Draft Gore 2008!

Mike Stark writes about his support for Al Gore running for president in '08 on his Daily Kos diary. Here are some of the many many comments that people made in response:

I would definitely love to see Gore run, but I don't think he will. I would like to be proven wrong.

As a Canadian, I encourage all other Canadians to sign this petition. The whole world NEEDS Al Gore. Especially your friends next door. Let's make this a global effort!

Electorally, combined with the right VP, he can pick up states. Name me one state HRC will pick up from Bush's 04 tally. I think Ohio, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and maybe even Arizona could all turn Blue with Gore at the top of the ticket. Gore-Obama '08

I'm not going to beg anyone to run for president. Why the hell should I beg someone to run? No thanks. The cult ideological worship of presidential candidates feels like a wingnut thing to me. They're the ones who want to carve Reagan on Mt. Rushmore and thought Dubya was Jesus Christ II for awhile.

Personally, I think Clinton was mediocre while Gore could be astounding. Perhaps it is because for Clinton the Presidency was the ultimate platform and for Gore it would simply be a vehicle for change. I would support Gore for the very simple reason that he doesn't need the Presidency. The Presidency needs him.

Does Obama really juice you up? Edwards? Hillary? I hope so 'cause if any of them takes the nomination, they're gonna need people who actually like them. Me? I'll give them a golf clap and whatever perfunctory bit of activism I can muster in light of the totally uninspiring choice handed to me. They're just warm bodies as far as I'm concerned. But Gore? I would quit my job to work for Gore. Because we need him. We need him way more than he needs the Presidency.

Al Gore is worth waiting for. Not just because we already know he'd make a great Preisdent, but because we know he can get elected (again).

Gore n Clark would be worth 16 years of rule!

Gore/Clark, Clark/Obama, Obama/...
24 years of brilliance, looks to me.

If he declares, it'll be a big ol' deal, media-wise. May as well wait as long as he can to have that media attention thrust him forward as campaign season heats up before that rush of attention sort of peters itself out. And remember, we political blog people (blog people! blog people!) are way ahead of the curve of the rest of the country in considering specifically who we want to support in the '08 election.

Of course I want him to run and restore decency and normalcy to this beleaguered country. I think it is his calling.

The Spitters Are Back

In a recent post, Maha points out that the right is dredging up (and making up) old stories about soldiers returning home from war and getting spit on by war protesters. Here's what people had to say about that:

Righties must really be running scared to have to latch on to 35-year-old spit to discredit what amounts to the majority of Americans who want us out of Iraq. . . Im sure it’s quite possible that some people spit on somebody - goodness, some girls even ripped off their tops. Surprising that righties haven’t dug up some pictures of that shameless act. (Obviously loose women who wanted to get pregnant just so they could have abortions.) There must have been some gays in the crowds too - proof that degenerates are committed to destroying America.

perhaps it did not occur to them that somebody who spat on an exhausted and exhilirated young man staggering good and drunk (or in a hurry to get so) off a 10-hour Freedom Bird flight would have the automatic reaction of knocking the teeth back down the spitter’s throat. That we might have read about: “Crazed Vietnam Vet Assaults Dirty Saliva Launching Hippie Chick.” I never heard of such a thing at the time. Most of the anti-war demonstrations by the late 60s had as many Vietnam vets in a motley of uniforms as they did hippie chicks, and they didn’t seem to spend any time spitting on anybody. Mouths must have been too dry from chanting “Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today!”

This is just a red herring that the right loves to tell and retell to get their righteous indignation juices flowing. It amazes me that anyone thinks this kind of thing was a regular occurrence. But the right is nothing if not hopelessly gullible.

If anything is being spat on, it’s the war itself. Ptui!

veterans who were in commercial airports in those days were not usually in groups, but traveling alone. So it was pretty absurd to think that organized protesters would be hanging out in airports to spit on them.

The right is filled with morons, six choppers down in Iraq this week and the nooze is all abuz about a psycho former astronut.
What happened to Michael Jackson? Ain’t it about time to drag his ass out for a thumpin? It’s gettin to the point where you can’t believe a gol-durned thing on the mainstream nooze, ‘cept Anna Nicole’s demise……

This war in Iraq will have ramifications for the next thirty years on the individuals who were thrown into the meat grinder and greeted with a few words on coming home and then left to their own devices.

I suspect those who “remember” being spat on are really voicing resentment that they weren’t treated as returning heroes (as their fathers were). They found their patriotism had been used to rip them off.

The soldiers don’t deserve any contempt, ever. If it ever happened, it was a grievous mistake. But I sure wouldn’t grieve if someone spat on Joe Lieberman or his ilk.

There are two recorded (on film) instances of civilians spitting on Vietnam Vets… One happened during the VVAW’s “March to Valley Forge” when a group of local VFW members tried to disrupt the march by shouting curses and throwing objects at the passing Vets…Those VFW members had been organised and financed by none other than Charles “Chuck” Colson of Nixon’s White House staff… The other was done by Republican delegates to the Republican National Convention in Miami in ‘72…The delegates (including several matronly women) reviled and spat at Ron Kovic and two other wheelchair-bound Vets who had been invited by California Congressman (and Korean War Marine Vet) Pete McCloskey to attend the convention… McCloskey’s invitation came after he had quelled a near riot outside the convention hall…The scene was described by Hunter Thompson in his epic Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail - ‘72… When the Republicans wish to lie about someone they usually accuse their targets of having done something of which they themselves are guilty… Which is another reason why you’ll never find a real Patriot in the Republican party any more…

D.R. — where can I find documentation of that? – Never mind; I found it.
http://www.williambowles.info/gispecial/2005/gi_3C36A.pdf Comment by maha

You’re right, D.R. Another incident that was caught in photos was US soldiers shooting protesters at Kent State. Funny how the right never exaggerated that incident into something like the spitting legend.

Is Anna Nicole Smith Still Dead?

This post on the MSM's embarrassing obsessive coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death on Think Progress is a breath of fresh air. Here are some of the best comments:

god help us when paris hilton kicks the bucket

One of the best moments in the history of TV journalism…Well done, Jack Cafferty!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JgiwkcZxj7c

The Dumbing Down of America.
Live! Tonite at 8:00!

What war? We want to see American women with augmented breasts too high on drugs to speak clearly. Now, that’s real news.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Networks are all about ratings and not about the news. They are all guilty.

They might as well rename the Cable News Network and call it the Celebrity Nonsense Network. That would be more accurate. But I guess they’re not about accuracy, are they?

while the PNAC plan has its gun sights set on Iran, and domestic dissidents, matters of life and death on a grand scale - yet by and large, the people haven’t a clue or a concern beyond their programmed ‘cult of celebrity.’ It’s so easy to see how the fascists have been able to do whatever they want without accountability or outpourings of moral indignation from the majority of US sheeple.

If people would simply look into who actually owns the mainline media outlets, the reality of the situation becomes blatantly obvious.

Now, news about Iraq. That was a country Anne Nicole Smith never went to.

turn off the damn TV !!
it is not a source of news.
plain and simple.
an electronic billboard, yes.
a propaganda machine, yes.
a news source, not since Reagan.

The media is simply a reflection of the culture. We can throw around percentage comparisons of coverage and babble on about how terrible it is that so much attention is given to it. And all these feelings are valid and justified. But, really, I think you are working yourself up into a frenzy over a blip on the radar screen. Celebrity crap, like feel-good animal stories, missing young white women, and Bill Clinton’s sex life are simply irresistible for our punditocracy and the majority of our semi-literate populace. Why can’t we just accept that?
This momentary attention to all things celebrity will fade away shortly and the American public will still have to face the stark realities that young Americans will still be dying in Iraq, their fellow citizens will still be imprisoned indefinitely without charge, rendered to other countries for torture, habeas corpus will still be suspended, the government will still be spying on them without a warrant, the Geneva Convention will still be considered “quaint” by this administration and the rich will still be getting richer while the rest of us get poorer.
So let them have their little celebrity roller coaster ride for the time being. They cannot run away from reality forever. As much as they try, reality will not let them escape. America, the day is coming to pay the piper. And it is not going to be pretty. There aren’t enough dead celebrities in the world to keep the day of reckoning at bay.

What is truly stupid though is all these stories acting as if her death was a tragedy. I mean, ANS is the perfect example of an idiot who had every chance handed to her and chewed it up, shiat it out, and flushed it all down the toilet. The media has spent years mocking her, and rightfully so, but now that she’s dead they are trying to make her america’s sweetheart and the victim of a mysterious tragedy.
Mysterious? Please. Her own family members have flat out said it wasn’t a surprise, due to her lifestyle, and that it is most likely from drugs. Yet STILL the media is painting it as a mystery and a tragedy for their own ratings self-interest. They are now hyping up someone they have spent years mocking to get ratings and that is low.
It tragedy isn’t that she died…it’s how she lived. The perfect example of someone who has everything but deserves nothing.

It’s not like the coverage of the war would’ve been honest anyway.

Acme Cash Catapult

In this post about the U.S. sending pallets of cash to Iraq and then losing it, Shakespeare's Sister asks, "Did they not have the official Acme Cash Catapult available that day?" Here are some highlights of the comments:

Worst administration is history. Can't do anything right. Completely incompetent.

Actually, if they had used the Acme product, it might have actually gotten there. If there were no coyotes around.

I love how we can't help the homeless, but we're perfectly capable of printing several hundred tons of new money and then dumping it in the middle of a war zone. I'm sure some of it found its way home, though...

And yet the righties got all twitterpated when FEMA gave the refugees from Hurricane Katrina debit cards, as if that was the end of the world.

I love Bremer's response - something to the effect of since it was a war zone, they couldn't do modern accounting. Now correct me if I'm wrong here. Back when the Babylonians and Egyptians were fighting wars, did they send chariot-loads of coinage to the front? Is that how wars were fought before "modern accounting"? I'm just curious.

Really. Didn't the Chinese invent the abacus a few millenia ago?

There's a reason for sending tons of cash ... and it has everything to do with corruption. Cash transactions are nearly untraceable. In the US, possession of large amounts of cash is routinely used by law enforcement as credible evidence of criminal intent. What disturbs me, is that this administration, can engage in such an obvious demonstration of its criminal intent, and not register as a blip with the MSM.

Republicans Eat Their Own

This LINK to the recent Scarborough post on onegoodmove requires Quicktime to view. But even if you cannot see the video, be sure to read the comments... they are the best part (except some of the commenters seem to be incorrectly referring to Pat Buchanan as Pat Robertson.)

Here are some highlights:

"Don't let conservatives distance themselves what they've done. As their precious bible says, you shall know a tree by its fruit."

"I will never vote for anyone, ever again, that was in support of this war at any point in time. I don't care what your gender is, your race, your religion (or lack there of)... any of that. If someone running for office voted in support of the war, then unless they signed themselves up for duty shortly after... F THEM. I've had it."

"These people have no right to be getting pissed off because had they done their job correctly from the start, they might have been able to stop this war from ever happening. But of course, they rolled over on their backs and played bitch to the government."

"What amazes me is that the bu$h administration has been WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING . . . This begs the question; was Iraq invaded merely for the sake of waging war (and grabbing oil)"

"Im more conservative, oh no, im more conservative, no, IM MORE conservative....jesus, these guys are masturbating their conservative credentials like its the greatest thing"

"Conservatives have been wrong about a lot of other things as well: Intelligent design, creationism, global warming, everything having to do with the environment, gay rights…you name it. Even captains of U.S. industry are beginning to admit that we need some kind of national health care system [if] we are to stay competitive globally. It’s time for conservatives to pull over and let someone else drive."

"They're not all that bad. I mean they've done...well they've...you know, um...

Holy fuck they have gotten everything wrong!"