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POPS"The Artist in Chief" and "Navigating the Art of Change” To borrow a line from the Artist in Chief, I’m “fired up and ready to go.” Am I starting to sound like an advocate? Well, that seems to be a touchy subject. Some quote-unquote “journalists” have recently accused this agency of losing its independence and becoming a propaganda machine. While I want to state in no uncertain terms that the NEA is not a political agency and that when art becomes propaganda I lose all interest in it, I also want everyone to know that the days of a defensive NEA are over. We have a plan and we are going to, quote, “advocate” for it. Remember, please, that the NEA is an unusual agency within the federal government. We have always been considered the champions of the arts and artists in the public sector. In a sense, we do “advocate” for them in a way that the IRS doesn’t advocate for taxes or the FCC for bandwidth. We promote the arts. We Know Art Works: Rocco Landesman Addresses Grantmakers in the Arts
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POPSPoll: Obama Personal Popularity at New Low Gallup points out that in this latest survey, Hillary Clinton is now more popular than Obama. Sixty-two percent say they have a favorable impression of the Secretary of State, versus 34 percent who have an unfavorable impression. That's a big change from the height of the battle for the Democratic nomination last year; in February 2008, just 48 percent had a favorable impression of Mrs. Clinton, versus 49 percent who had an unfavorable impression. By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 10/15/09
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POPSHow to avoid the GOP's mistakes during the Bush years? All one has to do is act like a citizen first, not a party apparatchik or fan club devotee, which means nothing more than this: (1) If Obama takes action or makes a decision that you think is good and constructive, say so and give him credit; (2) If Obama takes action or makes a decision that you think is bad, wrong and/or destructive, say so and criticize him for it; (3) If there were things you claimed to find so horrible and wrong when Bush did them (indefinite detention, denial of habeas corpus, renditions, state secrets, endless wars, military commissions, compulsive secrecy), and Obama does them, apply the same standards. As Bob Herbert put it rather simply: "Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House."
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POPSIn Crazy American Dictatorship Prediction News He was the most intelligent person we’ve had in that position for a long time. But he’s inexperienced … “ “Most intelligent for a long time” seems like a bit of stretch. Even so, old codgers, if they know nothing else, usually know that having intelligence without experience is like knowing how roller skates work without ever having been on them. That’s why they’re always grousing about young whippersnappers. Vidal’s example shows it’s never too late to learn from your mistakes, though when you read on, you’ll see he hasn’t. Meanwhile, in other crazy American dictatorship predictions, there’s this guy on the right side of the aisle who also thinks U.S. military officers will be staging a coup soon. The column by John L. Perry, who I managed to avoid encountering before he lost his mind, got yanked by NewsMax but most of it is here at The Moderate Voice. http://themoderatevoice.com/48019/newsmax-calls-for-a-military-coup-in-u-s/
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POPSLegalized Bribery in American Politics Just one in a thousand adult Americans contributed $1,000 or more to any candidate in the last election, yet candidates for the 2004 presidential nomination raised more than 80 percent of their individual investments from these elites. In other words, with regard to using money to influence presidential candidates, 0.1% of Americans account for 80% of the influence. 2300 energy companies lobbied Congress between 1998 and 2004, with $984 million paid for lobbyists. Why pay a lobbyist $300,000? Because it’s a great investment, of course. Does anyone believe the legal fiction that the purpose of a lobbyist is to educate politicians on the issues? Of course not. Those huge bucks are paid out for skilled middle-men and women to discreetly (or not so discreetly) convey the message that a politician will be handsomely rewarded for screwing over his or her constituents in favor of the lobbyist’s employer.
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POPSGore Vidal: ‘We’ll have a dictatorship soon in the US’ ”The Republicans will win the next election, Vidal believes; though for him there is little difference between the parties. “Remember the coup d’etat of 2000 when the Supreme Court fixed the selection, not election, of the stupidest man in the country, Mr Bush.”
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POPSA Conversation With Gore Vidal Unfolds: ‘We’ll Have A Dictatorship Soon In The US’ He has crossed every boundary, I say. “Crashed many barriers,” he corrects me. Last year he famously switched allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama during the Democratic nomination process for president. Now, he reveals, he regrets his change of heart. How’s Obama doing? “Dreadfully. I was hopeful. He was the most intelligent person we’ve had in that position for a long time. But he’s inexperienced. He has a total inability to understand military matters. He’s acting as if Afghanistan is the magic talisman: solve that and you solve terrorism.” America should leave Afghanistan, he says. “We’ve failed in every other aspect of our effort of conquering the Middle East or whatever you want to call it.” The “War on Terror” was “made up”, Vidal says. “The whole thing was PR, just like ‘weapons of mass destruction’. It has wrecked the airline business, which my father founded in the 1930s.
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POPSGore Vidal needs a nap Another sneering elitist jerk insults the American people and , just for laughs, predicts Obama's assassination! Whutta guy! He was however right about one thing: Obama IS failing.
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POPSA Ripe Time For Florida's Marco Rubio "Rubio intends to prove that "in the most important swing state, you can run successfully as a principled conservative." When Florida politics come up I always encourage my friends to get out and support this man. He's the one!!!! Crist is a political climber of the worst kind. I believe, at heart, he is a Democrat (when once that was not a bad thing in Florida) but chose to run as a Republican because of a Jeb Bush strong Republican state. As one pundit pointed out, Crist never runs for re-election...he's climbing the ladder. Floridian conservatives need to take back the GOP flag...even if the Party Leadership is trying to play the political odds game.
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POPSJimmy Carter's racist campaign of 1970 Carter criticized Sanders, a former governor, for preventing Alabama Gov. and notorious segregationist George Wallace from speaking on Georgia state property. "I don't think it was right for Governor Sanders to try to please a group of ultra-liberals, particularly those in Washington, when it means stifling communication with another state," said Carter. "'I have no trouble pitching for Wallace votes and black votes at the same time,' Carter told a reporter. Carter also said to another reporter, 'I can win this election without a single black vote.'" "The campaign paid for radio ads for a fringe black candidate, C.B. King, in an effort to siphon black votes away from Sanders." "Then there was the radio commercial in which Carter said he would never be the tool of any 'block' vote, slurring over the word 'block' so that it could be mistaken for 'black.'
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POPSVitter Wants To Bar Federal Funding of ACORN Vitter has been an outspoken critic of ACORN and has offered multiple amendments to bar the organization from receiving federal funding. He also block the nomination of Census Director Robert Groves in the hopes of receiving written assurances from the White House that ACORN would not be involved in the 2010 census. Vitter described the Census Bureau's decision last week to drop ACORN as a partner, "a good, common sense move."
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POPSEIGHT IS ENOUGH COMPETITION IS GOOD BUT IN THIS CASE IT INVOKES THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
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POPSReviving civil rights
More: On discrimination in education, it has to navigate the bad decisions the Supreme Court has handed down recently and provide concrete guidance for school districts on how to legally promote integration… The division should challenge the dangerously crowded and inhumane conditions that are increasingly becoming the norm in the nation’s prisons and jails… The division should also tackle predatory lending and other financial bias against minorities. With millions…facing foreclosure, this sort of discrimination looms especially large. …ensure that public schools, hospitals, transportation systems and other institutions do not discriminate… This agenda would be difficult in the best of circumstances, but the civil rights division is working under the enormous handicap of being leaderless. Senate Republicans have put a hold on the nomination of Thomas Perez to head it. The reasons offered are spurious. Their real agenda seems to be impeding the division from doing its
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POPSwatch Pushing Daisies Download Pushing Daisies TV Show & watch all seasons and episodes of Pushing Daisies TV Show. Subscribe now to download Pushing Daisies and many more TV Shows and watch your favorites now
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POPSHuckabee Prepares for 2012 by Playing for Israel's Support Note the flattery in his message to gain their support, championing the radical Likud party's cause. He knows who butters the bread of candidates for U.S. president. Next stop,back in America, will likely be AIPAC. Interesting the power of Israel on U.S. candidates, isn't it? Likely finding some heavy financing from this sponsor of his trip too.
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POPSSenator Asks Clinton to Explain Honduran Policy he said. (Sen. Lugar) Washington has cut $16.5 million in aid to Honduras and this week revoked diplomatic visas for four members of Micheletti's administration to pressure it to reverse the coup. Micheletti on Wednesday night released a statement calling for new efforts to resolve the country's political crisis. But Zelaya's representative in Washington, Eduardo Enrique Reina, told Reuters he thought Micheletti was simply trying to gain time with the statement, noting that Micheletti's aides in Honduras are still vowing not to let Zelaya return. "We will ask the U.S. government to step up the pressure on Micheletti," Zelaya's ambassador told Reuters.
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POPSAura Dazzles, But It Takes Persuasion To Close The Deal
But it turns out that Obama is not so good at argument. Inspiration is one thing, persuasion another. He created the impression on the campaign trail that he was familiar with major issues and readily ticked off his positions on them. But he has not proved so good at legislating. One reason, perhaps, is that he has had little practice. He served as a legislator for a dozen years before becoming president, but was only rarely an active one. He spent one of his eight years as an Illinois state senator running unsuccessfully for Congress and two of them running successfully for U.S. senator. He spent two of his years in the U.S. Senate running for president. During all of his seven non-campaign years as a legislator, he was in the minority party. In other words, he's never done much work putting legislation together -- especially legislation that channels vast flows of money and affects the workings of parts of the economy that deeply affect people's lives.
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POPSObama Is An Alien "It's the same psy-op as the people who claim that Obama was born in Kenya," he explained between legal consultations regarding the lawsuit over his last investigation: "You give people just enough truth to think they're onto something, and then they'll gladly pull the wool over their own eyes because they think they're being revolutionary. And they're the worst counter-revolutionaries of all."
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POPSSotomayor not getting Grassley's vote As a native Iowan, this really is disappointing from someone who has always struck me as a reasonable senator. This article makes it sound like Grassley can't set aside his person biases either - like feeling burned by Souter - whatever the hell that has to do with Sotomayor! Come on Chuck! You can do better!
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