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Sunday, March 11, 2007

Libby. Coulter. John Fund. DeLay: Are the NeoCons finally Toast?



I read Mary MacElveen's article this morning, sent to me by three different buddies who knew I would be interested because of the linkage to John Fund. Just so Ms. MacElveen knows, as does the rest of the world by this point, CNN has no intention to employ Tom DeLay. Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal called and ascertained that directly and duly informed me of the fact hours ago. He knew I would want to know right away.

It is important to remember that John Fund is not a journalist. He is a NeoCon Operative. His work requires simulating the appearance of being a journalist but facts are manufactured wholesale by those employed by the Rovian Cabal. If Fund had been a real journalist he might have thought to call CNN to confirm what DeLay had told him over dinner. Just a thought.

Today, after church, it was restful and comforting to get so many bulletins from old friends as I settled into the chair in front of my computer. I had been forced to listen to the still persistent regurgitated propaganda of NeoCons at the fellowship hour after the service. Listening to the persistent mythology wholesaled by the NeoCons coming out of the mouths of just plain folks is horrifying. I understand, but it is still disturbing. In the Ditto Ghetto Libby is innocent and deserves a pardon, which is sure to come soon. Clinton's sex life was again brought up. Evidently the jury was provably made up of frothy mouthed Liberals obsessed with 'getting' nice, kindly people like Bush, who is a father to us all. Scary stuff.

I learned about the NeoCons from personal experience. I found out to my chagrin that Liberals are totally clueless, eating their own with great gusto and unable to strategize their way out of Kindergarten. It was a real OMG moment when the truth dawned on me.

So everyone I know generously keeps me informed on all John Fund sightings and other NeoCon happenings, which service I sincerely appreciate. I hear when he makes an appearance in a obscure and rural part of Arizona and when he emerges from his apartment in Jersey City. Sometimes I get pictures!


There was a time when I considered John Fund an old friend. That was before he seduced my daughter, persuaded her to abort my grandchild, slandered and libeled me up and down the globe, colluded with my former husband to steal me blind, etc. Friendship only goes so far. I try to be Christian and forgiving but since I am also a strong advocate of the right of self defense (and the 2nd Amendment) action needed to be taken. My side, the side of Motherhood and Freedom, has taken some hard blows, but we, me and others who have since joined me, are still fighting the forces of NeoCon Darkness.

That is why John Fund is less visible now than he once was. You can thank me by donating at my blog. I will keep outing NeoCons until they pry my cold dead hands off the key board anyway, but any help you can provide is much appreciated. Also check out my cafepress store. Buy the John Fund Briefing Mug. That is especially popular though many also like the Impeachment Emporium.

At one time, in the late 90s, Fund was marked by his NeoCon cohort for Big Things. Fund was supposed to get an appointment in the Bush Administration as a Speech Writer, payment for years of faithful service in such ventures as Project Arkansas and driving Vince Foster to suicide. The NeoCons appreciate work well done.

It has been a saga of a kind, my discovery of what Fund and his friends were all about. Not the sort of thing you want to know, more like finding out that your saintly grandmother was actually a child molester. But I have never been the kind of person who could ignore the evidence of my own experience, so there you are.

John Fund was placed at the Wall Street Journal by Robert Novak around 1982. He had worked for Evans and Novak for a while; between payments for producing copy for the National Enquirer. That was probably the best experience he could get for the work alloted to him by his real employers.

Before that, Fund was still living with his Mom near Sacramento, CA. There, he hung out with younger people still in college and performed unpaid services for Edward H. Crane,III, who soon after began to be well known for his own big profit venture with Koch Industries in retailing rhetoric to move what we once referred to as the Freedom Movement into a support service for extremely large corporations. Through the 80s they worked on destroying the Libertarian Party, which had escaped their control in 1983 at the New York Convention.

Tracing the gains of NeoConservativism through the media tells its own story. Someday I might write up the details, after I finish some other more pressing projects. For now what you need to remember is that NeoCon operatives may look funny, they may have disgusting habits, but if Machiavelli were alive today he would be taking notes.

This latest pre-report on DeLay is best explained as a miscalculation, probably from DeLay. He is doubtless in for a tongue lashing from Rove. Their problem is what to do with a valuable operative like DeLay when he is side lined by doing his duty. They may be discovering that their previous level of influence is somewhat deteriorated. We can hope. Witness the reaction to Coulter last weekend at the CPAC Conference in D. C.. Someone should do some more research on DeLay. Look at the money he makes from those 'foster homes' he owned – and how the kids get there.

I predict that this will eventually be viewed as the moment when the power of the NeoCon Cabal clearly went into decline, however. The folks from church understand the price of gas at the pump and have no problem correctly identifying how that happened. Connecting them to Bush and Co., will just take a little more time.

Libby. Coulter. Fund. Three is a charm. DeLay is icing on the cake. On to the Impeachment Ball! I will wear red, just for the hell of it.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Hear why Coulter deserves more than just a slap on the wrist from Lydia Cornell this Friday on the Spiritual Politician.


Got this in my e-mail today.

(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon made the following statement about pundit Ann Coulter's remarks at CPAC:

"Ann Coulter should be embarrassed by her anti-gay remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Coulter's words are not worthy of this event or our nation's political dialogue. Intelligent people engage in political debates using ideas not insults. Unfortunately, she has made a career out of saying increasingly outrageous things just to garner headlines and shill her books. Ann Coulter is more interested in soundbites than substance and she has become more ridiculous than relevant. She obviously has no shame."”

Log Cabin, the club for gays and gay rights within the Republican Party, came out with the above, sent to its membership this morning. I was slightly bemused because the subject line read, “Ann Coulter - Log Cabin Responds - Inclusion West for Melinda” I have been writing about Coulter, the CPAC event, and the NeoCon take over of what was once my home in the Republican Party for the last several days. But nope, this was just their update with my name inserted for that personal touch.

Some changes are definitely not for the better. 30 years ago being a Goldwater Conservative was more like being a Christian Liberal today. The change of direction can best be measured by the number of political operatives and think tanks funded by George W's corporate clientèle over the last 30 years. Think large numbers, including Coulter, David Horowitz, John Fund, Robert Novak and so on. They cost a lot but did the job for their employers. If you celebrate Earth Day in April you were fooled by one of them assigned to suborn the Environmental Movement.

Older people, if not growing forgetful, will often nod, remembering when the environment and rights for women and peaceful relations were not Liberal Plots but ideas we all agreed needed to be put into action. Howard Baker, Jr. was a Republican from Tennessee who headed the first committee on the Environment. There was no controversy; all Americans wanted a clean environment. Many Veterans of WWII were serving in Congress. Veterans of World War II had no illusions on the romance of war. They came home hungry for peace and wanted that peace for their children. But war is far more profitable for corporations. Slowly, things changed.

That was when women still had a respected place in the Republican Party and the ERA was still in our platform because equal rights for all Americans was taken as a matter of course. That was before Phyllis Schlafly reared her ugly head as another NeoCon political operative, funded to divide us on the issue of rights for women through a carefully thought out disinformation campaign. Then, we knew we were finishing the Revolution of 1776, mending the mistakes made by the Founders in putting a higher priority on establishing a government than on preserving the rights with which each of us is born. Schlafly has gotten rich doing that work as those chasms of anger and distrust she dug grew ever deeper. The ERA remains to be ratified and a campaign is active to accomplish that. To find out more contact the ERA Campaign Network. As Susan B. said, “Failure is Impossible.” Women keep trying.

I received the e-mail from the folks at Log Cabin because I joined the Log Cabin Club in the 90s to show solidarity with them as an oppressed minority among Republicans. (What? A gay Republican? Impossible!) Supporting the right of others to live their lives untrammeled by busy bodies was a common value for Conservatives back when I first read, “Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater. Most of the Log Cabin members are nice people although I did not attend the parties. I developed an aversion to hot tubs while I was on the State Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of California, serving the 2nd of six terms. In politics, as in all life, you decline when you are not inclined.

The Log Cabin Club response to the Coulter comment was not unexpected. They were not alone, thank goodness. Some Conservatives, finally fed up with Coulter and her behavior have launched a petition of Conservatives who attended the conference. Sean Hackbarth, The American Mind wrote an open letter. He has been joined by over 200 others, a good thing and long awaited. A return to civility in politics and all social intercourse is long overdue.

The Conservative Union came out with its own statement to distance themselves from Coulter today. It is up on their website though their motives are probably more legal than moral or ethical. Coulter has been speaking there for years, after all.

“ACU, the event’s primary sponsor and CPAC strive to provide a platform and forum for a variety of differing views and personalities. ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse every speaker or their comments at the conference. As such, ACU and CPAC leave it to our audience to determine whether comments are appropriate or not.

“ Ann Coulter is known for comments that can be both provocative and outrageous. That was certainly the case in her 2007 CPAC appearance and previous ones as well. But as a point of clarification, let me make it clear that ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse the use of hate speech,” said David A. Keene, ACU Chairman.””

Of course, David A. Keene, is keenly aware that the conference the Conservative Union puts on every year is attended mostly by the people least likely be be able to judge what is appropriate and the most likely to be influenced by what is probably their first exposure to what is unabashedly presented as the culture and values of Conservativism. Young people are vulnerable to drugs presented by attractive pushers, including snorting NeoConservativism.

Steve Frank, a long time Conservative activist and leader in California who does a daily e-zine mailed out widely to Republicans said, the character of the CPAC conference has changed over the years. Before, it was attended by people of all ages; today attendees tend to be 25 and younger. Coulter has long been popular with college-age Republicans.”

The faggot remark is not the most egregious act, either on the part of Coulter or by the Conservative Union taking place at the conference. Coulter's vicious behavior, her flouting of law, and the way she has encouraged violence towards others has been building for a long time now. We will be talking about that with Lydia Cornell on my show, the Spiritual Politician, this Friday.

At the CPAC conference the treatment of Dan Borchers meted out by Coulter's flunkies and CPAC was far worse than the casual remark about John Edwards. Coulter repeated those remarks the next day to Americans United for Separation of Church and State in a church sanctuary in Fort Lauderdale. The group has moved to disavow the remarks.

So serving up Coulter to the Conservative Union's targeted audience of young people smacks of indoctrination. This may be the last time, the Coulter Swan Song, so to speak. Her prominent position in the NeoCon world has been profitable but indications are that presence is heading towards the dustbin as Republicans take stock across the steady decline of NeoCon power. Some will reject Coulter because they are disgusted; others because she has moved from the column of asset to liability. Markets in icons work that way.

By continuing to feature her for these many years the CU did, in fact, endorse her hate speech and profited from the culture it created, a culture that has as much relationship to Conservatism as I knew it in the 60s as Christianity does to the Inquisition. Republicans, Libertarians and Conservatives await unfolding events.

Conservatives used to believe that the government that governed least was best, that local control was the original idea, that accountability was essential to all human action, and that all of us were born possessed of inherent rights. If you think that is still the case tell David Keene. The contact information is:

The American Conservative Union. | .1007 Cameron Street. | .Alexandria, VA 22314. | .Phone: (703) 836-8602

America: The original idea was freedom for all of us. That is still where real Conservativism should have taken us.

Hear Coulter, her assaults on others, and find a new spiritual direction for Americans discussed this Friday on the Spiritual Politician. 4Pm PST on BBSRadio.com. Our guest will be Lydia Cornell, actress, activist, and a warrior for truth.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Reality Check: Know your Pres. Candidate before you donate or vote



If you are an American today you can't help hearing the rising tumult from the herd of presidential wannabes now crowding on to the media outlets to position themselves for a shot at the Oval Office. Most Americans now hope that office will be vacated by Bush in January of '09, if not earlier. While considering these facts the gnawing worry of a replacement also intrudes. We don't really know much about any of the newer cadre of volunteers for Top Job Global. Candidates are always less than forthcoming; the media is completely unreliable as a source.

Extracting the truth out of candidates is harder than putting a man on Mars.

Remember Gary Hart? He dared the media to find him out. They wouldn't have if he had not been so outrageously obvious. And sexual peccadilloes are, perhaps, the least of it. As recent events have proven the most serious issues often have nothing to do with a cigar.

Getting those regrettable earlier lapses out on the table allows us to put them behind us. That is why full disclosure is essential now so it cannot be raised as an issue later.

If you are hiring a babysitter you want to know her background. It matters. If you are hiring a plumber you want to know he is objectively qualified to fix your toilet. It matters. Why do we hire presidents without checking them out? If you consider the amount of money and power we entrust to their hot little hands you have to wonder why we continue to trust, of all things, the media as it exists in America today to do this for us. When it matters we need to make sure we get the information.

So we, the Reality Caucus, made up of individuals from all political parties, are going to change that. All of us are long-time activists who have grown increasing cynical about the honestly, reliability and competence of all candidates. Therefore, we have put together a protocol to get the truth about all candidates, major and minor parties included. Minor party candidates get even less attention and, as we saw in '04 can impact the outcome.

When will we get the information on candidates?

The reality moment will come when our team of investigators provides that unvarnished truth about those who have declared their intentions to occupy the White House or Vice Presidential mansion. Results will be released as they come in to members and be available monthly to the public on the site, which will go up in June with our results to that date. Then Americans can begin to consider, and reconsider, their options.

All investigations will be finished, posted and sent out before the ballot box is opened for the first primary so that, hopefully, this election can be about real issues.

No More Bad Investments in Politicians

As it stands now, by the time the truth oozes through on candidates it is often the case that well meaning people have invested heavily in those exciting presidential campaigns, believed the promises, thus foreclosing other options. We have all felt the desire to deny the truth when it confronts us, hoped it was just dirty politics. Denial of inconvenient facts sinks all hope; such denial is human but we can't afford it now. We all desperately want to hope this time it will be different. But without action there is no reason to think it will be.

We cannot afford any more bad investments, any more hires who come to their Inaugural with dollar signs in their eyes and an eye on how to convert our property into theirs or transfer it to their favorite “special interest group” or corporation. We need someone we know is not already part of the problem.

Considering how much money we entrust to these people the continued assertions of 'privacy' do not hold much water anymore. We do not need to know how many times a day they brush their teeth, but all other details are fair game. We, their potential employers, have a right to know. Each candidate will be receiving a letter telling him about the Reality Caucus. With that letter will come a form to fill out. It is exhaustive.

What Comes First?

The first step will be for candidates to receive the form to be filled out and sent back. Candidates who fail to respond will be noted and get extra special attention no matter who they are.

What Evasive Action We Expect.

Since we know that the third thing that most clever staffers will think of — how to use this to blacken other candidates — we will accept tips only if these come from sources willing to come forth. The first thing will probably be, “How can we hide”...., second thing, “Can we just ignore this?” The answers in each case are, “No,” and, “Better not.”

We are already hearing from people who want some reality in their lives. We do not ask that sources be publicly identified; we will protect their anonymity. But they must identify themselves to us. We will fall on the sword to protect you, as all good reporters will do, supported by media shield laws. Otherwise, don't bother. We will not ignore other tips but we will trace you down if possible and expose you. Allowing the public to know about bad information someone is attempting to pass will be part of the work we do.

From reporters who are passing on secondhand information, we need to go to your sources. If the sources wish to remain anonymous, we will do our best to keep them so, and publish the info after it is confirmed from at least two sources. But, you need to clearly distinguish the difference between a 'reporter' of information and a 'source' that verifies it.

The Iconoclast, the hometown paper from Crawford , Texas that did the right thing in 2004, is our central organizing point. We are asking everyone to come on board and help us get the job done. You can join the Reality Caucus and help America get reality in politics. Membership is cheap, $29.00 for the whole 2008 election period gets you all the updates and special member news. Contact us at reality@lonestaricon.com. Soon, you will be able to join from the Iconoclast site; we are pleased to link. American people have a right to know, need to know, to cope with politics is it is played out today. We are going to make sure they have the information. The candidates of 2008 are going to be the most scrutinized group in the history of the world, we promise.

The Reality Caucus Founders

Bruce Barton
Sam H. Clauder II
Gene Gaudette
Mike Hersh
Gail Lightfoot
Doug Lorenz
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
Ilene Proctor
W. Leon Smith
Richard E. Venable