OOH SHINY. Ignore reality.

dab from CT at firedoglake:

"BushCo will do whatever it takes to keep it's favorite "Dem" in office - terror alerts, swiftboating, campaign specialists, Rep funding, more 1984 word twisting."

Ya that's what kinda bothers me. If there aren't enough real threats, or easily Faux propagandized pedophile "communist" "terrorist" gay stemcell scary brown people shoebomber snakes WOMEN WITH MASCARA ON PLANES immigrant threats, they might decide to do it for real.

Watch for the late October "OOH SHINY" terrorist attack.

Distract distract distract attack attack attack

Senator Lamont

Senator Lamont...I like the sound of that.

The mothership blog, firedoglake, shares the
latest Lieberman commercial.

Avert your eyes.

Mental illness and courage

FDL commenter says I am channeling Norske:

Also sounding like me3 who gave me a BLISTERING when I first came onto firedoglake. I had the temerity to bring up Plame pardons and vote tampering as possible obstacles to our joyous certainty of turning the country around.

John Casper bless his heart spoke on my behalf to say that some people were ahead of the curve and that such far-seeing scouts deserved our attention. THANKS J.C.

Easy to be discouraged (1) if you keep up on the real news (2) if you, like me, are mentally ill and all of life is hard. If going to the grocery store is difficult, and working alone in Russia is difficult, why not go ahead and work in Russia? My liver will recover...probably.

On the other hand: evidence of COURAGE-----

***giving birth to 3 children

***existing despite mental illness*..................................... *alive not the alternative

***going to Russia 28 times alone to save lives

***am a Scottish Highlander by ancestry. FIGHT!!

***believing WE CAN TURN THIS COUNTRY AROUND

***working with total strangers to make a difference.

FIGHT BACK!! TAKE ACTION!! PROTECT THE CHILDREN!!

Death by mascara

Re latest *cough* emergency requiring that women not fly with cosmetics:

Lipstick was quickly declared legit here after hundreds of angry phone calls by women of power--yet is still VERY DANGEROUS in Britain. Mascara, however, is apparently one of the scariest substances in the universe.

Death by mascara: any physicists out there want to explain to po little me how that's possible? Am I gonna threaten anyone with the little wand? Lure them to their doom with my lush lashes?

It's been known to happen, she says, batting her eyelashes :)

Osama: safe enough we disband the group looking for him.

Mascara: the new enemy.

I rest my case, and apparently I also rest my cosmetics case…

Creating false fear. Boo! Be afraid of something.

ironranger at firedoglake: "Has Cheney got his yellow tie on? Incredible. He is using the same exact bogus game plan to justify hitting Iran. This time it's uranium supposedly purchased from Tanzania, not Niger. If this doesn't convince people that the whole bunch needs to be installed in padded cells for our safety, I truly despair. I wonder if they will use the same forgers that did the Niger docs for this job. What a nightmare."

You CANNOT be serious. Trying to shop/hype ANOTHER war of aggression for the benefit of *IPAC using evidence so bogus it laughs itself right off the page?

Uranium from Tanzania. OOOH! Be scared Boo Be afraid Boogieman BROWN PEOPLE Epidemic avian Scamflu Homeland Insecurity Fearmongering [Katrina? Unreal] Immigrants that will steal your job/home/daughters Boo Threats against ItWhichMustNotBeNamed=threats against Americans immanent danger Attack Now BE AFRAID because we SAY SO 9/11 9/11 9/11 don't forget 9/11 Sixty year old women with facial gel OH NO threat to civilization HELP dear God what next BOO scary foreign people Muslim Chinese and God help us FRENCH did I forget ...anthrax...investigation mysteriously stopped when it implicated [censored] BOO black people who want to vote LAMONT scary people who talk about "democracy"

Living in heaven, working in hell

It's been interesting to hear the gory details from a fellow firedoglaker about her medical stuff in Europe, kind of a chance to see what it looks like to observe my medstuff from this end.

Part of the difficulty of doing work like this is the disconnect between our comfy lives and the horror of people suffering somewhere else.

It's painful to make the transition between normal life and egregious suffering. Why would anyone in their right mind do this? For me it works because I'm not in my right mind, i.e. mentally ill. If normal life is painfully difficult and working to save lives overseas is painfully difficult, why not go for it?

In her case it's worse because people are there because of our decision to go to war based on propaganda.

In my case it's hard because of living in a country where RELATIVELY we hae* adequate health care for most people, and working in a country where so many do not get the basics. Breaks my heart in the case of children, which is why I work there. Should their oil-rich government spend their rubles on sick children? That's another answer over another bottle.

*hae = Scottish for have.

The former U.S., new totalitarian state

We are the leaders we've been waiting for....

Watching Lamont mature as a candidate is such a pleasure. He was a diamond in the rough who is becoming more polished with each appearance. People who watch him on television likely react as I do, that he is the genuine article.

And may I add a good word about my main man WEBB. Scorching reaction to the Allen racist commentary.

Court decides we have a tripartite government after all = a GOOD DAY all around. Yay rule of law. Triple yay for a hearty smackdown of those who abuse our system.

The egregious party platform:
Domestic policy--the Constitution
Foreign policy--Geneva Conventions

I have discussed this with every existing and aspiring politician I meet = more people than I talk about here. Who knows maybe some of them think about it.

We can win, but it is not a sure thing. It is still possible to see everything go down the 1933 - 1937 hole. Am half German and I work in the former Soviet Union. These totalitarian events are the day before yesterday. The 30,000,000 people who died are remembered by family members that personally knew them. It is a very real danger, based on the evil actions of a small number of people, with support from a larger number of people who are either intimidated or paid to go along. All good Germans/Soviets. Better you than me. Protect my family.

It can happen again, and IT CAN HAPPEN HERE. We are one false flag event away from the Reichstag Fire and martial law. Let us redouble our efforts to turn our nation around, for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, nieces and nephews, neighbor kids, all those who will be baffled after the neocons wipe out participatory democracy.

Make it stop. TAKE ACTION. Love the children. FIGHT BACK.

A word about avian flu

A word about avian flu. There are many different kinds of bird flu, just as there are many different strains of human flu.

Only one type, H5N1 or if you like "51" is the kind that might possibly be a problem to humans.

A newspaper or TV story about bird flu being found in [insert troublesome election district] could be perfectly true but misleading.

Just a WAG--wild ass guess [thank you John Casper] that you will be seeing a lot of press releases about OH NO SCARY BIRD FLU MY GOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE between now and the November elections. Every single one of these will turn out to be: by amazing coincidence, not H5N1.

And if chickens in the middle of the United States suddenly show up with H5N1 you can be sure they were flown in from southeast Asia by [censored...V...].

DON'T BE AFRAID JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY SO.

What firedoglake can do

Have been reading Froomkin. Our value, as recorded by history, might well be in amplifying tentative views until they become mainstream.

One of our finest moments, I am persuaded in retrospect, is our blogswarm in support of Froomkin. He is OUT there in the corporate media.

We took on the orphan Plame case and breathed enough air unto it that it stayed alive; then our hosts found a tiny clean spot on the wall called Lamont and called the world's attention to him.

Along the way we have slain dragons large and small. I quiver to write this because I have the intuition--same that has landed me multiple zero comments--that fdl has very significant victories in the future.

For those of us who evaluate things spiritually, it is an exciting place to be. We are amidst something very important. Hang on for the wild ride.

Growing activists of the future

After typing this at firedoglake about: fight back, take action, excuse me I mean FIGHT BACK, TAKE ACTION, I thought what does that mean for me right now?

In general it means don't quit, don't cave in to depression, resist the wildness of mania. But today it meant yes you DO have to put on your walking shoes and get out there. So I did.

Forest sanity walk: time for contemplation at a deeper level. Talking with God, arguing with same, looking at how beautiful everything is, thinking about broader issues, waiting to hear what some less conscious part of my brain has to say.

The brain message today was about growing the next generation of activists. There were maybe a dozen people in my life that made the difference between mediocrity and the egregious you see out there. YOU can be one of those people in the life of someone else.

Look at people like spazeboy who doesn't realize how important he has been. It's sweet but he also needs affirmation for what he is doing. We have our very own TRex on his way to superstardom--remember us little people when you get there! Think how many fdl people have been lifted up by the kindness of John Casper--he likely kept me from leaving fdl at the beginning, when the response by some others to my newbie clumsiness was harsh.

The ministry of encouragement--everyone can do this. If you are paralyzed and homebound you can still pray for others, or send positive energy if that is your way. If you can speak, speak up to encourage people who are doing brave things. If you are strong, charge ahead and find other people who will be there when you crash [the team in your pit stop, in the great race of life].

Creating likeminded people for the future: look at your children, and/or the children around you in your neighborhood. Can you give them some help, encouragement, challenge, respite from an angry home?

Young people--can you help them see how they can use their potential, and how to understand what the **** is going on in our country?

Us midlife folks, need to band together as brothers/sisters to have the strength to carry on. We will have the wounded among us, including psychic wounds. Need to find a way to match up people with needs and the healers.

Older people--an opportunity to hear their accumulated wisdom, experience, encouragement, and love. I love working in nursing homes, it makes me feel about 16. All of us have a part in making the world better. Keep up the good work.

And for those of you on the egregious team, I need you and I thank you.