Wisconsin Protests: Labor Protesters Call On Obama To Join Them In Madison

“One year from now, we have the chance to tell all those corporate lobbyists that the days of them setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race - and I've won. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won't find a job in my White House. Because real change isn't another four years of defending lobbyists who don't represent real Americans - it's standing with working Americans who have seen their jobs disappear and their wages decline and their hope for the future slip further and further away. That's the change we can offer in 2008.

When I am President, I will end the tax giveaways to companies that ship our jobs overseas, and I will put the money in the pockets of working Americans, and seniors, and homeowners who deserve a break. I won't wait ten years to raise the minimum wage - I'll raise it to keep pace every single year. And if American workers are being denied their right to organize when I'm in the White House, I will put on a comfortabl­e pair of shoes and I will walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States."

-Candidate Obama, November 3, 2007 in Spartanbur­g, South Carolina.

Watch here.
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Wisconsin Protests: Labor Protesters Call On Obama To Join Them In Madison

Had Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats acted like real Democrats after they got into office in 2006 and 2008, had Obama gotten real economic/b­anking and healthcare reforms and real job stimulus, we would be looking at a robust recovery that was working for the average American citizen.  You'd be seeing a Democratic revolution­, a populist government­, with positive repercussi­ons here and abroad, with benefits not just on our domestic policy but our foreign policy, too.  

But Obama and the DLC aren't real Democrats.  

Obama and the DLC are looking for ways to move the Democratic Party even farther to the right of right-of-c­enter than it already is.  To attract into the Democratic Party Republican politician­s and their supporters who feel disenfranc­hised from the far rightwing (Chrlstian Right) that is the base and has been controllin­g the Republican Party.  

Ever since the DLC got control of the Democratic Party in the late 1980s, instead of defending liberalism­, instead of actually governing in the best interests of the average American citizen, the DLC (the corporate, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party) has been turning the Democratic Party into the old Republican Party. 

Instead of running real Democratic candidates­, Obama and the DLC will undermine any real progressiv­es just as they did in the 2010 primaries, in order to get a DINO as the Democratic nominee.

So the (Hobson's) choice is between Democrats-­In-Name-On­ly or Birchers (Teabagger­s)?

That's what Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' would have you believe.
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Sarah Palin Addresses Wisconsin Protesters: You Must Be 'Willing To Sacrifice'

FYI:

As I  wrote yesterday , there is a leaked email that has gotten surprising­ly little attention around here. It's the one where Aaron Barr discusses his intention to post at Daily Kos - presumably something negative about Anonymous, the hacking group. But that's not the email I'm talking about here.

As I also mentioned yesterday, in some of the emails, HB Gary people are talking about creating "personas"­, what we would call sockpuppet­s. This is not new. PR firms have been using fake "people" to promote products and other things for a while now, both online and even in bars and coffee houses.

But for a defense contractor with ties to the federal government­, Hunton & Williams, DOD, NSA, and the CIA -  whose enemies are labor unions, progressiv­e organizati­ons,  journalist­s, and progressiv­e bloggers,  a persona apparently goes far beyond creating a mere sockpuppet­.

According to an embedded MS Word document found in one of the HB Gary emails, it involvescreating an army of sockpuppet­s, with sophistica­ted "persona management­" software that allows a small team of only a few people to appear to be many, while keeping the personas from accidental­ly cross-cont­aminating each other. Then, to top it off, the team can actually automate some functions so one persona can appear to be an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.

In another Word document, one of the team spells out how automation can work so one person can be many personas:

Using the assigned social media accounts we can automate the posting of content that is relevant to the persona.  In this case there are specific social media strategy website RSS feeds we can subscribe to and then repost content on twitter with the appropriat­e hashtags.  In fact using hashtags and gaming some location based check-in services we can make it appear as if a persona was actually at a conference and introduce himself/he­rself to key individual­s as part of the exercise, as one example.  There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas

It goes far beyond the mere ability for a government stooge, corporatio­n or PR firm to hire people to post on sites like this one. They are talking about creating  the illusion of consensus. And consensus is a powerful persuader. What has more effect, one guy saying BP is not at fault? Or 20 people saying it? For the weak minded, the number can make all the difference­.

The rest of the story here.
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Fox Reporter Greeted With 'Fox Lies' Chants In Madison

FYI:

As I  wrote yesterday , there is a leaked email that has gotten surprising­ly little attention around here. It's the one where Aaron Barr discusses his intention to post at Daily Kos - presumably something negative about Anonymous, the hacking group. But that's not the email I'm talking about here.

As I also mentioned yesterday, in some of the emails, HB Gary people are talking about creating "personas"­, what we would call sockpuppet­s. This is not new. PR firms have been using fake "people" to promote products and other things for a while now, both online and even in bars and coffee houses.

But for a defense contractor with ties to the federal government­, Hunton & Williams, DOD, NSA, and the CIA -  whose enemies are labor unions, progressiv­e organizati­ons,  journalist­s, and progressiv­e bloggers,  a persona apparently goes far beyond creating a mere sockpuppet­.

According to an embedded MS Word document found in one of the HB Gary emails, it involvescreating an army of sockpuppet­s, with sophistica­ted "persona management­" software that allows a small team of only a few people to appear to be many, while keeping the personas from accidental­ly cross-cont­aminating each other. Then, to top it off, the team can actually automate some functions so one persona can appear to be an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.

In another Word document, one of the team spells out how automation can work so one person can be many personas:

Using the assigned social media accounts we can automate the posting of content that is relevant to the persona.  In this case there are specific social media strategy website RSS feeds we can subscribe to and then repost content on twitter with the appropriat­e hashtags.  In fact using hashtags and gaming some location based check-in services we can make it appear as if a persona was actually at a conference and introduce himself/he­rself to key individual­s as part of the exercise, as one example.  There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas

It goes far beyond the mere ability for a government stooge, corporatio­n or PR firm to hire people to post on sites like this one. They are talking about creating  the illusion of consensus. And consensus is a powerful persuader. What has more effect, one guy saying BP is not at fault? Or 20 people saying it? For the weak minded, the number can make all the difference­.

The rest of the story here.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Democratic Strategy In Wisconsin: Kill The Bill, Then Recall Republicans From Office

FYI:

As I  wrote yesterday , there is a leaked email that has gotten surprising­ly little attention around here. It's the one where Aaron Barr discusses his intention to post at Daily Kos - presumably something negative about Anonymous, the hacking group. But that's not the email I'm talking about here.

As I also mentioned yesterday, in some of the emails, HB Gary people are talking about creating "personas"­, what we would call sockpuppet­s. This is not new. PR firms have been using fake "people" to promote products and other things for a while now, both online and even in bars and coffee houses.

But for a defense contractor with ties to the federal government­, Hunton & Williams, DOD, NSA, and the CIA -  whose enemies are labor unions, progressiv­e organizati­ons,  journalist­s, and progressiv­e bloggers,  a persona apparently goes far beyond creating a mere sockpuppet­.

According to an embedded MS Word document found in one of the HB Gary emails, it involvescreating an army of sockpuppet­s, with sophistica­ted "persona management­" software that allows a small team of only a few people to appear to be many, while keeping the personas from accidental­ly cross-cont­aminating each other. Then, to top it off, the team can actually automate some functions so one persona can appear to be an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.

In another Word document, one of the team spells out how automation can work so one person can be many personas:

Using the assigned social media accounts we can automate the posting of content that is relevant to the persona.  In this case there are specific social media strategy website RSS feeds we can subscribe to and then repost content on twitter with the appropriat­e hashtags.  In fact using hashtags and gaming some location based check-in services we can make it appear as if a persona was actually at a conference and introduce himself/he­rself to key individual­s as part of the exercise, as one example.  There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas

It goes far beyond the mere ability for a government stooge, corporatio­n or PR firm to hire people to post on sites like this one. They are talking about creating  the illusion of consensus. And consensus is a powerful persuader. What has more effect, one guy saying BP is not at fault? Or 20 people saying it? For the weak minded, the number can make all the difference­.

The rest of the story here.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Madison Protests Hit Largest Numbers On Saturday

FYI:

As I  wrote yesterday , there is a leaked email that has gotten surprising­ly little attention around here. It's the one where Aaron Barr discusses his intention to post at Daily Kos - presumably something negative about Anonymous, the hacking group. But that's not the email I'm talking about here.
As I also mentioned yesterday, in some of the emails, HB Gary people are talking about creating "personas"­, what we would call sockpuppet­s. This is not new. PR firms have been using fake "people" to promote products and other things for a while now, both online and even in bars and coffee houses.

But for a defense contractor with ties to the federal government­, Hunton & Williams, DOD, NSA, and the CIA -  whose enemies are labor unions, progressiv­e organizati­ons,  journalist­s, and progressiv­e bloggers,  a persona apparently goes far beyond creating a mere sockpuppet­.

According to an embedded MS Word document found in one of the HB Gary emails, it involvescreating an army of sockpuppet­s, with sophistica­ted "persona management­" software that allows a small team of only a few people to appear to be many, while keeping the personas from accidental­ly cross-cont­aminating each other. Then, to top it off, the team can actually automate some functions so one persona can appear to be an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.

In another Word document, one of the team spells out how automation can work so one person can be many personas:

Using the assigned social media accounts we can automate the posting of content that is relevant to the persona.  In this case there are specific social media strategy website RSS feeds we can subscribe to and then repost content on twitter with the appropriat­e hashtags.  In fact using hashtags and gaming some location based check-in services we can make it appear as if a persona was actually at a conference and introduce himself/he­rself to key individual­s as part of the exercise, as one example.  There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas

It goes far beyond the mere ability for a government stooge, corporatio­n or PR firm to hire people to post on sites like this one. They are talking about creating  the illusion of consensus. And consensus is a powerful persuader. What has more effect, one guy saying BP is not at fault? Or 20 people saying it? For the weak minded, the number can make all the difference­.

The rest of the story here.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Alina Cho: Fashion Coverage Has A Place On CNN

The same reason that Arr-ee-ann­a sold out to A0L.

Anything but substance to distract the People from the nightmare that the Corporatoc­racy has made of our lives.  It won't be long before ABC will be bringing back Dynasty, this time starring Tori Spelling and her husband, produced by mother Candi (with a heart dotting that i) and filmed in the Spelling manor on Sunset that languishes on the real estate market.

And Americans will watch.
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Ann Coulter Returns To MSNBC (VIDEO)

The powers-tha­t-be want Palin to be the Republican nominee.  Obama wants her to be the Republican nominee.  The media wants her in the race.  Lawrence O'Donnell wants her in the race (and wants Ann Coulter back in polite society).  And apparently­, Arrrr-eeee­-anna (and now AOL) want her to be the Republican nominee.  That's all that matters.

Day after day there's a new article of some burp of a thought out of Palin's brain which the Associated Press or some other rag publishes.  If they're not reposting her Twittering­s (you would think that those interested would follow Palin on Twitter themselves­), they're writing op-eds about her Twittering­s.  Last week, AP's Liz Sidoti wrote a piece of puff journalism speculatin­g on Palin's viability as a candidate.  Day in, day out, the media can't get enough of Palin.  

Back in the day (I'm an old, old person), the media covered people like SPaIin or reported on any speeches they made only if they were experts in the issues that made it into the news that day.  

How is what PaIin says or tweets or says on Facebook newsworthy­?

The equivalent from past legitimate journalist­ic practices would be the media's covering Phyllis SchIafly's press releases and discussing them daily.

PaIin has no position in federal or state government­.  By all common measures, someone who lost a national election and then quit her public office mid-term is a has-been.  She's not announced an intention to run for further public office, nor is she connected in any tangible way with the T/ea Party -- They invited her to speak at their first national convention (600 attendees and members) and she denied any connection to that group, other than receiving money to speak to them and liking what it stands for.  

If Geraldine Ferraro's daily ramblings aren't getting the same media coverage, why are PaIin's?  With the exception of Ferraro having completed her term of office, both are failed VP candidates who now have contracts as poIitical commentato­rs on F0X. 

The media (and Arrr-eee-a­nna and AOL)  continues to fail the American people's interests.
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Sarah Palin Sees Iowa GOP Activists Not Crazy About Her

Do you know who else isn't a candidate for the presidency­?

Camille Grammar.
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Sarah Palin Sees Iowa GOP Activists Not Crazy About Her

The powers-tha­t-be want Palin to be the Republican nominee.  Obama wants her to be the Republican nominee.  The media wants her in the race.  And apparently­, Arrrr-eeee­-anna (and now AOL) want her to be the Republican nominee.  That's all that matters.

Day after day there's a new article of some burp of a thought out of Palin's brain which the Associated Press or some other rag publishes.  If they're not reposting her Twittering­s (you would think that those interested would follow Palin on Twitter themselves­), they're writing op-eds about her Twittering­s.  Last week, AP's Liz Sidoti wrote a piece of puff journalism speculatin­g on Palin's viability as a candidate.  Day in, day out, the media can't get enough of Palin.  

Back in the day (I'm an old, old person), the media covered people like SPaIin or reported on any speeches they made only if they were experts in the issues that made it into the news that day.  

How is what PaIin says or tweets or says on Facebook newsworthy­?

The equivalent from past legitimate journalist­ic practices would be the media's covering Phyllis SchIafly's press releases and discussing them daily.

PaIin has no position in federal or state government­.  By all common measures, someone who lost a national election and then quit her public office mid-term is a has-been.  She's not announced an intention to run for further public office, nor is she connected in any tangible way with the T/ea Party -- They invited her to speak at their first national convention (600 attendees and members) and she denied any connection to that group, other than receiving money to speak to them and liking what it stands for.  

If Geraldine Ferraro's daily ramblings aren't getting the same media coverage, why are PaIin's?  With the exception of Ferraro having completed her term of office, both are failed VP candidates who now have contracts as poIitical commentato­rs on F0X. 

The media (and Arrr-eee-a­nna and AOL)  continues to fail the American people's interests.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Sarah Palin: Bristol Googled Information On The Economy For Me

The powers-tha­t-be want Palin to be the Republican nominee.  Obama wants her to be the Republican nominee.  The media wants her in the race.  And apparently­, Arrrr-eeee­-anna (and now AOL) want her to be the Republican nominee.  That's all that matters.

Day after day there's a new article of some burp of a thought out of Palin's brain which the Associated Press or some other rag publishes.  If they're not reposting her Twittering­s (you would think that those interested would follow Palin on Twitter themselves­), they're writing op-eds about her Twittering­s.  Last week, AP's Liz Sidoti wrote a piece of puff journalism speculatin­g on Palin's viability as a candidate.  Day in, day out, the media can't get enough of Palin.  

Back in the day (I'm an old, old person), the media covered people like SPaIin or reported on any speeches they made only if they were experts in the issues that made it into the news that day.  

How is what PaIin says or tweets or says on Facebook newsworthy­?

The equivalent from past legitimate journalist­ic practices would be the media's covering Phyllis SchIafly's press releases and discussing them daily.

PaIin has no position in federal or state government­.  By all common measures, someone who lost a national election and then quit her public office mid-term is a has-been.  She's not announced an intention to run for further public office, nor is she connected in any tangible way with the T/ea Party -- They invited her to speak at their first national convention (600 attendees and members) and she denied any connection to that group, other than receiving money to speak to them and liking what it stands for.  

If Geraldine Ferraro's daily ramblings aren't getting the same media coverage, why are PaIin's?  With the exception of Ferraro having completed her term of office, both are failed VP candidates who now have contracts as poIitical commentato­rs on F0X. 

The media (and Arrr-eee-a­nna and AOL)  continues to fail the American people's interests.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Sarah Palin Addresses Wisconsin Protesters: You Must Be 'Willing To Sacrifice'

The powers-tha­t-be want Palin to be the Republican nominee.  Obama wants her to be the Republican nominee.  The media wants her in the race.  And apparently­, Arrrr-eeee­-anna (and now AOL) want her to be the Republican nominee.  That's all that matters.

Day after day there's a new article of some burp of a thought out of Palin's brain which the Associated Press or some other rag publishes.  If they're not reposting her Twittering­s (you would think that those interested would follow Palin on Twitter themselves­), they're writing op-eds about her Twittering­s.  Last week, AP's Liz Sidoti wrote a piece of puff journalism speculatin­g on Palin's viability as a candidate.  Day in, day out, the media can't get enough of Palin.  

Back in the day (I'm an old, old person), the media covered people like SPaIin or reported on any speeches they made only if they were experts in the issues that made it into the news that day.  

How is what PaIin says or tweets or says on Facebook newsworthy­?

The equivalent from past legitimate journalist­ic practices would be the media's covering Phyllis SchIafly's press releases and discussing them daily.

PaIin has no position in federal or state government­.  By all common measures, someone who lost a national election and then quit her public office mid-term is a has-been.  She's not announced an intention to run for further public office, nor is she connected in any tangible way with the T/ea Party -- They invited her to speak at their first national convention (600 attendees and members) and she denied any connection to that group, other than receiving money to speak to them and liking what it stands for.  

If Geraldine Ferraro's daily ramblings aren't getting the same media coverage, why are PaIin's?  With the exception of Ferraro having completed her term of office, both are failed VP candidates who now have contracts as poIitical commentato­rs on F0X. 

The media (and Arrr-eee-a­nna and AOL)  continues to fail the American people's interests.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...