2008 will go down in history as one of the most bizarre in history. Sure it was an election year but even at that…… Think of five dollar gas, the real estate crash, the failure of hundred year old banks, the Dow down 34%, the credit freeze and add  Sarah Palin and Joe the plumber, well it HAS been a strange one. We wish Barack Obama well and hope his message of hope pans out. One thing is for SURE it CAN’T get worse……….can it?

Thanks for listening this year and we will do our best to stay on the air next year as well. So have a happy and SAFE New Year. And as always, thanks for listening.

This isn’t going to be a very holiday oriented post. The subject matter is torture, specifically the “leaders” of our government who not only knew about it, but were instrumental in justifying and, bending our laws to countenance it…..in OUR name. ALL Americans should be outraged by our actions and the fact that dark-dick cheney is saying out loud very publicly that not only did he support torture but that he is PROUD that he had taken action to DO it. Read about it HERE. The whole world sees this sneering,whispering wretch admitting war crimes and bragging about it. Jesus, they must hate us.

ONE of hundreds of problems with our immoral treatment of people under our control is that torture doesn’t WORK! EVER! There is a piece written HERE by a real intel officer from our Air Force saying just THAT! There was a rare moment on the corporate media where something of value accidently leaked out. It was a story of a group of WWII veterans who conducted interrogations of German prisoners of war here in the US . You can read about it HERE. HERE is a story of a reunion of this top-secret group of brave and SMART Americans who used brains and humane treatment to get USEFUL information from our enemies. The TV news report that accidentally let some truth out of the bag mentioned that most of these brave Americans indicated that they were horrified and disgusted by what our interrogators were doing IN OUR NAME to people in our custody. THEY knew that their methods were creating hatred and MORE terrorists who want to kill us. AND these cruel and humiliating deeds DON’T WORK!!!!

So where should we go from here? HERE is an op-ed piece from the New York Times on this filthy subject that tells the story better than I could and holds little hope that Barack Obama will live up to his campaign promises and actually prosecute these evil bastards. Once again, I admit that I am a solid Democrat. BUT, I am also an American citizen. Our country, at the hands of un-fettered Republican control for the last dozen years is on the brink of complete collapse. I understand all that. BUT we are a nation of laws, NOT a nation of men. We Americans have stood by silently as everything that makes America great has been trampled to death and stolen blind. Our banks steal us into a depression, our defense department has had hundreds of billions stolen from us by private contractors with no-bid contracts, our bill of rights has been torn to shreds and our “unitary” executive has crowned himself king and his vice (and I DO mean VICE) president has pulled the strings like a puppet-master.

It may be hard to believe, but it is NOT retribution that I seek. It is accountability and the restoration of our country’s laws and freedom that is a LOT more important than petty party politics. We Americans expect it, the world demands it and humanity deserves it.

Billo’schmuck be damned, Merry Christmas to our beloved listeners.Oh, and a happy and prosperous New Year. Goodness knows we deserve it.

Yep, B U I L D . The right-wing talk machine has created an atmosphere by which we have been distracted into NOT paying attention. The REAL information we need to make smart decisions is NOT on Radio OR TV. Most of the real journalism is in print media. There are STILL a few reporters who actually report……..NEWS.

So pay attention, they are pitting us against ourselves  yet again. The reaction to the bridge loan for what’s left of our automotive manufacturing industry for instance. Meet the Press last Sunday featured a failed CEO Carly Fiorina and failed GOP presidential candidate “Slicky-Mitt” Romney. The new schmuck David Gregory let old slick-mitt get away with saying that UAW workers make 70 bucks an hour, GAWD what a liar. HE knew he was lying, I knew he was lying, EVERYONE knew he was lying. Had Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm not called him on his vicious lie, he would have gotten away with that dirty lie again. Old slicky-boy mitt didn’t talk much about his father’s tenure at AMC, where he drove that automotive company into bankruptcy.  (They gave such car classics as the Pacer and the Hornet…jeeze)

Colin Powell gets it. HE realizes that the GOP has damn near nastyed itself out of power. HERE he is saying just that. HE is NOT a stupid man or a win at any cost ideological tool. The article he refers to is HERE. The right wing is faltering in their popularity. That’s why I suggest we BUILD now. We have had the disadvantage of using facts and real reporting to support our cause, NOT bumper sticker slogans. Do we need to resort to lies and hyperbole to get our message out? Nope. Facts and truth won the White House last month. The effects of GOP policies are right in the face of every American. We need to be patient and calmly explain what has happened and what the new administration. People are listening, it’s up to US to BUILD.

Has the strained federal budget eleminated the secret service? How in the name of everything that is American can anyone get away with THIS? Some folks just shrug and say that “that’s just Ted”. BS. He is threatening the President of the United States. With a MACHINE GUN!!!What’s left of the Secret Service was claiming that the threats against Barack Obama and his family ramped up greatly when Sarah Palin started flapping her mouth about Obama “paling around with terroists”. What the HELL do they think the effect of a moron strutting around on a stage with two machine guns in front of thousands of people berating Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has on the twisted human wreckage who would buy a ticket to such a circus? What’s up with nugent? Leaky microwave gaskets? Has he swallowed too much lead shot while eating the birds he’s killed?

I’m sick of the threats, I’m sick of the hatred these right-wing America haters are ramping up. They LOST. THIS time, fair and square. They are having a hissy-fit, I get it. BUT, there is a line, and that line is machine guns and our President. Jesus, Imagine Micheal Moore standing with a machine gun telling bush to suck it……by by Micheal. We as Democrats are tolerant, sometimes TOO tolerant. Political opinion ends at the point where a gun begins. If we HAD a Secret Service that gave a rat’s butt about protecting our President, they would be handing old Ted a warrent and telling him “Hey Ted, suck THIS”.

OK OK this may seem to be piling on. But just consider how close this could have been. Consider that Sarah Palin COULD have been a heartbeat from the presidency. *shudder* I have written extensively about the Palin clan on franksblog. This whole thing is disturbing like the Cuban missile crisis. A rogue evangelical militant with REAL power. *shudder* HERE is video of a FOX news guy reporting on things he knew, but was forbidden to say out loud. She was at odds with her handlers and apparently went on her own with the “paling around with terrorists” riff, read about it HERE. The computers of BOTH campaigns were hacked by foreign hackers, Sarah Palin went nuts at upscale clothing stores across the country, even charging up low level staffer’s credit cards for tens of thousands of dollars, and it appears that John McCain was kept in the dark……JEEZE.

John McCain ran one of the worst campaigns in history, and Barack Obama ran one of the best. It wasn’t smart to hire lobbyist Rick Davis to head up Mccain’s effort, it definitly wasn’t smart to run with Sarah Palin. Are the McCain campaign geniouses just looking for someone to blame for their crushing defeat? It’s not unusual for Republicans to try to dodge blame for their own actions. BUT there have been those who say that she IS the new Republican party. Those of us who broadcast or write about politics can only pray that they are right.

Against all odds, Barack Obama has been chosen by the American people to serve as the 44th President of the United States. The whole world reacts with joy at the replacement of the present administration. The great spirit of our forefathers resounded as the American people stood in lines for hours to vote in this most historic election. They braved the elements, hunger and thirst and sore feet to have their collective voice heard. HERE’S an electoral map. 349 electors for hope, enlightenment, peace and prosperity. 173 electors for fear,terror,hatred and enslavement of the American people.

As an American citizen I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the people who knocked on doors, phone-banked, raised money and organized GOTV efforts. But most of all I want to express my profound appreciation to the American people who did their homework, paid attention and said collectively “not THIS time” we showed up in numbers so massive that the election could NOT be stolen this time.

Now granted, the McCain campaign was the worst run and most incoherent I have ever seen.  But Barack Obama touched something within us that brought out the best in us. I honestly believe that the vast majority of us who supported him didn’t see a black man, but a brilliant man we could trust to get us out of the mess the GOP policies caused. Dr Martin Luther King JR dreamed about a time when a man would be judged not by the color of his skin, but the content of his character. THIS demonstrates the content of President Obama’s character. Good luck and God speed Mr President, we got your back.

VOTE!!!!!!!!

John McCain has a short memory AND he thinks we are stupid. A couple weeks ago he was shouting about “Acorn destroying the very fabric of our democracy”. OOOOPS, this story is about John the ejector praising Acorn for being”About what makes America special”. His latest hissy-fit was delivered on Larry King about some stupid tape the LA Times supposedly has with Obama at some party that included a guy the”ejector” says COULD be a terrorist. OOOPS, McCain chaired a republican board that gave this guy’s organization a half-million dollars. Read about it HERE. So what IS it John? Did YOU give a terrorist a half mil because YOU support terrorism? OR is this yet ANOTHER made-up crock of…..stuff to scare people into thinking Barack is something he is NOT! Do you (the GOP) think we are ALL stupid? Do you think we can’t look this…….stuff UP?

John McCain’s economic plan is to borrow ANOTHER trillion dollars from….goodness knows who and give it to the richest people in the country, deregulate more and stay in Iraq for as long as possible. He wants to tax medical benifits as income and cut medicare and medicaid by a trillion dollars to pay for it. His bus is FULL of lobbyists and his inner circle is a who’s who of the monsters who ground our country into the mud. Maverick? Reformer? Next time you see him on TV, look at his eyes. Just look at his eyes, they are the window to his soul, there’s nobody home. He thinks you’re stupid. He COUNTS on you being stupid. It’s his only chance.

There are a lot of reasons I titled this post as I did. Reganomics are coming home to roost,Greenspan said as much AND he said he was shocked that corporations un-fettered by any regulation ripped the guts out of capitolism. Who could have seen THAT coming? Bush lied us into a war with no end in sight, after we were attacked on Bush’s watch after he was told that “Bin slobbin determined to attack within the United States using hijacked airplanes as missiles on the East coast”. Terry Schiavo, the Patriot act, Military commissions act, FISA act, Phil and Wendy Graham eliminating regulations that caused untold economic carnage globally.

But lately, the McCain campaign has hit new lows even by THEIR standards. It shows how people who hate behave when they are desperate. After weeks of flubs and fumbles, gaffes and incoherence, the GOPers are showing a side of themselves that makes clear that the GOP is indeed dying a slow, painful death. HERE’S an example of the reich-wing evangelitard wing of the GOP. The Sarah Palin crowd likes to interject their words of Jesus’s love for all his children and good old fascist American values. A good-old-boy congressman from North Carolina shows how he can “git-er-did” for the American people. And to think this is the land of Andy Taylor and Mayberry RFD. When  prominent Republican Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama, giving the GOP and the Mccain campaign a thorough,cogent going-over, of course Oxi-rush had THIS to say. Desperate much, rush? To top things off, the campaign’s response to reports that the RNC spent a fortune on clothes and makeup for “tailhook Sarah” is seen HERE. Barack Obama stops his campaign for a couple days to visit his Grandmother who is dying, and they say crap like that……. Jeeze. The family values crowd doesn’t wish her well and sympathize with Barack’s family, nice. They have labeled Senator Obama a Muslim/Arab/Marxist/terrorist/risky/socialist/elitist. On the other hand,McCain calls himself a mavericky reformer and a prisoner.( He also calls his supporters fellow prisoners) The Republican brand is dead. Only a major change will save it from itself. Maybe they should go back to fiscal conservatism, social moderation, less anger and more ideas. I am all for a loyal opposition. This ain’t it. REAL Republicans aren’t stupid, neo-cons ARE.