Fellowship of Punditry

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Cul Heath

Mick Arran

Jeffrey Barbose

Inspector Lohmann

Eric M. Fink

Michael Lane

Rep. Mark B. Cohen

The Fellowship is accepting new members. Inquire within.

The Sages

  • David Weinberger
  • Jon Lebkowsky
  • Jay Rosen
  • Rebecca MacKinnon
  • Nova Spivack
  • Dan Gillmor
  • Jim Moore
  • Lawerence Lessig
  • Ed Cone
  • Jeff Jarvis
  • Joi Ito
  • The Titans

  • Talking Points Memo
  • Oliver Willis
  • Burnt Orange Report
  • Jim Hightower
  • Wonkette
  • Political Animal
  • The-Hamster
  • Matthew Yglesias
  • Pandagon
  • Altercation
  • Informed Comment
  • Donkey Rising
  • The Decembrist
  • Buzz Machine
  • Orcinus
  • Brad Delong
  • Eschaton
  • The Left Coaster
  • Pacific Views

    Distinguished Colleagues

  • Tom Burka
  • The American Street
  • wood s lot
  • Rox Populi
  • Scratchings
  • Blond Sense
  • Cut To The Chase
  • Bad Attitudes
  • Rook's Rant
  • Dohiyi Mir
  • Stout Dem Blog
  • A Violently Executed Blog
  • American Leftist
  • Easy Bake Coven
  • Southerly Buster
  • Abuddhas Memes
  • ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
  • Post-Atomic
  • Van Ramblings
  • Friends of the Fellowship

  • Texas Native
  • Chuck Currie
  • To The Teeth
  • Radically Inept
  • In Dark Times
  • Serial Blogonomy
  • The Bone
  • Public Domain Progress
  • Alien Intelligencer
  • Research Associates

  • Blogged In the Desert
  • One Fine Jay
  • Jessica's Universe
  • Selective Amnesia
  • In Grown Brain Stem
  • Immolation.org
  • Somewhere over the rainbough
  • Politikult
  • Political Puzzle
  • Dear Free World
  • Twenty Something
  • Thom:WebLog
  • Random Act of Kindness
  • A Skeptical Blog
  • The Common Man
  • Progressive News

  • The American Prospect
  • World Press Review
  • Alternet
  • In These Times
  • Common Dreams
  • Media Channel
  • History News Network
  • MOJO.COM
  • Tom Paine
  • Z-Magazine
  • Breaking News

  • Associated Press
  • Reuters
  • BBC Newswire
  • World NEws

  • The Guardian (UK)
  • The Independent (UK)
  • The Financial Times (UK)
  • Pravda (Russia)
  • La Monde Diplomatique (France)
  • Arab News (Saudi Arabia)
  • The Age (Australia)
  • China Daily
  • The People's Daily (China)
  • The Korea Herald
  • Think Tanks

  • RAND CORPORATION
  • CEIP
  • The CATO Institute
  • Center for America Progress
  • Federation of American Scientists
  • Progressive Policy Institute
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • The Brookings Institution
  • The Foreign Policy Association
  • Blogging Resources

  • Principia Cybernetica
  • The Fallacy Files
  • Fact Check
  • 50 Ways To Improve Your Blog
  • Poynter Online's Writers ToolBox
  • News Thinking
  • The Scout Archives
  • WebReference.com
  • Into the Blogosphere
  • George Orwell

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

    Political language -- and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists -- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

    In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

    If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

    But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.

    Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.

    Whatever is funny is subversive, every joke is ultimately a custard pie... a dirty joke is a sort of mental rebellion.

    In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

    All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

    At fifty everyone has the face he deserves.

    Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise.

    John Stuart Mill

    Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

    The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time.

    The general tendency of things throughout the world is to render mediocrity the ascendant power among mankind.

    Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called and whether it professes to be enforcing the will of God or the injunctions of men.

    A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

    Mark Twain

    Don't let schooling interfere with your education.

    All generalizations are false, including this one.

    A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

    Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

    Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

    The Public is merely a multiplied "me."

    Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial "we."

    Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

    Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.

    Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

    Winston Churchill

    The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

    I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

    Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash.

    Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.

    Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

    However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

    In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

    Otto Von Bismarck

    When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

    I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

    Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.

    Be polite; write diplomatically ;even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.

    Voltaire

    A witty saying proves nothing.

    If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated.

    When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics.

    I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.

    To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

    Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

    It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

    The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.

    Karl Marx

    Philosophy stands in the same relation to the study of the actual world as masturbation to sexual love.

    All I know is I'm not a Marxist.

    The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it.

    Sunday, December 12, 2004

    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth

    By Mick

    There has been a lot of discussion over the years about the role and relevancy of the Electoral College, that odd invention, unique to America. Why bother, one wonders? What's it good for? It's a rubber stamp, a formality. Technically there is no president until the EC meets and votes but that hasn't stopped Bush--or any other president-elect--from acting as if it's a done deal.

    And why not? The parties control the electors and have since they were formed early in the 19th century. The electors do as they're told, a system that resulted in the first known case of presidential election-theft (by Republicans, naturally) in the infamous Hayes/Tilden campaign of 1876. Why should anyone take the EC seriously?

    The Constitution, that's why.

    Article II, which established the EC, says nothing about the electors having to follow the popular will, the party's will, or anybody else's but their own. They cast their votes in secret and they can vote for whoever. The decision is entirely theirs, and so is the responsibility. They are America's electoral jury--the law may guide them but in the end they can do whatever they want to do.

    Now, one of the arguments advanced to justify the EC came from the conservative Hamiltonian wing who were nervous about popular elections. They thought that allowing the hoi-polloi to vote for their representatives was quite enough of a risk to take with the governance of a new country under a new system that hadn't been tried since the fall of Ancient Greece. Letting them vote for president was, they thought, tantamount to granting liberty to chaos. The EC, populated, they figured, by men of rank, breeding, and power in the community, would act as a check on what they feared most: the rise of a charismatic populist figure--a demogogue--who would lead the masses in a revolt against the men of rank, breeding and power in the community.

    Parenthetically, it has always been hard for people who worship money to believe that there are people who don't. They are absolutely convinced that, deep in our hearts, we have the same greedy dreams they have and--given half a chance--would be just as unscrupulous as they have been to achieve them. The Hamiltonians, all of whom were heavily schooled in Roman history, had the lesson of the Gracchi before them, the populist uprising that terrified the Roman plutocrats even more than the slave rebellion led by Spartacus. All the slaves wanted was freedom, but the Gracchi wanted land distribution. The plutocrats then--just as do the ones currently surrounding Emperor Jr--thought that though the slaves might murder them in their beds, the Gracchis would steal their money which was much worse. Servants of Moloch throughout history have maintained, in the teeth of all available evidence, their steadfast conviction that everybody is as greedy and ruthless as they are; that beliefs of honor, spirituality, generosity, tolerance, equality and brotherhood only go as deep as the first available drachma.

    But though their belief was based on their hysterical fear of an unlikely eventuality, still, they had a point. Psychology--and the history of the last century--have demonstrated pretty conclusively that, as Goering said, the masses can be easily led to the most outrageous excesses, much more easily than individuals can be led there. To some extent, the idea that a body should exist for the express purpose of putting the brakes on when the masses are being led over a cliff is a good one.

    Since there is no other possible excuse for their existence these days, one is entitled to demand that they live up to the one duty they have left: to protect us from ourselves.

    I therefore call upon the EC to do its Constitutional duty and reject, in the name of The People, the election of the worst president in US history. The Kool Aid Drinkers and Bush Cultuists will hate you but your grandchildren will honor your name for centuries.

    What d'ya say? Do it for posterity. Do it because it's the right thing to do and you know it. Do it just because you can. But do it.

    You're our last hope.

    posted by Mick at 12/12/2004 01:59:00 PM |

    Comments:
    the best place to find adult adult adult dating.info erotic erotic erotic erotic online personals personals in my opinion is adult adult adult dating.info erotic erotic erotic erotic online personals personals

    You can find lots of stuff adult adult adult dating.info erotic erotic erotic erotic online personals personals related just click

    adult adult adult dating.info erotic erotic erotic erotic online personals personals
     
    Nice blog. Check out mine if you can. Thanks. taxation finance attorney
     
    Hi Blogger,
    Looking for autosurf traffic blogs when I came across yours. Glad I did get a chance to read it. The Electoral College: Moment of Truth got me to thinking and came up with a new idea about autosurf traffic. Again I'm glad to have stiopped by. Have a great day :-)
     
    Austin Community College Learn more about apply college online and Austin Community College and thousands of other schools. Request complimentary information and start planning your educational future today.
     
    Hey Blogger,
    I've been out searching for autosurf site blogs for hours and it was nice to have found yours. Just thought I would check out the post The Electoral College: Moment of Truth and come up with ideas for autosurf site. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hi Blogger,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was a good read. I've been searching for get paid online surf blogs and came across yours. Even though it was not exact I am always open to new ideas about get paid online surf in any way I can think of. Have a great day :-)
     
    RSS Announcer instantly and automatically submits your RSS feeds
     
    Hi,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was interesting. Someone told me about autosurf program blogs and I have been out there looking all nite. I'm glad I got the chance to check it out. I will be back. Well on with my autosurf program search. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you! The information and Internet marketing product evaluations that you provide are great for beginner webmasters.

    I have a make money online now site/blog. It pretty much covers make money online now related stuff.

    Come and check it out if you get time :-)
     
    Sometimes, these gambles pay off, but there are occasions when they fail miserably,
     
    Hi Blogger,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was a good read. I've been searching for autosurf program blogs and came across yours. Even though it was not exact I am always open to new ideas about autosurf program in any way I can think of. Have a great day :-)
     
    Hi Blogger,
    I always like an interesting blog. The Electoral College: Moment of Truth caught my attention even if I was looking for best autosurf blogs. Kind of gets my thoughts moving coming from a different angle about best autosurf. Hope to check back every now and then. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hi Blogger,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was a good read. I've been searching for blogs and came across yours. Even though it was not exact I am always open to new ideas about in any way I can think of. Have a great day :-)
     
    Hey Blogger,
    I've been out searching for autosurf site blogs for hours and it was nice to have found yours. Just thought I would check out the post The Electoral College: Moment of Truth and come up with ideas for autosurf site. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hello, I just stumbled across your blog as I was doing a search on the phrase business business from from home home honest honest internet internet opportunity opportunity successforfreedom.com work work, and I just wanted to say that I really like what you've done with your blog, even though it wasn't particularly related to what I searched for, and that I appreciate your postings. I've recently started a business business from from home home honest honest internet internet opportunity opportunity successforfreedom.com work work website that you may be interested in visiting if you get a chance. Much success, Eric.
     
    Hey Blogger,
    I've been out searching for autosurf program blogs for hours and it was nice to have found yours. Just thought I would check out the post The Electoral College: Moment of Truth and come up with ideas for autosurf program. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hi Blogger,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was a good read. I've been searching for best autosurf blogs and came across yours. Even though it was not exact I am always open to new ideas about best autosurf in any way I can think of. Have a great day :-)
     
    Thank you for writing a great blog about xango specific lead. I have been working with a business that is trying to help people who sell xango specific lead so you can be a walking billboard!!
     
    Hi,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was interesting. Someone told me about best autosurf blogs and I have been out there looking all nite. I'm glad I got the chance to check it out. I will be back. Well on with my best autosurf search. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

    I have a ebook store site/blog. It pretty much covers ##KEYWORD## related stuff.

    Come and check it out if you get time :-)
     
    You'd like via an unsubscribe link at the end of Each Newsletter Publication.
     
    Hi Blogger,
    The Electoral College: Moment of Truth was a good read. I've been searching for autosurf program blogs and came across yours. Even though it was not exact I am always open to new ideas about autosurf program in any way I can think of. Have a great day :-)
     
    Looking forward to participating in your affiliate program directory blog. I will definitely add it to my bookmarks.

    I have a affiliate program directory related site. It pretty much covers ##KEYWORD## and other related stuff.

    Also have another cool site called HotLinZ

    Check me out if you get time :-)
     
    Hey Blogger,
    I've been out searching for get paid online surf blogs for hours and it was nice to have found yours. Just thought I would check out the post The Electoral College: Moment of Truth and come up with ideas for get paid online surf. Have a nice day :-)
     
    Need free online advertisingBest deal on the net
     
    Hey Blogger,
    I've been out searching for autosurf exchange traffic blogs for hours and it was nice to have found yours. Just thought I would check out the post The Electoral College: Moment of Truth and come up with ideas for autosurf exchange traffic. Have a nice day :-)
     
    I found you through the search engines and I have to say... you have a nice blog! Keep up the good work. Listen if affiliate course interests you, visit my site and say hello.
     
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Good blog - very interesting!! I liked it so much I'm going to share this hush hush advice with you. Ever wondered how your neighbours are driving around in their brand new BMW or Mercedes cars - with their kids dressed in all the latest named gear and foreign holidays aplenty?? Well they discovered the secret to the extra online income.

    If you are looking for a free tool to attract loads of free links to your blog or website then congratulations I've got the solution for you - and it is FREE!!

    My website specialises in counseling debt management solution and to drive traffic to my website I was searching around the internet for absolutely ages looking for SEO tools and ffa submission sites to fire my site up the Google search engine - unfortunately these doing work and in fact had the opposite affect plunging my site down the rankings like it had a heavy weight attached!!, then I signed up for this free superb traffic generating tool - I now have loads of hits to my websites/blogs and my site is shooting back up the Google rankings quicker than ever before.

    Consequently this saw my affiliate commissions shoot through the roof - meaning lots of extra money coming in for my family - I bought my first Mercedes car on the proceeds of my online campaign.
    Sign up now - it's free.
    . Sorry if this information is of no use to you but seeing as you have the anonymous feature enabled I thought I should share this free bit of essential promotional advice with you and would hope you would do the same for me and others who want to boost their online internet income.

    I hope the tool will serve you equally as well as it has me - it's free!!

    Best of luck, cheers for now, dave.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
     
    Post a Comment

    About US

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.usImage Hosted by ImageShack.usImage Hosted by ImageShack.usImage Hosted by ImageShack.us

    "Netpolitik is a new style of diplomacy that seeks to exploit the powerful capabilities of the Internet to shape politics, culture, values, and personal identity. But unlike Realpolitik — which seeks to advance a nation’s political interests through amoral coercion — Netpolitik traffics in “softer” issues such as moral legitimacy, culturalidentity, societal values, and public perception." - The Rise of Netpolitik

    PUN-DIT (n) : A learned man; a teacher; a source of opinion; a critic: a political pundit.

    Recent Posts

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

    Mick: The Electoral College: Moment of Truth |

    archives

    Birthplace of The Progressive Blog Alliance

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
    Leave a comment here to join.

    The Bots