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It's part of the plan to overwhelm and flummox anyone who isn't with them. This stuff has nothing to do with the issues and if you ignore it they only talk to themselves. Stick to the issues, one of the issues being that they do not stick to the issues. If we bother ourselves with this kind of crap we are using up the precious time and emotional energy needed for talking with our friends and neighbors, organizing, and doing whatever needs to be done to get these people out of power. They are waging their battle on many levels including the psychological level and the technological level. The latter brings up, again, the issues inherent in electronic voting. I'll save that rant for another time.

"They are waging their battle on many levels including the psychological level and the technological level.... This stuff has nothing to do with the issues and if you ignore it they only talk to themselves. Stick to the issues"

No, elp, you can't ignore it. These are cancer cells and you have to destroy them as they come up or they will proliferate and then they will become so powerful that you can't destroy them. This is not an issue of "picking your battles". Each vitriolic, distorted, CALCULATED misquote, innuendo that they make has to be hit dead on. If the Democrats have learned ANYTHING from the legacies of Dukakis and Clinton, it should be that the Republicans will stoop to any measure to win. They play to the hearts and minds of people who do not always think like we do; who do not always come to the same conclusions that we do, who have values that, like a Venn Diagram of the two circles that overlap slightly at some point, share some common ideals and beliefs, but differ greatly on others. So you have to keep advancing and shooting forward, but cover your back at the same time. Complicated, work-intensive, but accommplishable.

"Accommplishable" (??! )

h: Is Danny doing your ghostwriting?

h: There are people working on many levels to counter a lot of the lies, cheating and stealing. Knowing the helpful, reliable resources and supports is critical. We're pretty much on the same page only I don't think we all need to grab the bait everytime they throw it out, and they will throw it out at least a million times in a million different ways before this is over. Everytime they get backed into a corner they will change the subject. These are givens. Right now the country is pretty much evenly divided between the candidates; with the undecideds and the Nadarites in the middle. So, we decide where to put our energy. My point was that if it's driving you crazy, find a way to still be involved without it driving you crazy. There are unregistered voters everywhere,there are rides to the polls to be organized, we have neighbors who just need to talk things out with someone, there are voting processes to get straightened out, etc. Just don't let them suck the life out of you with their cancer is the point.

Almond Joy-
So, it's a new word......

: )

elp: There are two levels to winning this campaign. There is your level; the grassroots level that is extremely important. Getting out the vote. In fact, it is the most important, isn't it? The vote is the Bottom Line. You are right in what you say.
But, equally important, is the beating down of this force that has entered American Politics in the past....well, I think that I first became aware of it in the Bush/Dukakis race of 1988? This poisonous, campaigning of Personal Destruction that is the legacy of Lee Atwater (if anyone deserved to die a horrible death......) and set the tone for future elections. The spawning of its pods ensued and now we have the Bill O'Reilly's, the Laura Inghrams, etc....and they have a very Profound Effect on the Opinions of Middle America, whether we like it or not. They are a force to be dealt with or we are never going to get past this blanket of hatred that they have covered America with for Liberalism and the Democratic Party, sometimes not the same thing. What do you do with generations coming up in voting age who mock these philosophies, knowing nothing about them except what these clowns have told them?

h: We are in accord. Initially, I chose to address only "overwhelmed and flummoxed" because we all hit that wall at some point when confronted by issues of the magnitude we are confronting now and need a little rest time. I suspect that we will be fighting the issues of ignorance, hatred, and general "evil" forever; one person at a time, one classroom at a time , one community at a time and then beginning it all over again. Democracy is a never ending process, which opportunists often attempt to hijack with their greed, their hate, their personal agendas. Education? Is that the answer? Street theater? More fun, though. We need more fun to nourish our spirits.

I'll tell you what the answer is. Movies. Michael Moore may be only the beginning of today's pioneer, but he's on to something. Making an entertaining film that is political, "outs" the hypocrisies and evil agenda (for you Danny) of the Right media maniacs; their lies, their manipulations of the truth, their unfounded personal attacks to seed ideas and ruin reputatuions etc..

Michael, if you are out there listening...

and, of course, there was...err..is... always the music...

and that stupid ketchup is going to end up in a trivia museum in Peoria some day.

or at the George W. Bush Library (the irony is the guy doesn't read)

Guess the repub presidents have a thing about ketchup. Anyway, maybe we can get Charles (are listening?) to list some of the good documentaries. Danny Schecter did a good one on the Florida election that was on LinkTV and I think he just released another one. There is "Outfoxed" and "The Hunting of .." What else?

Actually, the reason I came back so soon was because your question was burning. One of the biggest powers we have in this current society is economic. We choose whether to spend or not and we choose whether to buy American or not. We also choose whether to buy products advertised by the bush-supporting media outlets. And we choose whether or not we make those choices publicly known. If enough pressure is applied to the advertisers, they will listen. Hmm, does this bring back memories to anyone? Anyway, it is acknowledged that some people may have no choice about certain purchases and they shouldn't feel bad about that.

So, now we need a boycott website, and will someone please lend me a helmet and an assault rifle? Banishment to the foxhole?

When it's all over the O'Reillys,Limbaughs, etc. will be the sewer cleaners or maybe the will have to clean septic tanks with their tongues. A punishment that fits the crime.

The best weapon against the O'Reilly's, the Hannity's, the Inghrams, the Coulters, the Limbaugh's is.....TIME. Time will make their shtick old and boring and repetitive. (Just hope that we have it...) In fact, the more successful they are; the more cheap copies will come out and the more the market is flooded with mediocrity, the more people will look for the next best thing. That's why I think movies might be a possibility. TV is free, not such an event, people forget to turn it on, forget the night etc....It's not a planned night out, if you get my drift. But, you've got to do it right, not come out with a lot of stuff fast; junk stuff has to stay off the board. Provocative, sexy, fast-moving, humorous, targeted, etc....that's the way to make people say to their family and friends, "You've Got to SEE this one!"
America is like that. And sometimes it's a good thing. Planned Obsolescence....Time table for burn-out, loss of interest, on to the next Big High.

Dig it.

We still need to do something about responsible balanced news reports, though. If you carefully observe the network news anchors, some of them are becoming more and more uneasy with their roles in conservatively owned outlets. Example: recent local newscast. "Coming up, an announcement from the Kerry campaign." Then there was some insignificant unrelated news item, followed by the "coming up.." bit again, and the anchor looking quite uncomfortable. The station cut to a constipation commercial. Duh.

Actually, maybe we should be taping these broadcasts and using them to educate people about the subtle tactics used by the news outlets during this election.

As to movies...they have their place, but somehow it seems like we'll end up in the same situation. People must learn to analyze what they read and see, and be able to look at it from all points of view, otherwise we are just spinning our wheels.

Hhmmm..can that be done in a movie? Michael? Danny S.?