Throughout our history we’ve always been provided an enemy to cover up government mismanagement — including immigrants  (remember when IRISH NEED NOT APPLY) for jobs?  With the exception of Native Americans, weren’t we all born of immigrants?  We thrived for over 200 years as a melting pot, taking the best from ‘the huddled masses yearning to be free’ .. and forging a democracy we could be proud of.

Let’s take all that negative Republican energy focussed on wedge issues that seek to divide us, turn it around and work for solutions to problems that affect us all.  For the people that think that problems would be solved by outlawing basic civil rights for gays, that would force women to bear unwanted children, that would deny immigrants the same choices their own families had …… grow up!  We’ve got BIG problems here not served by the ‘blame game’.

We won’t forget about wars to steal oil, or the thousands of brave troops who were killed or permanently maimed, or the treaties (NAFTA, GATT) that continue to send thousands of our jobs overseas permanently.

We need universal health care and anti-trust laws …… and we don’t want the threat of nuclear war hanging over our heads with the idiot we have with his shaky finger on the trigger.  We want the prescription drug problem sorted out so seniors can get the medication they need at an affordable price.  A hand up is not a handout!

I marched in NYC again yesterday with Bread and Puppet — (one of the Iraqi women all in black carrying a dead child) and came home convinced that we can change our government, and go back to the basic policies of ‘to the people, for the people and by the people’ .. No more imperial Presidencies, Congressional representatives who serve the people instead of the corporations .. and campaign finance laws that will ensure that money can’t buy elections.

We have the power at the ballot box, and we need to take it back.

Keep your eye on the prize and don’t be diverted by blame, fear and paranoia, and be proud to be a Vermonter!

Peace,

Barbara

Hello GMDers:

I’d like you to meet a friend of mine.

Bob Mills was hired to write for Bob Hope in August, 1977. He spent the next seventeen years writing jokes, routines, parody songs, speeches and television scripts for the legendary performer, in the process logging over half a million miles “on the road” with Hope, visiting all corners of the globe from Peking to London, Stockholm to Bora Bora with plenty of stops in between. HOPE WRITER: “My Life Inside Bob Hope’s Comedy Factory” was written between 1993 and 1995 and is dedicated to all the wonderful people who shared a golden age in the history of entertainment, and were privileged to work for one of the most legendary performers of all time. Since 1998, Bob has sailed thousands of miles with Crystal, Princess and Celebrity cruise lines, sharing his TV experiences. He is an Emeritus member of the Writers Guild of America, West.

Crossposted from Bereft on the Left, with graphics and links added.
Bob’s biography, “Hope Writer” is a fascinating read and linked here.

All original material by Bob Mills.
Links and graphic support by kestrel9000.

Keith Richards was injured when he fell out of a palm tree in Fiji. The Mick has told him a hundred times “Never try to trash a palm tree.”…

Rush Limbaugh is off the hook. He pleads to one count of doctor shopping and walks. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has even removed the yellow tape from around his medicine chest….

And I’ll see you below the fold…

Continuing the revelry…..

The Ku Klux Klan will hold a June rally at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. It was supposed to be a secret but, authorities uncovered the plan when the Bed Bath & Beyond in Sharpsburg sold out their entire supply of king size white sheets….

Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan’s first novel “How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life” was pulled from the shelves when “similarities” to two novels by Megan McCafferty were discovered. Publisher Little Brown says the book will be retitled “How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild, Got a Life and Got Caught.”…..

Organizers of the May 1 mass walkout call it “Gran Paro”—-a day without immigrants. It’s estimated that the idle leaf-blowers in Southern California alone will save $1.3 million in gas……

Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference, “Im not a supporter of boycotts.” May not mean much to you, but Fidel Castro is ecstatic….

The Iraq war has stalled the housing market which had flourished briefly after the downfall of Saddam. To compound the sluggish sales, the insurgents keep shooting down the Re/Max hot air balloon….

Incoming Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi vows that U.S.-Italy ties will remain strong. Even though he disapproves of the war in Iraq, the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and the Sopranos…..

Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that if condemned inmates are allowed to object to the method used to kill them, they’ll all appeal. Which Tony refers to as “Mary Queen of Scots Bellyaching.”……

The Pentagon maintains a database of 12 million youths available for military service. At www.cannon-fodder.com…..

Seagate, the world’s largest disc drive maker, is beefing up its drives to 750 gigabytes.Or, enough memory to store all the rap sheets of crooked congressmen, convicted rappers, jailed athletes, defrocked priest pedophiles and disgraced CEO’s with enough left over for all of the Bush administration’s excuses for failing to capture Osama Bin Laden.

Wartime presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt never served in the military. Unfortunately, that’s their only legitimate comparison to Bush….

According to Catholic Digest,73% of Catholics say the “Da Vinci Code” has had no effect on their faith and 43% of them plan to see the movie. Proving yet again that science fiction is science fiction, whether told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Tom Cruise……

Veteran C.I.A. analyst Mary McCarthy was fired for leaking sensitive information to the press. Mary’s mistake wasn’t releasing the info, but failing to give Bob Novak first dibs on it……

Hasbro will market a modernized version of “Monopoly” with non-Atlantic City Streets, more currency and airports instead of railroads. The familiar “Mr. Monopoly” will be replaced by Kenneth Lay…..

The M.G.M. Mirage will partner with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to build a $700 million hotel-casino in New Haven, Connecticut. Which will be called the “White Man Speak With Forked Tongue—-Grand.”

That’s about it for this week, sportsfans. If you like this kind of stuff, check out my blog!