Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920’s and rose to be the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, AL. That gave him oversight of the city police and fire departments and the power to enforce segregation, which he did with stunningly brutal efficiency. It… [read more]
Slogans
At the National Speakers Association convention earlier this year, Bruce Terkel delivered a powerful keynote presentation on marketing. During that speech he explained that President Obama’s 2008 slogan “Yes we can” was the second best marketing slogan ever. It is positive, it is inclusive and it is enabling. Sadly, Republicans utilize a different slogan strategy…. [read more]
Voices
Eighty percent of Americans who know of the over-reaching, legislation-from-the-bench Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case – the one that ensured unlimited money influencing our politics – want it reversed. That number varies by just a handful of percentage points, depending on respondents’ political views. This issue is the… [read more]
The RNC Has . . .
Izzy Santa, RNC Hispanic Communications Director as seen on MSNBC Weekends with Alex Witt, July 27, 2013. Here is a shortened and pretty accurate transcription of dialogue: Witt: The president indicated that there are Republicans who agree with him in private. Is that true? Santa: The President’s programs have failed and Democrats are abandoning him…. [read more]
Morale, Knees and Common Elements
I was on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to San Diego and somewhere over the Rockies I just couldn’t sit any longer, so I took a stroll to the galley at the back of the plane. Half-squats, twisting and tugging this way and that restored circulation, and I felt considerably better. This happened about… [read more]
Number 14
I’ve written many times about how big money steals our politics and our democracy and about how victories to make change for the better are hard won. Those victories are critical, though, because without change the big money people will continue to incrementally buy America. They will continue to disenfranchise more and more Americans. They… [read more]
Bankruptcy
No, not that kind. This is about political bankruptcy. It is about a Republican Party that doesn’t make decisions based on fact and, in fact, ignores fact and instead creates fatuous fantasies. It is a party that brought us a president who doesn’t read, who ignores facts and who makes decisions based on gut hunches. … [read more]
Are You an Old, Rich White Guy?
Pollution is an ordinary part of manufacturing. For example, those shiny, chrome plated gizmos like your ballpoint pen and the reflectors of the tail lights of your car are bathed in toxic chrome when they are made and they drip chrome into the water that rinses them. Capturing that residual chrome is much more expensive… [read more]
The American Disease
We have an advanced case of The Stupids. This disease can be contracted by constant exposure to public officials saying and doing idiotic things. It results in eventual Stupids fatigue, marked by lack of reaction to outrageous behavior. Here are some common causes of this nationally debilitating disease. Bible-thumping zealots tell us that 9/11 happened… [read more]
Nothing To See Here
A Roundup of the Ridiculous The IRS investigated several 501(c)4 organizations. We grant these businesses tax exempt status because they, “. . . operate exclusively for social welfare.” That’s great, except the outfits in question were spending nearly all of their money for political attack advertising. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Mandate On Reproducing… [read more]
