One of the joys of the digital age is how easily one can get connected to information streams simply by giving out an email address. It used to be said, on the internet nobody knows if you're a dog. More to the point, they don't care as long as you have a working email address they can tap and sell to others. No matter.
Of course, some info streams are polluted and nasty. You don't really want to dive in, but it's a handy way to track what's coming down. Even negative information - lies, distortions, and just plain insanity can be useful - because what they attack, what they don't say, what they deny can tell you a lot about what is really happening. And sometimes the bad news for them is good news for the rest of us.
Other streams can provide an antidote for the polluting misinformation out there. The United Steel Workers sent me a link to a fantastic video on Youtube called "I Remember". It brings back all the things the conservatives have tried to sweep under the rug and rewrite from history. It's devastating. Forward the link to everyone who is wavering on voting at all this year, or is thinking of 'sending a message' to Obama by voting for Republicans. It'll be below the jump, after a short item of good news for us - and bad news for the right wingers.
One of the info streams I keep an eye on is Newsmax - an extreme right wing propaganda outlet that alternates between ginning up Democratic threats, pushing conservative attacks, and trying to sell me useless crap and bogus stock deals. It's kind of like a cross between a televangelist getting fat and rich by telling his congregation what they want to hear (along with threats of fire and brimstone) and a really smarmy used car dealer making a pitch on TV.
An email from them a few days ago actually gave me a boost. Granted, it's still propaganda and can't be trusted, but it was nice to read even though I don't dare take it seriously, even if true. Here's a few tidbits from a message from their sponsor, the Tea Party Express:
Earlier this week, we put out a call to 400,000 patriots across this nation - including yourself. Our plea was to get constitutional conservatives such as yourself to pitch in to our final election push as we are just 1-week away from Election Day.
Our goal: to raise $1 MILLION so that we could push the best constitutional candidates in the country over the top to victory. We'd then with the House, and perhaps even the Senate.
But we failed - all of us. As of today Thursday only 250 people had made a contribution. We MUST do better. Everyone can pitch in, and everyone can forward this email to all their friends, family members, colleagues etc... If EVERYONE pitches in, and if those of you who can afford a more generous contribution can please do so, then we can reach this goal and help take our country back. The stakes couldn't be higher, and we cannot accept failure at this point. We simply can't - our country's future is on the line here.
This was one of the greatest failures we here at the Tea Party Express have ever had in terms of raising money for a campaign push, and this is the worst possible time for us to fail: just 1 WEEK out before Election Day.
We basically have a socialist in the White House who believes in the redistribution of wealth and government intervention and control into the lives of Americans. We can only stop him if we first take back Congress. But 250 people contributing - versus the hundreds of millions we're up against from lobbyists, special interests and labor unions - that won't cut it.
Of course, one check from David H. Koch can erase all that, but it's nice to think this is happening. We can't rely on it as a true statement from the Tea Party Express, because this is just a scare-tactic fund raising pitch. Still, it indicates they want and need more money - could it be they aren't as sure of buying this election as they planned? Hard to tell - because they can NEVER get enough of other people's money to be satisfied.
Meanwhile from the realm of sanity, I got a link to a fantastic video on Youtube thanks to the United Steelworkers. You can sign up so you can be kept informed even if you don't work in the steel industry. There's a lot of useful stuff at their website, such as Robert Reich replying to George Will's idiotic assertion that the amount of money being spent on the election doesn't matter. It shows why conservatives are determined to destroy unions.
The latest email sent me to a fabulous video on Youtube. This one needs to get spread far and wide before Tuesday - it's that good. Watch it, and send it to others.
Here's the link; I'll try to embed it here too.
http://www.youtube.com/...