One Utah

As a teen and young adult in the 60s and 70s, I was disillusioned with the American government particularly because of the Vietnam war and the administrations of Nixon and Johnson, with their roughshod treatment of citizens as well as our Ugly American image abroad. I believed that once my generation came into political [...]

Amidst the joy of an Obama win is the bad news - truly bad, depressing, despairing news. Proposition 8 in California - stripping the rights of gay and lesbian Americans to marry has passed.
I’ll let Autumn Sandeen from Pam’s House Blend say it for me:
And in California, we had Proposition 8. As [...]

For the first time in my life, I am really proud of my country.
…and congratulations to First Lady Elect Michelle Obama.
h/t Clammyc
In 2004, there was talk about how “the people have spoken” and how this was a “clear mandate” that gave Bush “political capital”. However, if that was the second straight questionable election which [...]

John Podhoretz:
. . .A McCain victory in the Electoral College with an Obama popular victory of 2 or 3 million votes at a minimum (somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 percent under this scenario) would provoke a national crisis. . . .
The legitimacy questions that dogged Bush would dog McCain to a far greater [...]

From Progressive Future:

An American Tune
Paul Simon
I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees.
Oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right
For we lived so well so long.
Still, when I think of the
Road we’re traveling on
I [...]

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
No, no!
–Pete Townshend, 1971
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s [...]

…I know I am, but what are you?
Somebody tell me: if we think we “are intellectually superior”, than what does the right think about themselves? Remember Gayle Quinnell? Who is HER intellectual superior?….Hmmm?
If we are “closed-minded” and “hostile”, what are they?
Why is it that while there are so manyvideos of ignorant, [...]

There’s been a great deal of talk about corruption in politics. The last 8 years have seen a truly shocking level of corruption in government - from the Republicans K Street Project, to the Bushies’ endless politicizing of every aspect of government starting with no bid contracts for any firm connected to the Administration [...]

Chicago Tribune:
Author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol Louis “Studs” Terkel died Friday afternoon in his home on the North Side. At his bedside was a copy of his latest book, “P.S. Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening,” scheduled for release this month. He was 96 years old.

Studs Terkel’ cannot be summed up in a few [...]

First of all, The Bradly effect is bullshit.
Remember how powerful was the anti-elitist meme about Bush being a guy you would wanna have a beer with?
The appeal to this voter was really an appeal to rednecks who liked the idea of a president that wasn’t no better than they were (and they [...]

When I was a child, election night was a strange mystery. My parents disappeared soon after dinner and didn’t return until they done the arcane process of voting. It simply happened.
The first election of which I have any memories was 1976. I thought Jimmy Carter’s smile was too broad and [...]