The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

My contribution to the "whispering smear campaign" against Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman

2004-12-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

Is Ken Mehlman a gay hypocrite or what? Click here for an explanation.

Following anyone blindly is not a good idea

2004-07-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

The cult mindset of many Republicans is something that has been in the back of my mind for a while. The corporations and their hacks don't believe what they say--they are just trying to make a lot of money. But I worry about the people that have been fed the bullshit for the last 10 or so years and haven’t received any of the benefits. They will not be happy-and probably be in denial-when they find out that Limbaugh, O’Reilly, etc., have been misleading them this whole time. I would guess that about a third of the country just listens to the hacks without question.

What is weird is that the Republicans are to blame for their own mess, and they are angry, and you can see it in their eyes. They are used to a perfectly controlled media image, but now reporters are asking slightly difficult questions, and the Republicans can’t stand it. On top of this is all of the blatantly illegal things they have done—which even the stupidest person can recognize as wrong.

Two examples of the anger are Bush snapping at the Irish media (that reporter and the tabloids), and the president of Americans for Tax Reform (Grover Norquist) on Fox News. This second example shows how on edge the Republicans are. Neil Cavuto was throwing Grover softball questions—you know, “How will taxing the rich hurt the middle class?” And Grover freaked out. His eyes got wide, he raised his voice, he waved his hands around. He was upset that their meme was not working—not even on Fox News. The meme: taxes are evil. On the show Grover got all red in the face saying, “Taxes are evil. Taxes are evil. Don’t you understand?!” Grover—I hate to tell you—but everyone (even you) knows that taxes aren’t evil.

Add to this all the Reverend Moon bullshit, which the Republican Christians won’t like much…

I just hope there isn’t any violence. Seriously.

If You Still Worked Here, You'd Be Fired

2004-07-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

If you still think the Bush administration isn't a bunch of creeps and corporate sellouts, I have a new story. This story is very short, and I encourage you to quickly show it to your Republican family members and friends. You can read the original New York Times article here, but be prepared for some confusing writing.

Yay corporate thug tactics! (from Athenae at Atrios)

"An internal investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that the top Medicare official threatened to fire the program's chief actuary if he told Congress that drug benefits would probably cost much more than the White House acknowledged.

But neither the threat nor the withholding of information violated any criminal law, the report said. It accepted the Justice Department's view that Mr. Scully had "the final authority to determine the flow of information to Congress.'' Moreover, it said, the actuary "had no authority to disclose information independently to Congress.'"

Mr. Scully, we learn from this story, has excellent timing:

"Mr. Scully, who resigned in December, in part to become a lobbyist for health care companies, had denied threatening Mr. Foster but had acknowledged having told him to withhold the information from Congress.

The report said that if Mr. Scully still worked for the government, he might be subject to disciplinary action for possible violation of the department's standards of ethical conduct.

In recent weeks, Mr. Scully has registered as a lobbyist for major drug companies, including Abbott Laboratories and Aventis; for Caremark Rx, a pharmacy benefit manager; and for the American Chiropractic Association and the American College of Gastroenterology, among other clients. All are affected by the new Medicare law, which Mr. Scully helped write."

My Mission Statement

2004-06-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

So, besides my talk with God, I am writing this blog to draw attention to the vast right wing conspiracy. I became interested in the conspiracy watching The O’Reilly Factor. I really like The O’Reilly Factor, but I don’t agree with most of what Bill says. I think that Bill O’Reilly and I could have been friends if we were more the same age and had ever met. I find his jokes funny, and his favorite bands include Earth, Wind, and Fire and Tower of Power.

I was surprised when all of Bill O’Reilly’s guests were from the same places: the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, and Fox News to name a few. All these talking heads would come on and say the same thing. It seemed like they were all using the same talking points. Then I found out they were all using the same talking points. Talking points written by the Republican National Committee and conservative think tanks.

With these new revelations, I started investigating the different groups I saw on the O’Reilly Factor. I found it was hard to find independent information about most of the think tanks. Most of the information available was either on, or copied directly from, the think tanks' websites. But with a lot of searching around I was able to find out more things. And the more I looked around, the more I was surprised by what I found. Most surprising is that many think tanks get very little press while their employees are all over the press. Many people know about the Heritage Foundation, but there are dozens of other groups exhorting the same vision of America.

Many liberals find listening to Bill O’Reilly or Rush Limbaugh frustrating and painful. Liberals do not watch Fox News or listen to conservative radio. Avoiding this ill-iberal media is as bad as ignoring it. I think Bill and Rush are stupid and wrong, but I pay attention to what they say. We should remember that many people believe everything that Bill, Rush, Ann Coulter, and Joe Scarborough say. Conservative talk radio and Fox News are hugely successful. Liberals cannot ignore what the “other side” is saying. We must respond.

That is why I am writing this blog.

My Vision

2004-06-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

I always considered religious visions nuts. I thought that people having visions were schizophrenic, and had a lot of voices talking in their heads. Visions were crazy. Then I had a vision. I am definitely not schizophrenic, but I had a dream where a messenger of God talked to me. The dream was so weird I wrote it down. Honest to God, this dream is real. I am actually embarrassed to make this public, but here is the vision:

The vision began with a growing sense of uneasiness. Then I saw three scenes in quick succession. The first was President Bush walking around his office. Then I saw Vice President Cheney sitting at his desk writing something. Then I saw Condoleezza Rice sitting at her desk shuffling and stacking papers. There was no sound during these scenes, but the uneasiness was getting so strong that it felt like a nightmare.

Suddenly the scene shifted and I was looking at myself as a young boy in a white space with a bright light. It felt like I was in two places: watching myself as a boy and being myself. [When something was said, it came from myself and myself as a boy.]

I felt that it was a vision the moment I saw the bright light, and I said, “What is this? Where am I? Am I having a vision?” Soon after I said this there was a feeling of affirmation--like “yes.” Then I saw the scenes of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Condoleezza Rice, and I had a horrible feeling. The scene of Condoleezza Rice ended and a voice said, “What are you doing about these people?” The voice was sharp, quick, and demanding, like a father saying “What do you think you’re doing?” after his son did something exceptionally stupid.

I was taken very aback by the sharp question. I felt incredulous that I would have a vision just so a voice could scold me. I was also confused because I had always thought that the Bush administration was on the side of Christians and God. And I know the liberal agenda usually goes against what conservative Christians want. So I said, “But the people who are against Bush are for gays and abortion.” The voice, much more level, said “Yes, but these people [Right after “these people” was said, I saw three flashes BAM! BAM! BAM! of Bush, Cheney, and Rice.] are against truth and fairness.” [The bold style indicates that great importance and weight were given to the words “truth” and “fairness.” Not only did the voice give them emphasis, but I also had the feelings of importance and weight in my stomach when I heard the words.]

So I understood what the voice said, but I still was confused about why I was having a vision. The idea was preposterous. I said, “But I don’t believe in God.” [While I was saying this, I did not know why I was saying it because I thought that I was agnostic—like, maybe there is a God, maybe not. I felt when I said this that I was lying to God.] Then the voice, in a sort of jesting, caring way, said, “Well, He believes in you.”

Then the vision ended.

Mid January 2003