Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 01.14.07

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    01.14.07

1. FNVW/non-violence 1.14 9:45am
2. MN homeless       1.14 2pm
3. Get well Fidel    1.14 3pm
4. Vets4Peace        1.14 6pm

5. MLK breakfast     1.15 7:30am
6. MLK breakfast/TV  1.15 8am
7. Single-payer/MLK  1.15 9:30am
8. AAUW/MLK          1.15 9:30am
9. Berry/MLK         1.15 1pm
10. Landsman/MLK     1.15 1:30pm
11. Aristide/film    1.15 6:30pm
12. Call to liberty  1.15 7:30pm
13. Race             1.15
14. Abbie Hoffman/f  1.15 time?

15. Danny Schechter - The need to purge our media
16. Lydia Howell    - Purge the surge, embrace Constitutional power
17. Bill Santiago   - It's time to maximize our losses
18. ed              - Hey! Hey! What's that smell? (hiaku chant)

--------1 of 18--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: FNVW/non-violence 1.14 9:45am

Sunday, 1/14, 9:45 am, adult education class presents FNVW director Phil
Steger on "A Nonviolent National Security for the United States," Twin
Cities Friends Meeting, 1725 Grand Ave, St Paul.  www.tcfm.org


--------2 of 18--------

From: lucinda grinnell <adelantenica [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: MN homeless 1.14 2pm

The Land of 10,000 Homeless: An Artistic Portrayal of Homelessness in
Minnesota
Sunday, January 14th, 2007: 2-5pm
Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue at the
corner of Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis

The event The Land of 10,000 Homeless: An Artistic Portrayal of
Homelessness in Minnesota will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14 at
Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue at the
corner of Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.

The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, Plymouth Congregational
Church Outreach, the Foundation for International Medical Relief of
Children at the University of Minnesota, and Voices of the Streets are
sponsoring the event.

The event will include music, performance, visual art, short videos and
photography. Featured artists include poets/musicians Desdamona and Julia
Dinsmore, photographers Tobechi Tobechukwu and Matt Dahl, cellist Matt
Knippel, and accordionist Daniel Turpening. Some of the art will be
available to view and hear on the web at www.voicesofthestreets.org, which
will be launched in the first week of 2007 to coincide with this event.

The event cost is on a sliding scale from $0 to $10 based on what people
can afford. Most proceeds will support the work of the X-Committee, an
advocacy group made up of homeless and formerly homeless individuals whose
mission is to assist individuals experiencing homelessness in Minnesota.

The schedule of the event follows.

2 to 3 p.m. -- guests will be invited to see visual art and photographs
displayed in the reception area and learn about homelessness from advocacy
organizations at various display tables.

3 to 5 p.m. -- the event will move to an intimate performance space, where
the guests will be treated to music videos, spoken word performances,
theater, and musical guests, each with their own artistic expression of
homelessness. Many of the performers will speak about the realities of
homelessness from their own personal experience.

Parking is available in the church parking lot as well as the Franklin
Bank lot on the corner of Franklin and LaSalle, south of the church.

For more information, please contact: Kim Walsh (612) 626-2226 or
hrfellow [at] umn.edu; Andrew Turpening (612) 807-8729,
andrewturpening [at] hotmail.com or Mike Otremba (612) 205-9441,
otre0010 [at] umn.edu.


--------3 of 18--------

From: Lisa Boyd <tigerlily64 [at] peoplepc.com>
From: valentina barnes
Subject: Get well Fidel 1.14 3pm

Hello all, Good news. Mayday Books have agreed to host
"Get Well" Fidel, Birthday Celebration Sunday January 14th
3 to 5pm at 301 Cedar in Minneapolis 333-4719.

This event will be a belated Birthday and Get Well Celebration with a Cuba
Update, 1 minute "open mic" for Cuba/Fidel Supporters, Get Well / Birthday
Card signatures and comments, Photographs /Video via computer to send to
Cuba Media.

There will be music and food. Black Beans and Rice, Yams, Vegetable Soup,
and of course Cake and Peace Coffee. This event will be a fun opportunity
for Cuba supporters to get together and talk, listen and enjoy good food,
conversation and company. I will provide the food and coffee. I am working
on a specially designed Get Well Birthday Card.

Your support is still needed.  Here is a needs list.
  1.. Someone to help design an appropriate flier.
  2.. Someone to take pictures and download on computer
  3.. Someone to video event and send to media via computer
  4.. Suggestions for Music
Finally, we need good weather and everyone's help in getting the word out.
Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you.
Val

--------4 of 18--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Vets4Peace 1.14 6pm

Sunday, 1/14, 6 pm (and the 2nd Sunday of each month), Veterans for Peace
chapter 24 meeting, St Stephens School basement, 2130 Clinton Ave S, Mpls.
waynewittman [at] msn.com


--------5 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: MLK breakfast 1.15 7:30am

Come hear about the legacy of MLK's dream
by Simon Anderson

Roslyn McCallister Brock, the youngest and first female v ice chairman of
the NAACP National Board of Directors, will discuss the legacy of Dr.
King's dream for the next generation of Americans at the 17 th annual Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Jan.  15, at
the Minneapolis Convention Center. The program also will be broadcast live
on Twin Cities Public Television, channel 2.

The Twin Cities tradition, which kicks off a day of metro wide holiday
celebrations, is hosted by the United Negro College Fund and the General
Mills Foundation. The event honors Dr. King's heritage and influence on
the civil rights movement, which not only transformed American laws and
life, but also inspired worldwide human rights reforms. Roslyn Brock will
speak to the theme of this year's program "Children of the Dream: Building
Community Through Commitment."

She will also discuss:
 The new realities of race and class in America
 The social and economic implications of the "browning" of America
 Building a collective community spirit of accountability and
responsibility as beneficiaries of Dr. King's dream
 The notion that "service to others is the rent we pay for the space we
occupy"

For more information on the breakfast, visit our Web site at
www.mlkbreakfast.org . For background information on Roslyn McCallister
Brock , go to www.naacp.org/about/leadership/directors/rbrock/


--------6 of 18-------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: MLK breakfast/TV 1.15 8am

17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast
tpt2 Monday, January 15 at 8AM
tpt17 Monday, January 15 at 8PM
tpt17 Sunday, January 21 at 6PM

This annual event celebrates the life and legacy of the civil rights
pioneer and the movement that sparked reforms not only in America but
around the world. The emcee will be Channel 9 news anchor Robyne Robinson.


--------7 of 18--------

From: Joel Clemmer <clemmer [at] cpinternet.com>
Subject: Single-payer/MLK 1.15 9:30am

MARCH WITH MEDICARE FOR ALL SUPPORTERS!! Universal health care will get
strong attention at the legislative session that just opened. Now is the
time to remind the public and our legislators that universal single-payer
is the way to go. Martin Luther King, Jr., had great things to say about
universal access to health care

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most
shocking and inhumane."

MLK Day, next Monday, is an opportunity to get the word out. Prominent
politicians, such as Keith Ellison, Tim Pawlenty, and Norm Coleman are
scheduled at the rally. Join the DFL Progressive Caucus at the march and
rally!

JOIN OUR CONTINGENT for SINGLE-PAYER Universal Health in the MARTIN LUTHER
KING DAY MARCH

Form up at Central High School, 275 Lexington Pkwy N., St Paul, 55104,
between the Lexington I-94 exit and Marshall Avenue. March to Concordia
University for a rally.
Monday morning, January 15
 9:30: Assemble on the Plaza at the bottom of the stair case leading to
the front door (near the Central High School sign)
 10:00: Join the rally and then march 1/2 mile to Concordia University.
March together with the banner of Dr. King's call for universal health
care.

Wear Single-Payer Red Cross arm bands (which will be handed out) to show
Single-Payer is coming to rescue Minnesota's broken health care system.

Hand out cards with Dr. King's declaration for universal health care:

AFTERWARDS: Lunch at O'Gara's Bar & Grill, 164 Snelling Ave N, St Paul,
55104, 2.5 blocks south of Marshall Avenue (Dutch treat).

Joel Clemmer
Saint Paul
clemmer [at] cpinternet.com
651-690-4296


--------8 of 18--------

From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: AAUW/MLK 1.15 9:30am

Monday, January 15: American Association of University Women, Minneapolis
Branch Martin Luther King Day Programs: 9:30-10:30 AM - Does Democracy
Work for Everyone?; 10:45-11:45 - The Givens Collection of African
American Literature; Noon-1:15 - Luncheon; 1:15-2:15: The African American
Experience with Lou Bellamy, Penumbra Theatre. 612/870-1661 for more
information or luncheon. www.aauw_galemansion.com.


--------9 of 18--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Berry/MLK 1.15 1pm

Monday, 1/15, 1 pm, former chair of US Commission on Civil Rights Dr Mary
Francis Berry speaks at Martin Luther King celebration, with theme "World
House," Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg College, Mpls.  kloker [at] augsburg.edu or
www.augsburg.edu/convo


--------10 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Landsman/MLK 1.15 1:30pm

Monday January 15th
1:30 P.M. A discussion on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by
Julie Landsman. Landsman was a Minneapolis public school treacher for 25
years. She's written a wonderful book about her experience "A White
Teacher Talks About Race." (Highly recommended!) This should be really
insightful talk--share widely.

Event is free & open to the public, at Edina Community Library, 5280
Grandview Square, Edina; 952-847-5425.


--------11 of 18--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Aristide/film 1.15 6:30pm

FREE Third Monday Movie and Discussion:
"Aristide and the Endless Revolution"

Monday, January 15, 6:30 p.m. St. Joan of Arc Church, Hospitality Hall,
4537 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis. 82 minutes. "A probing look into
Haiti's contentious modern history" (The New York Times). Featuring
exclusive interviews with former President of Haiti, Jean Bertrand
Aristide, commentary from a wide range of supporters and critics, and
searing glimpses inside strife from Haiti, this award-winning documentary
exposes the tangled web of hope, deceit and political violence that has
brought the world's first black republic to its knees. Sponsored by: WAMM
Third Monday Movies. FFI: Call WAMM 612-827-5364.


--------12 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Call to liberty 1.15 7:30pm

CALL TO LIBERTY (SCARLETTA PRESS),
Tony Signorelli will read at 7:30pm January 15 at Magers and Quinn 3038 Hennepin
Ave.S.
Mpls

In CALL TO LIBERTY, Twin City based author, Tony Signorelli, looks at the
political philosophy that informed the founding of our nation. Brilliantly
applying this historical perspective, Signorelli makes a powerful case for
healing the political divisions that have gotten us into the political
quagmire of today.

In the waning years of what many believe to be an extremist presidency, there is
naturally a glut of books on the market advocating change, unity and 
moderation. Many
such books are agenda-based and extreme themselves. Anthony Signorelli's Call to
Liberty: Bridging the Divide Between Liberals and Conservatives is different. It
explains how extremists on both sides of the political divide have co-opted the 
words
liberal and conservative for their own ends, thereby setting up a false split 
in the
American electorate. Signorelli seeks to restore a rational understanding of our
liberal democracy, which is the basis of the freedom we enjoy in America. His 
book
helps the reader distinguish the terms progressive, moderate and conservative,
putting all three under the banner of Liberalism, and offers concrete proposals 
to
heal the American body politic.

Written by a concerned citizen, small businessman, and family man, Call to
Liberty proves that political writers don't have to be lawyers,
politicians or established pundits in order to ask hard questions about
the direction of our democracy.

David Unowsky davidu [at] magersandquinn.com Magers and Quinn Booksellers 3038
Hennepin Ave South Minneapolis, MN 55408 612/822-4611 1-866/912-6657


--------13 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Race 1.15

MONDAY JAN. 15 ONLY: a FREE day to see this exhibit

The Minneapolis Foundation is underwriting a free day at the Science
Museum of Minnesota
by Simon Anderson

The Minneapolis Foundation is underwriting a free day at the Science
Museum of Minnesota, inviting the public to view the provocative RACE
exhibit on January 15, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.
Parking at the Science Museum is not included, and admission to the
Omnitheater and 3D Cinema is additional. Groups of 15 or more are
encouraged to arrive early in the day to avoid crowds. Groups arriving
by chartered bus must call the Science Museum of Minnesota at (651)
221-9444. For more details about the free day, please visit
www.minneapolisfoundation.org/ or call Kristine Migely at 612-672-3877
after January 1.

The exhibit, which runs January 10 through May 5, explores three themes:
the everyday experience of race, the contemporary science that is
challenging common ideas about race, and the history of this idea in the
United States. The American Anthropological Association, in collaboration
with the Science Museum of Minnesota, developed RACE to help visitors
understand what race is and what it is not and to recognize ideas and
practices regarding race in contemporary American life. The Minneapolis
Foundation is a local sponsor of the exhibit.
www.smm.org


--------14 of 18--------

From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Abbie Hoffman/film 1.15 time?

MLK Day: Politics and Potluck - Showing of "Steal This Movie"

1/15 MLK Day @ 1313 5th St SE, Mpls
Join the AWC for a potluck and a showing of Steal This Movie.  The movie is
a dramatization of the life of Abbie Hoffman.  The film particularly
highlight's Hoffman's use of guerilla theater to get public and media
attention focused on progressive and radical causes.  We will eat good food
and have a spirited discussion about the film.  Come meet other local
activists and think about how we can develop the peace movement on a day
which should be used for social justice discussion!  Organized by the
Anti-War Committee.


--------15 of 18--------

Beyond the Call to Surge, the Need to Purge Our Media
by Danny Schechter
Friday, January 12, 2007
CommonDreams.org

In the aftermath of President Bush's prime-time war cry for escalation
from the White House Library, the network newscasters were skeptical about
his chances for success but seemed to be impressed by his willingness to
stand up for what they think he believes, like some lone but gutsy hero on
the prairie.

Much of the commentary deals with him as the beleaguered leader standing
strong against public opinion but doing what he feels he had to do. The
subtext was you just have to admire that man. This is the very positioning
his image managers cultivated.

The focus was on one man speaking to one camera, standing alone in a
library, a White House room you had a sense with which he was unfamiliar,
speaking to the teleprompter, reading someone else's words with as much
well-practiced conviction as he could muster. The tone was reasonable
because of his many claims of having listened to advice from his team and
even his critics.

There was no analysis of who wrote the speech or the attitudes of his many
Generals and advisors who disagreed with its thrust. There was no reminder
that the Iraqi military actually opposed it. He positively cited the Iraq
Survey Group whose recommendations he had actually rejected, as in, "in
keeping with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, we will increase
the embedding of American advisers in Iraqi Army units - and partner a
Coalition brigade with every Iraqi Army division." He dropped Joe
Lieberman's name, a democrat rejected by the Democratic base who is now
aligned with Republican John McCain.

The chutzpah (and cynicism) dripped from one sentence to the next.

For the newscasters, this war debate is now only between the Congress and
the White House. PBS ran the Democratic response by Senator Charles Durbin
who explained why his plan can't work and won't work. No one else did.
Most of the networks offered only one side as usual.

As for the public and the anti-war movement they were briefly heard
chanting slogans outside the White House but not seen on CBS. The anti-war
activists are always marginalized in the debate.

The substance of the speech - its assumptions, claims and policy direction
was not subjected to any scrutiny. There was no analysis of likely
consequences especially the threats to attack Syria and Iran. In short,
there was no reporting. How is this possible on an event that had been
hyped for a week and whose key tenets were well known BEFORE it was
delivered?

Activist David Swanson commented:

"Bush just claimed he was making Americans more safe with his occupation
of Iraq. The media will not contrast this claim with any studies of the
actual effects of the Iraq War. Bush just claimed he cared about U.S.
service men and women. The media will not ask our troops what they think.
Veteran and military family organizations opposing the war will not be
asked to comment for the morning headlines.

The media WILL report on Bush's posture, tone of voice, tie color, and
attitude. The trivial will be made into the gargantuan. The important will
be slipped in sideways, quietly, in the form of an unstated assumption
that the "surge" is already underway and out of Congress's hands to stop -
an action that would be indecent anyway.

The media will not ask or try to answer what Bush means when he says
"victory." The media will not raise the question of what this war is being
fought for. The media will depict the anti-war movement as striving
ultimately only for a rejection of the "surge." No mention will be made of
efforts to de-escalate and end the war. And the media will continue to
call the "surge" a surge, gradually dropping the quotation marks.

The media will not show us the Iraqi people killed and injured by our
war."

So there you have it. Bushaganda again! We are in the year 2007 in a war
that has lasted longer than World War 2. This outrage has been underway
since 2002 - before the first cruise missiles were fired - when the
Congress shamefully rubberstamped Bush's demand for authority to make war.
And yet, there is almost no context offered.

Everyone in the media knows it's not working, that we are losing, that its
implementation has been, in the words of the title of Washington Post
military writer Tom Ricks book "a fiasco." Everyone knows that the
contractors are ripping us off, and that men and women are dying for
nothing. Everyone knows that this war is shaming America from the torture
chambers of Abu Ghraib to the despicable lynching of Saddam Hussein.

There is no sense of decency this war does not offend.

The public has defected. The world has turned against us. The Iraqis want
us gone. All the wisest policy wonks who have studied it agree that the
only sensible recourse is to get out fast as we can.

And yet two institutions seem stuck in this big muddy. One is the White
House, desperate to hang on and achieve something, anything, it can use to
justify the most mismanaged war in history and call it "victory." George
Bush increasingly resembles Captain Ahab in this drama.

The words continue to pour out along with his assurances that more will
die, and that carnage is the likely initial; response. As Tom Engelhard
explained:

"[L]ast night's "surge" was mainly a surge of words, twenty-minutes worth,
2,898 of them. In the build-up to the speech, as almost every last detail
of it was leaked to the media, untold hundreds of thousands of words
surged onto news pages, onto the TV news, into talk radio chatter, and
on-line - and so many hundreds of thousands more, these included, will
follow in the days to come."

He quotes the Christian Science Monitor that the likely response to these
words will be more words from Congress - but little more. The first polls
show the people oppose it - but many pols are willing to give "THE PLAN" a
chance even though no one thinks it has any chance of suceeding. Most
don't want the responsibility of coming up with a plan of their own.

The other party to the bloodletting to come is the media, which can't and
won't learn from its mistakes, which can't and won't refuse to stop
reinforcing this crime against our constitution and humanity. It is the
media which collectively lacks the guts and gumption to refuse to carry
more White House propaganda, to scrutinize the options and give more air
time to the critics. It is stuck in the business of legitimizing
institutions that have lost all credibility. In Britian, in contrast,
Channel 4 will be airing a program on the crimes of Tony Blair.

I wrote two books about these media crimes and made the film WMD about the
fusion of news and propaganda. Unfortunately, they remain all too
relevant. I continue to add what thoughts and little passion I have to
rail against the media war, what my former colleague David Degraw now
labels the "Art of Mental Warfare" in a bold new book vivisecting the ways
public opinion is moulded by invisible rulers.

The problem is that many of those rulers and their operatives are well
known to us, well "branded" in our brains, recognized by their logos and
mediagenic personalities. We know who they are, but are we ready to do
what we have to do about them - turn them off, tune them out, and build an
oppositional media word that we can support and learn from? Are we ready
to realize that the media is part of the war and has to be taken to task.

News Dissector Danny Schechter edits Mediachannel.org. To comment, write:
Dissector [at] mediachannel.org


--------16 of 18--------

Reject Insanity "Surge", Embrace Constitutional Power
by Lydia Howell

One definition of insanity is doing the SAME thing over and over, but,
expecting DIFFERENT results.

Bush's call for 21,000 more troops to be sent to Iraq is a perfect example
of that insanity. One question is, will the newly empowered Democrats
collude in this craziness - or do the rational (and small-d democratic)
thing? That is, represent the people who voted them into a Congressional
majority and pull the plug on the occupation of Iraq. To do that, there's
one Constitutional power Democrats must use: the power of the purse.
Congress must deny further funding for the occupation.

But, like impeachment, (another Constitutional power Congress has), so far
Democratic leaders say they will NOT cut funding. For years, we were told
we had to lower our expectations of the Democratic Party because "as the
minority in Congress, they have no power". Now, that they do have power,
we're expected to just accept that Democrats won't use it.

This is collusion in a hideous policy paid for in blood. The biggest
price, paid by 650,000 dead Iraqis (and who knows how many maimed men,
women and children) is even greater. Allegedly, Demcorats are afraid of
"being blamed for failure in Iraq" if they actually DO anything to end the
madness. Can any miminally rational person believe this?

Perhaps, many Democrats supported the true aims of the invasion and
occupation of Iraq - aims about to be realized. Any time now, a new
"hydrocarbon law" will be put into place, granting American and British
oil companies total access to Iraq's oil. For an indefinite period, those
companies will take 75% of profits "until infrastructure is paid off".
After that, they'll get at least 20% of the profits and certainly will
control who eles gets access to that oil.

For details, see Chris Floyd's "New Oil Law Means Victory in Iraq for
Bush" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010807A.shtml

The 21st century resource wars are in full swing.

Those who opposed "blood for oil" were right all along. Even Jack
Cafferty, the conservative curmudgeon on CNN's The Situation Room briefly
spoke of the new "oil laws" in Iraq. This is simply the latest U.S. action
in the service of, to quote Daddy Bush, "the American way of life is not
negotiable". Or to put it more crudely as a bumper sticker says "Kick
Their Ass & Take Their Gas".

Stopping Bush's "surge" is only step one. (And isn't this 'spin'
insulting? It's an escalation, not a 'surge'!) Even bringing the troops
home isn't enough. It's time for the American people to leave adolescence,
grow up and act responsibly. Not only do we need to rethink U.S. foreign
policy in a big way - that is, (finally) recognize the rest of the world
is NOT our resource-bank to be plundered at will and at the point of our
guns. We must not only make it a national priority to invest in developing
and implementing renewable energy, as well as, expand public
transportation systems. We have to make conservation an integral part of
"creating American energy independence". That means the "American way of
life" will have to significantly change.

Painful as it is (even for many peace activists), we have to let go of our
myths of 'American goodness" and see with utter clarity. The theft-by-war
and occupation of Iraqi oil is simply the most recent act of U.S.
imperialism. That's what created the nation we live in, expanded it across
the continent - notably in seizing 1/3 to 1/2 of northern Mexico, now
known as the American Southwest - and has fueled American foreign policy
since the 19th century to today. Iraq was not a "mistake". It was business
as usual - backed by the U.S. military.

It's up to us to demand that Congress use it's Constitutionally-mandated
power of the purse. A far greater President than Bush can ever dream of
being - Abraham Lincoln was unequivical that the power to wage war is NOT
an Executive power. Lincoln was clear that one man should NOT have the
power to make most sober decision a nation can make - to go to war.
Lincoln was adament that only Congress determines war. So far, Democrats
and Republicans alike have betrayed the Constitution and deferred that
power to Bush.

We The People must remind them of what their oath of office means and
demand the change in policy we voted for in Novemember. Sanity and our
Constitution demands nothing less.

Lydia Howell is a MInneapolis journalist, activist and poet. She prodcuces
and hosts "Catalyst:politics & culture" on KFAI Radio. Contact her at
lhowell [at] visi.com She also has a blog on MySpace.com


--------17 of 18--------

The Time (To Maximize Our Losses) Is Now. Bush Deserves Another Chance
By Bill Santiago

Well, so the president thought it all over, and decided to make things
worse.

Making a very convincing case that there was no choice, he explained why,
as bad as things have gone so far, we would be missing an incredible
opportunity if we didn't immediately take the disaster to the next
level.

This time, he assured, things would be different, in that there would be
absolutely no possibility of improving the situation. With virtually no
support from any of the parties involved, including his supporters, and
ignoring the defeats suffered to date as evidence for radically changing
course, the president deftly argued for seizing the chance to engage in
unprecedented folly.

Not only that, but in a stunning show of accountability, the president
publicly claimed responsibility for any mistakes that might have been made
on his watch, yet remained steadfastly committed to not admitting any. For
the first time since the last time he addressed the nation, the
president's disarmingly lucid oratory met all expectations. With no
end of unsubstantiated facts to substantiate his renewed commitment to the
end times, he stood firm to protect his mission, his legacy, his vision of
a world in total harmony with apocalyptic ideals.

Cut our losses? Never. To what end have we come all this way if we fail to
fail completely? Staring soberly into the camera, he brushed aside all
speculation of backing down, of giving in, of listening to anyone who
would dare suggest the leader of so great a nation might ever doubt his
own ignorance. His logic is airtight. We can't afford not to screw this up
totally. And to his detractors who cry out like sissies at a bar fight
that it can't get any worse, the president shot back a reassuring, "you
ain't seen nothin' yet."

Such resolve to bankrupt a nation economically and morally in the service
of international turmoil and suffering, and to unburden us of any hope for
peace in our lifetime, warrants a respect and admiration reserved for few.
He gave it to us straight, as we tuned in breathlessly and came to the
obvious conclusion.

The guy makes sense.

www.billsantiago.com
www.myspace.com/billsantiagocomedy


--------18 of 18--------

 Hey! Hey! What's that smell?
 George Bush! George Bush! Straight from Hell!
 Hey! Hey! What's that smell?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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