Buffy Anne Summers, aka

Archive for the ‘just stuff’ Category

What happened in Haiti was simply an act of God, or an act of Nature, right?

Sort of.

But not entirely. What our mass media isn't telling you is that some of our "leaders" helped create this appalling situation.

Yes, this is what the pundits always call politicizing a news story, and what our mass media generally decline to do.

I could and probably should go into more detail, but as Max Blumenthal has done such a good job of that already, I'll merely point you in his direction:

 

http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/01/how-washingtons-plot-against-haiti-worsened-the-disaster/

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/07/16/haiti_coup/print.html

http://i2.democracynow.org/2004/7/20/did_the_bush_administration_allow_a

 

And can you believe Obama asked George W. to join in a bipartisan effort for Haitian relief? Really? After what happened (and is still happening in many respects) to New Orleans? Almost anyone, even John McCain, would have been a better choice. I guess in most ways Barack's just another politician, and the only reason I can continue to support him is that the alternatives all look to be much, much worse.

Well… heads up guys. Hope to be back in posting mode sometime soon. Have just been so busy lately… y'know?

Technorati Tags: Aristide, disaster, earthquake, Haiti, International Republican Institute, IRI, natural, politics, relief

James Marsters interview on Rove Live back in July of 2004. Yeah, it's old but its kinda funny, and James, after your comment about Rove Live versus Letterman, I've had to rethink your blasphemy. It was just a very dry joke. Maybe it was just that British sense of humor that threw me (that you got by playing Spike all those years, as you were never actually British in spite of what some Buffy fans still seem to think).

But I get it now. I'm cool.

Sorry about that James.

Technorati Tags: James, Live, Marsters, Rove Live, video

Hey all! I think I may be posting a few more short posts, vids and such for a little while, time permitting. Just to spice things up. Not exactly Buffy- but Angel-related. (Anyone watch Leverage?) The song is, obviously, Sweet Carolina Rain, by the Christian Kane Band.

Technorati Tags: Carolina, Christian, Kane, Rain, Sweet

Dear Mr. President, I would like to tell you how disappointed I am in your presidency so far. I would like to, but I don’t think I have the words to express it adequately.

You promised. You promised the beginning of a new era, a new way. And you told us not to expect you to do it alone, not to go home but to stay involved, to keep up the fight, in short, to help you.

And then you took office. What happened? When since have you inspired us and led us and asked us to help? You began by leaving many of the various and Constitutionally questionable policies of the previous administration untouched, and asked us to be patient. You said it wasn’t time yet to close Gitmo, and asked us to be patient. You have so far refused to pursue any significant prosecutions of the previous administration in spite of mounting evidence that such prosecutions are sorely needed, and asked us not to look back.

None of that has been very inspiring, Mr. President, but most of us have continued to give you the benefit of a doubt.

Yet now, most recently, on health care and climate change, you have refused to draw a line in the proverbial sand and state unequivocally what is and is not acceptable — and even while failing to fight for a public option in a health care “reform” legislative battle (that now appears to be the war-time equivalent of providing free armaments and ammunition to the enemy), you pronounced an abysmally inadequate agreement in Copenhagen a great success.

During all of this, when did you inspire us? When did you ask us for our help? When did you take a stand, a specific stand, a real and unequivocal stand, and say to us, I will not turn, but I cannot do this alone, I need your help, I need you to come forth with the passion you had during the campaign and make your will known in terms that our detractors cannot mistake, and cannot deny, and cannot overwhelm with mere propaganda?

The sad fact is that that moment never came.

Yes, you have had a very full plate. Your predecessor left you with a daunting job, and I don’t mean to be ungrateful or harsh. But I and my friends have put ourselves on the line, and some of us may have endangered the future of our own careers, our own health care options, and otherwise, by taking a stand, publicly and honestly and dangerously. Because we believed in the cause and because we believed in you. Should we have just stayed silent?

Maybe you remember, or maybe you don’t, but I told you one time, several months ago, that if you wanted things to be easy, especially now, at this extraordinary time in history, then you’d had no business running for president, even less persuading us to believe in you, and even less actually being president.

If these were ordinary times, and if you were an ordinary politician, I very likely would chalk up all that has transpired this year to “politics as usual.” But these are not ordinary times and you are not an ordinary president. You encouraged a whole new generation to be involved, and you inspired many more to believe in possibility one more time. You promised change we could believe in.

Yet having begun with the potential to be one of this country’s great leaders and one of the best things to ever happen to this country, you are now at risk of becoming one of the worst. Not just because you never drew a line and stood your ground, not just because your fine words and speeches seem so much more empty of substance today than they did a year ago, but because your apparent inability to draw that line and stand that ground risks poisoning a whole new generation with the cynicism and apathy that has plagued this nation, and this world, for far too long.

I am still hoping that you are smarter and more clever and more courageous and more committed than I am giving you credit for, that somehow, like a magician, you will pull rabbits out of a hat, or better, cause elephants to disappear before our eyes, and we will ooh and ahh and be amazed at your strategy and gape in wonder at the change that has finally come, the change we really can believe in.

But it is beginning to feel as if the hour already is getting very late, and any and all evidence of that hypothetical, brilliant strategy has yet to show itself.

Mr. President, you are clearly a very intelligent man, clearly a very thoughtful man; you are charming almost to a fault, you speak well and have your way with words, often deliver your oratory almost without flaw, and are understandably concerned about your legacy.

But Mr. President, throughout the various battles this year, we didn’t need just your intelligence, and your thoughtful consideration, and your charm, or just your beautiful words, and we are very selfishly more concerned about our own futures and the future of our country and the world than we are about your legacy. We didn’t need talk. We needed walk.

What we needed was for you to take a stand and fight and refuse to turn even in the face of defeat. That would’ve inspired us. We would’ve stood with you and together we probably would’ve won, but if necessary, gone down in defeat with you, and come back again to fight again, knowing that the battles were right.

What we needed was — what we still need is — your leadership.

Technorati Tags: barack, environment, health care, health care reform, legislation, Obama, politics

Hey! I had a time getting things to work, but I think (hope) they do now.

At the top, where you used to see the menu item, ‘All Things Buffy!,’ you will now see ‘All Things Joss.‘

I’ll try to salvage what seems worthwhile from that old page, but for now just click the new link and you will find a lot of new resources (in particular, check the ‘Popular Tags.’ You will find a link back to the home page here in the footer at the bottom of the pages.

Let me know if the graphic banner at the top of these pages loads too slow, or any other complaints. I know I’ve changed the theme width to 1200; most of you have a monitor these days to handle it so you won’t have to scroll horizontally, but if I get too many complaints about it, or the banner slowing things down too much, I’ll switch to a width of 800 and see how that goes.

I hope all you addicts (and me too) find the new ‘All Things Joss!‘ resources helpful in your quest for your Buffy fix.

Hopefully, I’ll be back fairly soon with another post about … hmm … who should a post on a site about Buffy be about … hmm … Buffy?

You never know.