http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/category_rss/media Vietnam was my war, my senior trip.  58,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, most by small arms fire, up close, personal and such an adrenalin rush that many Vietnam veterans are hooked to this day.  Our fuses are short and our mood swings are legend, it takes a lot of VA prescription drugs to manage the madness.  No one tells a story like Bill Moyers, it is in his Baptist minister DNA, in the days of Jesus they called him teacher/master/rabbi, enjoy this lesson in history.  BTW, LBJ was not as dumb as he looked or sounded.  The real villains in this story are the Petraeus/Tommy Franks/McChrystal's of yesteryear. MC Watch and Listen November 20, 2009 BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal. Our country wonders this weekend what is on President Obama's mind. He is apparently, about to bring months of deliberation to a close and answer General Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops in Afghanistan. When he finally announces how many, why, and at what cost, he will most likely have defined his presidency, for the consequences will be far-reaching and unpredictable. As I read and listen and wait with all of you for answers, I have been thinking about the mind of another president, Lyndon B. Johnson. I was 30 years old, a White House Assistant, working on politics and domestic policy. I watched and listened as LBJ made his fateful decisions about Vietnam. He had been thrust into office by the murder of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963-- 46 years ago this weekend. And within hours of taking the oath of office was told that the situation in South Vietnam was far worse than he knew. Less than four weeks before Kennedy's death, the South Vietnamese president had himself been assassinated in a coup by his generals, a coup the Kennedy Administration had encouraged. South Vietnam was in chaos, and even as President Johnson tried to calm our own grieving country, in those first weeks in office, he received one briefing after another about the deteriorating situation in Southeast Asia. Lyndon Johnson secretly recorded many of the phone calls and conversations he had in the White House. In this broadcast, you're going to hear excerpts that reveal how he wrestled over what to do in Vietnam. There are hours of tapes and the audio quality is not the best, but I've chosen a few to give you an insight into the mind of one president facing the choice of whether or not to send more and more American soldiers to fight in a far-away and strange place. Granted, Barack Obama is not Lyndon Johnson, Afghanistan is not Vietnam and this is now, not then. But listen and you will hear echoes and refrains that resonate today.............................................................. BILL MOYERS: "Now in a different world, at a different time, and with a different president, we face the prospect of enlarging a different war. But once again we're fighting in remote provinces against an enemy who can bleed us slowly and wait us out, because he will still be there when we are gone. Once again, we are caught between warring factions in a country where other foreign powers fail before us. Once again, every setback brings a call for more troops, although no one can say how long they will be there or what it means to win. Once again, the government we are trying to help is hopelessly corrupt and incompetent. And once again, a President pushing for critical change at home is being pressured to stop dithering, be tough, show he's got the guts, by sending young people seven thousand miles from home to fight and die, while their own country is coming apart. And once again, the loudest case for enlarging the war is being made by those who will not have to fight it, who will be safely in their beds while the war grinds on. And once again, a small circle of advisers debates the course of action, but one man will make the decision. We will never know what would have happened if Lyndon Johnson had said no to more war. We know what happened because he said yes." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj/commentary#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:25:22 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhj/ What is our country coming to? Earlier today, we learned about an offensive, racist billboard right here in Colorado--attacking President Obama and comparing him to terrorists. The billboard was created by Wolf Automotive, at their location here in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Check out the photo to the right, then join the pledge to boycott. http://www.ProgressNowColorado.org/WolfAuto We called Wolf Automotive to ask them what their intent was in putting up that sign. The man we spoke with defended the sign, and indicated he has no intention of taking the sign down, and it was quickly apparent that he was a "birther." The "tea party" movement and the "birthers" are becoming more and more outrageous. They're in the thrall of demagogues like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Peter Boyles, Sarah Palin, and right-wing elected officials in Colorado like Senator Dave Schultheis--who sent out a statement last week comparing President Obama to the 9/11 terrorists who flew United Flight 93 into the ground. We'll defend anyone's First Amendment right to speak his or her mind. However, the "marketplace of ideas" that the First Amendment protects only works when everyone speaks out. If hate like that spread by Dave Schultheis and the owners of Wolf Automotive is allowed to go without a response, then we allow the perception that these ideas have merit. We have both the right and the obligation under the First Amendment to publicly reject ideas that we find abhorent and offensive. Please help us respond to this latest attack from the Right by doing a couple of things. First, please click on the link below and pledge to boycott Wolf Automotive until they take down this billboard. http://www.ProgressNowColorado.org/WolfAuto After you sign the pledge, we'll provide you the phone numbers for the Wolf Automotive Group--they have four dealerships located in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Please take a few minutes to call and ask them, respectfully, to take their sign down. We want to respond, but we want to resist being dragged into incivility by the hatred that we're confronting. P.S. If you are on Twitter, please copy and paste the tweet below and share far and wide: Join the Boycott! Wolf Automotive Group in CO WY & MT proud of their anti-Obama, anti-Muslim, racist hateful billboard. http://bit.ly/4KLxtz P.S.S. Denver talk-radio host Peter Boyles has apparently been coordinating with Wolf Automotive for months on this. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108289 Cross-posted at ProgressNow Colorado http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhx http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhx/commentary#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:03:43 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhx Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhx/ A bit of war music for Veteran's Day, the dead cry, 'Remember me'  the mothers cry, 'I can't forget'  the nation cries, 'I know not war or sacrifice and we will forget'  MC Music from "Mansions of the Lord " The song was sung by the  West Point Glee Club  at the end of the movie "We Were Soldiers" "The Mansions of the Lord"  To fallen soldiers let us sing  where no rockets fly nor bullets wing  Our broken brothers let us bring  to the mansions of the Lord  No more bleeding no more fight  No prayers pleading through the night  just divine embrace, eternal light  in the mansions of the Lord  Where no mothers cry and no children weep  We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep  All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord  Words by Randall Wallace http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP/commentary#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:34:25 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRP/ Lets see, McChrystal wants 40,000 troops and his boss, Petraeus, is keeping his mouth shut. What's up with that? MC "— Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s reported recommendation of 40,000 additional troops — is itself counterinsurgency light. In his definitive recent field manual on the subject, Gen. David Petraeus stipulates that real counterinsurgency requires 20 to 25 troops for each thousand residents. That comes out, conservatively, to 640,000 troops for Afghanistan (population, 32 million). Some 535,000 American troops couldn’t achieve a successful counterinsurgency in South Vietnam, which had half Afghanistan’s population and just over a quarter of its land area."   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ/commentary#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:27:51 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnJ/ From the Bob Herbert op/ed, "Igniting the Growth of Jobs" NY Times '40,000 teachers lost their jobs in the last year.  16 to 29 year olds, worst unemployment ever since national records have been kept.   One in four black men in Illinois between the ages of 20 and 24 has a job.' One of the regents of the University of Colorado, Michael Carrigan, told me that Colorado had a return on investment of 40 to 1 for each dollar invested in higher ed. The only figures I could find for Colorado was a 15.07 percent return.  New Jersey leads the nation with 42.32 percent, followed by Massachusetts 39.16, New York 37.82, California 36.53 percent.  All in all a substantial return on investment.  The lowest in the nation, predictably, was Mississippi at 6.49 percent.  Most surprisingly, Indiana is second from the bottom at 7.22 percent Higher Ed Return on Investment for States Most significantly, Herbert says this: ""The past," as William Faulkner told us, "is not dead. It’s not even past ." The lessons of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s are right in front of us, ready to be studied, analyzed, updated and applied to the present-day needs of the country." I hate to say this, but we are a country of nepotism, in our unions, our military, in corporations, in government.  Because of this "inbreeding" and counterproductive behavior, we must import the brightest minds/strongest work ethics from around the world to carry our water and be used as if indentured servants.  It is all a vast pyramid scheme where the unqualified extinguish the flames of the most gifted and reap the rewards off the backs of the timid.  Their only qualification?  Being members of the lucky sperm club.  Here's something the "conservative revision" Bible will surely leave out, "As you have done to the least of these......."  The least very much includes the youthful poor, who have no say in the conditions they find themselves in and obviously don't have the attention of those that have the most.  While we argue about war, healthcare, social justice, gay rights, Obama's Nobel Prize, etc., no one considers our most precious asset nor what should be our greatest legacy to them, "Liberty and Justice for all .."  This is what is great about the idea of America, eloquently pronounced in the Preamble of the Constitution, not just to ourselves but to our Posterity,  the word was capitalized unlike the word "ourselves": http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG/commentary#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:30:58 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnG/ If one were consider the US financial industry as a threat to the welfare of the nation and an entity without constraint or regulation, being in effect outside the law of the US with many foreign investors in collusion might legally be considered "foreign" and a quasi government, fully capable of seriously injuring the host nation. One might also assume that given the conservative/capitalistic propensity that the 14th Ammendment gives corporations citizenship status, a conclusion might be drawn that the US government (of, by and for the people) has been overthrown and seriously injured without a shot being fired. As far as attracting "good people" and your belief that members of Congress work long hours, them making more money in the private sector, reasonable compensation, I find all to be extremely laughable. Assuming that most members of congress are lawyers and also taking into consideration their incompetence as law makers, I would be hard pressed to hire one of them: In May 2006, the median annual earnings of all wage-and-salaried lawyers were $102,470. The middle half of the occupation earned between $69,910 and $145,600. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of lawyers in May 2006 were: Management of companies and enterprises $128,610 Federal Government 119,240 Legal services 108,100 Local government 78,810 State government 75,840 "Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." "Outside legal spheres, the word "traitor" may also be used to describe a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, team, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong. Often, such accusations are controversial and disputed, as the person may not identify with the group of which they are a member, or may otherwise disagree with the group leaders making the charge." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnC http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnC/commentary#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:51:01 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnC Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnC/ My advice to Pelosi and Reid, present and promote solutions to our problems, divest their corporate collusion, ignore Republican obstruction, even if it means changing the rules of the filibuster and severely punish, by any means necessary, Democrats that don't play well with other members of their party. This is a battle between the people and the political parties/corporatocracy. The only way this battle can be won by the people? Continued exposure of elected officials and their complicity in the defilement of democracy, which is treasonous by definition, regardless of party affiliation. Many party officials disapprove of self examination or critical observations regarding ethics, leadership or devotion to the principles of democracy (free and equal representation of people). Primaries are heretical and grassroots activism is discouraged. Within limits, never ask for permission because authority is invariably hard wired to say no and that just compounds frustration and discourages activism. Public financing of federal and state elections is a step in the right direction, but even if it were instituted, we would still have a problem with lobbyists writing laws. Lawmakers encourage this practice, either because they are understaffed or lazy. We already know they only read the summary and not the fine print. Bills violate the most important rule of all, Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) and they are purposely kept indecipherable for a reason, to conceal cronyism and pork. You think members of Congress work hard for the money? "By the time the gavel comes down on the 109th Congress on Friday, members will have "worked" a total of 103 days. That's seven days fewer than the infamous "Do-Nothing Congress" of 1948." (Last figures I can find) Rank and file congressional pay is three and half times the median income of the United States. Three times the median income of an electronics engineer, four times the median income of K-12 teachers, almost eight times the median income of a preschool teacher and last but not least, $56,000 more than median income of a GP Doctor. That would leave the 109th Congress 262 days to travel, campaign, extort money, etc., instead of writing laws, answering emails, letters and faxes and generally doing the work of the people. U.S. Congressional salaries and benefits have been the source of taxpayer unhappiness and myths over the years. Here are some facts for your consideration. Rank-and-File Members: The current salary (2009) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (2009) Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members. Senate Leadership Majority Party Leader - $193,400 Minority Party Leader - $193,400 House Leadership Speaker of the House - $223,500 Majority Leader - $193,400 Minority Leader - $193,400 Add to all of this, up to 80% of their pay when they retire. $139,200 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnB http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnB/commentary#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:57:11 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnB Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnB/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4I2f0ZO6g http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS9 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS9/commentary#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:22:32 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS9 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZS9/ Colorado Pols recently mentioned a story in the Denver Post about the "early" (as in six months or less, with an intensified supervision program) release of some prisoners due to budget cuts. The story mangled the arithmetic and wrongly suggested problems in Willie Horton overtones. The right wing Colorado Springs Gazette even helped defuse this controversy and defend Governor Ritter, because in the end it was good public and fiscal policy. The Post reporter simply read far enough in to get excited and stopped doing his job. There's been a lot of concern about the quality of reporting on local political issues, more so since the closure of the Rocky Mountain News earlier this year. A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop in Denver on "Saving the News," and the loss of the Rocky's competitive newsroom was the center of the discussion. What motivates media to get the story right if there is no business interest in doing so? In the middle of thinking about that question, I was interrupted by another egregious example of the Denver Post getting the story wrong. Maybe the worst yet, yesterday's ZOMG newsflash from the Post, titled "State audit blasts Colorado's CollegeInvest" - CollegeInvest, the agency that runs Colorado's student-loan forgiveness and scholarship plans, lost track of many of the students it was supposed to help, managing to distribute only $91,000 of the $3.8 million lawmakers expected it to hand out last year. The agency also spent $12 million in administrative expenses, not including salaries and benefits for 37 employees, a state audit found. CollegeInvest gave 76 students a total of $91,000 in Early Achievers Scholarships in fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, state auditors said. [...] Auditors found that for the past two years, CollegeInvest had more than $12 million in administrative expenses, not including salaries and benefits for 37 employees. The agency spent almost $10 in administrative costs for every $1 disbursed in the Early Achiever Scholarships, the audit said. The premise of the story is obvious: CollegeInvest spent $12 million to hand out $91,000. Except that's a flat-out lie, the Post was forced to note in a correction published today. Because of a reporting error, an editorial on Page 10B on Friday about CollegeInvest said the division incurred $12 million over four years to get its scholarship program up and running. That amount covered all of CollegeInvest's operations, which includes scholarship programs, college savings plans and student loans. As in billions of dollars worth of operations. Meaning that they're complaining about 1% of CollegeInvest's total operations. And this article's whole premise, "$10 in administrative costs for every $1 disbursed," is nonsense. And oh by the way, NOT AN EDITORIAL EITHER, but thanks for the irony. Isn't it great how they ran a fine-print correction that only a fraction of the readers of the original story will ever see? Isn't it going to be great when this story is repeated correction-free in a Republican campaign commercial next year? All I can say, companeros, is this wouldn't have happened in 2008: not with my friend Bill Menezes at Colorado Media Matters on the case, not with the Rocky Mountain News competitively checking the facts. There are still some good reporters out there like Rocky survivor Lynn Bartels, but many checks and balances in our local media culture have been lost. People ask me all the time what worries me most about 2010, and I've got to say at this point it's not the righties. The decline in the quantity and quality of local political news, substituted with ill-informed sensationalist drive-bys like this, represents a much more clear and present danger to our common good. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZSy http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZSy/commentary#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:16:40 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZSy Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSy/ I've been a little depressed lately, the Michael Moore movie seems to have intensified the despair. Much has been said to marginalize the so called "left wing" of the Democrat Party. In reality, the left wing is the "right" wing, meaning that it is the segment of the party that is mostly correct in it's philosophies and promotes academic, logical introspection and solutions. Most of all they are somewhat unselfishly devoted to truth, justice and the idea that America is duty-bound to strive for a more perfect union. That liberty and justice for all applies to our law and most certainly to economic equity. I am afraid that conservative/blue dog Democrat thought implies no room for improvement or reflection and a preference for a balance that is in their favor. The Right Wing of the Democrat Party seems the most "Christian" in its opinions and deeds. However, they are less likely to belong to an organized religion, they carry within them the only law that matters when dealing with most human, animal and earthly interaction. The Golden Rule is at once logical and effortless, what else could qualify as "self-evident" if not the Golden Rule. Where are we as a nation? From the Declaration of Independence comes a profound clue, an indication that we are in fact sheep, the status quo is undemanding of social responsibility or activism: "accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." The Declaration of Independence "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed............................." In the words of Ann Richards in answer to, "What must Democrats do in order to win" she answered, "You (All of us) must find the courage to talk to the people you don't know and tell them things they may not want to hear." Michael Moore has that kind of courage. I wish I had asked Governor Richards if there was a cure for complacency. MC CONFORMITY We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. - Mark Twain's Autobiography Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). Mark Twain- Notebook, 1904 Conformity-the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority. Mark Twain- "Corn Pone Opinions" TREACHERY Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremities of the same procession. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by. Mark Twain- Pudd'nhead Wilson TRADITION ...scrap heap of unverifiable odds and ends which we call tradition. Mark Twain- Speech, 5/25/1908 JUSTICE The rain ...falls upon the just and the unjust alike; a thing which would not happen if I were superintending the rain's affairs. No, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors I would drown him. - Mark Twain, a Biography TRUTH Familiarity breeds contempt. How accurate that is. The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it. Mark Twain- Notebook, 1898 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY/commentary#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:58:31 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSY/ Great writing and video clips What "Capitalism" Is Not By Terrance Heath Created 10/02/2009 - 11:26am If I were to summarize message Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story in one sentence, it would be this: Capitalism is not a form of government. That's the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the movie, via 1950s educational/propaganda films. Capitalism is not a form of government. It is a tool we've allowed to be used as a weapon. We threw out the instructions and rules for its usage, and it became a weapon — much like a hammer can be used to build a house or smash a skull, depending on whether it's wielded by a carpenter or a psychopath. Moore spends the rest of the movie showing us how we not only tossed out the rules, but junked every other tool in our collective toolbox, and left ourselves with the hammer. But everything is not a nail, and the hammer isn't suited to every aspect of the task in front of us. Moore gives us until the end of the movie to figure out what that seemingly abandoned task might be. Capitalism is populated by people whose names we know and people whose names we don't — all characters in what Michael Moore has subtitled "a love story." We know the speeches of the former, and the stories of the latter, because we've watched those same stories unfold in our own communities in the last couple of years. The speeches were intended to arouse our passions, by retelling part the most recent chapter in the story of how we got here — the part that happened on Wall Street and in Washington. Continued Campaign for America's Future http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSs http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSs/commentary#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:02:16 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSs Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSs/ I saw the movie tonight at a special showing at Chez Artiste. Mr. Moore has done it again, he has taken pure, unadulterated truth and made it an art form. Moore expressed a desire to be a priest in his early days, I think he became one for all intents and purposes. Bravo, Mr. Moore, you are a priest in every sense of the word. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP/commentary#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:08:48 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSP/ US firms quit Chamber of Commerce over climate change position Nike and Johnson & Johnson among corporations resigning from business organisation in protest over chamber's resistance to 'cap-and-trade' legislation The US Chamber of Commerce has been accused by Pacific Gas & Electric of 'extreme rhetoric and obstructionist tactics' for its opposition to action on climate change. The largest American business federation, the US Chamber of Commerce, has suffered a rash of high-profile walkouts as multinational companies become uncomfortable with the organisation's hard-line opposition to measures tackling climate change. Continued: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/sep/29/us-chamber-commerce-climate-change http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSk http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSk/commentary#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:50:49 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSk Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSk/ If the American people are fed up with war, imagine how the soldiers, sailors and airmen feel.  Besides, being "fed up with war" would imply America's sacrifice in general or  profound awareness of what our troops endure.  I can name several of the Colorado delegation that have never visited the Denver VA and without naming names, I daresay, with the exception of patients, their families and a handful of volunteers, the VA is a total mystery to most and a place where you can meet America's most recent wounded heroes along with many from the past.  If you haven't seen "Born on the Fourth of July" rent it.  The only difference between then and now?  The VA is even less prepared to deal with those in it's care and those new to the system.  Without civilian knowledge and advocacy, the VA remains what it is and not what politicians call the "best care in the world."  Not sure how these young men and women are doing it, after my Vietnam tour, I was not capable mentally or physically from doing another.Herbert mentions a victory parade towards the end of this op/ed.  I know that Colorado Springs had a parade in honor of Ft. Carson a few years ago.  Has it ever occurred to any large American city to have a thank you parade for any of the major combat units that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  After the first tour?  The second tour?  The third tour?  MC NY Times September 26, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Fed Up With War By BOB HERBERT Most Americans, looking at a globe, would be hard pressed to find Afghanistan. Americans on the whole know very little about the land or its people — and care even less. They know we’re at war over there, wherever it is, but if you were to ask what a Pashtun is or mention the name Abdullah Abdullah you would most likely get a blank stare. Americans’ minds are on other things, like trying to figure out why, if the Great Recession is over, as Ben Bernanke seems to believe, the employment landscape still looks like a toxic waste dump. A New York Times/CBS News poll found that eight years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, there is a general feeling of disenchantment with our military involvement there and a desire to bring it to an end. About half of all Americans believe that the war has had no effect on the threat of terrorism, and a majority want the troops out of there in two years. Americans are tired of the war. Some of the young people currently being outfitted for combat were just 10 or 11 years old when Al Qaeda struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. They are heading off to a conflict that most Americans are no longer interested in. The difference between the public’s take on this war and that of the nation’s top civilian and military leadership is both stunning and ominous. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf/commentary#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:06:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSf/ Thanks, Larry, for this op/ed.  General Hoar and many others excepted from my statement regarding arms sales, etc.  That's the problem in painting with such a broad brush, my bad.  However, there are peacocks that get under my skin.  Look at all the fruit salad and bling on the general on the left, David Petraeus, not a Vietnam vet and the General on the right, Joseph Hoar, a Vietnam vet.  Krulak on the far right has a little more bling than Hoar.  He has a pretty good reason for it, in addition to Hoar's Bronze Star for Valor and Combat Action Ribbon, Krulak was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.  David Petraeus was a Major General when awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and never discharged his weapon.  They should prosecute Petraeus for impersonating a peacock.  Please read the op/ed below the Wikipedia entry.  MC     "General Hoar drew upon his experience with CENTCOM in the days leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq to stress the importance of allied cooperation, notably the ability to base military operations from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, as key to success in the region.   As U.S. strategy for the invasion coalesced, Hoar expressed misgivings, in particular regarding the number of troops committed to the operation. A year after the official cessation of hostilities, Hoar continued to maintain that coalition forces did not have enough troops on the ground to accomplish their mission.  In December 2003, Hoar stated that Assistant Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, "...doesn't know much about the business he's in".  In testimony before the Senate committee on foreign relations on May 19, 2004, he stated regarding the situation in Iraq, "I believe we are absolutely on the brink of failure. We are looking into the abyss" On September 7, 2004, Hoar and seven other retired officers wrote an open letter to President Bush expressing their concern over the number of allegations of abuse of prisoners in U.S. military custody.  In it they wrote: "We urge you to commit – immediately and publicly – to support the creation of a comprehensive, independent commission to investigate and report on the truth about all of these allegations, and to chart a course for how practices that violate the law should be addressed." Wikipedia Fear was no excuse to condone torture The Miami Herald September 11, 2009 BY CHARLES C. KRULAK and JOSEPH P. HOAR In the fear that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans were told that defeating Al Qaeda would require us to ``take off the gloves.'' As a former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and a retired commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, we knew that was a recipe for disaster. But we never imagined that we would feel duty-bound to publicly denounce a vice president of the United States, a man who has served our country for many years. In light of the irresponsible statements recently made by former Vice President Dick Cheney, however, we feel we must repudiate his dangerous ideas -- and his scare tactics. We have seen how ill-conceived policies that ignored military law on the treatment of enemy prisoners hindered our ability to defeat al Qaeda. We have seen American troops die at the hands of foreign fighters recruited with stories about tortured Muslim detainees at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. And yet Cheney and others who orchestrated America's disastrous trip to ``the dark side'' continue to assert -- against all evidence -- that torture ``worked'' and that our country is better off for having gone there. In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Cheney applauded the ``enhanced interrogation techniques'' -- what we used to call ``war crimes'' because they violated the Geneva Conventions, which the United States instigated and has followed for 60 years. Cheney insisted the abusive techniques were ``absolutely essential in saving thousands of American lives and preventing further attacks against the United States.'' He claimed they were ``directly responsible for the fact that for eight years, we had no further mass casualty attacks against the United States. It was good policy . . . It worked very, very well.'' Repeating these assertions doesn't make them true. We now see that the best intelligence, which led to the capture of Saddam Hussein and the elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was produced by professional interrogations using non-coercive techniques. When the abuse began, prisoners told interrogators whatever they thought would make it stop. Torture is as likely to produce lies as the truth. And it did. What leaders say matters. So when it comes to light, as it did recently, that U.S. interrogators staged mock executions and held a whirling electric drill close to the body of a naked, hooded detainee, and the former vice president winks and nods, it matters. The Bush administration had already degraded the rules of war by authorizing techniques that violated the Geneva Conventions and shocked the conscience of the world. Now Cheney has publicly condoned the abuse that went beyond even those weakened standards, leading us down a slippery slope of lawlessness. Rules about the humane treatment of prisoners exist precisely to deter those in the field from taking matters into their own hands. They protect our nation's honor. To argue that honorable conduct is only required against an honorable enemy degrades the Americans who must carry out the orders. As military professionals, we know that complex situational ethics cannot be applied during the stress of combat. The rules must be firm and absolute; if torture is broached as a possibility, it will become a reality. Moral equivocation about abuse at the top of the chain of command travels through the ranks at warp speed. On Aug. 24, the United States took an important step toward moral clarity and the rule of law when a special task force recommended that in the future, the Army interrogation manual should be the single standard for all agencies of the U.S. government. The unanimous decision represents an unusual consensus among the defense, intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security agencies. Members of the task force had access to every scrap of intelligence, yet they drew the opposite conclusion from Cheney's. They concluded that far from making us safer, cruelty betrays American values and harms U.S. national security. On this solemn day we pause to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11. As our leaders work to prevent terrorists from again striking on our soil, they should remember the fundamental precept of counterinsurgency we've relearned in Afghanistan and Iraq: Undermine the enemy's legitimacy while building our own. These wars will not be won on the battlefield. They will be won in the hearts of young men who decide not to sign up to be fighters and young women who decline to be suicide bombers. If Americans torture and it comes to light -- as it inevitably will -- it embitters and alienates the very people we need most. Our current commander-in-chief understands this. The task force recommendations take us a step closer to restoring the rule of law and the standards of human dignity that made us who we are as a nation. Repudiating torture and other cruelty helps keep us from being sent on fools' errands by bad intelligence. And in the end, that makes us all safer. Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994. The Miami Herald http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSD http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSD/commentary#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:01:31 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSD Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSD/ Truth = Law? "Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state." Plato circa 350 BC Likewise, Aristotle endorsed the rule of law, writing that "law should govern", and those in power should be "servants of the laws." The ancient concept of rule of law is to be distinguished from rule by law, according to political science professor Li Shuguang: "The difference....is that under the rule of law the law is preeminent and can serve as a check against the abuse of power. Under rule by law, the law can serve as a mere tool for a government that suppresses in a legalistic fashion." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS3 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS3/commentary#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:08:39 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZS3 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZS3/ FYI, I sure am glad I finally figured out the html editor. :-)) They Say Trickle Down Economics is a good thing for business. What has worked even better for business-corporate welfare. The Democrats are mostly to blame, Democrat legislators recieve more money from the top 50 industries in every category except the automotive industry and by substantial margins. http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/mems.php Regarding Corporate Welfare  "According to the Cato Institute, the U.S. federal government spent $92 billion on corporate welfare during fiscal year 2006. Recipients included Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, and General Electric. Alan Peters and Peter Fisher have estimated that state and local governments provide $40-50 billion annually in economic development incentives, which many critics characterize as corporate welfare." "The U.S. Agricultural Department is required by law (various U.S. farm bills which are passed every few years) to subsidize over two dozen commodities. Between 1996 and 2002, an average of $16 billion/year was paid by programs authorized by various U.S. farm bills dating back to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, the Agricultural Act of 1949, and the Commodity Credit Corporation (created in 1933), among others. The beneficiaries of the subsidies have changed as agriculture in the United States has changed. In the 1930s, about 25% of the country's population resided on the nation's 6,000,000 small farms. By 1997, 157,000 large farms accounted for 72% of farm sales, with only 2% of the U.S. population residing on farms. " http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH/commentary#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:51:04 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 5 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSH/ Starts Friday, October 2 at the Mayan Theatre and Greenwood Village In Capitalism: A Love Story, filmmaker Michael Moore (Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me) tackles an issue he has been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). Moore explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what he has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country—the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr/commentary#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:11:32 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSr/ "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people" Martin Luther King, Jr. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN/commentary#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:59:05 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSN/ I just had to throw this chart in. According to these statistics, 95 percent of all American wage earners are chumps for change, pocket change that is. And the point of the rat race is? Michael Moores email below the chart. MC For Tax Year 2007 Percentiles Ranked by AGI AGI Threshold on Percentiles Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid Top 1% $410,096 40.42 Top 5% $160,041 60.63 Top 10% $113,018 71.22 Top 25% $66,532 86.59 Top 50% $32,879 97.11 Bottom 50% http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:40:56 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSp/