exorbitant bonuses again. Meanwhile, the economy continued to flounder. What additional value did these execs and account reps create? All they did was make bets on the economy. They produced nothing. They created nothing – and they kept the spoils for themselves.

Until corporations can be removed from the political process, and until they can be held accountable for their actions, rather than hiding behind the anonymity of “personhood” in terms of campaign donations, they will continue to exert undue force in politics. And the economy will continue to suffer for their short-sightedness.

And this is what these folks who pooh-pooh the protest don’t get. This isn’t about left or right. It’s about correcting practices that continue to damage our economy on a daily basis. They side with the corporations, even as those same corporations are killing their standard of living for their own benefit. At some point, if the economy continues to falter, they’ll start to understand. Because humans learn more from pain than pleasure. We have a need to hit bottom to learn the hard lessons.

Or maybe, just maybe, they’ll start to understand that the way things have been doesn’t work. That cutting taxes doesn’t create jobs when the people with the money don’t spend it on jobs. That politics of the people, by the people and for the people doesn’t work when a corporation can pretend it’s a person and spend without limit. And when corporations can hide behind anonymity so that their contributions can sway the political process without repercussion.

Every day, the folks in Zucotti Park hold a General Assembly – a gathering to decide on the most important issues for that group, in a truly democratic process. They want all Americans to have that same ability to be heard. Maybe, if they hang on, more Americans will want it for themselves.

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Economy: Can #OccupyWallSt Succeed?

So – the #OccupyWallSt protests have been going on for nearly two weeks. And to date, they have been more curiosity than successful. Why? Here’s a great take from Osborne Ink:

No blogger has wanted this kind of moment out loud longer than me. No one has begged for it longer than I have. I want this to work so bad I can taste it. Spare me the protestations that “everyone understands” the problem on Wall Street; unless they appeal to Main Street, the General Assembly isn’t going to accomplish any item on any of their innumerable lists of numerous demands. Because there is no infrastructure, and so far an unwillingness to build infrastructure, they have zero hope of effecting change without attracting middle America and using the infrastructure that exists. That’s not “scorn,” it’s hard-nosed realism about the limits of idealism.

It’s a spot on analysis. Every real movement needs backers, needs structure. Need a recent example? Look at the Tea Party. They had no real power and were looking like a bunch of tricorner hat wearing kooks. Then the Kochs and other right-wing backers started pouring money and resources in and the organizing of the Tea Party began in earnest.

They reduced their “demands” to easily understood and digested sound bytes, so no matter how little they were based in truth, they still caught on. People who couldn’t pass PolSci 101 were suddenly calling anyone left of John Birch a “socialist”. The organizing worked.

The latest news from the front is that the movement is gaining support from labor unions and groups like Continental Airlines pilots. But this is a double-edged sword. Unions are a favorite whipping boy for the right, and their joining the cause will only fire up the anti-union rhetoric. With union participation at some of its lowest levels in decades, this isn’t exactly playing to the “99%” that #OccupyWallSt wants to represent.

And should there be anything other than completely non-violent protest, it will be blamed on the influx of “union thugs”, and the message will be lost in the noise that creates. More importantly, they will lose the interest and backing of the people they want to fight for.

The movement is at an important potential tipping point. The presence of union support can elevate the discussion beyond the few hundred who have take up residence in Zucotti Park. But if they don’t use that elevated presence to present the American people with a specific set of goals for the protest, they will miss their moment.

The #OccupyWallSt website has now released a set of 9 “demands”, goals for the movement for change in Washington in regards to Wall St. And they plan on expanding the non-violent protest to Washington, DC to try to get these goals achieved. But as Osborne pointed out, if they can’t distill these demands into something the average Joe can understand, they fail. They’ll get lip service from those on Capitol Hill, with no real public support. And until there is public support, there won’t be any change.

For example, their first demand is the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall. Just try finding ten ordinary folks who have a clue what Glass-Steagall is. If they simply said something like “STOP THE WALL ST. GAMES”, people can understand that tidbit. “MAKE WALL ST. PLAY BY THE RULES”. Something that the average person understands and can get behind. Once you have their attention, you can then get into the details – ask them to call, fax, email tweet to pass the legislation (HR 1489 to be exact).

Don’t talk about Congressional oversight of Wall St. – talk about prosecuting criminal acts on Wall St. Again, simplify the message and solidify it so the average American that is too busy with life, kids and trying to pay bills can absorb it quickly and understand the basics.

In a few weeks, it’s going to start to get cold in Zucotti Park. The number of protesters is going to start to dwindle. They’ll need a lot of support to continue the vigil. And you can bet the folks who want them to stop will do what they can to prevent them from getting that help and being as uncomfortable as possible. Look for enforcement of regulations that will prohibit the use of heaters and other equipment to keep them warm. It will be a long winter, and resolve will weaken.

So, the time is now for them to build on what they have, and take the protest to a higher level. It needs to gain focus, it needs to truly address the 99% they want to represent. My guess is that right now, 90% of that 99% have no idea who is protesting.

#OccupyWallSt can succeed, but they need to do the one thing they have avoided until now: Organize.