The big question haunting obama campaign headquarters these days is, “Is there enough kool aid in the world to keep our troops believing and fighting for us?” Winston Churchill famously said that “rum, sodomy, and the lash” were responsible for the success of the British Navy. There may not be any sodomy or corporal punishment on Obama’s Ship of Fools (oh pipe down about Larry Sinclair, ya swabbies!), but whoo-hee! that Kool Aide is some powerful juice!
It eats your brain and forces you to repeat the same phrases over and over again: Barack, Barack, Barack. O-Ba-Ma, O-Ba-Ma. Man! It’s weird. And what’s with all his supporters referring to him by his first name? It’s like they think he knows who they are. Snap out of it! Barack has no freaking clue who you are. He does not care! Wake up! It’s really kind of creepy.
The effects of this Demon Kool Aide also include an irresistable desire to attack women. It’s weird really. Drink enough of the red juice and Blam! Your latent bullying instincts suddenly take over your brain and your will. Five minutes before you were a mild-mannered cubicle jockey splitting your time between wondering how a schmuck like you was ever going to get a piece of the late stage hyper-capitalist ACTION and checking out free porn sites on the internet while playing WoW with all your online buddies, and then BOOM! You suddenly find yourself writing emails like this to people you don’t know:
You guys are a f*cking joke. You pretend to be Democrats, but you’re really Republicans. You’re not fooling anyone. Not really.
A real Dem, or real Independent who has a brain, would not want a man who’s supported Bush 90% of the time for these past 8 years, and been a cheerleader for the unnecessary war in Iraq. That would be McCain, in case your possible Alzheimer’s brain needed reminding.
So go ahead and vote for McCain. Let’s have at least another 5-10 years of war in Iraq, an unsupported war against the Taliban and Al Queda in Afghanistan, a f*cked up economy for another 4-8 years. Why not? You’re rich, you PUMAs, so you don’t care, you’re not hurting financially. No one who’s really hurting financially is supporting McCain.
Yeah, the economy has been entirely stagnant for the past 8 years. Let’s keep that up.
Too bad you people don’t have any brains. If you don’t live in the still-backwards South, where the education of the American citizens is STILL the lowest in the country, I’m sure they’d welcome you there.
Or you click from “Hot Teen Chicks Delivered Straight to Your Door” to this IBD/TIPP Poll showing that O-Ba-MA has lost his lead over McCain and the race is now statistically tied with fully 11% of respondents still undecided (in the primaries, undecideds broke for Clinton 4 to 1 and 5 to 1). Also this year pollers are experiencing an 80% hang-up rate. In normal years the hang-up rate is around 40%. And to really get you boys, um deflated, there is also the news that even though O-Ba-MA spent millions on ACORN and other efforts to increase voter registration this year, so far polls are showing that the number of new voters casting votes for the first time is the same as it always is, around 13%. Yikes. Now that’s pretty emasculating.
Kinda makes you want to do something like THIS. Or THIS.
Not us though. We Pumas have always been repulsed by campaign violence, cheating, and intimidation. We saw enough of it first hand in Nevada and Iowa and Texas during the primaries. We were hounded from enough political blogs and online sites to realize we REALLY don’t like it when violent, bullying, cheating elements take over a campaign. In fact, that’s EXACTLY why we started the Puma Movement in the first place.
To challege people like you.
Pumas, there are 11 days left. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Here’s a suggestion I received in email this morning for something anyone can do. Get involved. You’re an American citizen.
Act like one.
Video the Vote 2008
Video the Vote is a national initiative to protect voting rights by monitoring the electoral process. We organize citizen journalists—ordinary folks like you and me—to document election problems as they occur. And then we distribute their footage to the mainstream media and online to make sure the full story of Election Day gets told. Watch our 2006 highlights and join us as we Video the Vote this November. http://www.videothevote.org/
Another suggesion to contact your local/county campaign headquarters, and sign up to be a poll watcher! They may assign you to your own precinct or assign you to one that doesn’t already have a watcher. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!! WE MUST COVER ALL OF OUR PRECINCTS/DRISTRICTS!
ALSO, Tonight we are hosting a fundraiser to help Heidi Li and her group, Democrats for Principles before Party, place an ad in Congressional Quarterly. The ads Heidi and her partner Marc Rubin have placed were tremendously effective at changing the pre-Denver narrative.
If everyone reading tonight donates just $5 (or $10 if you’ve got it) we can put Heidi over the top!
Puma PAC, People United Means Action, is Protesting the 2008 Election. We are Democrats who will vote for President this year in Protest. We will not support the Selected presidential nominee. Millions of us will vote John McCain as a PROTEST against the DNC and the Obama Movement. Millions will vote 3rd Party or leave the top spot BLANK. Not because we are angry or bitter or sore losers. Not because we are shrieking holdouts. We are Protesting the 2008 Election because the DNC and the Obama Movement used dirty tricks and disenfranchisement to grab the nomination.
These are the Reasons for the Puma PAC Protest of the 2008 Election
* The DNC punished the VOTERS of Florida and Michigan with DISENFRANCHISEMENT. because of the actions of their elected officials. In Florida, Democratic VOTERS WERE DISENFRANCHISEDbecause of the shenanigans of a REPUBLICAN legislature.
* The DNC CHANGED THE VOTES of 600,000 Michiganders on May 31, 2008 when it stole 4 pledged delegates from one candidate and re-pledged them to another.
* The Obama Movement PAID THE SUPERDELEGATES who endorsed Senator Obama. Crucial Super Delegates pledged their support to Obama after the Obama Movement contributed tens of thousands of dollars to them. These were Super Delegates whose constituents had voted overwhelmingly for Senator Clinton in the the primaries.
* The DNC allowed sexist bias to HANDICAP the ONLY WOMAN in the race. When Tucker Carlson said that Hillary Clinton was a CASTRATOR, the DNC WAS SILENT. When Chris Matthews said that Bill Clinton’s INFIDELITY was the ONLY REASON for Hillary Clinton’s achievements, the DNC WAS SILENT. When the MEDIA CIRCUS unleashed a sexist onslaught of criticism against Senator Clinton regarding: her laugh, her cleavage, her pants, her wrinkles, her earrings, her “bitchiness,” her emotional “instability” the DNC WAS SILENT.
* The DNC and the Obama Movement SUPPRESSED THE VOTES OF CLINTON Delegates at the National Convention in Denver. On August 27th, 2008 the DNC and the Obama Movement maneuvered an undemocratic and underhanded voting script to ensure that Hillary Clinton’s pledged delegates (and the 18 million votes they represented) HAD NO VOTE. Entire state delegations were brow-beaten into voting Present or Passing their votes to other states. August 27, 2008 is a day that will live in infamy for the Democratic National Committee.
If you are a Democrat and you are FED UP with the DNC and the Obama Movement’s tactics, JOIN US! We are Protesting the 2008 Election.
***********************
A few in the last thread were concerned that The Audacity of Nope could be construed as PUMApac’s endorsement of John McCain. PUMApac does not endorse John McCain.
I thought I had clearly stated at the end of the essay was that it was the opinion of myself only, a lowly guest blogger from Peacocks and Lilies. I apologize if some were offended and am re-posting the official statement of PUMApac regarding the top of the ticket. Thanks to Hillstheone for posting it in comments in the last thread.
Reminder!
We have 52 Days to stop the DONC.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Sheila Jackson Lee yesterday. I will post the final tally later this morning.
We will be mounting a weekend Fundraiser starting later today to raise funds for Canvassing and Outreach for our Protest of the Election. Get a jump now and donate this morning if you can, and THANK you! You can Contribute HERE!
Fair warning: Expect assumptions to be challenged in this post. It’s part of my gadfly approach. That approach is probably the result of my working class upbringing, filled as it was with all the right values propped up by all the wrong lies, as well as my eventual over-education (for my class), which provided me with strong research and reasoning skills, an instinct for critical thinking, and the ability to articulate well. What that education did not provide me with was unvarnished truth, only a means to pursue it. And so it is that we go about the business of peeling off the lies here, of locating that center amongst the petals of rhetoric. Whatever the cause, I am driven to seek core arguments, to push away the decorations and trappings of our discourse, and to try to assert what really matters.
What matters today is the roiling exposure of authoritarianism on the left. It is symptomatic of the Neoprogressive reach, which is itself symptomatic of the neoconservative reach. Most of those who self-identify with the left, and that includes disaffected Clinton supporters (DCS), would agree that one of the goals of the neocon faction was to drive the center into solidly conservative territory. Parties who succeed in getting their opposition to join them don’t have to compromise much, do they? As I have noted in many posts at P&L, this election season is littered with what must look like delicious irony from the outside. It hurts like hell from the inside, but those with no vested interested must be howling their asses off at how quickly things have flipped.
Sadly, the Democratic Party, long billed as the Party for Women, has attempted to drive the ultimate wedge to prevent a feminist revival. Ironically, while they have succeeded in their own party, they have failed in the culture at large. PUMA and the choices DCSs make November 4th, as well as the attention they have gained and the momentum they have achieved have already constituted a revival among some women. The New Democratic Coalition, a.k.a. the Progressive Dude Nation, has already demonstrated its tolerance for sexism and authoritarianism, as well hypocrisy, which they display so aggressively and to such effect when they pursue Republican strategies they were railing against four and eight years ago. And they continue to be oblivious to their own weaknesses. The consequence is fuel for that feminist revival.
A couple of days ago I published a post called More Politics of Fear. I hesitated to publish it at the time because it was critical of two of the more respected bloggers in the DCS-sphere (doesn’t quite have the PUMAsphere ring, does it?). I think it was a good post and people responded to it, but I hadn’t realized at the time I posted it that I wasn’t done fleshing my issues out. This morning I realized two things: a) I am hurt by the argument that anyone who casts a vote for John McCain can’t possibly be a progressive, and b) what troubles me most about the argument is not the hurt, but what the argument says about the infiltration of authoritarianism on the left. To argue that one’s identity is tied to one vote, like the helix in mortal coil, is to make an authoritarian argument. As I said in More Politics of Fear, it is akin to the old one-drop rule, or the structure of the Indian caste system. There’s also another institution that practices that kind of rhetoric; it’s called a church.
But there’s a softer side to this authoritarianism too. It is personified in the I-could-never-vote-for-a-Republican-but-I-can’t-blame-you DCS. I know a lot of people like this, and I don’t judge them either. Everybody owns their vote. But I must take this moment to ask you if you are of this mindset: Do you think the Democratic Party will suddenly feel like home November 5th? Do you entertain fantasies that all of this madness will go away once the election is over?
How quickly we forget, sadly if we ever knew, the struggles of Stanton and Anthony, and Paul and Burns. Do you think that any one of those great, fearless women would have hesitated to cross a party line in the effort to secure a right for women? Did Alice Paul ever say, “I’m sorry Mr. Wilson, but you belong to a war-mongering party, so I can’t possibly petition and lobby you for relief”? And isn’t respect for and power for women, the opportunity for them, finally, a right worth securing? Women have the opportunity this year like no other to emerge as a super-constituency, to force both parties to notice and respond to us and some of our issues. It’s already working on one side of the aisle, even as it exposes deeply troubling sexist rhetoric on the left. That sexism will not magically disappear on November 4th. If Obama wins, the beast will just be caged until he and his faction need it again. If he loses, it will get worse, much worse for a while, before it gets better.
If we are an Army of Monsters in the eyes of the left, why does it matter if you cast a protest vote for John McCain? Have you ever considered that a huge feminine swing toward McCain as a result of his Palin pick may be all that is necessary now to achieve that super-constituency? And have you considered what a valuable opportunity this might provide Americans to reform the Republican Party? What if we could tame those beastly factions within it, and jerk the Republican Party more to the mainstream? What delicious irony, right? I certainly think that’s a much more (and truly) progressive strategy than adopting wholesale corrupt Republican strategies to win, all the while hypocritically claiming to hold on to liberal values.
I’ve recently given some thought to this whole notion of labels. I said in Barry and The Neoprogs that progressive was a good word for them because all they cared about was naked progress in the form of winning. They weren’t concerned with the long-term in the least. Joseph Cannon over at Cannonfire recently articulated the better argument against progressives. To wit:
As readers know, I am careful to describe my politics as “liberal,” not progressive. What’s the difference?
ALL PROGRESSIVES LIE. ALL.
Bolding his. I think that’s generally, though not so stridently, true because I can understand the distinction now between a liberal and a progressive. It’s basically the difference between the Stevensonian and FDR coalitions Anglachel articulated so well a while ago. And the Stevensonian faction, make no mistake, has been the one consistently flirting with conservative values and candidates over the last 40 years. Now that the convention is over, though, it’s not just that faction that is expressing its authoritarian beliefs. Unwittingly infected themselves, some of those on the left, especially those who left working class culture in the dust when they succeeded in bettering themselves, but who have preserved an affection for it, are now spouting these ridiculous purity arguments, either for others or for themselves.
As a Midwestern Democrat-turned-independent, a voter in a swing state planning to vote McCain/Palin, I have to ask myself, are we going to be expected to do the heavy lifting this November, even as we get no credit, and suffer ridicule for it? In case you weren’t aware, in the wake of the sham Convention, you have only two choices: Obama or Nobama.
If Obama wins, his faction gets credentialed and their values get adopted in the DP, but if Obama loses, and regardless of what happens in the Republican Party, none of that other stuff happens in the DP. This election has already proven to be the strangest in my lifetime and a lot longer, and I really can’t believe anyone in any red or blue state can feel certain they know how their state will go. How can they just kick back and rest assured that they won’t have to violate any personal values to achieve their goal of Nobama, without even trying to self-reflect on whether or not the value that argues all Republicans are evil is even rational? Leave it to the close-minded hicks in those swing states, right? Ain’t that the mother of all ironies?
Note: Whatever minor issues I may have with Anglechel over this particular rhetorical aside, I still think she is the best political analyst in the DCS-sphere by far. I do not speak for Murphy or other PUMAs either, only for myself.
Originally posted at Peacocks and Lilies. (I thought y’all would like it too)
Reminder!
We have 52 Days to stop the DONC.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Sheila Jackson Lee yesterday. I will post the final tally later this morning.
We will be mounting a weekend Fundraiser starting later today to raise funds for Canvassing and Outreach for our Protest of the Election. Get a jump now and donate this morning if you can, and THANK you! You can Contribute HERE!
Good morning/afternoon folks! Hope you are all well and working your prowls, or enjoying whatever it is you’re doing this lovely Saturday. I know all eyes are on Texas right now, where it is anything but lovely. Whatever goodwill you may offer, whether you pray or send good thoughts and hope for a better tomorrow, I’m sure it is much appreciated.
Today we’re offering a blog roundup for those interested in what’s being said in the quiet little corners of the Internet. This is where the coal of our discourse is being pressed into diamonds as we speak. There are a few diamonds in the rough, but most of these sparkling gems are already finished, they were just waiting for someone to dig them out. These are our foot soldiers in this war of rhetoric, so give ‘em some traffic and some comments, if you can. So without further ado, modified and re-posted from Peacocks and Lilies:
I don’t know about you, but I’m about outraged out. Of course, I haven’t turned the TV on yet, or listened to radio’s boarhounds yet. But I have found some pretty good stuff around the Internet.
We’ll start this blog roundup with Joseph over at Cannonfire. He’s documenting the atrocities coming from Democrats this year. Remember way back when documenting atrocities was Atrios’ job?
But back to Cannonfire. You really want to read that post. Here’s a teaser:
In decades to come, objective observers will look at today’s pseudo-”progressive” movement with unmitigated disgust.
Since silence equals complicity, I hold ALL Obots responsible for these smear campaigns. I have never seen a major post or editorial by a left-wing writer excoriating these lies. Instead, the Obots dare to accuse McCain of engaging in “swiftboat tactics,” even though the Obots themselves have manned the swiftboats since December.
You aren’t going to want to miss all the debunking going on over there, including the debunking of this shocking smear tactic right here, from Obama’s campaign itself. (Since updated)
Next up is Bud White, from Bud White’s World, in which Bud snarks on the 50-State strategy, which has become another casualty in this election-war. Then he analyzes why they had to kill it, and why they should have known it was just ear-candy for Progressive Dudes. A sliver to whet your appetite:
A narrative was developed in the blogosphere that Obama, unlike Hillary, would be able to touch the hearts of red state conservatives and turn them into Democrats. Hillary was too polarizing, it was argued, and she would be fighting for Kerry’s states plus 1.
It was mandatory at dailykos to believe that Obama was a map-changer. A diarist from North Dakota named Ab2kgj, in a post which would be funny if it weren’t so painful, suggested that Obama had a real shot at grabbing that state:
Yep, basically what I’ve been thinking about for a while now.
Steinem compounds her problems by making the same mistake so many other so called defenders of women’s rights have made over the past few days. She discards all logic and states that because she (Palin) agrees with McCain, that somehow makes her unworthy of being a vice-presidential pick. In other words, if you aren’t Democrat, or if your views might stray a bit from what the Steinem viewpoint is, then instead of vying to become vice president you should be home baking an apple pie, putting on a negligee and taking care of your man.
That pretty much nails it for me. The Democratic Party is so sexist, even its so-called leading feminists will join the pile on, trying to keep conservative women tied to their children and their kitchen. Well, we did ask for more transparency in government, but I don’t this is exactly what we meant. Now we know. Democrats suck for women, and apparently the party turns them into some sort of twisted Stockholm Victim-mentality mannequins. No thanks, Gloria.
Don’t miss LadyBoomerNYC’s offering, a fantastic take on life post-anti-Convention. Here’s a slice of her wonderful and moving narrative:
I hesitated protectively, having lived undercover using my handle for so long that I had to consciously produce my real name in my head before saying it. “Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of writing most of the year, political writing. Do you know what blogs are? I have a blog and contribute to other sites and efforts.”
They continued the conversation as they scurried about their business, “Oh really, and who were you supporting for President?”
My personal self gulped inside my political self having been so underground and divided, “Actually, I was supporting Hillary Clinton, working to get her elected. I still support her and believe she would make the best President.”
They both jumped to attention and gravitated back to the counter to face me, “Really? We’re for her too!”
(See why I can’t stop?) “That’s great,” I cooed, as I came clean, telling them about my blog and links to others, our efforts prior to and during Denver, and our work to ensure a roll call, a floor vote, and a record of the truth about this election.
They pointed out to me, “It’s just like 2000, Gore and Bush!”
But go read the whole thing. It’s the kind of analysis-couched-in-personal-stories that has been driving the Creative Nonfiction genre for several years now. Wonderful stuff. LadyB, you so deserve to be published and paid for what you do.
For all you McKinney-supporting PUMAs out there, Tennessee Guerrilla Woman has a post up on McKinney speaking about election integrity. You remember elections integrity, don’t you? Lack of it is what we used to blame Republicans for in 2000, before the Dem guy did it too in 2008, and not even to the other side, but to one of his own.
This little gem from SugarNSpice must not be overlooked. This post comments on the meaning of and reaction to Palin’s use of the term “Community Organizer,” then takes a really close look at Obama’s accomplishments as a community organizer. Read it, know it, re-tell it. That’s how narrative-building works.
The Democrats are in a panic. In a presidential race that is impossible to lose, they are
behind. Obama devotees are frantically giving advice. Tom Friedman tells him to “start slamming down some phones.” Camille Paglia suggests, “be boring!”
Meanwhile, a posse of Democratic lawyers, mainstream reporters, lefty bloggers, and various other Obamaphiles are scouring the vast tundra of Alaska for something, anything, to bring down Sarah Palin: her daughter’s pregnancy, her ex-brother-in-law problem, her $60 per diem, and now her religion. (CNN reports — news flash! — that she apparently has never spoken in tongues.) Not since Henry II asked if no one would rid him of his turbulent priest, have so many so urgently volunteered for duty.
But Palin is not just a problem for Obama. She is also a symptom of what ails him. Before Palin, Obama was the ultimate celebrity candidate. For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great. Which is why McCain’s Paris Hilton ads struck such a nerve. Obama’s meteoric rise was based not on issues — there was not a dime’s worth of difference between him and Hillary on issues — but on narrative, on eloquence, on charisma.
The unease at the Denver convention, the feeling of buyer’s remorse, was the Democrats’ realization that the arc of Obama’s celebrity had peaked — and had now entered a period of its steepest decline. That Palin could so instantly steal the celebrity spotlight is a reflection of that decline.
It was inevitable. Obama had managed to stay aloft for four full years. But no one can levitate forever.
QUICK UPDATE: Be sure to listen in tonight to The Lion’s Share on Puma United Radio (PURrrr) at 8pm eastern. Sheri, Riverdaughter, and I have a jam-packed show planned for tonight. Listen live HERE!
They are so scared. More scared than they’ve been since Hillary Clinton moved into the White House. They do this every time they get this scared, and they never get this scared of a man. Other people might wonder how politics and the media can be filled with so many pearl-clutchers when there are so few women in either profession, but such is the case. Some might suggest these folks were a little too close to mamma to grow up to be functional men, if you know what I mean. Still others might suggest it’s an intimacy-issues thing, the result of being cuckolded by empowered, irritated, unsatisfied wives. Whatever the source of this neuroses and dysfunction, the result is always the same:
Gary Kamiya’s article in Salon was graced by that picture of Palin. That picture of Hillary is from Spy Magazine, circa February 1993, just a month after she and Bill arrived in Washington. This is the Fourth Estate’s enfeebled attempt police the political class. But it only shows how distorted and mentally diseased they are, how much privilege they’ve been able to secure, which is to say, way too much. Maybe we need to run a Psychiatrist for president, so we can have these images translated for the media as they publish them.
What they don’t think about, because it’s so far outside the limited borders of their bubbled brains, is what effect this sort of propaganda has on some people, especially people aware of and open to feminist sentiments. That Spy Magazine cover made me a life-long fan of Hillary Clinton at the tender age of 22, and articulated in one image what she’s had to fight as a woman in politics all her life. It also made me shed the bullshit rhetoric swirling around women in my age group at the time that feminism wasn’t necessary anymore, and was odious to boot. The sympathy it created in me spurred the birth of a barrier wall in my brain, which grew with every dirty trick Republicans of the 1990s threw at Hillary or Bill. A lot of other Americans experienced this too. This wall of static sound developed for a lot of people, so that by 1995 all most people heard when they listened to Clinton critics and naysayers was a whole lot of what Lucy and Charlie hear when adults speak in a Peanuts cartoon: Waa-WAA-Waa-WAA-WAA.
But there was a danger I wasn’t aware of at the time, and the thought of that missed danger plagues me today. The kids of the 1990s weren’t able to build that wall of static, they absorbed and internalized all of those unfounded charges and characterizations. And because they were too young to understand what was going on, because parents felt uncomfortable talking about it to them because of the Lewinsky-sex issue, the little seeds of hate Republicans were trying to sow at the time landed in a lot of young, fertile hearts. And look where we are today. We’ve got young women so stupefied from all the confusion they can’t even see overt, rank sexism before their very eyes. We’ve got other, older women so hooked in to the white male power structure they’re unwilling to risk losing anything, to risk being put into leather and chains themselves, even if just in pictures. We’ve got a lot of young men monkeying those Republicans from the 90s, even some young men ostensibly smart enough to know better. These are monsters built in the ideological ovens of the 1990s. This is the legacy of 1990s, of all those Republican hit jobs.
This is the also danger we face today. Make no mistake about it. You cannot just go back to your couch, to watching Lost and House and whatever reality TV show it is you follow. Young women and men today, my 14 year old daughter among them, are absorbing the heat of the hit jobs this year. It is baking into their very flesh. IF Hillary runs in 2012, my daughter will be old enough to vote. What choice will she make after all she’s seen this year? So far she’s still an Obama fan, even though she now understands what Hillary had to deal with, and sympathizes with me over the sexism she herself can now identify. But just yesterday, as she sauntered off to bed, she couldn’t resist snarkily throwing this little gem in my face: “Why do you want four more years of Bush, Mom?” This is where she is after living her whole life with a feminist Hillary Clinton supporter. After all she knows about what happened this year, and because I am her mom she knows the whole sorry tale (and is sorry to hear it again), this is still the argument that works for her in her politically budding mind.
This is why we fight. We fight for my daughter and the millions of girls like her who are endangered by the sexist rhetoric that passes for media these days. We fight for the millions of boys who are looking at the Progressive Dude Nation right now, at their style, their pazzazz, their irreverence, and who are wanting to posture the same stance one day if they haven’t adopted it already. There is more at stake than just this year, this election, or the next four years. There are legions of young minds being shaped, and we must inform them, using rhetoric that is natural to their intellect, of what is going on right now and what is possible for the future.
Reminder: We DO need funds to keep our momentum. Our budget has always been lean and mean — no salaries, consultants, lobbyists, etc etc — but even the grassiest grass-roots effort needs help. Please consider a donation today. You can contribute HERE, and THANK you!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA INQUIRIES: 978-505-3933
Puma PAC Official Schedule of Events
Denver, Colorado
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Meet and Greet MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. All Pumas, Hillary Supporters, and Friends of Puma PAC WELCOME! Come and meet all the Pumas from around the country who are gathering in Denver for the Convention. We will have signs, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, and other PUMA Gear for you to take with you on your travels through Denver and beyond. We will also have snacks and drinks to keep you refreshed and energized. Restroom facilities and parking available on premises. This is the place to go for ALL of the info you need: schedules, maps, instructions, shuttle rides, rally signs, sign supplies, flyers and handouts. Visit OFTEN during your stay.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
Puma PAC Media Loft - PRIVATE LOCATION 8:00 p.m. - Audacity of Democracy Screening and Party This is an invitation only event for Puma PAC members, Puma Friends, members of the Press, and Delegates. We will be screening the latest installment of our documentary, “The Audacity of Democracy,” at 9:00 p.m. Doors will close when we reach capacity. Cash bar and hors d’oeuvres will be available.
MONDAY, AUGUST 25th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Rise and Rally! MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime. This is the place to gather BEFORE the Beautiful Protest and Rise at Cheesman Park. We will be making signs and handing them out. You can get your t-shirts and buttons and candles here. We will have some shuttle vans/cars taking people over to the Park - but if you have your own car, please bring it! We’ll put you to work helping get people to the park!
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
CHEESMAN PARK - East 8th Avenue 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Beautiful Protest and Rise
MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME.
A Celebration of Hillary Clinton’s Historic Presidential Campaign! What makes this historical event special? It’s not just because it’s named after Maya Angelou’s famous poem “Rise,” but that it will also close with the lighting of candles to pay tribute to Hillary and all of her achievements, while also symbolically reigniting the flame of America’s great Democracy and Lady Liberty’s torch. Candles will Rise as participants at Cheesman Park and communities across the nation will recognize Senator Clinton’s achievements in one harmonious gesture of celebration. This will be a marvelous opportunity for those who worked on Hillary’s behalf and her supporters as well as all who believe in and appreciate our Liberty and Democracy to come together and enjoy an afternoon and evening of festivities. This is a free event; all Hillary supporters/fans are welcome. Puma Pac activities begin at 4:00 p.m. and end at 6:00 p.m. The Rise 2008 takes over at 6:00 p.m. Speakers and entertainment begin at 7 p.m.. The festivities will end with the national “RISE” candle salute to Hillary, Democracy and Lady Liberty at precisely 9:45 MDT.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Ambassador Day MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Hillary Clinton’s Address to the Convention MEDIA WELCOME. We will have a 46″ flat screen TV set up for everyone to watch Hillary’s historic address on the 88th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. Drinks and light food will be served.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Ambassador Day
MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, ETC for all your live blogging needs. You can also check email and check up on the news. Bring your own laptop.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 28th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - The Lion’s Share Closing the convention with our community. Gather to share your experiences, your thoughts, your emotions. Celebrate our achievements and plan for November.
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WELCOME TO ALL NEW PUMA PAC MEMBERS!
To be an active participant on the blog, we ask that you share our mission and our motto - NObama.
We ask that all conversation be civil, respectful, and absent of any sexist, racist, misogynistic, ageist and all the other -isms that have been thrown around in this election. We work very hard to keep the forum positive and powerful.
There are 3 Rules for Posting on Puma PAC’s forums
1. No sexism
2. No racism or homophobia
3. No insulting other Pumas, including condescension
Join us in our fight to take our democracy back to the people!
NHFORHILLARY is challenging all PUMAs to join her in supporting a mock ROLL CALL to take place in Cheesman Park at 4:00 p.m. on Monda, August 25. Speak for YOUR state! Sponsor a STATE sign for $5.
Imagine what an exciting event this will be in DENVER! Envision fellow PUMAS holding signs from ALL 50 states and the cheers of support for Hillary as we start!
Arkansas, how do you vote?
New York, how do you vote?
As we go through each state you can cheer at home in solidarity and support for Hillary!
Get involved and make HISTORY!! We can have more than one sign per state! Use the link above to sponsor a sign for your state. Put ROLL CALL - (your state) in the PURPOSE field on the donation form.
Post on the blog which state you’re sponsoring for the ROLL CALL so NHforHILLARY can keep track!
We will have live video from the event and pics that will be posted as soon as we can get them uploaded.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA INQUIRIES: 978-505-3933
Puma PAC Official Schedule of Events
Denver, Colorado
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Meet and Greet MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. All Pumas, Hillary Supporters, and Friends of Puma PAC WELCOME! Come and meet all the Pumas from around the country who are gathering in Denver for the Convention. We will have signs, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, and other PUMA Gear for you to take with you on your travels through Denver and beyond. We will also have snacks and drinks to keep you refreshed and energized. Restroom facilities and parking available on premises. This is the place to go for ALL of the info you need: schedules, maps, instructions, shuttle rides, rally signs, sign supplies, flyers and handouts. Visit OFTEN during your stay.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
Puma PAC Media Loft - PRIVATE LOCATION 8:00 p.m. - Audacity of Democracy Screening and Party This is an invitation only event for Puma PAC members, Puma Friends, members of the Press, and Delegates. We will be screening the latest installment of our documentary, “The Audacity of Democracy,” at 9:00 p.m. Doors will close when we reach capacity. Cash bar and hors d’oeuvres will be available.
MONDAY, AUGUST 25th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Rise and Rally! MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime. This is the place to gather BEFORE the Beautiful Protest and Rise at Cheesman Park. We will be making signs and handing them out. You can get your t-shirts and buttons and candles here. We will have some shuttle vans/cars taking people over to the Park - but if you have your own car, please bring it! We’ll put you to work helping get people to the park!
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
CHEESMAN PARK - East 8th Avenue 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Beautiful Protest and Rise
MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME.
A Celebration of Hillary Clinton’s Historic Presidential Campaign! What makes this historical event special? It’s not just because it’s named after Maya Angelou’s famous poem “Rise,” but that it will also close with the lighting of candles to pay tribute to Hillary and all of her achievements, while also symbolically reigniting the flame of America’s great Democracy and Lady Liberty’s torch. Candles will Rise as participants at Cheesman Park and communities across the nation will recognize Senator Clinton’s achievements in one harmonious gesture of celebration. This will be a marvelous opportunity for those who worked on Hillary’s behalf and her supporters as well as all who believe in and appreciate our Liberty and Democracy to come together and enjoy an afternoon and evening of festivities. This is a free event; all Hillary supporters/fans are welcome. Puma Pac activities begin at 4:00 p.m. and end at 6:00 p.m. The Rise 2008 takes over at 6:00 p.m. Speakers and entertainment begin at 7 p.m.. The festivities will end with the national “RISE” candle salute to Hillary, Democracy and Lady Liberty at precisely 9:45 MDT.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Ambassador Day MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, and community for all your live blogging needs. Access email and catch up on the news. Bring your own internet-ready laptop. If we get too crowded we will begin scheduling internet access.
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Hillary Clinton’s Address to the Convention MEDIA WELCOME. We will have a 46″ flat screen TV set up for everyone to watch Hillary’s historic address on the 88th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. Drinks and light food will be served.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Ambassador Day
MEDIA AND DELEGATES WELCOME. Puma PAC HQ will be open ALL DAY and evening as a resource center, meeting place, and rest stop. You can pick up signs, t-shirts, goodies, and refreshments here anytime.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Live Blogging Wireless and wired internet access, printers, office supplies, ETC for all your live blogging needs. You can also check email and check up on the news. Bring your own laptop.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 28th
PUMA PAC HQ, 1325 Delaware Street 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - The Lion’s Share Closing the convention with our community. Gather to share your experiences, your thoughts, your emotions. Celebrate our achievements and plan for November.
So if you fancy yourself the Democrats’ Karl Rove — an unbeatable master of politics and strategy, how come the Grand Tour was such a flop for your guy? Sinking in blue swing states, tanking in red states. . . Most Americans believe the Ego Trip, I mean World Tour, hurts or doesn’t help his chances in November. Your guy can’t even make a dent against an old guy who hasn’t even begun to campaign against you in earnest. You’re losing during the warm-up? Oops. Groan.
Now what? Time to start huddling with your astroturfers, hackers, and bundlers? You sly devil! I see you reaching for that card up your sleeve — you know the one with the big “R” on it. Very clever. I know! Better yet! Why don’t you blame that monster, Hillary Clinton, for ruining everything?! Oh dang — you already forced her from the race. Too bad for you. What’s that you say, David?
WAHHHHHHH!! WAHHHH!!! Yeah, man — I hear ya.
Puma PAC — a beautiful Summer day awaits! Challenge yourself to ditribute 100 flyers, postcards, or brochures today. Download and print them HERE!
REMINDER! The second installment of Meet Me in Denver with Murphy and Friends airs tonight on NQR, Blog Talk Radio. We’ll be talking with a Clinton delegate from California, an activist in Denver, and getting an update from Texas on the filming of caucus fraud witnesses for our film. Tune in at 9pm eastern, and be sure to call the Listener Line!Call-in Number:(347) 677-0792
UPDATE July 26, 2008 at 9:47am: Puma PAC received a $3,000 donation on Thursday. We are enormously grateful and humbled by the generosity of the gift. Margie’s daughter J, who set up the donation, sent an email this morning, part of which I’d like to share with you:
There are so many women everywhere who wish that they could give, just don't put a
name to it. You could use my mother's name Margie. I cannot really type much
without crying but she was so excited about Hillary, as was I, and her life was much
like what the DNC did to Hillary so this has been doubly painful.
Also, I am getting ready to meet with a group of VIP's next week and I am going to
encourage them to join and match. If I hadn't given so much to Hillary, I would
have had more. Never in my life have I wished for money more than now. I rescue
everything--from people to animals--so I don't have much. However, if I win the
lottery it will be yours and Hillarys.
Thank you so much Margie and J. Your contribution will go a LONG way to helping Puma PAC be the strongest and most effective Voice of the Voters in American history. We will be working every day and night to make sure that stories like your mother’s, and Hillary’s, become part of the past.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Organize, agitate, educate must be our war cry!” - Susan B. Anthony
Read this post by my hero, Riverdaughter, to find out what’s going on for Puma PAC. She does it WAY better than I could, so I’m going to lean on her. Then come back.
Apparently we watch television forfour and a half hours a day. After sleeping and working I think that means we spend ALL of our time watching T.V. It makes our minds weak and our wills weaker. Advertising has an unambiguous and proven effect on our brains. TURN IT OFF. Everyone will be happier. Everyone will be smarter. Everyone will be more calm and kind. Everyone will be a better citizen.
What does this have to do with anything, you may ask? Watching television is an exercise in brain conditioning. Kind of like cult indoctrination. Here’s how it works. Read this and in comments cite specific examples of cult indoctrination techniques you’ve observed in a certain “Leader’s” Movement.
1. The Goal
Every cult has a stated, vague and metaphorical goal. Because this goal must serve as the “illuminated eye” of the pyramid, it cannot be attainable. Rather, it is expressed as an abstract idea - like “salvation” - which the cult members will enjoy once they have made it to the top of the pyramid.
2. A Charismatic Leader
All cults - whether spiritual or mundane - have a charismatic figurehead. The leader must be someone whose speech, manner and energy exert inexplicable influence. In religious cults, the leader attains his divine status in one of two ways. The first is by claiming to be the hand-picked successor to the last guru. The second is by claiming to embody an entirely new spiritual force - either to have been born sacred or to have suffered an “awakening” trauma or a sudden “new breeze” of insight.
3. Sacred Doctrine
Most cults have a sacred text or doctrine. Often a cult will adopt an established text, like the Bible or the Koran. Others use a spontaneously revealed doctrine. These are usually “channeled” or transcribed.
4. Divine Coincidence
New members must learn of the cult as if by grace. If the members believe they came to the cult through conscious or rational process, then they are in a position to take responsibility and credit for their participation. Cults try to avoid this perception because members should be separated from their sense of willpower in order to be fully indoctrinated.
5. Positive Results Through Commitment
While discovery and introduction are almost always free, the newcomer is told that he will experience satisfaction only when he has made a financial or equivalent commitment. At sales meetings for another of the cults I investigated, writing a check was equated with the first step toward changing one’s life, and new members reported feeling results the moment they made this commitment.
6. Extraordinary Measures
Once new members have made their initial surrender or contribution to the cult, they are asked to do something that contradicts their judgement. What’s important is that the act goes against the new members’ own internal sense of appropriateness. The members must get used to acting against their own values.
7. Member Complicity
Once an extraordinary measure is taken, the members are rewarded with complicity in the greater pyramid. To get out of the cult after this act of complicity, a member will have to own up to all of the cult’s practices as if they were his/her own.
8. A Cycle of Breaking “Self”
After extracting extraordinary measures and complicity, the cult exploits the commonly practiced spiritual discipline of self-denial and demands increasingly difficult acts of faith from its followers. Sometimes these requests seem to benefit the cult - members are instructed to donate huge sums of money or contribute tremendous time and labor to the cult. Just as often, however, these requests will be completely arbitrary or even against the interests of the cult. By interspersing real requests with these random and bizarre instructions, the cult can avoid the appearance of self-interest. It can also paralyze the followers’ ability to second-guess cult actions.
9. Confusion and Transference
By alternating self-interested and random demands, the cult brings its followers into a state of great confusion - they aren’t sure how to please the cult. Sometimes leaders will reward members who fail to carry out commands, and punish those who complete them successfully. The CIA suggests using rewards and punishments in a random, illogical manner so that the subjects regress into a childlike dependence. Similarly, the confused cult member will eventually regress to a childlike state and transfers parental authority to the cult leaders - which is why so many cult leaders insist on being called “Mother” or “Father.”
Titles like “President,” “Bishop,” and “Apostle” all imply these people are authority figures that should be obeyed. 10. Prescriptive Behavior
Like any victim of induced regression and transference, once their ability to make decisions have been suspended, the cult members look to their leaders for guidance on how to behave. They long for direction on what to think, do an believe.
11. The Goal of Inclusion
Once transference has been achieved, the elusive stated goal of the pyramid cult is replaced with the much more tangible one of establishing a relationship with the cult leaders and acceptance in the cult. The cult members become, in effect, siblings competing for their parent’s approval. The result is a prolonged psychodrama that capitalizes on unresolved issues from the members’ own family backgrounds. The cult leaders orchestrate emotional battles, pitting members against one another as they seek to develop a “special relationship” with the leaders.
12. Never Expose Uncertainty to Those Lower in the Pyramid
By the time a member is this far into a cult, he/she is required to preserve the illusion of its cohesion and perfection.
13. Never Expose Uncertainty to Those Higher in the Pyramid
Eventually, any expression of doubt at all is deemed offense against the cult. To spread one’s misgivings to a higher member is, in effect, a challenge to that member’s own resolve. Such expressions can be allowed up to a point, but ultimately the members must learn that they are the source of their won doubts and must overcome crisis without spreading confusion to others. Confessing one’s misgivings to a higher member merely affirms the latter’s superior status in the pyramid. If one is to move up, he/she must show less doubt and more commitment that those above him/her.
14. The Cult Precludes All Other Commitments
One by one, each member’s connection with the real world must be reinterpreted as base “attachments” that need to be limited or purged. The member’s original religion, job, friends, spouse and children are less important that his relationship with the cult and its leaders. The members must not gain positive reinforcement from anything or anyone outside of the cult. Family and social bonds are reinterpreted as distractions from the higher values the member is adopting. All real-world associating, inevitably and by design, come into conflict with one’s commitment to the higher goal.
15. Never Refuse a Request
A member may never refuse a request made by a cult leader, or in the name of the cult. To do so is to place some other value ahead of the sanctity of the group.
16. All Requests Can Be Challenged
A cult member who has made an inappropriately personal or self-interested request in the name of the cult will be challenged. On the other hand, members who are in the leader’s favor can get away with almost anything of those beneath them.
17. Never Take Action in the Cult Leaders’ Names
The cult leaders are free from all responsibility. To make a request in the cult leader’s name is to blame the cult leader for any ill will that might result. To claim, for example, that “I divorced my wife because the leader told me to” is to refuse responsibility for one’s own actions. Although a cult leader may have “shown the way,” a member divorces his wife or disowns his children because it’s the “right thing to do.” To use the leader as an excuse is just another way to express doubt.
18. Act Automatically
Members must strive to act in accordance with the cult leaders’ wishes without thinking. The conditioning, confusion, and fear to which the members are subjected result in a set of new behaviors that take the place of what normally might be called intuition or instinct. Once achieved, this automatic behavior is a welcome relief from the constant questioning of one’s own actions.
19. Witness and Accept the Leaders’ Faults
Once they reach the highest levels of the cult pyramid, members are privy to their leaders’ darkest actions. Members must also come to terms with the abusive behavior of their leaders.
20. The Cult Leaders Are Perfection
The final stage of cult indoctrination is to accept the leaders as the perfect center of the universe, from which all else derives. The “fully evolved” cult member thus understands all the pain and suffering as resistance to the cult leaders’ divinity. The leader is the single point of entry for God and perfection in the otherwise imperfect universe.
Once cult leaders have achieved such a stature in his followers’ minds, the leader can ask them to do anything, even to kill themselves. They already have been trained to go against their own instincts. Thwarting one’s natural tendency toward self-preservation becomes a pleasurable, almost fetishistic obsession. As members look for more outrageous ways to break their own attachment to life, suicide emerges as the ultimate act of devotion.
