Jimmy Dean the Singing Dachshund

Murray Hill Corporation running for Congress - by David

Murray Hill Corporation for Congress

Thank you Supreme Court!  Maybe now, finally, it's time for the American people to really start talking about the power of "special interests" in our democratic political system. Rest assured that Murray Hill Corp's run for political office is "fake". But let's take it as a call to action before it's too late. Right now, as it is, special interest money is so powerfully ingrained in our system that corporations, churches, professional organizations, business organizations, social clubs, and unions might as well be allowed to run for office. They already own the system.

Here's the problem. First, too many people are oblivious blobs, representing themselves as politically astute, yet beholden to news sources controlled and funded by those very same special interests. Second, still more are aware, yet feel that as long as THEIR personal special interest has a dog in the fight, everything will work out to their advantage. Third, and worse still, are those that believe their own personal special interest is NOT a special interest, while everyone else's is.

There's nothing, nada, zip, zilch, NOTHING wrong with having or being a "special interest". Every individual is his/her own special interest. Every corporation, church, professional organization, business organization, social club, and union is a collection of special interests that represent a collection of individual special interests. Fine.

So let's get special interest money out of our so-called democracy. It's time to stop the bickering and name-calling. It's time to re-establish, once and for all, that corporations, churches, professional organizations, business organizations, social clubs, and unions are not persons. It's time for voter financed (publicly financed) elections.

Another Great Moment, and Why It's Happening - by David

They just won't stop! President Obama is being roundly criticized for waiting 3 days before publicly responding to the Underwear Bomber incident. Is there a historical standard for how many days a president should wait? Yes, there is! President George W. Bush waited 6 days to publicly respond to the Shoe Bomber incident.

Face it. There is a blatant, well organized smear campaign to discredit anything and everything that can be even remotely connected to the current administration. Three days vs. six days does not matter. To Rush "I Hope He Fails" Limbaugh and the rest of the "right-wing" there is both no time and no need to vet such trivial data. It's all about the quantity and the volume. They know that a lot of it will get through to the lazy, intransigent, and uncaring among us.

Is this administration the first to suffer such a campaign? Of course not! There was a well established newspaper and radio campaign against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930's. The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (1943) was one of the first (if not the first) neo-conservative "think tanks" to act as a collection point for special interest monies, and a leader in such campaigns. The number of such organizations exploded during and after the Nixon administration. Most of us now have forgotten (or never even knew!) the impact of these special interest organizations on the Carter and the Clinton administrations.

Is there a counterpart situation to this on the left? If you think there is, Id love to hear about it.

Great Moments in Right Wing Hypocrisy - by David

As expected, the right wing political machine and their unquestioning minions are lambasting the Obama administration and Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano for failing to stop "Underwear Bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from initiating his explosive underwear device aboard an airliner over Detroit last week. Remember "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reid? The similarities are striking between the terrorist acts themselves - the failed explosives, the heroic airline passengers, and then the responses of each administration in office. Look it up. 

The real winner today is Tom Ridge, former Director of Homeland Security under the Bush administration. To his credit, he did not join in the main feeding frenzy with the other right wing wackos. However, on the Larry King Show he was clearly critical of the fact that the Underwear Bomber will be tried in a U.S. federal court. Said Ridge, "I don't think he deserves the full range of protections of our criminal justice system."


Well, fast rewind back to the Shoe Bomber. The same Tom Ridge and the Bush administration publicly took great pride in the fact that Richard Reid would be tried in federal court, proof positive of our superior democratic system. Oops.


Well, clearly it is a better system! But the range of hypocrisy and the extent of the political lying from the right is astounding and embarrassing. 

Happy Holidays from Tootsie, Oscar and Jimmy

Happy Holidays!

My 1st Birthday Party - by Jimmy

Dogs Watch TV, Too - by Oscar

Sunday night I took in a couple dog buddy-hero shows on TV. I can do anything they can do, AND I can watch TV, too. Great fun!