Russia Today; Thom Hartmann: 'The Republican Plan to Put 98% of Their Agenda Through The Next Congress'

Source:Thom Hartmann on Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin's Russia Today. Just another example of how so-called American Progressives (Socialists, in actuality) aren't very Progressive.

"Thom Hartmann will be leaving The Big Picture TV show (on RT TV and Free Speech TV) at the end of September. We’ve had a great run with The Big Picture and earlier this summer we decided to discontinue that evening show so we could focus more directly on our daily 3-hour midday show, The Thom Hartmann Program. 

Having complete editorial control over a TV show syndicated internationally into more than 700 million homes was a great (and rare) opportunity.  We worked hard not to do "sports" or "soap opera" when covering politics, and instead focus on issues; we believe we accomplished a lot in that regard.  We're grateful to RT for the opportunity, and for fully honoring our contractual independence at all times.

You’ll still be hearing and seeing me on The Thom Hartmann Program, which is growing weekly in the noon-3 PM ET daypart." 

From Thom Hartmann

"Hartmann hosted a one-hour daily TV show at 7 pm. ET Monday to Friday, The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, which was editorially directed by his wife and was broadcast from the Washington, D.C., studios of the RT America news network. The show featured many conservative guests who routinely sparred with Hartmann. Hartmann co-produced the program with RT, who provided studio and carriage, while Hartmann retained full editorial control of his programming. The RT network aired the program via Dish Network, DirecTV, and on selected local-origination and public-access television cable TV channels globally.[31] After hosting the program for seven years, Hartmann announced his departure as host on September 29, 2017."

From Wikipedia 

This post was updated July 5th, 2023.

RT Ameirca: Adriana Usero- 'GOP: Grand and Really Old Party?'

Source:RT America- Adriana Usero, reporting for President Vladimir Putin's Russia Today.

"RT (formerly Russia Today) is a Russian state-controlled[1] international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russian government.[15][16] It operates pay television channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Russian.

RT is a brand of TV-Novosti, an "autonomous non-profit organization" founded by the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti in April 2005.[10][17] During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian government, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, included ANO "TV-Novosti" on its list of core organizations of strategic importance to Russia.[18][19][20] RT operates as a multilingual service with channels in five languages: the original English-language channel was launched in 2005, the Arabic-language channel in 2007, Spanish in 2009, German in 2014 and French in 2017. RT America (since 2010),[21] RT UK (since 2014) and other regional channels also produce local content. RT is the parent company of the Ruptly video agency,[5][6][7] which owns the Redfish video channel and the Maffick digital media company.[8][9]

RT has been described as a major propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy.[2] Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters (including some current and former RT reporters) have identified RT as a purveyor of disinformation[42] and conspiracy theories.[48] UK media regulator Ofcom has repeatedly found RT to have breached its rules on impartiality, including multiple instances in which RT broadcast "materially misleading" content.[55] RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan compared the channel to the Ministry of Defence and stated that it was "waging an information war, and with the entire Western world".[16][56] In September 2017, RT America was ordered to register as a "foreign agent" with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[57] RT has been banned in Ukraine since 2014,[58] and in Latvia[59] and Lithuania[60] since 2020." 

From Wikipedia 

"As the Republican National Convention aims to lure a younger crowd, it doesn't  appear that they have achieved that. So despite getting big  name celebrities to perform l, is the GOP just less hip? RT's Adriana Usero takes a look at the high profiile Hollywood crowd that backs  both parties and asks if it will ultimately help get the young vote."

From RT America

Source:RT America- Adriana Usero, reporting for President Vladimir Putin's Russia Today.

Today's GOP thats based in the South and the rural South, with Democrats still competing in big Southern cities and still hold governorships in big Southern states like North Carolina, but today's GOP is based for the most part in the rural South and the rest of rural America, thats not where most of the country lives. This shouldn't be a newsflash to anyone, even for people who are currently taking Politics 101 and failing it, but to win elections in America, you have to win in areas that are populated and have major populations.

This is just example of why today's GOP is dying off, because they live where most of the country doesn't and as we are getting younger and becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as a country. The GOP is becoming more Caucasian, more Anglo-Saxon, more Protestant, more male, and older as a party and they live where the most of the rest of the country doesn't. They've almost become a religious political cult and moved to the hills where Modern America can't bother or make fun of them.

Today's so-called Voter ID laws (or as I call them Democratic Voter Prevention laws) and why do I say that because they are targeted at minorities, big city seniors and young voters. All people who tend to vote Democratic. People who also don't tend to walk around with a lot of ID on them. We're not talking about military and law enforcement personal here, at least generally. People are always on the go, perhaps do not drive, don't have landline phones, only use their cell phones, people who are important and have lives, who tend not to vote Republican.

The Republican Party understands the new lifestyles of young adult Americans and are already prepared for it and they also understand that as the country has moved left on social issues, the GOP has moved into a time machine and moved back to the 1950s culturally and politically, across the board. They have moved away from Goldwater/Reagan conservatism on social issues and foreign policy and have adopted religious, theocratic, authoritarian social policies. Including these bogus (to be overwhelmingly generous) Voter ID laws. And have decided that they can't win with the voters who don't tend to vote Republican so they have to block them in order to win.

Going forward the Republican Party has a choice in where they can go in order to remain a major party in American politics: moderate on social issues, which means take a trip to the 21st Century and see how Modern America lives and what it looks like. Meaning going back to being that conservative-libertarian Goldwater/Reagan party on social issues and bring in the Ron Paul supporters.

Or they can keep doing what they are doing, kissing off everyone thats not a Republican today and telling them they aren't welcome. And hope they can deny enough people from voting in order to win and prey those laws don't get thrown out as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

But today's GOP is only going to get smaller. Or perhaps move to Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan, if they want to know what a religious theocratic stuck in the 1800s country looks like. 

Dr. Martin L. King: Cleveland, Ohio (1967)

Source:WEWS-TV News- Dr. Martin L. King, in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1967.

Source:The Daily Journal

“Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Cleveland 1967 WEWS TV

The first sound bite is King speaking about what it will take to stop the rioting in America’s cities.

Carl Stokes was running for mayor of Cleveland and King was in town to get Clevelanders to register to vote.

Stokes would beat Mayor Ralph S. Locher in the primary and beat Republican Seth Taft in the November election to make Stokes the first African American mayor of a major U.S city.

King met with Taft as Taft spoke for opportunity and equality for all citizens.

King talks about Cleveland’s election following Carl Stokes primary victory. You’ll also hear him speak on racial problems in the U.S, as well as how the boycott of Sealtest dairy products in the city is progressing.

The boycott was part of Operation Breadbasket which was used to helped inner city African American residents use their buying/boycotting powers to change hiring and business practices.

Accompanying King at one speech is legendary Clevelander the Reverend E. T. Caviness of Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church.

5:49 King speaking in a discount store parking lot at East 105th Street and St. Clair Avenue, July 28, 1967: I want to say to everybody under the sound of my voice this afternoon that you are somebody. Don’t let anybody make you feel that you are nobody. You are somebody. You have dignity. You have worth. Don’t be ashamed of yourself and don’t be ashamed of your heritage. Don’t be ashamed of your color. Don’t be ashamed of your hair. I am black and beautiful and not ashamed to say it.”

“Every politician respects votes, and we have enough potential voting power here to change anything that needs to be changed. And so let us set out to do it and to do it in no uncertain terms. And finally, I want to say to you that if we will organize like this, we have a power that can change this city.”

King’s last appearance in Cleveland in our archives is from late November 1967. A few months later, King would be dead, killed by assassin James Earl Ray, April 4, 1968.”  

From WEWS-TV News

“Cleveland and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were no strangers to each other, just from the number of film clips in our vault that’s easily said.

My description of the individual appearances and speeches can in no way match the man himself, so please take some time to listen to his powerful words.

Some of the non-speech clips are silent.

King in Cleveland 1963-1965

The earliest film I was able to find of King in Cleveland is dated May 14, 1963.” 

Source:WEWS-TV News- Dr. Martin L. King, in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1967.

From WEWS-TV News

I wanted to write a blog about Dr. Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign that he launched in 1967-68, a few years after the Civil and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 65 respectfully were passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. But I couldn’t find footage of that campaign that was more than a couple of minutes long. But the video I did find is still pretty good. Dr. King, understood as a freedom fighter, that he was someone who fights for freedom, not the other way around.

Dr. King understood that of course it was important that all Americans be treated equally under law for all of us to live in freedom, but for America to be a real liberal democracy, we had to do something about poverty in America.

At the time of the late 1960s, was around 25%, perhaps twice that much for African-Americans. And that these people no matter their race to truly to live in freedom, they had to have economic freedom as well, the ability to support themselves and not forced to live off of public assistance and be forced to live in rundown ghettos, or be forced to live in rundown shacks in rural America. But be able to have a quality of life-like the rest of the country and be able to live in security.

The Poor People’s Campaign, or as I would call it the Campaign Against Poverty, was the next phase of the civil rights movement. They already established the Civil Rights Act, that no American would be allowed to be discriminated against based on their race, ethnicity, or gender.

The Voting Rights Act, establishing that no American would be allowed to be denied the right to vote based on race, ethnicity, or gender. But after that was a movement to fight poverty in America. To first bring awareness to the problem: :”This what we face as a country” and then hopefully come up with steps to address the issues of poverty.

They didn’t get to this part, MLK died in April, 1968, but this would’ve been the next phase of the civil rights movement, to go along with furthering non-violence, taking on the Vietnam War and perhaps fighting for human rights worldwide.

This is just one example of why the assassination of Martin King was so tragic, especially at the age of 39. An early middle-age man if that. Because there was so much left for him to accomplish and work on and he simply just ran out of time because of an ignorant escaped prison inmate, who should’ve been rotting in a Missouri prison instead. 

ABC Evening News: ‘1972 VP Drama’

Source:ABC News- anchor Howard K. Smith in 1972.

Source:The Daily Journal

“This is a rare color clip of the 8-28-72 Edition, of the ABC Evening News. This is about the struggles of 1972 Democratic Nominee Thomas Eagleton, who was the VP nominee until he was dropped for mental health issues.

This is the first of a series of Videos, ending with Election Night 1972 from ABC News, which I will upload sometime.” 

From EFAN

George McGovern did a lot to bring in new voters to the Democratic Party by reaching to African, Latin, Asian, and Jewish Americans. As well as women and suburban voters, after the civil rights movement of the 1960s with a large number of Southern Anglo-Saxon Protestant Americans heading to the GOP because of civil rights. And you could credit Senator McGovern with even saving the Democratic Party because without these new voters, all of these new people would’ve ended up Republicans, or not voting at all.

Without George McGovern we would’ve seen Republican Congress’s, not just a Republican Senate, but the GOP would’ve won back the House and Senate well before 1994. Perhaps even by 1980 with the Reagan Revolution, because the Democratic Party would’ve been left with a large hole to fill. With all of those Southern voters heading to the GOP, without other voters heading to the Democratic Party. So by bringing in all of these new voters to the Democratic Party, Senator McGovern deserves credit for saving the Democratic Party. From future losses in Congress and the White House after 1972.Democrats added to their majorities in Congress in 1974. And they won back the White House while holding both the House and Senate in 1976.

The Democratic Party paid such a heavy price for it in 1972, yes President Nixon was pretty popular, but they were a very divided party between establishment Progressives who wanted a united party to face the Republicans in the fall and the anti-war New-Left Socialists that wanted to take over the party and return it to where it was in the 1960s and build on the New Deal and Great Society. And George McGovern also deserves credit for running the most disorganize convention in the TV era.

Even if Senator Tom Eagleton didn’t have the pass mental health controversy going on, George McGovern not just loses, but loses going away. The Eagleton Affair (as it was called) was just another reminder of how disorganized the Democratic Party was in the early 1970s. And it’s until 1975 or so after the Watergate affair that the Democratic Party finally recovered at the presidential level, from what went on in the late 1960s. 

Salon Magazine: Willa Paskin: 'Breaking Bad's" Anna Gunn: Skyler might kill Walt'

Source:Salon Magazine- actress Anna Gunn.

"Things are pretty bleak for "Breaking Bad's" Skyler White, played by Anna Gunn. Trapped in her marriage to Walt, her increasingly malevolent, manipulative meth-lord husband, she's terrified for the safety or her children, but unable to see a way out. With just two episodes left in the first half of "Breaking Bad's" fifth season, it is simultaneously hard to imagine how things could get much worse for Skyler, and even more difficult to think that they could get better.

Gunn spoke to Salon about Skyler, her predicament, her depression and the possibility of her killing Walter White.

I’m extremely worried about Skyler. It’s getting really stressful to watch her. Was it stressful to be her?

It was. It really was. There were days on set where it was like, “Wow, it’s hard to live in this place.” And thank God for Bryan Cranston being so hilarious and great, and pretty much our whole cast and crew, so we have a lot of levity. But I had to dig deep into some pretty black stuff this year. As an actor you wait for this kind of material, but it can also be very emotionally exhausting." 

From Salon Magazine

"Moderator David Kronke (Media Critic) asks Breaking Bad's Creator/Executive Producer Vince Gilligan about the affect of keeping Anna Gunn (Skyler White) in the dark about Bryan Cranston's (Walter H. White) drug dealing. Vince discusses how he and the writers finally decided to address this issue." 

Source:Paley Center- actress Anna Gunn.

From the Paley Center

One of the cutest mommies you'll ever see. 

Skyler White (played by the beautiful and adorable Anna Gunn) comes off at least what I believe as a 'babe in the woods' (great Goodfellas line) in Breaking Bad. At least in the first season. I didn't become a regular viewer of this show until the third or fourth season. And Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) doesn't start off as a criminal. He's someone who get into the meth business to save his life and get the treatment that he needs for his cancer, as well as to support his family. 

Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) is woefully, underpaid, middle-age, science teacher in New Mexico. And goes into the meth business to again save his life and support his family. Skyler, his wife starts off this series as a homemaker, who other than her husband's cancer, believes he's a good, honest, man, living a normal life.

As the first season moves along the White Family, Walter, Skyler and their son, are essentially broke. Walt, is bringing in the only income to the family, forty-thousand-dollars a year as a high school science teacher. 2008-09, the start of the Great Recession and when it was at its worst, no economic or job growth, even with Baby Boomers retiring. So Skyler goes back to work as an accountant. 

Skylar is an accountant, not some former stripper, bimbo, (not that there is anything wrong with that, if that's who you are) married to one of her former clients that she fell in love with. She's an educated, an intelligent person and knows her family is going to need money and a lot of it. Especially with her husband in the hospital on a regular basis getting treatment. The accountant part is key here, because she figures out her husband has extra money here. Which is where this series gets very interesting.

This is when Walt is getting is meth business going and becoming successful with his high school dropout partner. She figures out that he's in the drug business, but doesn't turn him in. Maybe she's worried about what will happen to her if she does that. Maybe she's worried about what will happen to the father of her son who has cancer. Maybe she doesn't want to lose his income from his business, because again they need the money. 

The White Family, which was pretty normal pre-cancer, now becomes very stressful and Skylar and Walt, now are arguing on a regular basis and even separate, but never actually divorce. 

This is really a great and funny crime drama with all sorts of great characters. And Skylar White played by Anna Gunn, is a huge part of that.

Bill Maher: ‘My New Rule For Todd Akin & The Republican Party’

Source:The Huffington Post- Real Time With Bill Maher.

Source:The Daily Journal

“Republicans would like to pretend like Congressman Akin’s substitution of superstition for science is a lone problem but it’s not: they’re all magical thinkers, on nearly every issue. 

New Rule: If your entire party tries to get rid of you, and you stay in, you can’t talk about how easy it is for a woman to push a stupid prick out of her body.

I don’t want to waste another second thinking about Todd Akin, and his theory that you can’t get pregnant unless your eggs are asking for it. Here’s the only thing you need to know about Todd Akin and human anatomy: he’s an asshole. What I want to talk about is how it’s not a coincidence that the party of fundamentalism is also the party of fantasy. When I say religion is a mental illness, this is what I mean: it corrodes your mental faculties to the point where you can believe in tiny ninja warriors who hide in vaginas and lie in wait for bad people’s sperm.” 

From The Huffington Post 

I think to understand Todd Akin you have to understand the Missouri U.S. Senate race between Senator Claire McCaskill and Representative Todd Akin. Representative Akin, probably represents a very rural, redneck even heavily Protestant district, where his positions on rape and abortion are not just mainstream, but perhaps considered expected.

The problem that Representative Akin is that even if part of Missouri looks like South Carolina and the capital of the Bible Belt, Missouri is essentially a swing state. Where you can’t be very far-right and can’t be far-left at all and expect to win statewide there. Representative Akin, might be able to get away with saying that women shouldn’t be allowed by law to wear tight outfits in public and work out of the home in his district, but not statewide.

The Todd Akin’s of the Republican Party represent not just the Bible Belt in Congress and in America, but the Saudi wing of Congress and America as well. A population of the country that might like bashing Islāmic terrorism and claim to be against it. But endorse a country like Saudi Arabia’s policies when it comes to social policy and women’s issues. Where women on a good day might be second-class citizens in their own country, but generally are treated as property of their men. They can’t even decide how to dress themselves in public, can’t drive a car, risk getting the death penalty if they cheat on their spouses, or boyfriends and I could go on, but I don’t want to be accused of sending anyone into a depression. That is the lifestyle and how the Christian-Right wants to see for American women in the land of the free. And that is where Todd Akin comes from. 

Rumor in Town: MLB 1939-World Series-Cincinnati Reds @ New York Yankees: A Look at Yankee Stadium

Source:Rumor In Town- old but spectacular New York Yankee Stadium.

Source:The Daily Journal

"Extremely rare color footage of the 1939 World Series between the Yankees and Reds. Many consider the 1939 Yankees one of baseball's greatest teams. Rumor In Town" 

From Rumor In Town

I think Yankee Stadium was a great place for baseball, but I’m not sure it was a great ballpark. And what do I mean by that? That when I think of ballparks I think of places that primarily for baseball and were designed primarily for baseball. To the point that if you tried to play another sport there the park would look funny because of how the seats would have to be rearranged for football are soccer to be played there. And that sight lines would look funny as well. I think of Fenway Park as the example of a great ballpark. Wrigley Field would be another one and modern ballparks like Oriole Park Jacobs Field would great modern ballparks.

Yankee Stadium was a great place for baseball, but it was a stadium a very big one at that. At one point it seated something like seventy-thousand for baseball and like eighty-thousand for football. Yankee Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium and one of the few good if not great multipurpose stadiums that were ever built. Baltimore Memorial Stadium would be another one and Tiger Stadium in Detroit would be another one as well. And Yankee Stadium the old one at least was certainly a great baseball castle, but I wouldn’t put it down as a great ballpark, because it was a multipurpose stadium instead.

American Experience: LBJ & Unity: The Kennedys vs. Lyndon Johnson

Source:American Experience- former Texas Governor John Connally.

"After Kennedy was nominated for the Presidency, the Vice Presidency came into question. "No one was sure what Johnson would do if Kennedy offered it to him."

From American Experience

The rivalry here (if you want to call it that) is the fact that then Senator John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) ran for President in the Democratic primaries, against Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (Democrat, Texas) in 1960. And Senator Kennedy obviously defeated Leader Johnson at the Democratic National Convention. 

But JFK then nominates LBJ to be his Vice President, I guess to bring the Democratic Party together between its Liberal and Progressive base, with the Southern Dixiecrat base of the party. But JFK really nominated LBJ, to defeat then Vice President Richard Nixon for President, in November that year.

David Pakman: 'Texas Judge Predicts Civil War if President Obama Re-Elected'

Source:David Pakman- Good thing this judge's 1st name is not Richard, because then people could say: "What a Dickhead." Just throwing a thought out.

"Texas Judge Tom Head is threatening to use weapons against President Barack Obama.

--On the Bonus Show: Store selling meth candy, police chief wants assault rifles in school, Romney says energy independence by 2020, much more." 

From David Pakman 

On a side not to start off with: good thing for Judge Tom Head that his parents had enough sense when they decided to name him, that they named him Tom or Thomas, instead of the guy he acts like in real life, at least when he's talking about the President of the United States, which is Richard Head. And perhaps you can figure out the rest of this line yourself. 

My point about Judge Tom Head's name is sort of like the Smith's or Jones's not naming their son, John, Tom, Joe, etc, and saying: "You know what, since our his name is so common and boring, how about our son's 1st name as well." Instead of wasting 5 minutes of their lives trying to come up with a decent 1st name for their son.

Look, I get the fact that this guy is a judge: but to paraphrase the great political satirist George Carlin when talking about the government that we get and he saying that we get the government that we deserve. Tom (not Richard) Head is obviously a judge in this Texas community. So I doubt he's any worst or better than the people he's supposed to represent and preside over.

Jennifer Granholm: 'Teamsters President Hoffa: We Have To Fight" To Stop Right-To-Work'

Source:Real Clear Politics- Teamsters President James Hoffa Jr.

"James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, tells Jennifer Granholm that the first thing Romney would do is push for a national "right-to-work" law to restrict the rights of unions.

"The unions are part of the American society. We play an important role. Business plays an important role. There is a political link. We are all part of a fabric that makes this country run. They don't accept us as being there. They want to knock us out. And that's what we have to fight. And if we can explain that to our members, I think we can get that through," Hoffa said.

Last September, Hoffa threatened the GOP at a union event where President Obama spoke.

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa said about Republicans." 

From Real Clear Politics

What so-called right to work laws really are, are trying to stop unions from organizing and putting unions out-of-business. If the Right really cares about workers and doesn't want them to be forced to pay for union dues that they didn't sign up, then they would outlaw forcing non-union workers to pay union dues. And instead allow non-union workers to negotiate their own pay and benefits instead.

Emmanuel Goldstein: The Open Mind With Richard Hefner- 'Dr. Martin L. King: First Interview in 1957'

Source:Emmanuel Goldstein-  Dr. Martin L. King, on The Open Mind with Richard Hefner, in 1957.

Source:The Daily Journal

"The first extensive TV Interview with Martin Luther King on The Open Mind - The New Negro (the 1957 term)"

From Emmanuel Goldstein

I think what Richard Hefner was talking about in his opening statement, is how he believed African-Americans (which is what they weren't called back in the 1950s) were perceived in the 1950s by Americans, European-Americans, especially Anglo-Saxons. That they were seen as submersive and as people who didn't want the constitutional rights they were entitled to under law and they were just happy to be in America. Which is one thing that Dr. King was fighting against in the 1950s and 60s.

Liberal democracy, worked pretty well in America except for African-Americans and perhaps other racial minorities. Which is why the civil rights movement was so important and Reverend Martin L. King comes along in the 1950s part of the civil rights generation that he in large part created. And concluded that for America to be a true liberal democracy, that all Americans should have their liberty and not just a special few. That liberal democracy had to work for all of us, not some of us, or we weren’t a real liberal democracy.

As President Kennedy said, we shouldn't would be a country that’s half free and half slave, with some Americans with the liberty to live up to their full-potential in life and get out of life what they put into it, with everyone else being dependent on what the special few gave us. And that forced segregation and racism was wrong and unacceptable and that this can’t be tolerated in a liberal democracy.

And Dr. King knew how to fight back against this and mobilized people who felt the same way. Dr. King’s political skills were also very good, he understood that not all Caucasian-Americans were racists and believed in forced segregation. He also knew that not all Southern Caucasians were racists either and reached out to those people a well.

Another thing that Dr. King understood that when of this interview in 1957, that African-Americans made up roughly 10% of the American population. And for his movement to ever get off the ground, let alone succeed, he was going to need the help of other Americans. Similar to the gay rights movement today.

Which is why Dr. King reached out to Caucasians, Jews, Latinos and others, especially in the media, to get the message out. And did a lot of interviews in print and broadcast. To spread the movement of non-violence, peace and equal rights for all Americans and again not just for the special few.

Thats a big part along with their keen intelligence that made Dr. King and Malcolm X so special. They both really knew how to work the media to get their message out. This is also what made people like Richard Hefner so special like this, who understood the greatness of people before they were famous.

Dr. King, understood the power of the media, especially the electronic media before a lot of other people did. Similar to Jack Kennedy and knew how to use it to get their message out and spread the word of what they were trying to say and be able to communicate. Not only to their followers, but also to bring in a lot of other new followers. And had a great message to get out and communicate to America. 

The Daily Beast: John Avalon, Michelle Goldberg & Phillip Sherwell: 'Todd Akin's Views On Abortion Are Bad; The GOP Platform is Worse'

Source:The Daily Beast- John Avalon & Michelle Goldberg. Maybe you can figure for yourself who is who. If so, congratulate yourself with a glass of water, tap water.

"There's no exception for rape in Todd Akin's pro-life philosophy, but neither is there one in the platform of the Republican party. On today's NewsBeast, John Avlon, Michelle Goldberg, and Philip Sherwell discuss the politics of the GOP's position." 

From The Daily Beast

I think anytime that a Liberal (meaning me) and a leftist (meaning Michelle Goldberg) can agree on what time it is, what day it is, the weather outside when just happen to be in the same room, let alone on a political issue and discussion, I think we should go down to New Orleans together and celebrate like the world is about to blow up or something. Because this is as rare as seeing snow in Los Angeles, at anytime during the year, let alone during the summer. 

I agree with Michelle Goldberg that the Christian-Right and the Far-Right in general in America is horribly bad and why. I don't like the Far-Left either, which is where Michelle Goldberg tends to come down ideologically, but that's for a different discussion.

ABC Evening News: ‘George McGovern and Ed Muskie 1972 Presidential Election’

Source:ABC News- covering U.S. Senator George McGovern (Democrat, South Dakota) 

Source:The Daily Journal

"George McGovern and Ed Muskie Election Wall, For more presidential election videos." 

From Election Wall

Edmund Muskie reminds me a little bit of John Kerry. Just thought I throw that in there.

The Democrats didn't have anyone who could beat Richard Nixon in 1972. They also didn't have a united party that could do that as well. One of the reasons why Senator George McGovern as leader of the party for that fall campaign reformed the rules for how delegates were assigned at conventions was to bring in more Americans to the party.

The party was transitioning from a Southern based party with Northeastern ties to a party that by the 1980s was heavily dependent on the Northeast and West Coast to win. As well as big cities in the Midwest. Because Senator McGovern brought in African-Americans, Latinos, Jews and Asians to the party from these big cities in the country.

George McGovern, whatever you think of his politics was a very bright man. And served South Dakota very well in Congress both in the House and later in the Senate. And I'm sure at the very least knew that even if he did win the Democratic nomination for president he had not an uphill  battle against President Nixon in the fall. But more like a swimmer trying to swim upstream with one arm, one leg and one eye.

But what McGovern did in 1972 as far as changing the voting rules in the party paid off really well for Democrats in 1976 with Jimmy Carter. And perhaps helped Democrats hold onto the House of Representatives for another 22 years after 72 with all of the new voters that came to the party. But 1972 was not a year that Democrats were prepared to win back the presidency. They were in transition and way too divided. 

David Pakman: 'Pregnant Girl Dies After Abortion Ban Prevents Chemotherapy'

Source:David Pakman- talking about abortion in Dominican.

"Pregnant teen dies after an abortion ban delays her chemotherapy treatment for leukemia" 

From David Pakman

Since I couldn't find an official definition of what it means to be pro-life, that's not related to abortion, then I'll just have to give you my own. 

Someone who is pro-life, supports the right of every innocent American (or whatever the nationality) to live and exist and not be murdered. And yes, that can apply to abortion, but only if you believe that fetuses are people, or at the very least have the same right to life and exist as people, meaning someone who has already been born. 

From My Options: "Being pro-choice means supporting the notion that people are able to have agency over their lives, bodies, and choices. Having a child is a significant life event - and it is in everyone’s best interests that a potential parent is emotionally, financially, and physically prepared to do so." 

Yes, being pro-choice on abortion, also qualifies as being pro-choice. But if you are only pro-choice on abortion, you are only pro-choice on abortion. (Hopefully that's obvious enough) And even if you are also pro-choice on women's health care in general, but perhaps nothing else, then you are just pro-choice on women's rights as a whole. If you are pro-choice on women's health care, period, as well as all forms of sexuality, so now you are pro-choice on women's health care and sexuality. 

My point is, to be pro-choice, you have to be pro-choice. (Again, hopefully this is obvious enough) A lot of people, especially on the left-wing, who say they're pro-choice, are really just pro-choice on women's health care, including abortion and perhaps homosexuality, but are pro-state on so many other issues, including marijuana, just look at the Obama Administration. But are also pro-state on issues like gambling, pornography, education, and I''m sure other issues dealing with free speech in America. 

To get back to this abortion issue in Dominican: they do not have a pro-life bill on abortion in their country. They have an antiabortion bill instead. It's not just that the fetus died thanks to this bill, but the fetus's mother as well. So one innocent life for sure that was lost, as well as potential life that wasn't even given an opportunity to be born. 

This post was updated 6/15/2023.

ABC Evening News: ‘A Few Days Before The 1972 Democratic Convention’

Source:ABC News- covering the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida.

Source:The Daily Journal

“In this rare clip from 1972, George Wallace campaigns for the first time since he was shot, Ed Muskie was considered a mystery, and the National Guard is called in to stop riots.

Also talked about is the trial of the man who shot Wallace, and some Vietnam news.” 

From EFAN

Here’s a reason to watch ABC Now, if you are a political junky.

There was simply no way that the Democratic Party was going to win the 1972 presidential election. Even if you could get past the facts that President Richard Nixon was ending the Vietnam War, that his policies to talk too and work with Russia and China were paying off and that the American economy was still relatively healthy. But the state of the Democratic Party was the main issues for Democrats in 72.

The emerging that I at least would call Socialist New-Left that backed Senator George McGovern for president who went out his way to have this fringe political faction behind him, combined with what was left of the Southern right-wing base in the party that backed Governor George Wallace, and the traditional New Deal/Great Society progressive coalition that was behind Senator Hubert Humphrey, gave the Democratic Party that was only willing to vote for their preferred candidate for President and no one else.

Democrats and Senator George McGovern were so desperate to get attention and support behind their campaign that they tried to make Watergate an issue in the summer and fall of 72. Even though most of the country hadn’t even heard of the Watergate Hotel yet, let alone the burglary there.

Landslides tend to happen at least at the presidential level when you have a fairly popular president which is what Richard Nixon was for most of 1972, with a large percentage of the country believing things are going well, facing a divided opposition party like the Democratic Party in 72. That couldn’t decide who their presidential nominee was going to be and which faction of the party would get it until they got to the convention itself. Opposition parties need to be united behind a leader in order to defeat the President of the United States. Which is not what the Democrats were in 72.

Salon: Willa Paskin- Interviewing Anna Gunn: 'Skyler Might Kill Walt'

Source:Salon Magazine- Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston.

Source:The Daily Journal

“Things are pretty bleak for “Breaking Bad’s” Skyler White, played by Anna Gunn. Trapped in her marriage to Walt, her increasingly malevolent, manipulative meth-lord husband, she’s terrified for the safety or her children, but unable to see a way out. With just two episodes left in the first half of “Breaking Bad’s” fifth season, it is simultaneously hard to imagine how things could get much worse for Skyler, and even more difficult to think that they could get better.

Gunn spoke to Salon about Skyler, her predicament, her depression and the possibility of her killing Walter White.

I’m extremely worried about Skyler. It’s getting really stressful to watch her. Was it stressful to be her?

It was. It really was. There were days on set where it was like, “Wow, it’s hard to live in this place.” And thank God for Bryan Cranston being so hilarious and great, and pretty much our whole cast and crew, so we have a lot of levity. But I had to dig deep into some pretty black stuff this year. As an actor you wait for this kind of material, but it can also be very emotionally exhausting.” 

From Salon Magazine 

“A memorable clip from Breaking Bad – Season 5: Episode 14, ‘Ozymandias'” 

Source:Sony Pictures- Walt vs Skylar.

From Sony Pictures 

One of the cutest mommies you’ll ever see. Skyler White (played by the beautiful and adorable Anna Gunn) comes off at least what I believe as a ‘babe in the woods’ (great Goodfellas line) in Breaking Bad, at least in the first season. I didn’t become a regular viewer of this show until the third or fourth season.

Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) doesn’t start off as a criminal. He’s someone who get into the meth business to save his life and get the treatment that he needs for his cancer, as well as to support his family. He’s a woefully underpaid middle-age science teacher in New Mexico. And goes into the meth business to again save his life and support his family. Skyler, his wife starts off this series as a homemaker, who other than her husband’s cancer believes he’s a good honest man, living a normal life.

As the first season moves along the White Family (Walter, Skyler, and their son) is essentially broke. Walt, is bringing in the only income to the family. Forty-thousand-dollars a year as a high school science teacher. 2008-09, the start of the Great Recession and when it was at its worst, no economic or job growth, even with Baby Boomers retiring.

Skyler goes back to work as an accountant. She’s an accountant, not some former stripper bimbo married to one her former clients that she fell in love with. She’s an educated an intelligent person and knows her family is going to need money and a lot of it. Especially with her husband in the hospital on a regular basis getting treatment. The accountant part is key here, because she figures out her husband has extra money here. Which is where this series gets very interesting.

This is when Walt is getting is meth business going and becoming successful with his high school dropout partner. She figures out that he’s in the drug business, but doesn’t turn him in. Maybe she’s worried about what will happen to her if she does that. Maybe she’s worried about what will happen to the father of her son who has cancer. Maybe she doesn’t want to lose his income from his business, because again they need the money.

The White Family which was pretty normal pre-cancer, now becomes very stressful and Skyler and Walt, now are arguing on a regular basis and even separate, but never actually divorce. This is really a great and funny crime drama with all sorts of great characters. And Skyler White played by Anna Gunn, is a huge part of that. 

The Young Turks: Ana Kasparian & Cenk Uygur: 'Liberal Bias? CNN Anchor Soledad O'Brien Accused by Right-Wing'

Source:The Young Turks- Soledad O'Brien & John Sununu. 

Source:The Daily Journal

“CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien struck back at critics who objected to her reading from a document printed from what they called a liberal website — yet not citing her source — while interviewing an operative for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on the topic of Medicare. O’Brien was substitute-hosting on Anderson Cooper 360 on Monday when she was seen flipping through a story from the website Talking Points Memo during a segment with Romney campaign adviser Barbara Comstock. Conservative media, most notably Rush Limbaugh, mocked the news anchor for what they perceived to be a journalistic transgression… 

From The Young Turks 

If you’ve followed the career of CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien who’s also worked at NBC News and I’m sure other places and you don’t look at it from left, or right, but you judge her career instead, especially if you look at her documentaries and panel discussions, its, pretty clear she comes at her job from a political viewpoint.

The whole series Black and Brown in America is a good example of that. I’m not saying she’s not qualified, or doesn’t do a good job, but she approaches issues from the left and would probably be better suited for being on MSNBC than CNN.

Soledad, could be the Bill O’Reilly of NBC News, who takes on people in power from both sides, but also has an ideological viewpoint. That she’s not afraid to make public, but goes after people on both sides.

To give you an example of Bill O’Reilly: back in the summer of 2003, when it was discovered that there wasn’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we went to war there, based on bogus evidence (to put it nicely) O’Reilly announced he was done with President Bush. O’Reilly announced he was done with President Bush and was no longer going to carry his water for him. He goes after people on both sides, but is definitely a right-winger himself, but not a puppet.

Well, Soledad O’Brien could be that watchdog for the left and even take on leftists. When she feels she should, which I’m sure he has in the past. She could be Mike Wallace, or Ted Koppel of CNN. Someone who goes after people in power. Not to bring people down, but to hold them accountable and make them back up their argument and policies, or pay a price for it.

As far as Soledad O’Brien’s interview with John Sununu Sr..: )President H.W. Bush’s Chief of Staff, as well as former Governor of New Hampshire) I think she did a good job. Politicians don’t like to be asked anything that could put them on the defensive and get them off of their talking points. When they do interviews like this, they see their role as speaking up for the candidates they support and speaking out against the candidates they oppose. And anything that’s a tough question which is what anchors get paid to do if they are news anchors which is what Soledad is.

Good anchors put politicians on the defensive when they feel they need to, so what they do instead of answering the questions, is to respond by taking it out on the anchor. For example: “how can you ask me that question, when we should be talking about Joe Jones horrible foreign policy and my candidate’s great record at creating jobs and balancing budgets?” Or whatever.’ Soledad was quoting off of Mitt Romney’s website and wanted a response from Governor Sununu about it.

Is there a leftist bias in the media whether it’s liberal or leftist, of course there is. Just like there’s a rightist bias in the media as well coming from the Tea Party, which is why people who are interested in the news, shouldn’t put all of their eggs in one basket (so to speak) when it comes to gathering their news. And if you are a regular viewer of MSNBC or FNC, I suggest you checkout other news networks, so you can get all the truth, instead of part of it.

The Young Turks: Ana Kasparian & Cenk Uygur: Freakin Ridiculous Fine For Swearing

Source:The Young Turks- TYT Baby Girl, Ana Kasparian: freakin ticked off about the Middleborough fine for swearing. LOL

Source:The Daily Journal

"If you swear in public in Middleborough Massachusetts you can expect to be fined. Is cussing protected under free speech? Should the ACLU get involved? Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss this bullshit on The Young Turks." 

From The Young Turks 

Warning! To all of you sensitive viewers who are offended by cussing, you may want to close your eyes as you attempt to read this post. Because it may have language inappropriate for your sensitive eyes and brain.

If fining people for what they say in public (and I’m talking about what people say to each other, we obviously don’t have a constitutional right to threaten people, but that’s not what this is about) that’s not threatening especially when they are angry and have a right to be or are inpatient, if fining people for blowing off steam (to put it mildly) is not a violation of the First Amendment, the constitutional right to free speech, then the First Amendment is useless. And should be thrown out and we no longer live in a liberal democracy, but a police state.

A police state seems to be what some Americans (Left & Right) would like us to be so we can become what we say we are against and get on other countries for being. Fines for foul language, perhaps they make sense on TV, especially for kids who don’t understand that language yet. And we don’t want them cussing out their parents and teachers and that sort of thing and hopefully vice-versa, all right, I can go along with that. But fining people for what they say on the streets, even when they aren’t cussing at anyone in particular, is fucking bullshit. (And I already put out the warning so don’t get on me for that now)

For someone in my age range and generation, I don’t cuss very often. People now judge other people for how much they cuss. You’ll have a hard time finding a comedian under fifty today who doesn’t fucking cuss their ass off when performing and in general. They do it to sound cool and to be funny. For a lot of people cussing is a way of communication, that’s how they talk, you won’t find a hit fictional show on cable (and not just HBO) that doesn’t have a tone of cussing. A shit load even, (if you prefer) because they want their shows to sound cool.

Cussing is how you communicate to young people today. For me cussing is a form of expression, I cuss to express anger, or amazement. Like: “holy shit that building is huge!” Or: "Holy shit! That guy is fat!" (to use as examples) But I’m not one whose blown away by things like that very often and a pretty even-tempered guy and will say what the hell, or get the hell out of here, that sort of thing, instead of what the fuck. So when I do drop F or S Bombs, you know I meant it and not just trying to sound cool.

But just because I don’t fucking cuss my ass off on a regular basis, doesn’t mean I believe others should be fined when they do. Because that’s just plain, God Damn, fucking stupid! (Hopefully that's as repetitive as I can get) 

Is your life so fucking boring that you have to regulate what comes out of other people’s mouths, when they aren’t threatening, or libeling people, or yelling fire in a crowded place? 

Is your thumb so far of your fucking ass, you don’t have anything better to do with your time? 

That pretty much sums up how I feel about this Massachusetts so-called public decency law. 

CNN: Senator Edward Kennedy- 'The Dream Shall Never Die (1980)'

Source:CNN- U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) 1962-2009.

Source:The Daily Journal

"On the day it was announced that Sen. Edward Kennedy died at age 77, CNN replays a portion of a speech from Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic National Convention announcing he was ending his Presidential campaign against Jimmy Carter." 

From Political News Politics 

Just on a personal note first: Kiran Gentry who was a CNN anchor for a while during the late 2000s and perhaps after that, working with John Roberts to anchor this Ted Kennedy coverage.

Had Democrats seen more of this during the primaries, maybe Ted Kennedy beats President Carter in 1980. You don't wait till the last speech of your presidential campaign to give your best speech. Especially after it's already been decided that you aren't going to win. Especially when you never figured out while you were running in the first place. This was the whole nothing to lose speech, so you might as well make it your best. Not his 1981 inauguration, after beating President Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Ted Kennedy, didn't want to be president. Not sure his family did either, but his supporters especially what I at least could call the Socialist Left in the Democratic Party, wanted him to run for president. That is why, plus the facts that President Jimmy Carter, was so unpopular politically and there was  a bad economy, a Democratic Congress, that Senator Ted Kennedy was obviously part of. Democrats were in serious trouble in 1980.

Looking back at it now, not sure if the Ted Kennedy presidential run hurt or helped President Carter. In a way it actually helped him, because the Democratic contest really got his reelection campaign going. And he just didn't beat Senator Kennedy in most of the primaries, but he trounced him. Teddy, didn't wain a major primary until March of 1980.

But it hurt the President in the sense that now the party was divided between their Socialist Left and even George McGovern New-Left and their Center-Left. Their New Democratic Coalition that Jimmy Carter represented, going up in the fall against a very united Republican Party that was all behind Ronald Reagan. And anxious to get back into power and win The White House back.

The Real News: Paul Jay & Robert Pollin: 'The Full Employment Debate'

Source:The Real News Network- talking about full employment.

"Bob Pollin, author of Back to Full Employment, begins a series examining whether full employment is possible and how to get there." 

From The Real News Network

To jump into this discussion with Paul Jay and Robert Pollin: my definition of full employment, is 0% unemployment. Which means that every adult and juvenile in America who wants or needs a job, any job, has a job. 

But to achieve full employment, you might as well wipe out poverty and cancer, and perhaps get started on wiping out racism and sexism, while you are at it. Hopefully Santa Clause is having a slow year and can help you out with that, because that's what it would take to eliminate all of these negative conditions in society.

But what I think Robert Pollin is actually talking about, is acceptable unemployment. When unemployment and poverty are down, (and he pointed to the 1990s) the economy is much better, because a lot of people are not just working, but earning a good living as well. 

At risk at sounding conservative: when the national debt and deficit is low, at least compared with the size of the economy, the economy is much better as well, because the government is borrowing less or perhaps not borrowing at all, like in the late 1990s, which means real interest rates and inflation are also low, which makes everything that we consume in society, as well as borrowing in the private sector, a lot cheaper. 

But again, I think the real discussion is here, is low unemployment, versus high unemployment. As well as good jobs, versus jobs that people only take, when that's the best available job for them and perhaps they have to take another job as well, just to survive financially.