scharrison's blog

It's the holiday season again, which means our rabid consumerism gets cranked up several notches in intensity. See, we're not just consuming for ourselves, we're consuming for the dozen or two people who have made it to our, "I can't forget these people" Christmas list, which means that you've probably made it to all of their lists. And then there's that obsessive-compulsive styrofoam-reindeer-antler-wearing crazy person that has like 75 people on their list, and the only communication between giver and recipient each year is the card attached to the designer-imposter cologne. Which is cool.

I'm still having a little trouble comprehending the scope of our success in the election. Races I thought we might barely lose we won, and ones I thought we might barely win ended up being blowouts. Amazing. But hovering over the post-coital bliss is the horrible state of our economy, and the fear that the changes we need will be lost in the desperate struggle to survive until the economy turns around. But if North Carolina is going to not only survive but prosper, we're going to have to find the resources to take bold, innovative steps, especially in the area of energy production and usage.

This election cycle has brought into focus the performance (or lack of) from Senator Dole, and for many North Carolinians, the person they're seeing now barely resembles the Florence Nightingale they thought had been sent to Washington six years ago. That second person never really existed, as a close scrutiny of her career of disservice plainly proves, but we do love our fantasies and don't surrender them easily.

I know many of my fellow environmentalists are weary of this election season, as they are finding less and less evidence of real concern for the environment in the tone and stance of candidates from both major parties. While this is discouraging, it is (still) important to keep our focus on what the candidates' positions on the environment are. In that respect, Beverly Perdue is so far ahead of her opponent they're not even in the same league.

It should come as no surprise that Liddy Dole has supported the failed policies of President Bush ever since we made the huge mistake of sending her to the Senate six years ago. She'd been doing the same for three decades since Nixon appointed her to the Federal Trade Commission back in 1973, and she's made an art of ignoring learned opinion and common sense in favor of blind allegiance to whoever her current master is at the time.

I'm sure most of you are (by now) aware of what happened to Joe Killian at the Palin Rally the other day, where he was kicked to the ground by an irate Palin supporter. Not only was this an attack on the 1st Amendment, it was an attack on a fellow blogger. You would think this would generate some sympathy, solidarity and possibly a modicum of outrage from all local bloggers (imagine how we would react if this happened to Justin or BJ or Ray), but unfortunately that's not the case. Some Greensboro bloggers have chosen the very low road on this, and I hope this stink follows them for a long time.

Hat tip to Mark Binker over at Capital Beat for pointing me to Joe's blog:

“Oh, you think that’s funny?!” the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. “Yeah, that’s real funny…” he said.

And then he kicked the back of leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.

The vehemence displayed by John McCain in last night's debate in his promotion of nuclear power was both astonishing and frightening. Not only did he blatantly lie to the American people about the safety of nuclear power, he literally made a joke about Barack Obama's desire to improve the way we store spent fuel. Regardless of the outcome of this election, the misinformation spouted by a respected Senator and candidate for the U.S. Presidency was brought to the ears of millions in this country and abroad, which may have served the industry better than an actual McCain victory.

With a nod to the recent drop in the price of light sweet crude (I'm not going to say I told you so, but...I told you so) and the mad dash by producers to slow production to counteract said drop in price, I thought I would (once again) try to focus attention on the environmental impact of offshore drilling. In a near-future where Global Climate Change will already be jeopardizing the continued survival of some 1/4 to 1/3 of the world's species, we can no longer afford to be cavalier in our environmental behavior.

Back to the current price of oil for a minute:

I'm sure I'm not the only one reading this who just received a robo-call from "Freedom's Watch" attacking Kay Hagan for her stance on illegal immigration. But that call has absolutely nothing to do with illegal immigrants and everything to do with their fear that Kay won't be a puppet like Liddy Dole, helping them wage perpetual war in an effort to establish an American Empire.

Although Freedom's Watch was established in 2007 to promote the surge in Iraq, it's basically a construct to continue promoting the views and goals of PNAC (in exile) and the hawkish, ultra-right pro-Israel lobby:

The most recent whine coming from Republicans is centered around their alleged attempt to "reign in" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back in 2005, and the Democrats' blocking of such. I should have looked closer at this sooner, because there's always something that stinks just under the surface of these "valiant" efforts. Anyway, here's the deal:

Conservatives and Free Market fundies have historically been opposed to GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) for a few basic reasons: they target assistance to groups the government deems "in need" of assistance, and the profits/losses of said enterprises are controlled by the public (as opposed to private industry). The former is viewed as an entitlement, and the latter makes it difficult for private enterprises to compete with the GSEs.

Although the debate Friday night did expose some stark differences between the two candidates for President, there are some areas they both come close to agreement on. Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily follow that this consensus represents a solid policy position that will forward America's future. I am referring specifically to Barack Obama's stated desire to see Ukraine's accession to NATO successfully realized, which I believe is just one in a long line of wrong-headed and downright dangerous foreign policy moves.

Much has been said about Elizabeth Dole's voting record in the Senate being strongly supportive of President George Bush's misguided policies, and that is a legitimate issue by itself. But I believe her behavior as a party apparatchik and deal facilitator has had a much more profound impact on the way our country operates and the direction in which our tax dollars flow. And the more North Carolinians are exposed to the truth about her dealings, the more likely they will realize that she's a salesperson to the moneyed elite, as opposed to a public servant.

Inspired by tomorrow's inclusion of a hate propaganda DVD in the Raleigh News & Observer's Saturday Edition, I decided to (once again) try to bring focus to the most important factor in the upcoming national election: whether or not we will allow the empire-builders to continue taking our country down their delusional path to world dominance. And I chose the title (and picture) for a reason: unless their progress is arrested, they will slowly and methodically continue until they reach their objective.

Very often here at BlueNC, we focus on the things that people are doing wrong. Which is cool, because being progressive means that we eschew complacency and believe in taking active measures to "fix" the things that need fixing. But we also need to recognize progress when it happens, as it demonstrates that our "hope for the future" is neither naive nor in vain.