Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat
Individual Freedom For Everyone

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Ring of Fire: ‘RFK, Jr: How To Save American Democracy’

Source:The Ring of Fire- Robert F. Kennedy JR. talking about American democracy.

Source:FreeState MD 

“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. gives a speech to a crowd at Mass Torts Made Perfect about how to save our Democracy from Republicans, the Tea Party, and corporate raiders.” 


Robert F. Kennedy is essentially talking about the Tea Party Right in America. These so-called Conservative populists, that have a big hold on the Republican Party today and essentially labelling them for what he believes they are, which are corporatists, who believe in a corporate state in America, that would replace our liberal democracy, that’s based on individual rights, not corporate rights.

I actually agree with a lot of what Bobby Kennedy isa saying here. I’m sure there a lot of blue-collar, prop-union, voters, in the Tea Party movement. But their leaders are corporatists. You see that now in all of these Republican controlled legislatures that are now controlled by Tea Party people, like in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Republican legislatures that want to make it harder for Americans to vote, at least young Americans, who tend to vote Democratic. As well as make it harder, if not impossible, for workers to organize and bargain collectively.

The Doors: Live at The Roadhouse (1968)

Source:The Doors Live At The London Roadhouse (1968)

Source:The Daily Journal

“Rare color footage of The Doors performing at the Roundhouse, London, 1968-09-06. Not the same show filmed for “The Doors Are Open” documentary. An awesome close-up of Jim Morrison singing When The Music’s Over.”

From La Fantasque 

I’m thinking the cameraman, or perhaps the camerawomen, really liked Jim Morrison and was really attracted to him. Because in the first two minutes of this show alone, you see several closeups on Jim Morrison’s leather legs and leather suit, sitting on the stool with his legs sticking out in his skin-tight black leather jeans and black leather jacket, with his concho belt. And that’s exactly the reaction that The Lizard King (also known as Jim Morrison) wanted. Of course he wanted to be known for his music, but he was playing a character as well which was The Lizard King, a cowboy, rock and roll hero, where his superhero uniform was his skin-tight, black leather suit, where he wanted people to listen to his music, but also bring attention to his skin-tight leather legs and butt. For about two years, the man must have smelled like a luxury car, being in head-toe black leather almost everywhere he went, including to church, weddings, airplanes, the beach, even, etc.

Source:The Doors Live At The London Roadhouse (1968)
It has been said that Morrison, wore the skin-tight leather pants, (leather jeans. really) with the concho belt, because he wanted to highlight his crotch. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense, because if you watch this show, or Live at The Hollywood Bowl, or The Doors in Copenhagen, or The Doors in London, The Doors on Ed Sullivan, just to use as examples, there are several closeups upfront of Morrison in his leather suit and right on his legs, butt and crotch. I mean if you’re actually attracted to the man, watching all of this footage is a great way to see him.

As far as this show, I think it’s The Lizard King as it his best. Just wish this show was in color and since it was done in 1968, that would’ve been a fairly easy thing to do. But with Morrison, you get great vocals and his role-playing and acting and moving around and the dancing.

And Ray Manzarek, if anything who had a better singing voice than Morrison, at least singing blues, doing a great job on the keyboards. When The Music is Over, and Love Me Two Times, I think are their best songs in this show.

Love Me Two Times, comes with a great music video as well. And you have Morrison going off the cuff and doing a little story telling as well. And they finish with, well The End, what else. Which is their great war song, even though it wasn’t written directly for the Vietnam War. But considering this was 1968, the timing of this song was simply perfect.

As what can be said about a lot of The Doors performances, I just wish they were shot in color. Which is one reason why Oliver Stone’s version of The Doors, whatever you think of the movie, is actually very important. Because it gives you a very good idea of what The Lizard King was like in color. Even with Val Kilmer, being a much larger and taller man than Jim Morrison.

But it would be nice to see a colorized version of a lot of these performances. But the sound of these performances and how Morrison sounded and how the band played, is very good, even in black and white. Which doesn’t affect the sound of these shows. But the shows would’ve been better had they been done in color. Like with The Hollywood Bowl, Ed Sullivan, Smothers Brothers, Jonathan Winters. And maybe a colorized version of this show, will be available at some point.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Laura Flanders: Richard Woolf’s Cure For Capitalism

Source:Laura Flanders talking to proud Democratic Socialist Richard Woolf.

Source:FreeState MD

“Employment’s up, wealth’s up, but the benefits of both are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. Welcome to capitalism, says GRITtv regular, Richard Wolff who suggests some alternatives, including “worker self-directed enterprises” if we want to democratize the economy, and US society.
GRITtv regular, Richard Wolff is the author of Capitalism Hits the Fan (Olive Branch Press, 2009) and, most recently, Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism (Haymarket Books, 2012). Watch the entire conversation, about the state of capitalism, WSDEs (worker self directed enterprises) and democratizing the US economy at GRITtv.orgDistributed by OneLoad.com.”


I think when most Americans (perhaps not most Europeans) when they think of a Socialist, they think of someone whose against private enterprise and wants the national government to be in complete control of the economy. But the fact is today in 2013, most Socialists, including Socialists in China and Cuba, believe in at least a certain amount of private enterprise, individual freedom and choice, as well as private ownership.

Richard Woolf has an excellent definition of a Socialist: “Someone who believe in socializing, believes in the community when it comes to the economy and economics.”

This basically means a Socialist believes that everyone in society has a right to live and be treated well and not to have to go without the basic necessities of life. And that it’s the job of the national government to see that everyone has what they need to live well in society.

CBS News: Walter Cronkite- Announces The Death of President John F. Kennedy


Source: FRS Daily Journal Plus- Longtime CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite-
Source: FRS Daily Journal Plus

Newscasters and journalists in general are trained to never show their feelings and give commentary. That old Joe Friday saying of just the fact. For all of you Dragnet fans, but these people are exactly that, people and they have feelings too. And when you’re reporting on the death and not just death, but the assassination of someone you personally know, like, respect and even admirer, all things that Walter Cronkite felt about John Kennedy and then throw in the fact they were the same age and from the same generation, how you not show your human side in this situation.

And you’re reporting on the assassination of someone who is just 46 and you’re same age, to go along with all the other factors, I would’ve been disappointed had Cronkite not given people at little into what he was feeling about this horrible tragedy. Cronkite was at the top of his game during CBS News’s coverage of the JFK assassination that he anchored. And part of Cronkite’s greatness was that he was a human being the whole and not afraid to let others know that.
CBS News: Walter Cronkite- Announces The Death of President John F. Kennedy


Saturday, April 13, 2013

James Miller Center: President Lyndon Johnson – Speech on Voting Rights (1965)

Source:James Miller Center- President Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat, Texas) 36th President of the United States (1963-69)

Source:FreeState MD

“Johnson states that every man should have the right to vote and that the civil rights problems challenge the entire country, not one region or group. The President asks Congress to help him pass legislation that dictates clear, uniform guidelines for voting regardless of race or ethnicity and that allows all citizens to register to vote free from harassment.” 


This was really Lyndon Johnson at his best and I’m not sure any other American politician could give a speech about civil-rights as well or better then President Lyndon Johnson because he got to the whole core of the movement.

LBJ understood what civil-rights was really about, which  was really equal rights for all and that all Americans should be treated equally under law. Because all Americans have the same constitutional rights under law. Which means government can’t under the U.S. Constitution discriminate against anyone based on race. (To use as an example) and not deny us our rights under law based on race.

Which is why the 1964 Civil-Rights Act was so important, why the 1965 Voting-Rights Act was so important and why the 1968 Fair-Housing Law was so important. Because Americans were being denied their civil-rights under law in America simply because of their race and complexion and for no legitimate reason.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Real Time With Bill Maher: Debating The Second Amendment

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher- U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (Republican, California) Chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Source:FreeState MD

“Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) stood up for your constitutionally protected Second Amendment right to bear arms on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.”


My main point to and response to Representative Darrell Issa and MSNBC host Alex Wagner is both a personal, as well as philosophical argument: anyone who believes any amendment in the U.S. Constitution is absolute, is not a constitutionalist. And anyone who would either throw out the current U.S. Constitution or completely rewrite it and move America towards some type of social democratic government or some type of socialist state, is obviously not a constitutionalist either.

Comedian Bill Engvall who is about as redneck and Tea Party populist as anyone can be (if you don’t believe me, just ask him or watch his comedy routine) had the best point about the 2nd Amendment during this clip when he said that he believes in the right to self-defense and wants the ability to defend himself and his family. But there should be some real limit to how many guns that any American should be allowed to own and what types of guns that Americans should be allowed to own. Which to put it simply: he believes in commonsense gun control. The redneck standing up for the U.S. Constitution.

Real Time With Bill Maher: Gun Control & Dumb Gun Laws

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher talking about the lack of gun control in America.

"A recent "New Rules" from Bill Maher's HBO series, "Real Time." Bill takes defenders of stupid gun laws to task regarding idiotic pro-gun legislation."