I took my digital camera into the not-yet-completed town park adjacent to my building this afternoon. I know that I’ll never take photos as good as Shelley’s but it was a perfect day to give it a few shots. Too bad I didn

In his No Utopia, Jim Culleny does his take on Paul Krugman’s piece on “Matter of Emphasis.”
A good place to start: look up “deceit” in the dictionary and you’ll find the picture of a right-wing Republican apologist in front of a backdrop of logos of major TV news corporations. Then look up “seducible” and you’ll find a group photo of 70% of the U.S. population. If we could only get it into our heads that once a government knows it can get away with creating lies to hype a “good” cause it’s only a matter of time before it cranks up its lie-making machine to hype any cause.
Owning to the tenor of the times and the effects of two great mishaps (the 2000 election and 9/11), in practical terms, whatever “is” was before the truth became a sound bite– will be a mystery wrapped in an enigma cloaked in a photo-op of the president getting tail-hooked onto an aircraft carrier wearing big goggles and a top-gun suit, then being greeted by a sea of cheering troops, and finally giving a speech about how the war is …sort-of… over. It was a moment made for TV, literally.
And this quote on No Utopia deserves repeating:
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president,or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile,but it is morally treasonable to the American public.”
— Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
And so does this:THE CONSTITUTION …have you ever read it?

If you’re not sure, this sure should make it so — the following from an article by Joe Vecchio at the Democratic Underground: (Thanks to Steve James for the link.)
Free Inquiry magazine recently printed an article by political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt, who studied the fascist regimes of Germany, Italy, Spain, Indonesia and Chile. In this article he points out fourteen “identifying characteristics” of fascism. They are:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Vecchio’s article includes lots of other very disturbing facts and some equally disturbing accurate observations, such as:
The “war” has since come and gone quickly, and the ones that perpetrated it are basking in the glow of victory, as a bunch of drunken, low-class thugs might celebrate kicking a homeless man to death. The river has long since caught fire, but instead of racing to put it out and trying to fix the problem so that it doesn’t happen again, we seem to be enjoying it. In fact, we’re sitting on the pier roasting weiners and singing songs. Do we worry that the fire is going to burn our own houses down sooner ot later? Nah, that’d never happen to us.
And meanwhile, just one more reason to be seriously concerned about just where Bush’s head is at.

Yes, that’s Crone, not crane. Check out Klondike Kate’s Aurora weblog, not only for magical photos of the Aurora Borealis, but for her wild but true stories of life on the edges of the ice. She’s smart and smart-mouthed and has lived long and hard enough to have some wisdom-stimulating experiences.

This from his weblog via Betsy Devine:
…if you want to know what’s on heavy rotation here in Burlington, it’s undoubtedly the What I Want to Know (Dance Mix).
The Georgia Dean for America group (gaforhowarddean@yahoo.com) writes:
“You asked for it, so we created it