I Get By With A Little Help From My "Friends"

by Julie Robison

As a woman, I constantly need to be rescued. I can't say no. I do what I want, and if I can't, someone better give me the means to do it anyways. I am completely free and liberated!

Wait, what?

I know what you're thinking: since when did liberation mean total dependence on the government?

Since... now! Welcome to 2012, baby! My name is Julie, not Julia, and I don't approve of this plan. Enjoy the show folks, and don't forget that your tax dollars paid for this govertisment.

Protect Our Progress!

by Julie Robison

Liberals have a new slogan (new to me, at least). They say, “Protect Our Progress!”

According to the Organizing for America website, they recently held a phone bank in North Carolina. The informational page read:

We’ve made significant progress together in the last two years. There are those who want to stop our country moving forward to undo the progress we’ve achieved, but our community is looking toward the future. We’ll be meeting at the Charlotte OFA Office to protect our progress- - defending healthcare reform. Your voice is needed, so come out and join us at 6 p.m. to call Republican representatives and remind them that we are holding them accountable.

I have to admit- I like this little blurb! I like holding government officials accountable. I admire their tenacity in defending healthcare reform, which is more like healthcare overhaul and a love letter to special interests groups. My teeny-weeny remark I do have to make is this: the two year mark. I know that is the length of President Obama's presidency to date, but President Obama's passed legislation is not a proper measure of progress.

Riots and the Coming Reset

by John Barnes 


I remember sitting in the lobby of my college dormitory stupefied, watching the World Trade Organization riots tearing apart downtown Seattle in 1999.  Twenty-five hundred miles away, the view was surreal.  My hometown had become a war zone.  Familiar streets and shops, normally bustling with lively but peaceful activity, formed the backdrop for chanting crowds, tear gas, vandalism, and sheer chaos.

One scene in particular stuck with me:  beleaguered law enforcement officers in riot gear atop a police vehicle, outnumbered and surrounded by screaming hooligans.  Firing rubber bullets, with their backs pointed inward the police formed a circle that shrank as the mob descended upon them.  It looked like a desperate last stand.