The only thing that blows harder than being stuck in one location while recovering from a major operation is being stuck in one location while recovering from a major operation AND that location being under renovation.

I mean, I’ve been home about 3 weeks so I really shouldn’t be bitching but having my bathroom totally demolished (tub removed, tile removed, vanity removed, mirror and medicine cabinet removed, etc, etc) makes things just a LITTLE hectic. I also feel bad for my younger brother who is doing all the work — kicking ass and taking names of course, but it’s a lot of work.

The new tub is in place now, that’s nice. When I can actually bathe again and use the facilities in peace will be even better. Maybe by the end of the month? **Shrug**

While it isn’t an FEC filing, it is rather telling to see how certain Democratic presidential candidates are doing with online fundraising through ActBlue. Actblue, for the uninitiated, is a Democratic clearinghouse that takes donations for all National Democratic candidates (and some state ones as well). While it isn’t anything more than another fundraising source, it also represents the people and the Netroots.

John Edwards leads the charge, having been in campaign mode since the end of the John Kerry campaign… He’s earned over a million dollars through the Act Blue service. Bill Richardson – also a long time suspected candidate — is next on the list with 288 thousand dollars to his name.

Wes Clark, Howard Dean, Al Gore — all undeclared or just flat out not running — have a few thousand to their name… And while Mike Gravel and Chris Dodd are the ones who are oh-fer ActBlue, it’s Hillary Clinton’s numbers that should send a message to people…

Hillary, who keeps getting named the front runner because of her recognizability (or her last name) has earned $81. Eighty One dollars.

There are pundits on the right who think Democrats are clamoring for HRC to be the nominee, and there are media pundits who think Hillary is a shoe in… Yet if the Internet community — the activists who are vocal online — aren’t showing their support financially for Hillary, then why are they going to show their support with their votes for her next year during the primaries?

Just saying. It’s known Hillary is not big with the online community, but she still is the big name in the field unless Al Gore were to enter the fray (which I don’t think will happen, sadly).

You know, I get my thoughts out pretty well on here. It might be snipping about personal matters, it might be poetry, it might be just re-listing song lyrics (which seem to be popular with the Search Engines) or quoting movies. Whatever the case, I blog here not-so-much but I do blog here from time to time.

I also blog elsewhere… And tonight I figured I would blog on DFA-link int he Pinellas County DFA group about my fondness for Al Gore and how I am holding out for him to enter the 2008 Presidential primaries.

The only thing I didn’t expect when I blogged this was the fact the post was going to get wider exposure than what I was aiming for. Much wider. Hugely wider.

Blog for America front-paged wider.

More than three years ago, I never would have dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would be featured on the front page of Blog for America — the then-It blog of the Howard Dean for President campaign. Dean failed in his attempts, but he founded Democracy for America in an effort to organize Democratic support better. Blog for America lived on and is still highly thought of on the liberal/progressive blogosphere.

And at 11:45 PM ET, on February 12th 2007 — yours truly has made it to the front page. Whodathunkit?

(NOTE — my post below has nothing to do with the Pinellas Democratic Party, it’s members or it’s direction. Apologies beforehand for any confusion or any suggestions this was targeting the local party.)

I’m getting pissed off.

I’m a user on a non-official Pinellas Democrta mailing list/user group and I’m just shocked and dismayed. Somewhat because of what is said on this, but mostly because these are (supposedly) Democrats saying it. I’m not sure if I should accept this as the normal discontent of Democratic voters or if I should feel this is wingnuttery going on?

I mean I am a blogger, I read Daily Kos, Florida Politics and Kate’s blog titled Out in Left Field but to give you an idea on some of these local “supporters” are standing… It’s like they are beyond left field. Maybe out in the bleachers? Maybe standing in the upper deck… Perhaps in the parking lot, but much more likelystanding on the freeway that passes the stadium.

OK, you get my analogy.

Being part of this group, I’ve trying to draw interest in local political campaigns and hob-nob with like-minds on the left. Yet I find so much hate for the party itself on there. Hate, naysaying, doomsday scenarios, conspiracy theories and general disconnect and discourse for the Democratic party. There is also a disconnect of the present and connection to the days of the past where the Democrats stood in the mid 1960′s.

For instance, there are people on this group complaining about both Democratic candidates running for Florida governor and attacking the party in general. These aren’t righties disguised as Democrats, these are Democrats who have ideals leading them beyond left field. No, not the ideals and principles that divided the Democratic party that you know and love (Gay Rights, or Women’s rights, the environoment or some other faction of the party) I mean their beliefs that everything is corrupted by money, by election fraud, by weak candidates and by the fact the Democratic party is so close to death.

Yes folks, supposed Democrats saying this. A far cry from the Crashing-the-gate, Democracy for America crowd, eh?

Example: Someone on the group has called Howard Dean a “Corporate Whore” for raising money for the Democratic party. The complaint was that Howard Dean “doesn’t show the same fire” he did during his presidential campaign and now he is supposedly a “pawn for the DLC.” The Chairman of the Democratic National Committee has helped raise more money for the national party (largely through small donations) and yet he must be a corporate whore for generating money at all or having to appeal to a broader group as the head of the DNC.

Right… Ok… 8-|

Example 2: public encouragement of Pinellas Democrats to vote third party or for instead of voting for Jim Davis or Rod Smith in the the Florida Gubenatorial Election. “It sends a message!” seems to be the logic behind that but after the 2000 election debacle, you’d think they’d know better. Especially Florida based Democrats.

Example 3: A woman who runs a clique of self-congratulatory members on this list tries to explain the civil rights movement from the 1950′s and 1960′s was “more intense than the ‘Grand Theft Auto’” video games. Not trying to play down the civil rights movement or the events of them — but having them compared to a video game in the first place (a stereotypically intense urban warfare game) is a mockery of analogy to describe it and belittles both those she addressed with this “logic” and those who were central parts of the civil rights movement.

And these are the regular voices that are supposed to represent the local Democratic party in Pinellas County? It’s a joke and a shame.

There are many members on this group who will not post but are Democrats and proud. They’re dismay or amazed with the wing-nuttery disconnect of the vocal minority of the group. Instead of what was supposed to be a tool for organization and a tool for sharing concerns and thoughts, articles and information with like minded people. the unofficial Pinellas Democrats mailing list happens to be a shelter for those who cannot connect to the realities of everyday life, and a general disdaine for the party they supposedly are members of.

There was an editorial story about the Daily Show with Jon Stewart that was published in the St. Petersburg Times on Monday. In this little article they suggested the Daily Show was actually hurting the country because of it’s cynism was discouraging America’s youth and convincing us that we shouldn’t vote.

HA!

Everyone I know — young and old — make the Daily Show with Jon Stewart part of their daily regimen (or at least catch it as often as they can). Are they turned off to voting? Hell no. Are they turned off to politics? Hell no.

The Daily Show isn’t enlightening, but in it’s cynical and ironic takes on the news, it does something that the major media outlets fail to do — it asks questions and shows the obvious flaws of those in control of the country (and sometimes the colorful nature of the country itself). It also shows the gullibility of our leadership and the failings of those in power to reach out to America’s youth as well as inspire us.

Johnny got pissed off so Johnny wrote a letter to the Editor. It was published today.

Daily Show’ is not a detriment’

Re: Is “The Daily Show” bad for democracy?

What’s this now? Jon Stewart and his crew of reporters are turning off youth with their irony, cynicism and sarcasm concerning the antics of our elected officials?

I find it hilarious that the article in question thinks so little of the youth of America. We’re a generation of people whom elected officials tend to ignore and brush off. We’re a generation of Americans who have grown up through scandal after scandal (Iran-Contra, the S&L fallout, Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, 9/11 failings, Valerie Plame, etc.) and the article in question thinks that a TV show with a humorous take on the sorry state of affairs in this country is detrimental to democracy?

No, sir. What’s detrimental to democracy is how little the older generations – especially the one in control – inspire the rest of us. It’s detrimental that the Daily Show, which bills itself as “fake news,” has been more biting and investigative than the mainstream media for the past six years.

John Fontana, Palm Harbor

Jon Stewart, Rob Corddry, Samantha Bee, Ed Helms and Jason Jones would have a field day with this letter — not one zinger, not one barb and not one instance of inserting the out-of-place-question-for-the-sake-of-humor that the Daily Show does so well.

The title of Northwest Leftists post is “The Most important book for Progressives”… He’s talking about Crashing the Gate and I must stress how true those words are.

If you read political books to be outraged instead of informed — trash like Michael Moore or Al Franken and their self-obsorbed writings — this book can and should replace that type of reading in your bookcase. While Crashing shows you reasons to be outraged at both the left and the right, it keys you in how things must change and how you must be part of the political process too.

It’s the Red versus the Blue.
The Old versus the New.

It shows you what’s wrong with the Democrats and how we can go about fixing it.

Please, if you’re a Democrat — this is required reading material.

I grew up a fan of the WWF and I re-acquired my fondness for wrestling late int eh 1990′s during the WCW/WWF wars. One of the performers for the WWF (now WWE) was former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle who played a pompous and crass patriot who embodied everything that you could dispise about an athlete. Selfishness, arrogance, etc, etc.
Kurt had a good “angle” though and played the part well. Still does in fact. One part of his repetoir was talking about his three I’s — three words begining with I that were his guiding principles — of Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence.

You realize that the country currently has it’s own three I’s? These aren’t principles that are guiding us but they are factors in our daily lives:

Inflation – you will not hear the Federal Reserve chairman talking about inflation, nor will you hear the Bush administration talk about how costs have skyrocketed over a short period of time. Everyone knows about gas prices, but real estate prices, durable goods, groceries, insurance premiums, medical care — everything is spiking for the common person. The federal governent is just concerned with the mega-ultra-large corporations in how they deal with this. Corporatiosn are going strong right now while workers wages are stagnent. It’s been almost a decade since minimum wage was increased in the United States and instead of promoting better treatment for employees, the Bush administration has worked vigilently to repeal work laws so corporations can profit and not be stradled by the costs of labor.

Intolerance – you reep what you sow and that is the case with the Dubai Port World deal and George Walker Bush signing off on the deal. Bush made Arab’s into the boogeyman of the 21st century with his rhetoric after 9-11. The propoganda coming out of the White House tied Iraq to 9-11 in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. People were scared and reacted to just that, signing off on the war because those damn Arabs attacked us first! (wwhich is a flat out lie and ignorant assumption by the citizens of the US)

So the Dubai Ports deal comes through and Bush has no problem with it — it’s a furtherment of his pro-big business agenda. Bill Clinton signs off on it and does what he can to help out behind the scenes (as Slick Willie has always been a proponent of Globalization — as is New York Times writer Paul Krugman). Everyone expects a free pass over this as that is how the country has operated since 9-11 (allowing Bush to get whatever he wanted)…

…Until the public learns about the deal.

Everyone cries foul — Republicans and Democrats alike. The Xenophobia of the Arab Boogeyman that Bush’s administration has so well played rears it’s ugly head. An Arab country in charge of US Ports?! An Arab country with ties to 9-11?!?

And yet, Krugman had a good point in a recent article which denounced this intolerance. The United States should be an active player in the global economy and we cannot run scared from a country in the middle east because of the ignorant and arrogant propoganda show that was put out by the Administration to further it’s agenda.

Of course I could go on about intolerance — everyone beign afraid of homosexuals, blacks and whites in the continued racial war of poverty, faux-Christians sullying Christian ideals and justifying hatred, violence and greed in His name, etc…

Isolationism – Go it alone, “with us or against us,” and the country trumping the world in matters of global politics (be it war, peace, treaties, signing off on elected officials in other countries or dispatchign elected officials in others)  The US has become largely islolated with thanks to it’s policies while being depedant and indebted to cheap foreign labor and despot oil suppliers.

The Deanmeister Rides again!

For all of the willy-nilly Democrats who see Dean being vocal as a bad thing – just how many times have you thought along the same lines as what Dean is saying? He’s saying NOTHING that the base of the Democratic party hasn’t thought or believed – and if you think that politicians distancing themselves from Dean is because what he is saying is bad, it’s more along the lines that Dean is saying things that are Liberal beliefs that aren’t embraced at all by Democrats elected to congress or elsewhere.

It peeves me to look at the situation the United States and the Tampa Bay area are in right now and to see at least two groups that I have been involved with in the past no where in sight to take the opportunity to reach more people with their beliefs.

Lets take the Green Party for instance. The third-party on the left side of the spectrum with it’s conservation, alternative methods, environmentally friendly (on top of other stances on things), etc…. WIth the Democrats weak and everyone smarting from higher gas prices and doomsday scenerios with regards to world resources, the Greens seem missing-in-action. There are no news headlines, and the local party seems oblivious to speaking out on these touchy issues… Or set their sights too far left and stay off the touchy subjects that are dominating the media.

Another issue that coincides the higher fuel costs are mass transit options. Tampa Bay has increasingly bad roads and reports nationally are that our intersections routinely have a grade of D-. In Tampa Bay, there is no push for Mass Transit coming from David Piniero and Tampa Rail much bigger than the one that already exists with his site If anything he seems more oblivious to the broader need for rail and a stronger Mass Transit systme in Tampa Bay (and points his transit talk to Tampa and Tampa alone) and oblivious to trying to preach his cause and the cause of ocal commuters through the blogsphere and mass-media (why not post on Tampa Bay Blogs that talk about transit issues? Why not email the local newspapers with letters and such talking about the merrits of rail?)

Of course, in either case, the ass-backwards politics of America still reign supreme…. But with certain issues that the Left has dibs on, being priorities… Wouldn’t you think that groups such as Mass-Transit advocates and Progressive Envvironmentalists would speak out and try to gain support?

I feel real weird sometimes when I accomplsih things for myself and by myself. Especially when it isn’t somethign that I have an official say over. Calling over cable problems a few weeks ago while my father ignored the problem and tried tos et up a phone line was one example of it. Today was another example of it.

For months – maybe longer – there’s been a lingering problem in the front of my yard – the water gutter has been cracking. Not just cracking but raising to such a degree it stops water from flowing down the gutter and to the drain. I’ve talked to my parents aobut it a few times and they have shrugged mostly at the problem. “Yeah, we need to get that fixed…. But what am I supposed to do about it?”

That attitude is something I’ve taken with me in life and being disabled to one degree or another, that attitude does not help me accomplish things I need to accomplish or SHOULD accomplish.

So Wednesday, before another bout of rain that we have had a good deal of here in Florida so far this year, I emailed the county about the problem. I expected to be ignored or hav emy problem lost in beauracracy and red tape.

Maybe it still will be but this morning it looked like somethign was actually going to be done.

First off, I get an email from someone with the North County Operatiosn center here in Pinellas. Standard wordplay with my complain being forwarded to appropriate parties and la-de-da. I thought this was proof of red-tape in the making.

…Up until someone showed up at the door a few hours later, asking for me.

A woman with the highway department had shown up and had talked to me briefly about the problem, I showed her the drain and how the water was being blocked by the rising concrete, which was being demonstrated while rain fell around us. SHe told me that they woudl be able to make the repair within a month and they woudl be in touch.

That’s mroe action on the problem in 24 hours than anyone in this family has had, besides talk, in several years.