50 Years Ago ~ the Kennedy Assassination

I was just over 3 years old when President John F. Kennedy was shot, so I barely remember the day. What I do remember is the overwhelming grief that adults expressed even years after it happened when we would see the anniversary in the newspaper or on TV.

So handsome, so gifted, so well-meaning - and much too young to die. At my house we didn't talk about all the conspiracy theories when I was a child - my parents were too grief-stricken - but as I got older, especially at school, we wondered why so many others were shot soon after: Robert Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King. Here in the south there was an feeling of fear that anything could happen at any time, that things had gone too far towards chaos. I was in second grade when M.L. King died, and while I was still too young to fathom the politics, I was ashamed and shocked that the shooting happened in Tennessee. So I have an inkling about how those in Dallas, Texas must have felt then and feel today over the assassination of John Kennedy. Things like this should never happen in our backyards, in the United States.

And yet there are those today who sit around on the internet, on Twitter and Facebook and every forum, seething and screeching and threatening Barack Obama, calling for someone to "stop his tyranny" through any means possible. That horrible type of madness just never goes away it would seem. The John Birch Society of that time has become the Tea Party of today.

What the Tea Party needs to understand is that the death of John F. Kennedy didn't stop progress or change from happening to our country. President Johnson and millions of others carried out the reforms of the Great Society. The Koch Brothers, whose father founded the John Birch Society, may still try to suppress the vote, but minorities and women are voting in ever higher numbers and showed last year that they will stand together for hours at the polling places in the name of Evers and King. We just re-elected Barack Obama, an African-American President. Many old enough to remember the death of John F. Kennedy never thought that day would come, and yet it did.

Peaceful change is the best revenge for all those deaths.

This week Caroline Kennedy became Ambassador to Japan. Standing with her was her son, who looks very much like her father and her late brother, John Kennedy Jr. History changes, and Teddy Kennedy may be gone forever now, but the legacy continues, both of blood and values.

The deaths of great people are not in vain. They inspire us and lead us beyond death.

Modern conservatives would rather drown the middle class & govt than promote widespread opportunity & greatness pic.twitter.com/4NxGFibcQ4

— ProgressiveHelp PhD (@CallOut4) November 23, 2013

Caroline Kennedy sworn in by Secretary Kerry as Ambassador to Japan with her husband and son by her side pic.twitter.com/rN4h1VETjX

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) November 12, 2013

President John F. Kennedy and his son, John F. Kennedy Jr., White House, October 1963. #JFK #JFK50 pic.twitter.com/xcu42G1KZb

— Tegan Mathis (@TeganMathis) November 22, 2013

"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." -John F. Kennedy, 1963 #JFK https://t.co/2lbA6SRGI3

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) November 22, 2013

See how TIME has covered JFK throughout the last 50 years http://t.co/F47YLapd6o pic.twitter.com/Rxx9AmqRkE

— TIME.com (@TIME) November 22, 2013

Myrlie Evers' Condolence Letter To Jacqueline Kennedy: "I Lost My Husband On June 12th In The Same Way" #JFK #JFK50 pic.twitter.com/znwTHMQ4SS

— Eric Wolfson (@ericwolfson) November 22, 2013

Jacqueline Kennedy at John F. Kennedy’s funeral, Arlington Cemetery, November 25, 1963 #RIPJFK pic.twitter.com/uiOPDefNlF

— Emily Maxwell (@eskizzle) November 22, 2013

50 years ago today, Midland Reporter-Telegram published an "extra" edition: GUNMAN SLAYS JFK: http://t.co/bVyWKuhKIQ pic.twitter.com/qKnDXpzb4C

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) November 22, 2013

Funeral of John F. Kennedy, 1963 pic.twitter.com/U3KYMh2i7E

— ClassicPics (@History_Pics) October 13, 2013

Some Things Never Change. (BTW, The John Birch Society was cofounded by the #Koch Brothers' dad) #JFK #JFK50 #p2 pic.twitter.com/v6ITZyIf9A

— Eric Wolfson (@ericwolfson) November 22, 2013

PBS and "Citizen Koch" - Show Us the Movie

Jane Meyer has written a must-read article about the interplay between David Koch and PBS flagship station WNET.

Jane Meyer on New Yorker: How Far Did PBS Go to Avoid Offending Board Member David Koch?

From the "Citizen Koch" Website

Statement about “A Word From Our Sponsor,” by Carl Deal & Tia Lessin

Our film CITIZEN KOCH tells a story about how the money of the few drowns out the voices of the many. Set against the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizens United and the rise of the Tea Party and Occupy movements, the film explores the consequences for democracy when private interests determine who is elected to deliver public good.

Public television had commissioned our film last spring, but fearing that our film would displease one of its large contributors, public television abruptly backed out on our deal.

Investigative journalist Jane Mayer exposes the self-censorship process in her New Yorker article “A Word from Our Sponsor: Public television’s attempts to placate David Koch.” The carefully documented piece reveals how the role of billionaire industrialist and conservative activist David Koch as a trustee of and donor to PBS flagship stations WNET and WGBH compromised the independence and integrity of public broadcasting. It also tells the story of how we, as a result, lost our own public television commission for CITIZEN KOCH.

Public television viewers also lost out by being denied an opportunity to participate in a discussion of the issues our film raises.

After much thought, we decided to go public with our experience hoping that, like the film itself, it will spark conversation about how power wielded by high-dollar political donors like Charles and David Koch distorts the public dialogue.

With the possibility looming that the Kochs’ may purchase the Tribune Company of newspapers, this conversation takes on vital relevance to the public.

Documentary filmmaking is the nexus of art and journalism, and we hope that Mayer’s exposé informs honest conversations within and outside public television and the independent filmmaking community about the role and importance of public financing for public arts institutions and that it also encourages people to take a stand against censorship in any form.

- Carl Deal & Tia Lessin

Here's the trailer. I want to see the entire thing, and if PBS is too scared to show it, then it should go out on YouTube or Netflix - somewhere! And soon!

Bill Moyers Makes Democracy So Simple a Four-Year-Old Can Understand

Link to Bill Moyers Website

Michigan Mess: Governor Snyder Guts the Unions

Oh, here we go again, just as in Wisconsin, the Republicans are going after the Unions. What bothers me the most is the lack of transparency and sunshine in the way this Michigan law was struck, with almost no public discussion, and therefore the citizens have been railroaded again. Suddenly springing a new law on a state as large as this, especially with the long history of unions connected to the auto industry is shocking. without public input the process is anti-democracy - not that the GOP cares about that anymore.

This whole thing smells of the Koch Brothers and other out-of-state groups. They must think if they can't win a national election, they will buy a few state governors and wreak havoc.





Huffington Post

Gov. Rick Snyder (R) officially made Michigan a "right-to-work" state on Tuesday, signing into law two bills that significantly diminish the power of unions.

"I have signed these bills into law. ... We are moving forward on the topic of workplace fairness and equality," he said at a press conference on Tuesday evening, just hours after the state House passed the bills.

Right-to-work laws forbid contracts between companies and unions that require all workers to pay the union for bargaining on their behalf. Although business groups and conservatives cast the issue in terms of workplace freedom, unions note that the laws allow workers to opt out of supporting the union although they reap the benefits of the collective bargaining. Since the laws tend to weaken unions generally, unions, as well as President Barack Obama, call the legislation "right to work for less."

. . . Throughout the day, at least 12,500 protesters showed up at the Capitol in Lansing. The gathering occasionally turned ugly, with punches thrown and pepper spray dispersed.

The GOP-controlled state legislature had fast-tracked the two bills, which authorize right-to-work measures for public and private unions in the state, bypassing the normal committee process and public input period.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bill Moyers on Grover Norquist - It's About the Money

Bill Moyers tells the truth about Grover Norquist. It's not "conservative principles" or some pledge he invented when he was 12 years old. At this point, Norquist wants to save his gravy train with biscuit wheels, aka, his alliance with the Koch Brothers, He's a bought-and-paid-for puppet who harrasses other puppets in the Tea Party.

For. The. Money. That is all.

Bill Moyers writing on Daily Kos

Norquist's efforts: Keep taxes low for his donor base -- billionaires like the Koch brothers and the plutocrats secretly clustered around Norquist's comrade, Karl Rove.

This past election, Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform, spent nearly $16 million to support his favored candidates; that's according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Where did that money come from, and what did it buy? Back in the 1990's, it was the tobacco industry backing Norquist's fight against cigarette taxes; now it's pharmaceutical companies, among others. Not long ago, this same Grover Norquist was using his organization to launder money for the notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff. How about that for tax reform!

Check it out yourself in the documentary Capitol Crimes on our website BillMoyers.com. You'll see the story of how the man who has the Republican Party under his thumb came to Washington to start a revolution and wound up running a racket. Now he's the proxy for the powerful interest groups that finance him.

So, not only does the Norquist Pledge symbolize a "political system short on legitimacy," as Christopher Caldwell wrote. It isn't even about principle or ideology. Conservatism, my foot. It's all about the money.

New Ad Targets Koch Brothers

Watch for more videos from Stop the Greed Agenda

Who are the Koch Brothers?

From American Progress Action:

The Koch brothers, leaders of a vast family oil-and-gas conglomerate, use this political network to pursue their right-wing agenda at nearly every level of government. Whether they are contributing millions in campaign contributions, spending millions on lobbying, or investing millions in right-wing think tank and advocacy groups, the Koch brothers’ influence is pervasive.

. . . Think of Americans for Prosperity as the voter-organizing arm of the Koch empire—a formidable political machine that plays a role in all the key electoral states. They have the ability to organize events, mobilize voters, and run television ads. These ads promote their right-wing agenda and force elected officials to respond. This is but one way the Koch brothers use their considerable finances to influence elections. Another way is through direct contributions to candidates at the national and state level, which is the subject of our next section.

Rumor has it that the Koch's were behind Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as Vice President.

Via Jonathan Turley's blog

According to long time Republican operative, Roger Stone, the Koch Brothers may have “purchased” the Vice Presidential choice from the Romney campaign for a promise to spend $100 Million in various Republican Super Pac funds and the so-called C-4 funds to attack the Obama campaign and support the Romney/Ryan ticket!   “Here is how Stone led his latest post, headlined “The Paul Ryan Selection, “which also delivers an amusing swipe at a certain Fox News analyst:

I’ve waited a few days to lay out my analysis of the selection of Paul Ryan for the VP slot on the Romney ticket. Unlike politicos like Dick Morris who badmouths the selection privately and shills for it publicly, I’ll tell you what I really think. My sources tell me David Koch played a key role in Ryan’s selection and that Koch’s wife Julia had been quietly lobbying for Ryan. The selection was cemented at the July 22nd fundraiser Koch held for Romney at the former’s sumptuous Hamptons estate. Koch pledged $100 million more to C-4 and Super PAC efforts for Romney [in exchange] for Ryan’s selection.”  National Memo

I understand that one has to take what Mr. Stone says with a grain of salt because he has been an insider political operative for decades, and maybe he has a grudge against Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and/or the Republican Party.  One thing that is known is that the Koch Brothers have been big supporters of Paul Ryan and his attacks on the middle class and the poor.

More from Truthout

The reactionary Koch brothers, along with Tea Party advocates and gloves-off free-market capitalists have used the Citizens United decision to pressure Romney into selecting Ryan as his running mate. The Koch brothers are staunch supporters of Ryan; in fact, they have been among the largest contributors to Ryan over his entire political career.

Ryan's mission is likely to fulfill papa Fred Koch's vision to restore America to its former glory days as a white Christian nation ruled by a plutocratic moneyed elite. The elder Koch was the founder of the notorious John Birch Society ("Diamond," Sara (1995). NY: Guilford Press. p. 324. ISBN 0-89862-862-8). As the progenitor of the Koch family, the elder Koch candidly and unabashedly wrote, "the colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," and "welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment a vicious race war").

It is likely the Kochs and their right-wing supporters actually expect Romney will lose the 2012 election, and perhaps they are using his candidacy as a platform to launch Ryan's 2016 run for the presidency. Michele Bachmann's labeling of Huma Abedin as a Muslim terrorist may have been a trial balloon for what is to come in 2016 as the nation's economy plummets further toward the bottom. The same might be said for Romney's TV advertisement attacking welfare recipients, an ad Fred Koch would have applauded.

"The Campaign" Movie Lampoons the Koch Brothers

Ebert and Siskel used to say that when the movies lampoon something broadly enough to be thought hilarious by most viewers, that's the death knell for whatever it is. For instance, the zany "Blazing Saddles" was the end of western movies for the next fifteen years. The outrageous "Airplane" movies were the end of epic disaster films like "Airport" and "Towering Inferno" that once dominated theaters.

It would be nice if the new flick "The Campaign" could cross over into reality and signal the end of the Tea Party in right-wing politics, but we probably aren't that lucky. However, this is parody at its best, nearly indistinguishable from real politics. We've all seen political ads with nearly identical staging and statements as the ones in the movie. Seriously, this is good stuff!



It's sweet to see filmmakers holding a mirror up to Wingnut-World, which they did before with "Game Change" and the McCain/Palin debacle. This time around, we even have a version of the Koch Brothers, those masterminds of election-buying, and the backers of Scott Walker's union-busting takeover in Wisconsin.



In the film, the Koch brothers become "The Motch Brothers," played by Dan Ackroyd and John Lithgow.




From the Milwaukee Express Review

. . . the real villains are the Machiavellian Motch brothers (John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd), stand-ins for the real-life plutocrats called Koch. Terming their economic scheme "insourcing," the brothers are conspiring to move their Chinese factories with their 50-cent-an-hour child labor to North Carolina. They'll save millions on shipping costs—providing the federal government suspends minimum wage, workplace safety and environmental regulations. They will spend whatever it takes to purchase victory.
. . . Huggins and his frumpy family are given a makeover by order of the Motch brothers' sinister political operative. The cardigan-clad schlep is put into a tailored blue suit with an American flag pin, and his home is furnished with an oversize Bible for the coffee table and an oil painting of an American eagle for the fireplace. Huggins probably believes that Jesus was "the greatest American who ever lived," but before long he crosses his own line of integrity, even unearthing Brady's second-grade coloring book as evidence for his Marxist economics.

Frankly, I don't see much fiction there. Sarah Palin spent plenty of time harping about flag pins and Jesus during the 2008 election, and now in 2012 we have Mitt Romney, proponent of outsourcing and gaffe-prone Ted Baxter, as the candidate of the right. Many Republicans can't write a sentence without adding "Marxist" to Barack Obama's name.

When actor Zack Galifianakis was interviewed by the NY Daily News, he talked real politics and brought up one of the problems with our system today ~ the influence of big money thanks to the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court.

This is the part that got the attention of the Koch brothers:

“We really wanted to highlight the ridiculousness that politics has descended into,” Galifianakis says. “Whether you are on the right or the left, everyone can agree that there are a lot of outside influences in American politics that are not good for the system. There’s just too much money.”
To emphasize money’s influence, the film also features Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow as the Motch brothers, billionaire benefactors intent on manipulating the political process to increase their wealth.
“I think it is pretty obvious that the Motch brothers represent the Koch brothers,” says Galifianakis, referring to the industrialists known for supporting conservative advocacy groups. “I disagree with everything they do. They are creepy and there is no way around that. It’s not freedom what they are doing.”

The Koch's decided that instead of being classy and just ignoring the opinion of an actor about a movie, they would make a point of insulting him.

From the Koch Brothers Spokesman via Think Progress

Last we checked, the movie is a comedy. Maybe more to the point is that it’s laughable to take political guidance or moral instruction from a guy who makes obscene gestures with a monkey on a bus in Bangkok…We disagree with his uninformed characterization of Koch and our beliefs. His comments, which appear to be based on false attacks made by our political opponents, demonstrate a lack of understanding of our longstanding support of individual freedom, freedom of expression, and constitutional rights.

I guess they don't understand that parody is protected under the law, and everyone has freedom of speech and expression, not just Republicans. The United States is famous for that - "justice for all," not for "the conservative 1%."

But here's the thing - satire is a subtle thing, even when it's nonsensical and silly. That's why sometimes on the internet you have to put "snark" tags around words so people will understand that you aren't being serious. If the Koch brothers were sophisticated enough to understood that "The Campaign" is a comedy, they still missed the main point, which was that their megabucks have only helped turn our political system into a circus sideshow, and attracted lame candidates in their own image, rich automatons who creep most people out - guys like Eric Cantor and Mitt Romney.

They've basically destroyed whatever credibility they ever had as "kingmakers" by betting on third-rate cuckoos with draconian agendas that nobody wants for their states. Oh, and ruined their own party, possibly forever, by leaning too far to the right.

The subtle part of satire is in knowing when the joke is on you. The Koch brothers don't get it, anymore than Sarah Palin ever got it. But I think most voters get it, which is why Obama is going to win in November. Even the Koch Brothers plus Sheldon Adelson with his billions can't put Humpty-Dumpy Romney back together again, nor can they make him more likable. Justice for all, indeed.

Voter Turnout Heavy in Wisconsin

I've been collecting Tweets all day on Snark Amendment and will be updating this until the polls close.
Badgers Vote and the World is Watching

This election is a huge deal and symbolic of the entire political system. I hope Wisconsin feels the weight of history and votes to throw Walker out. That is the only message that will be loud and clear. If he wins again, the Republicans will take it as a mandate even if he immediately gets indicted. He needs to be out, period. But at least this recall and his legal woes will keep him from being Romney's running mate. He's pretty much tainted himself forever. I don't know why Republicans would ever want this bozo for a governor except that they basically hate themselves.

The Solidarity Sing-Along on the Capitol Square in Madison this morning:


Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal: Who Benefits from High Turnout?

Who benefits from higher turnout? There’s no pat answer to that question. There were 2,171,331 votes cast in the 2010 election. If turnout is, say, 200,000 votes higher than that, that could reflect a Republican turnout surge, a Democratic turnout surge, or both. Turnout is extremely unlikely Tuesday to match the 2008 presidential race, when almost 3 million votes were cast in Wisconsin.
But if turnout is in the very bullish range predicted by state election officials – 2.6 to 2.8 million – that could be good news for Democrats. That’s because the Democratic coalition includes voting groups – minorities, lower-income voters, young voters – that typically turn out at lower rates. If turnout really does top 2.5 million, that probably indicates a robust turnout by more casual Democratic voters.

Wisconsin State Journal: Turnout Heavy

Voters and public officials reported long lines at many Wisconsin polling places Tuesday — with Dane County Clerk Karen Peters calling the local turnout "just wild."
"It ranges from 28 to 42 percent already; it is a huge turnout. We could hit 80 to 88 percent," Peters said midday of Dane County's turnout. She collected status reports from local clerks....

..."Everything leading up to this election, it completely felt like a presidential (election)," said Maribeth Witzel-Behl, the city clerk in Madison, where turnout was strong. She was speaking of the workload, number of officials needed for the polls and the number of absentee ballots her office received prior to the election.
There were lines outside of many polling places this morning — full of voters who anticipated longer waits as the day progressed.

Barrett took that as a good sign for him. "Obviously the lines are very, very long, which we take as a very encouraging sign. People are engaged in this," he said. "We've noted over the last 96 hours is around the state the energy has just been building and building and building."

Walker, who cast his ballot Tuesday at an elementary school in Wauwatosa, said Election Day almost came as a relief.
"I think most people are just happy to have the election over," he said. "I think most voters of the state want to have all the attack ads off. They want to have their TVs back. They want to have their lives back."

Think Progress: Robocalls Telling People Not to Vote

Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and the Democratic nominee to unseat Governor Scott Walker, told MSNBC host Ed Schultz last night that his campaign began receiving complaints yesterday that voters had been contacted with the misinformation. This morning, Salon reported on the robocalls too, and included comments from Carol Gibbons, a Wisconsin resident who got the call herself. And a local CBS affiliate is even reporting that the caller sounds eerily similar to Tom Barrett, suggesting the group behind the call may have hired a Barrett impersonator.