Revenue Decrease? Sue Your Way Out of It

Alongside what has been one of the most visually branded campaigns ever, underground artist Shepard Fairey created what has become the second largest bootlegged and counterfeited images in recent memory:



The image, which Fairey contributed all his profits from back to the Obama Campaign, is now getting him sued by the Associated Press for - - wait for it - - copyright infringement. Because Fairey appropriated it from a bland AP wire service photo featuring a fairly bland-looking Barack sitting next to a much more animated George Clooney.

The AP is essentially looking at the bottom dropping out as it's members drop or reduce coverage. Mind you, AP service rules demand that the local outlets have to give 2 years notice. (Between cutting their AP service and local reporting staff, it makes you wonder what the hell local newspapers are going to print by next year.)

But suing the snot out of guy not known for having any money? Brilliant.

And you might want to ask the guy who own's the most bootlegged image in history how has his infringement revenue stream has worked out.

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To Hope or Not to Hope

The Progressive villagers are getting restless.

I get it. It is incredibly frustrating. I want Progressive Change and I want it now. (Stamps feet, grabs the gum and turns into a purple human blueberry…) Seriously. I am with all of you.

I, however, am not willing to throw in the towel [yet] and say that they are all the same. (All of these politicians. spppltt!)

The thing is, what makes these assholes “all the same,” is also what makes them different. Click ‘read more’ to see what I mean – or, just disagree with me based on the title…that works too.

These bastards, Left, Right and Center, all have one thing in common; they want to keep their jobs. They have also woken up to the fact that we the people are paying attention. And, we the people, can get mobilized and kick the bums out.

The last two elections are still fresh in their minds. The Right has watched their buddies be replaced by Democrats and the Democrats have watched – in awe – as the people got together and went to the polls. The Democrats also know (as do the Republicans) that the more people who vote, the more that Democrats get elected. This is just a simple, unarguable, fact, and it is also why the Pukes do everything that they can to suppress the vote.

Knowing this little tidbit, that the bastards all want to keep their jobs, is what makes them different. It is also what makes this particular period of time so amazing. What is so amazing right now, so fascinating, is that the GOP still thinks that their only problem was that they did not move far enough to the Right! This is excellent. Let them move farther…they are going to move so far to the Right that they will join the death-knell of the Wigs. Dumb asses.

While the Republican dumb asses move farther to the Right and continue to play their games, the Dems are being “cooperative” and “accommodating” and “bi-Partisan” and the public is eating that shit up. Seriously. The majority of the Country are not Partisans like we are…but they are starting to pay attention in ways that they never have before.

What Obama has done, not because he is so great or so cool or whatever, is that he has communicated in such a way that the people want to pay attention. This is not all Obama’s doing, we also have GW Bush to thank for this.
Bush fucked this country so hard and for so long that the people are all watching with keen interest; we have become a Nation of observers just like a rape victim watching the trial of her attacker – every word said, every piece of evidence presented, every witness who speaks – the people are watching and this bodes well for Democrats. The Democratic Ideas work; the Republican ideas are like being raped all over again. The people know this intuitively, even if they do not understand all of the intricacies of the plans.

Obama needs us in a way that no other President since FDR has needed the people. He needs a movement. No matter how many times that I say it, I do not feel that I can say it enough. He needs us to educate our neighbors. He needs us to call our Representatives and Senators. He needs us to write LTEs. Without us he will not be able to do this. He just won’t.

Here is a start:

Hold an economic recovery house party. Educate your friends and neighbors. Obama needs a movement and we need to give it to him. Real change will happen if the people demand it. These Representatives and Senators want to keep their jobs.

Tell your Senators to support the National Parks in the stimulus.

Call your Senators and support the stimulus package.

Demand accountability for the Bush Administration.

Stand with Al Gore and Repower America. Demand that your legislators support climate change legislation. I watched Vice President Gore’s testimony this weekend and it is terrifying. Why every single student in this Country - college and HS and Jr. High and elementary – are not required to watch this is beyond me.

Demand that family planning money be put back in the stimulus. It is so common friggin sense – offer people assistance with their health care costs and they will spend that money elsewhere in the economy. In addition, if you want to help people to be lifted out of poverty, help them to prevent pregnancies. Could people be any more stoopid?!

Remove Republican tax cuts from the stimulus; they do not do shit to help the economy. We need targeted cuts to the lower and middle income people. This petition and letter writing campaign calls for eliminating all of them, and I would honestly rather see all of them gone, than any corporate ones.

Hillary’s online community, No Limits. From what I can tell it is a forum dedicated to fixing this fucking Country.

Find your local District Attorney and ask them to file charges against Bush.

Vote on FDLs priorities.

Demand that Holder appoint a Special Prosecutor.

Hold a repower America house party this weekend.


Dictionary defines the antonym of “hope” as “despair.” I agree, and I agree that one of the greatest contributors to despair is powerlessness. The more involved that I am, the less powerless that I feel. Call it delusional or airy fairy or naïve or whatever. Personally I don’t care, I only know that the alternative leads to days on the couch and inability to function and I can’t do that today. It is difficult enough to move as it is; I will not add the kind of pessimism that I am used to experiencing to it. I may get screwed in the end and highly disappointed, but at least I can say I tried to change it.

PS: I started this post a few days ago so I hope that all of the links still work. Here a couple of add-ons that I also felt were worth the time to share.

Obama’s op-ed selling the plan; well worth the read.

Olbermann’s special comment last night was excellent. He made a couple of verbal flubs so read the thing too. How I wish that I could say the same to Dick – to his face.

Cross-posted at PAS.

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Obama at the DOE

Obama sold the stimulus package at the DOE yesterday and unfortunately the media has failed to replay this speech on a loop. It is an excellent speech and should be posted in full. Follow the link to read the whole thing. Stoopid media.

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It's War Baby and the War is On Now

The Republican fuckwads are not only sabatoging the stimulus package they are also sabatoging the Senator's call lines.

Interstingly the toll free numbers to the capitol switchboard aren't working. In addition, the Senator's mailboxes are full and the lines are busy.

The fucking GOP are going all out, using every one of their email lists to encourage their people to call in and oppose the package and support McCain's stoopid fucking substitute which is nothing but more tax cuts and military fucking spending. Every Puke Senator is going to the floor with all kinds of "evidence" claiming the McCain's substitute is the only stimulus that will work. Dicks.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. These Republican hacks are the very definition of insanity.

It is war - their people are calling and our Senators are getting nervous because the Dems are just not organized enough to email all of their lists. God they suck at politicking. It is a wonder that any of them ever get elected.

CALL NOW!! Tell these dumb asses that McCain's package is a fucking joke.

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Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead - or moving to rural Illinois

My wife sent this to me with exactly this phrasing: Ding Dong the Witch is dead?

Iowa Political Columnist Leaves Journalism - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
David Yepsen, the long-time chief political columnist for the Des Moines Register, is taking a job as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Southern Illinois. His decision to leave his perch comes at a time when the Gannett Company, which owns the Register, has been forcing reporters to take unpaid furloughs, as it, like other newspapers, struggle to adjust to an economic crisis

There are many reporters in this country who cover politics for newspapers and other news organizations, but Mr. Yepsen occupied a unique role, in no small part because of the importance of the Iowa caucuses in the presidential campaign. Every four years, as the caucuses which begin the presidential nominating calendar approach, Mr. Yepsen found himself to be the most sought-after political journalist in the country, entertaining campaign managers, strategists, journalists – and candidates themselves. Mr. Yepsen, who was a columnist for the past two presidential contests and before that worked as the paper’s top political reporter, liked to joke that once the caucus came and went, he would turn back into a pumpkin.

He was often 'unofficially' called the Dean of Iowa Press Corps because he and Broder, the other "Dean", emulated a similar style of writing, forming positions, and working their respective Villagers.

I'm sure the handwriting was on the wall for Yepsen when the Register/Gannett whacked the Washington desk reporter Jane Norman earlier in 2008, and then axed the political cartoonist without warning in December. Until Duffy's disposal, The Register was the last American news daily featuring a front page political cartoon several days a week.

Deeth sez: "The hagiography from the national press corps is starting. To them, with their quadrennial visits, Yepsen WAS Iowa journalism, caucus history incarnate (and he seemed to love that). I'm sure he'll stay in the rolodexes and show up on the talk shows in 2011 with a curmudgeonly critique of the GOP field."

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66 Pages

Is there nothing sacred? Why is it, that I cannot send my kid to school with a peanut butter sandwich without worrying that it will kill him? What's worse, is that I have had to implore him to not purchase anything at school to eat because it might be tainted with salmonella. (What about the poor kids who depend on school lunches as their main meal?!)

The news last night warned that they are not sure that the salmonella was contained to only the institutional brand; I finally checked the FDA website this morning to see what brands actually contain (or might contain) the tainted peanut butter and was horrified to find that the warning applies to 66 pages (PDF) of products. Everything from granola bars, to candy, to pet food, to frozen dinners - including Trader Joe's brand, which is supposed to be a higher class product.

Sign here to demand that our food is safe. Sorry to say that there is a petition begging our government to ensure that children can safely eat peanut butter sandwiches.

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Apoplectic

First of all, I love that word. There are some words that are just plain fun and some that are fun to say (one of my favorites is "Odierno" - say it a few times with the emphasis on the "o"s - fun, isn't it?) Secondly, apoplectic is what every single pundit was today, over the gawd damned Daschle withdrawal.

What is the deal?

I do believe that Idio was correct, this is Monica on steroids and it is bad. I hope that the Dems wake the fuck up now and do not try to deal with the Wingnuts. The friggin' Wingnuts and their buddies, "The Liberal Media," are just falling all over themselves to see who can say that the Obama Presidency is an abject failure first.

It is the media's fault that they are so quick to grab the GOP narrative on everything rather than report the stoopid news as it really is...and they do not even report the fucking news. We have to find the actual news ourselves because the media is so busy trying to make scandals where none exist [target: Democrats] and so busy ignoring actual scandals and catastrophes [target: Republicans.]

I was so furious today because our fucking country is going down the shitter and it is going down quick - due to the Republican hacks who fucked us endlessly. The People got busy and threw the bums out. The media seems not to notice that the villagers are restless and instead of reporting on what is really wrong, what we are really mad about, these pricks spend all of their time creating problems where none exist. Why do the media dumb asses hate this country??

Listen, and this is to us impatient Liberals too, Obama was handed over a shitstorm of nasty that he has barely even had the time to uncover, the GOP are being the obstructionists that they are (I do not think that they are capable of being anything else - even when they are in charge,) the GOP has managed to block Obama's Cabinet on top of their other sabotage activity, the media is reaming him endlessly and the whole fucking country is asking him why everything isn't better yet and because the whole world has not miraculously changed in the two fucking weeks that he has been in office does that mean that he has broken his campaign promises?

Jeebus people. Everyone is freaking out because Bushco has not yet been indicted and is not yet sitting in prison when Obama's Attorney General was not even sworn in until today! Crap!

Let's all just take a deep breath, settle down, relax, take a chill pill and at least allow Obama to have his staff in place and sworn in before we demand that all things be better. Apoplexy be damned!

/Rant over.

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