Why is it that when Democrats didn't vote for cloture on bills in the US Senate that it was called a "filibuster" by the media, but now that the Republicans are in the minority and won't vote for cloture the bills are "blocked" because they "didn't receive the votes" to clear a "procedural hurdle?"

Of course I already know the answer to my own question. The media reports what politicians say and not what they do. Mitch McConnell says the Democrats are filibustering and the media reports that Democrats are filibustering. Harry Reid says they failed to get the votes for cloture, and the media reports that a procedural hurdle wasn't cleared.

Don't get me wrong, I like Harry Reid. But he's lousy at spinning the media, and these days that's all the coverage we get. In a perfect world I'd prefer Harry Reid's accuracy over the buzz-words and sound bites of the Republicans, but this is not a perfect world. The Republicans, from their place in the minority, are still great at spin-- and as a result the coverage still paints them in a better light than they deserve.

Okay. I'm guilty too, victim to the great divide and conquer strategy of America's power class. Blue, red, liberal, conservative -- we good, them bad. And I hate that I've allowed myself to be manipulated by them.

Growing up in rural Texas in a populist Democratic home, I knew few Republicans, but lots of conservatives and religious folks. They were good hearted people with no malice in their hearts that I could detect. We had presidents from both parties, and while I decided to also be a Democrat, I didn't hate or even dislike Republicans. We just saw things differently, and that was okay.

Starting, as near as I can tell, with the "Reagan Revolution" things started to get uglier. The tone changed in Washington. It's gotten much worse since.

I'm no Kum Ba Ya liberal, but I don't like how divided this country has become, and I'm sensing most other people are beginning to feel the same. The average person is not an ideologue on either side of the great divide. They just want this country of ours to work and basically get along with the rest of the world.

Today, I got ANOTHER far right wing rant forwarded from around the internet, "send this to everyone you know" things designed to scare people into hating people they've never met and certainly don't understand. This time it was Chavez, but I've also had ones about gays, liberals, Democrats -- you fill in the blanks. I've never gotten one of these from liberals, not that they are perfect, but they apparently don't do this kind of thing.

The problem is that these forwards are full of half-truths, outright lies, fear mongering, bigotry, and tons of disinformation. Democracy depends upon an informed electorate. With the consolidation of both the print and TV media into a small handful of multi-national corporations there's not even much debate left that the news is a tool being used for the benefit of the rich and powerful. The days of investigative journalism on corporate media that dares to challenge the power class are over. To find out what's really going on takes both time and effort most people don't have the time for, and perhaps may not even realize that it's something they need to do.

Today I heard a caller who'd called in to Link TV to thank them for Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! corporate-free news program. The gentleman had a southern accent and sounded as if he could easily be a Rush supporter ditto head. He said that until he started watching Democracy Now! he had no idea just how bad this administration has been or how much the mainstream media colors and censors the news for their corporate masters, (paraphrased) and was deeply grateful for Amy's show. Ditto that.

Bill Moyers , talking about the importance of media reform in America, has asked us to call our local PBS affiliate and ask them to start broadcasting Democracy Now! because today, perhaps more than ever, our country needs free media. Citizens can't make good choices if they don't have good information.

I'm forever amazed and encouraged at the good works so many people do from the goodness of their hearts. I watched Steve Hartman today on CBS news (they deserve credit for this, but not because it's news). He has a human interest story each Friday and they're always wonderful. This one had to do with a couple in Texas that had started a camp and ranch for disabled people because their daughter had Down's Syndrome. The effort of this wonderful couple is being repeated in numerous ways every single day all over this great country. I don't know their politics, and I don't care. They're doing good things with their lives. That's enough for me.

I'll try to keep them in mind the next time I start thinking that all people on the other side of the political divide are bad. I might just be thinking of them.

Peace, Wisdom, Heart!
Randy Haynes
author of "Cajun Snuff"

For years now I've heard my progressive friends talk about Bush's Iraq war and occupation for oil. They have been correct, at least if one takes the long view in regards to oil, but there are some little known misunderstandings that we need to correct. Repeatedly I hear the media, Republicans and even D/democrats use neo-con frames, all hurting the progressive cause.

"The war on terror" is the most common one. Since "terror" can never be stopped, it is a perpetual "war," the neo-cons' dream. Perpetual war means perpetual profits for them and their friends. "War" also allows the President virtually unlimited powers, gutting the civil rights of all Americans, and if desired taking them away completely. Since war is now permanent by definition, our rights are gone forever. Progressives should never use neo-con frames and the media needs to be called on it. That's hard to do when D/democrats use the same neo-con terminology.

Iraq should always be called what it is, an occupation, not a war. Those who commit crimes of terror are not legal combatants; they are criminals who should face criminal courts. They are gangs and thugs, not armies. The term "war" plays into the neo-con's game and hurts America, at home and abroad. The Iraq occupation has hurt our credibility and our nation's defenses. Terror is fought by police actions, not by armies fighting nations, and beware of the neo-con ruse excuse, "state sponsored terrorism."

We were once a relatively peaceful country. We are now the biggest exporter of weapons of mass destruction in the world. Is that how we think of ourselves? Do we really want to be an empire selling slaughter for profits and occupying foreign countries? No wonder most Americans think we are seriously off course. But D/democrats miss the boat every time we use neo-con frames.

Another misconception where Democrats fall into Republican frames is when we talk about an "oil shortage." We hear that it's being caused by China and India's increasing economic success. Therefore, America had to secure the Mid East oil to protect our national security and way of life. That lie has scared people into accepting Bush's war. There is no current shortage of oil and there's not one in the near future. There IS an intentional shortage in refining capacity at home since that keeps domestic oil profits high. OPEC also wants to keep prices up by limiting oil production. Crude oil production low and refinery capacity low means maximum profits for the oil barons. Iraq's oil exports are still lower than they were under Saddam because that's what OPEC and the oil companies want. Money, petrodollars, was behind Bushes' war, not the merry-go-round excuses we've been fed by the parroting media! D/democrats want to limit oil use and CO2 emissions to protect our earth, but that's a separate issue and shouldn't be confused with Bush's war for petrodollars.

Saddam didn't play OPEC and the oil corporation's game so he had to be removed. He had moved Iraqi oil off the dollar standard to the euro, a threat to America since we depend on those petrodollars to prop up our economy and sagging dollar. OPEC and the oil companies wanted him gone to limit oil production. Bushcorp wanted him gone because if other oil exporting countries came off the dollar standard and moved to the euro -- our economy could collapse.

Yes, we need to change to renewable sources of energy and get away from oil, but this regime change and occupation was never about an oil shortage; it was about petrodollars. Neo-cons simply want power and world domination.

Until we really understand the issues, we will continue to fight the right while using their frames, a loosing strategy. D/democrats need to fundamentally reframe how America is defined. We need to lead by example, and the examples we've been setting aren't anything people around the world respect or want to emulate. Freedom isn't about empire, oil, multinational corporations or profits for the oligarchy as Bushcorp wants to co-opt us into believing.

Freedom's about people. Real people like you and me and a country we love and once respected. It's about fundamental American decency.

Peace, Wisdom and Heart!
W. Randy Haynes
author of "Cajun Snuff"
www.randyhaynes.com