It is not our role to take power. It is our role to make the powerful frightened of us. And that's what we've forgotten. Give up that dream! Chris Hedges talks neoliberalism and neofeudalism, the civil rights movement, Camden, Obama, Clinton, Tea Parties, moral nihilism, inverted totalitarianism and corpocracy, NAFTA, welfare reform, health care, labor, poverty, Yugoslavia, post-industrial capitalism, economic crisis, imperial collapse, socialism, and democracy, among other things.
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posted by gerryblog
on Apr 24, 2010 -
51 comments
Rapper Shaun Boothe is now midway through his 12 part series of "unauthorized biographies", which showcase short history lessons about some of the major black figures of our time. Thus far, he's covered
James Brown,
Bob Marley (my favorite),
Muhammed Ali,
Martin Luther King (and briefly, Barack Obama),
Jimi Hendrix, and
Sean "Puffy" Combs. He's gotten some
play and
good press from major underground hip-hop media, due next in the series is a biography of Oprah Winfrey.
posted by rollbiz
on Jan 11, 2010 -
13 comments
Do you feel disappointed in government? Does Obama seem a little too meek for the Presidency? Do you wish he'd make larger structural reforms? Maybe, suggests Matt Taibbi, there's
an answer.
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posted by jock@law
on Oct 23, 2009 -
43 comments
MEMORANDUM FOR SELECTED UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS: As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana. For example, prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources. (SLUSDOJM)
posted by gerryblog
on Oct 19, 2009 -
94 comments
The writers for the Late Show with David Letterman have
recently had some trouble coming up with jokes about Obama. Perhaps they should take a lesson from the master of Obama jokes, the President himself. President Obama brought down the house at last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner, poking fun at
himself, his
administration, and everyone else within shouting distance. Host Wanda Sykes followed Obama's show stealing performance with a
few choice
jabs of her own. Unfortunately, it seems that Dick Cheney's prediction has come true since no one is safe when the Comedian-in-Chief steps up to the mic.
posted by inconsequentialist
on May 10, 2009 -
143 comments
Speaking in Tongues is a terrific piece of writing by
Zadie Smith. It's a little bit about
Barack Obama. Mostly, though, it's about
"world"-traveling and polyvocality. (pdf)
The first stage in the evolution is contingent and cannot be contrived. In this first stage, the voice, by no fault of its own, finds itself trapped between two poles, two competing belief systems. And so this first stage necessitates the second: the voice learns to be flexible between these two fixed points, even to the point of equivocation. Then the third stage: this native flexibility leads to a sense of being able to "see a thing from both sides." And then the final stage, which I think of as the mark of a certain kind of genius: the voice relinquishes ownership of itself, develops a creative sense of disassociation in which the claims that are particular to it seem no stronger than anyone else's. There it is, my little theory—I'd rather call it a story. It is a story about a wonderful voice, occasionally used by citizens, rarely by men of power.
posted by anotherpanacea
on Feb 26, 2009 -
16 comments
In 2009,
a remarkably gifted politician, confronting a remarkably difficult set of challenges, will
have to learn to say "No we can't",
Guantánamo will prove a moral minefield,
economic recovery will be invisible to the naked eye,
governments must prepare for the day they stop financial guarantees,
we will judge our commitment to sustainability,
scientists should research the causes of religion,
we will all be potential online paparazzi,
English will have more words than any other language (but it's meaningless),
Afghanistan will see a surge of Western (read: American) troops,
Iran will continue its nuclear quest while
diplomacy lies in shambles,
the sea floor is the new frontier,
we should rethink aging,
(non-)voters will continue to thwart the European project --
but cheap travel will continue to buoy it --
though it has some unfinished business to attend to, and
a Nordic defence bond will blossom.
The Economist: The World in 2009.
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posted by goodnewsfortheinsane
on Nov 27, 2008 -
31 comments
Is there no end to the shady associations of Barack Obama? Crack journalist Dave Barry has published photographic proof that
the president-elect is a Lawn Ranger. What's a Lawn Ranger? Glad you asked. Dave Barry has written about this nefarious organization not
once, but
twice and their strange and eldritch rites have been profiled on
WILL public television of Central Illinois, where the organization has its headquarters, in the town of Arcola, where they
parade every year.
posted by Kattullus
on Nov 14, 2008 -
19 comments
It's only 73 days before Inauguration Day 2009. Planning has been going on for a
while. Beyonce wants to perform and the
Boss plans to release an album on the day. Be sure to call your Congressperson to get your
tickets. Make your
plans right away, everybody wants to go.
If you go, don't forget to say a rousing good-bye to
you know who.
posted by Xurando
on Nov 8, 2008 -
27 comments
“I think my relationship with Obama was probably like that of thousands of others in Chicago and, like millions and millions of others, I wished I knew him better.”
William Ayers speaks.
posted by Knappster
on Nov 5, 2008 -
78 comments
Making It, in which a young, black, upstart politician rises through the Chicago political scene by having his opposition stricken from the ballot, turning against his endorser, and redistricting himself into a fundraising monster.
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posted by Weebot
on Jul 14, 2008 -
32 comments
Harvard Professor Samantha Power's book
A Problem from Hell is on syllabi across the country, and is the bible of
humanitarian hawks who decry our failure to intervene in the
Rwandan or
Sudanese genocides. As one of Barack Obama's foreign policy advisors, she's getting a lot of press for her positions:
pro-intervention, obviously,
critical of Israel,
pro-UN,
pro-internationalism, and, perhaps unsurprisingly given
her husband's role in ignoring the Rwandan genocide,
anti-Clinton.
posted by anotherpanacea
on Mar 7, 2008 -
85 comments
"Why should candidates, or issue groups, spend millions on traditional advertising when they can generate hundreds of thousands of hits from simply uploading a video? Take, for example, the Hillary Clinton campaign's use of a
Soprano’s spoof to unveil a campaign theme song....she generated a stunning amount of favorable press and television coverage (not to mention millions of dollars worth of free advertising)."
* A well produced video distributed on the Web can have great impact. For example, in a
dispute last year a United Steelworkers union video forced Goodyear back to the bargaining table. A
new video produced by the International Association of Firefighters
may have impact on Rudy Guiliani's campaign for President. "...[The video's] release on the Internet hints at a broadening effort to spread [the union's] dim assessment of the Mayor and has already drawn comparisons with the campaign by the
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth against John Kerry in 2004."
*
posted by ericb
on Jul 11, 2007 -
52 comments
