Learning More About Hospice

I learned about a new film via Help the Hospices. Check out the trailer of Life Before Death, which I hope to see in a few weeks in London.

The bigger website seems a bit odd, but I support all efforts to talk more comfortably about the issues.

Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Beyond

This is a good article on the rise of Elizabeth Warren in politics and thinking about ideals in the Obama and post-Obama world: "Heaven Is a Place Called Elizabeth Warren".

But many of the people looking to Warren, as they did to Obama before her, are expecting material things — like readable credit-card pitches or safe bridges or jobs or a vote on a bill to create jobs — that are, at the moment, figments as imaginative as dragons and their slayers. And that’s dangerous, because when the person we decided was going to fix it all isn’t able to change much, it’s not just that we get blue but also that we give up. We mistake the errors of our own overblown estimations for broken promises. And instead of learning, reasonably, that one person can’t do everything, we persuade ourselves that no person can do anything.

Conflicted...

Read this article on money flowing to people who voted for same sex marriage in New York.

I am both elated by the vote, as it turned out, but highly suspicious of the "flow of money". How can anyone be for getting money out of politics, but also donate to causes or politicians who are making social change happen? Flip the issue to cash flowing to Democrats getting money for voting on limits to abortion and I'd be...well, conflicted. Until all the money is out of politics, you gotta play the game, which makes me almost agree with Newt Gingrich's current strategy, something I haven't done before.

By the way, I want to start having dinner parties where we watch one Super PAC ad and discuss...best thing to happen to democracy.

Vote Herman Cain!

You Won't Miss It!

This is power (this is the link you click on when you see this on wikipedia today).

Our purpose here isn't to make it completely impossible for people to read Wikipedia, and it's okay for you to circumvent the blackout. We just want to make sure you see our message.

I saw it! Not only do I feel impelled to read more about this, my mind realizes the power of a site like wikipedia to funnel our attention on a whole number of issues.

Super PAC Survey

Who named these things? And, more importantly, if you had to vote just based on the name, which one would get your money?

Red, White and Blue Fund.
Our Destiny.
Make Us Great Again.
Restore Our Future.
Winning Our Future.

I really like the Definitely Not Coordinated with Stephen Colbert Super PAC, now run by Jon Stewart.

"I am excited to take the reins of this completely independent organization, and begin to air ads in South Carolina," said New President and Noncommunication Director Jon Stewart. "But I want to be clear: Stephen and I have in no way have worked out a series of morse-code blinks to convey information with each other on our respective shows."

You can read the serious overview of how these things are keeping some candidates in the race...

“I’m not going to back down or be afraid to say, ‘We, the American people, have the right to know, and any candidate for president has an obligation to tell us,’ ” Mr. Gingrich said at a convention of the elderly in Columbia.

Asked if Winning Our Future was keeping him in the race, Mr. Gingrich said that “it just offsets the other PACs.”

...or you can watch the Colbert Report. The Guardian found it worthy to report.

If you really are interested in feeling depressed, I highly recommend watching a few of the commercials on the "real" super PAC sites. It's insane... especially the disclaimer on the bottom of the page: "Paid for by Winning Our Future. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."

Yes, Mr. Colbert, god bless Citizens United!

Marry Gay People; Or How I Almost Topped 2011 Blog Posts!

Wow, five days into 2012 and I have almost surpassed my blog post total for 2011!

With all the Santorum quotes giving you a very bad stomach ache, listen to the governor of Washington, Christine Gregoire, who has just disclosed her intention to marry the gays! She said it very, very well.

I can't believe we are still having this debate, let alone voting for people who connect homosexuality with some sort of moral decay that is hurting the economy and country, Rick. Don't support his Super PAC!

One more post to go for a tie with 2011. What a year already!

Hello 2012! The Year of "Truthiness" (For Me)

I am old, so if it takes me six or so years to recognize the importance of truthiness, I just put it down to being a slow reader.

The NYT review of Stephen Colbert is further evidence to convince me that I have a new favorite person. He was also on NPR's Fresh Air doing broadway musical song and expanding on my favorite of his three personalities.

How many times have I heard about Super PACs and their corrosive role in politics? But the indignation only really bubbles up when I see the Buddy Roemer clip. Will Gingrich start teaming up with the Colbert Report now that Romney has torpedoed his campaign?

Donate to the Colbert Super PAC with me. Or maybe you'd prefer Sarah Palin's? Why donate to candidates when the real stuff we love, like unicorns, comes from Super PACs?