gedblog

So like millions of Americans, I went to see PIXAR & Disney’s latest animated film, WALL•E this weekend. For those of you living under a rock, the film tells the tale of a brave little robot who is left to clean up the Earth after mankind dumps so much trash that he can’t live here anymore. Adventure, romance and of course humor ensue for the tiny bot with a Johnny 5 complex.

Reviews from critics and the movie-going public have been overwhelmingly favorable, and it’s easy to see why. Behind the futuristic facade of WALL•E lies basically a love story between WALL•E himself and the angelic EVE. The story also cleverly taps into an topical issue that is sure to raise the ire of some of the more conservative audience members - environmentalism.

Back in August of 2007, I wrote a post about PIXAR’s advanced PR for the film, via the Buy n Large viral website. Buy n Large is the company responsible for the vast consumerism that ultimately makes the Earth uninhabitable to the human race in the film. The message in WALL•E is clear - if things keep going the way they’re going, we won’t have a planet left to live on. This moral imperative is one of the major plot points of the film, and I’m betting it won’t be very long until we see right-wingers railing against Disney and PIXAR for “green propaganda”.

I’m willing to bet that by no later than this Wednesday, Michelle Malkin, Bill O’Reilly, Neil Boortz or some other misguided blowhard will do their best to alter WALL•E’s portrayal as lovable protagonist to that of a mechanized propaganda bot intent on brainwashing your kids. Rest assured it will happen, and when it does, I’ll update this post with which offender was first to pull the trigger.

In the end, nothing these people can say will diminish the movie’s endearing success. WALL•E is nothing short of an animated masterpiece that has its heart and message in exactly the right place. There is plenty of emotion and humor to keep audience goers smiling and parents safely content. And if kids get interested in recycling or gardening, let’s just say it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

UPDATE: Here’s a tweet that illustrates what I’m talking about. It’s starting.

UPDATE II: DING! DING! We have a winner, or rather a big, fat ignorant loser… in the form of everybody’s favorite shill from CNN, Glenn Beck. Think Progress has more too boot. To quote Weird Al, “Man, I hate it when I’m right.”

When news came last week that the United States Senate House passed a “compromise” version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), complete with retroactive immunity for telcos who illegally spied on law abiding Americans, I was pretty upset. Like most, it looked like the Democrats had caved once again. In the intervening time however, the majority of Americans have made their displeasure known with the provision and so Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) plan to filibuster any attempt to pass the bill:

“This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name. We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form. We will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans.”

Their efforts are backed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Hopefully it will help send a clear and concise message to President Bush and the rest of those in Congress who happen to think the 4th Amendment, and indeed the Constitution itself, isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up against this type of pressure from the President and his administration. John Gruber calls the pair of Senators heroes. I happen to agree.

Bringing myself to admit, and perhaps to some small degree, promote the disgusting hatred of racism turns my stomach. But media outlets, and some local bloggers have started to promote the idea that Barack Obama has finally “played the race card” in recent days by predicting that the GOP will try to use the issue against him. To all those reporters, bloggers and other misguided folks out there, I’ve got news for you: It’s too late for all that.

From the moment Obama put his hat in the ring, the “cards” started to fall. It wasn’t Obama that sold racist Curious George t-shirts with “Obama in 08″ on them. It wasn’t Obama that sold racist campaign buttons at a Republican state convention reading “If Obama is President… will we still call it The White House?”. No, that was the GOP. Let me state that again, it was the Texas state Republicans who distributed and promoted that particular brand of hate.

And now we have word from the Washington Post that interest in white supremacist groups has been sharply increasing. These Neo-Nazi and skinhead organizations (or cockroaches as blogger Oliver Willis calls them) have seen a dramatic increase in traffic to their online websites because of the prospect of an African American president in their future. So much for a color-blind society.

So don’t you dare tell me that Barack Obama is the one playing the race card on the electorate. Thanks to the scores of racists that have reared their ugly heads (both in private and public channels) these past few months, that hand was played long, long ago. For Obama to leave them sitting there without making the rest of us aware of the danger they represent is naive. Race is an integral part of his campaign, whether for good or bad, which is why a win in November would be all the more historic. Deal with it.

For months leading up to the presidential primary, Republican strategists, pundits and media mouthpieces were all chomping at the bit at the prospect of facing Hillary Rodham Clinton in the fall. The battle between the forces of Reagan-Bush conservatism and the “morally bankrupt” Clinton clan was one of the good fights that right-wingers everywhere were counting on to fire up the base, draw new, young Republicans and energize the religious right. Clinton herself perpetuated the myth that she was entitled to the Democratic nomination. When her campaign failed to plan for the political bombshell that turned out to be Super Tuesday, she had to know things were not going as planned.

I knew the right feared facing Obama in the general election. My suspicions were confirmed when Rush Limbaugh effectively told his ditto-head listeners to vote for Clinton in deep red states like Texas, a place where no God-fearing republican would admit to even liking Hillary, let alone pull a lever for her. Operation Chaos, as it was called, may have been sold under the guise of prolonging the battle between Hillary and Barack, but I suspect it had more to do with the desire of the right to give Clinton the boost she needed to take the nomination.

The best laid plans.

Ever since it was understood that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee, we’ve hear rumblings from the right that Obama was the wrong choice. Hillary is the more competitive candidate. Obama doesn’t have the “electoral math” to win against McCain in the fall. The simple truth is they’re scared shitless. Obama’s nomination puts them just where they didn’t want to be. This is now a race between a young, energetic and intelligent man who stands for real change and an older opponent who effectively represents “the status quo”. Obama has raised over 280 million dollars from over 1.5 million donors averaging about $100 each. McCain has to re-schedule his fundraising appearances because he doesn’t want to be seen with Bush.

I’m not going to kid myself and say this election is going to be easy. It won’t be. The right wing, from the Bush insiders like Karl Rove, hate radio jocks like Hannity and Ingram and internet right wingers like Drudge and Malkin are about to throw everything they have at the Senator from Illinois. They will do anything to try and slow down the speeding locomotive that is the Obama campaign. They and others fear the loss of power that Obama as President would represent and the shift in policies that would limit corporate control and restore the rule of law. They can feel the country slipping from their grasp like the snake oil they sold this country for the past 7 years. McCain stammers to a room of a few hundred and Obama draws crowds of tens of thousands. McCain and his supporters offer the rest of us unending war, promote the climate of fear started by Bush after 9/11, and attempt to drive a wedge between Americans. To these folks and others like them who live in ignorance of what true change is and what Barack Obama represents, I have only one thing to say…

Bring ‘em on.

Straight from the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” department comes this beautiful little email from a reader over at Andrew Sullivan:

“I am Floridian, and was told from the beginning that “my state would not count.” For that reason, I stayed home … to now “count” the Fl vote would disenfranchise me even more than if Fl were not to count at all. To the DNC & Howard Dean: I played by your rules, decided that you were telling me the truth when you said Fl votes would not count so I stayed home. Now, you’re going to count it? Well, screw you.”

This person is pissed and I don’t blame them. First they’re told their vote won’t count, so they stay home. Then Hillary manages to strong-arm Dean and the DNC and we hear rumors that some sort of “compromise” will be reached. We’re talking no-win scenario here folks. I really wish the Democrats would grow a spine every now and then, especially when dealing with their own. Yet another part of this campaign that Hillary Clinton managed to frack up royally. Calgon, take me away!

It’s now May 25th, and every day I peek at my bank account online in the hopes that my fabled tax stimulus check will magically appear so I can pay for gas. Since my social security number ends in the 00-20 range, it was supposed to have been deposited electronically starting the week of May 2nd, but so far no luck. No problem I say, maybe I’m getting a physical check instead of direct deposit. Well, if that was the case, it would have been mailed out by May 16th which was over a week ago. Unless it fell between the seats of my mail carrier’s car, it hasn’t shown up in my mailbox either.

So my question is, has anyone actually received their stimulus check yet? No one I know has. Have you? I’m sure we can chalk this one up to government inefficiency, but still. They’ll probably go out 2-3 months after when Bush said they would. Typical.

UPDATE: You gotta love the Internet. Head to howispentmystimuluscheck.com and tell the story of how you spent your rebate (with photos!). Seems like paying off debt tops the list so far, so much for stimulating the ‘ol economy George!

UPDATE II: Just got a letter from the IRS yesterday (Tuesday, June 10th) saying I’ll receive our check by the 13th. Of course if I don’t get it within 6 weeks, I’m to contact them. I’ve heard that once you get this letter, the check follows soon after, so I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ll see.

UPDATE III: Finally received our stimulus check in the mail today, June 16th, 2008. Only came one month late, so that’s not bad for the government I guess. Glad I’m not a disaster victim or something.

Ever since the May 6th primaries, things have been firming up for Barack Obama to claim his well-earned victory against Hillary Clinton. The fight has not been without damaging blows for the junior senator from Illinois, but that’s par for the course in today’s politics. Seeing the reports of the 75,000 people who came out to hear and support him in Portland Oregon, it’s finally starting to hit home with me. I firmly believe this man will be the next President of the United States.

I know Obama’s not a perfect man, nor has he professed to be. I realize he has baggage that some people distrust as well as a racial background that others in this country can’t see their way past. But for all these problems, his message of hope stands above the fray. I believe most people are finally ready to leave the fear and threats of perpetual war behind them. They are hungry to return to the ways of liberty and justice that made this country great. Barack Obama will show this nation that a government can be compassionate towards its citizens and still be strong when dealing with its enemies. We can care for our planet while creating jobs, not destroying them. And we can work together, from both sides of the aisle for the betterment of one and all. The journey is just beginning and for once, I’m excited to be a part of it.

While surfing tonight, I found a great site that highlights just how old John McCain really is. If elected, he would become the oldest first term President in our nation’s history. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, but being the leader of the free world is the most demanding, stressful job on the planet. Can a man who would take office at the age of 72 deal with the pressures, both mentally and physically, that the job would require?

This fall, the country is looking to elect someone who represents real change as we look to the future to solve important problems such as renewable energy independence, health care reform and global warming. Electing someone who is older than the state of Alaska itself is not a vote for the future, it’s a vote for the past. Here are some other things younger than John McCain (born Aug 29, 1936):

• The AARP (1958)

• McDonald’s (1940)

• The Polio Vaccine (1955)

• Bugs Bunny (1938)

• Both of Barack Obama’s parents (1936 & 1942)

• Dick Cheney (1941)

• Many, many more…

Just one year after last May’s stamp hike from .39 cents to .41 cents, rates are rising yet again. On Monday the price to mail a first-class letter be .42 and that roll of stamps you bought at the Post Office just last week will need .01 cent orphans in order to get mailed. Learning about this latest rate hike has really angered me, especially considering the current anemic state of the United States Economy. With the average cost of a gallon of gas approaching $4.00 a gallon, food prices that are skyrocketing and an ever weakening dollar, the last thing we need is to spend even more money to mail our bills and send our Father’s Day cards.

Of course, you could have purchased the Post Office’s “Forever Stamps” last week instead of the traditional .41 cent fare (I’ll never buy normal stamps again), but this still seems like a perfect occasion for “smart government” to step in and wave the rate increase for the good of average citizens. I realize that the increasing cost of fuel hits the Post Office just like average Joes, but I still think they could take one for the team. The only part of this equation that gives me any comfort is that I’ve made the shift to paying almost all my bills electronically in recent months. The only businesses that still get a paper check from me are local ones where paying online just isn’t an option. Eventually physical pieces of mail will become so expensive that it just won’t be practical anymore, but until then, I guess I’ll be visiting the Post Office on Monday to pick up a sheet of .01 cent stamps. Again. Ugh.

While watching the primary coverage last night, I was curious about the seemingly large number of delegates that were at stake here in North Carolina. As the Daily Kos reports, it turns out North Carolina received bonus pledged delegates from the DNC as a reward for playing it cool and going late in the primary process:

“To keep states spread out and not all clustered in February, the DNC offered bonus pledged delegates to those states that went late in cycle. Thus, instead of only getting 66 pledged delegates to the Democratic convention in Denver, Indiana gets to send 72. And North Carolina went from 89 delegates to 115. Those extra delegates put Indiana ahead of Tennessee and Maryland and gave it as much voting strength as Minnesota and Missouri. And North Carolina bypassed Massachusetts and New Jersey.”

So thanks to North Carolina’s willingness to wait our turn, not only did we most likely cast the deciding ballots in the race between Clinton and Obama, but our fine state will have more political leverage at the convention. Well done North Carolina, I always knew you were a class act!