E. J. Dionne Jr. - Free To Be Al Gore - washingtonpost.com

E. J. Dionne Jr. - Free To Be Al Gore - washingtonpost.com: "Say what you will, the blogs and other online gathering places do promote a culture of engagement rather than passivity. The raucous back-and-forth they encourage looks, at least sometimes, like real, live democratic politics.
But the larger change is that the very process Gore describes -- of propaganda taken as fact, of slogans taken as arguments, of repetition substituting for logic and, yes, of lies and half-truths taken as truth -- is now well-recognized. What worked against Gore during the recount and what worked for the administration in the run-up to the Iraq war doesn't work anymore. That is an advance for democracy and for reason."

(h/t Bill McMichael @ Military Times)

MJQ

A palate refresher.

John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change

Linkin Park - Hands Held High

"Sick of the dark ways,
we march to the drumming.
Jump when they tell us
they want to see jumping.
Fuck that, I want to
see some fist pumping.
Risk something.
Take back what's yours
Say something that you know
they might attack you for
cause I'm sick of being treated
like I have before.
Like it;s stupid standing for
what I'm standing for.
Like this war is really just
a different brand of war.
Like it doesn't cater to the rich
and an abandoned the poor.
Like they understand you
in the back of the jet,

When you can't put gas in your tank.
These fuckers are laughing their way
to the bank and cashing their cheque
asking you to have compassion and to have some respect.

For a leader so nervous
in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling
for nightly news to replay
and the rest of the world
watching at the end of the day
in the living room laughing
like what did he say?"


(h/t Crooks and Liars)

Funny stuff for skeptics

Roy Zimmerman - Funny Songs About Ignorance, War and Greed

You have to read this!

"Instead, there's a shitstorm brewing, the flags are beginning to snap on the flagpoles, and karma is about to pay a nasty housecall."