Momcat's Vegan Project: Ode To Augie, Iggie And MomCat: Donate Today To la-spca.org

Augie is the currently 14 year old or so pound puppie I gained joint custody of in January 2007 when my wife and I entered into cohabitation.  Sally had wonderfully and heroically adopted Augie the Doggie many years prior and had rescued him from death row at a local animal shelter for the apparent capital felonies of being cute and generally adorable. 
Iggie was one of the canines of my youth.  Born a litter of one to my brother's dog, Iggie had the obvious appearance of Beagle, though her mother bore no such resemblance.  Iggie, also ethnically diverse, had tri-colors--mainly brown, black and white.  She had a Beagle face in color and dimensions, but her primary body color was white.  Against this white background was a multitude of black spots, somewhat reminiscent of a really cute Dalmation, a curly tail, and a classic Beagle saddle--however the saddle had apparently slipped during gestation and was firmly attatched to the left side of her torso, not at all centered on the back, such as a saddle is usually located on a horse about to be ridden or an AKC registered Beagle.
While honorable mention must certainly be made of Trixie, Gout, Lennie, Bluebelle, Mao and Mollie Brown--the other central felines and canines involved in Unabashed Left's 53 years on planet Earth--Augie, Iggie and Momcat deserve special mention and are the subject matter of this particular blog.Trixie, Gout, Lennie, Bluebelle, Mao and Mollie Brown have all brought many delights into my life, and most certainly have demonstrated moral character above and beyond, great humor, compassion, unconditional love, affection, playfulness, unbridled loyalty, forgiveness and most certainly have extended my longevity as well as all the other mammals, birds, reptiles, and all the warm and cold-blooded creatures who have graced my family over the years.But I salute Augie the Doggie, Iggie(proper name Ignatz) and MomCat for specific life-saving behavior.  My introduction to "The AugMan" had not even been close to auspicious.  My first offical 'date' with my future wife[whom I had already known on a non-romantic friendship basis for some time] had gone well, and we were entertaining each other on her den sofa when Augie took apparent umbrage to my presence. He barked. And barked. And barked. I was, to say the least unimpressed and articulated my views to my date. From that initial inauspicious beginning, Augie demonstrated an open mind and eventually decided that I was a bit better than dirt and proceded to forge an inseparable bond with your's truly.  Augie took a depressive with severe and threatening personal thinking on one particular occasion and turned him around from despair to delight in less than 45 seconds with just two paws on the couch, one face-blop and one turn of the head. He has also been right by my side, never more than 20 feet away throughout the devastations of two different and severe illnesses.  Iggie took a carload of drunk high school jocks with baseball bats barreling towards a long-haired hippy-type high school student[ your author--the one and only Unabashed Left :) ] and scared them back into their car(only to assault a poor victim down the road later that night) and saved my behind, besides being a source of companionship and love at a time in my existence when that also saved my life.  And MomCat went missing in the basement just long enough one time to inform Unabashed Left that he was capable of love at a time when he was in doubt about that capability and also saved my life--rendering it much more worth living, as well. Pets are family, and Unabashed Left highly recommends adopting one, or more, who might otherwise be killed(or "put to sleep" if you're fond of euphemisms) today if you are in a position to provide food, shelter, veterinary care, but more importantly love.  Most importantly, love.  The oil spill sponsored by Tony "Wayward" Hayward and Doug "Not At All Subtle" Suttles in the Gulf of Mexico has caused way too many families to make the nightmare decision to give up their pet family members because they can no longer put food into their human family members, let alone the cats and dogs they so love.  Animal Shelters along the Gulf have been bloated, and many kittens and puppies have been and are being killed due to the malicious money-grabbing felons in the BP boardroom.  The Louisianna chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been providing veterinary care, shelter, food and outreach to help heros like Augie, Iggie and MomCat stay at home with their families.  Please donate generously today at  la-spca.org     On behalf of Trixie, Gout, Iggie, Chairman, Cricket,  Blarney, Lennie, Mao, Mollie Brown, Augie, Momcat, Sam, Sam II, Pugsy, Bluebelle, Bonnie, Clyde and Unabashed Left; we thank you.

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Political Pearls: Cause For Optimism In Nevada and Kentucky

Even though those on the right today terrify those of us on the left by continuing to look towards comedians such as Glennnn Beck, "Head" Rush Limbaugh and "Tanman" Boehner for their ideological direction and purpose, there is some cause for optimism among all those mainstreamers out in real America.In both the Kentucky and Nevada U.S. Senate races Tea Partiers/Libertarians Rand Paul and Sharrrron Angle took the Republican parties of those states by surprise when they won the Republican primaries and usurped that party's Senate nominations.  At the time most Republicans, independents and Democrats had not yet had the "advantage" of hearing either one of these candidates express what might loosely be termed their "political views."Since both have spoken publicly, about such things as repealing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and "eliminating/privatizing/placing the Social Security trust fund into the Stock Market,"  and since both have had to invest in good running shoes as they've sprinted away from questions by mainstream media; mainstream voters in both states have shown signs of conscious awareness.In the Nevada race between Ms. "Right" Angle and Senator Harry Reid, according to the Rasmussen Reports poll, immediately after the primary Angle led Reid by 50% to 39%.  Since opening her mouth[and then censoring it] the same poll has a dead heat at 47% each going on as of August 18th.  The August 25 Mason-Dixon poll has Harry with a 45-44% lead.In Kentucky following his primary win SurveyUSA had Rand Paul ahead of state Attorney General Jack Conway by 51-43%.  Since Libertarian Rand Paul, son of Libertarian Ron Paul, has opened[and then closed] his mouth Reuters reported this week that its poll of all registered voters in the Bluegrass State has Paul and the Attorney General in a dead heat at 40% each going into the home stretch.So, we might just take heart in the fact that the Tea "Party" may wind up being the shortest lived "party" anyone's ever been invited to or excluded from.  :)

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Media Matters: Reflecting Pool Reflections: It Didn't Part For Mr. Beck

In keeping with our lifetime tendency, and the tendency of most on the left we've had the privilige of engaging and debating, we made a point of listening to the entire(one hour and 20 minutes worth of "entire") Glenn Beck "speech" on the Lincoln Memorial on this the 47th anniversary of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior's historic "I Have A Dream" speech.Those we've engaged in political or philosophicals discussions on the left, we have observed, tend more often than those on the right to examine and study opposing views, and it was in that spirit that we listened to the "Beckster" today.  Initially we channel surfed to check out what different networks were doing.  We noted that Beck's home base, Fixed(I mean, Fox) News did not cover it live, even though Fox was live at the time.  CNN covered his rant, however split-screen style with the Beckster muted and a black reporter offerring blistering commentary of the "Beckster."  MSNBC was playing a pre-recorded show about someone with tattoos from head to toe.But C-Span, thank you C-Span, covered the ol' Beck Stabber live, with sound, from beginning to end, despite its length.At the outset Mr. Beck joked about the size of the crowd, saying the "media," he spoke bitterly about the, apparently evil in his mind, "media" several times this afternoon, saying that this evil "media" would report an attendance of 2, while he preferred numbers in the 6 figures, mentioning 500,000 often. LOLWe noted sadly, the ubiquitous presence of Sarah "I read off the palm of my hand while refudiating" Palin, who stood silently behind the "Beckster" toward the end of his tirade.  The NY Times reported that live video presentations by Libertarian Rand Paul, "Republican" Marco Rubio of Florida, as well as comments by Palin(please remember her voluntary association with Libertarian Rand and "whatever the *bleep* he stands for"Beck" when considering your Presidential pick in 2012, real Republicans voting in primaries if Palin is in the frey) preceded the allegedly "recovering" alcoholic/addict Beck.Perhaps the Beckster's most inspiring words came when waxing philosophical about planning today's event with his staff over a year ago, when his thinking had been that this should be a political event, and he informed the assembled masses that "And then I kind of feel like God dropped a giant sandbag on my head."  Unabashed Left wouldn't dispute the Beckster's claim.The "speech" invoked "God" alot, and was short on specifics, politics or anything secular except romaniticized emotionalism regarding slave-owning founding father George Washington, the Declaration of Independence(written by a bunch of elderly white anglo saxon protestant guys like Beck and Unabashed Left--no women or blacks or hispanics were involved in the writing of that document readers may recall--incidentally the NY Times reported his grouping today as "an overwhelmingly white crowd") and references to Abraham Lincoln(his memorial being the dramatic backdrop for the "speech") and claiming somehow that he was heir to the twin legacies of President Lincoln and the Reverend King.  He mysteriously referred repeatedly to the sacrfices of their very lives in the case of King and Lincoln and somehow implying that Washington had knowingly suffered and sacrificed by means of a violent end, as well.  Very curious.He invoked God often, the "speech" resembling more of a particularly boring(fortunately there aren't many such boring Sunday morning sermons in any church anymore--Unabashed Left loves a good sermon) Sunday morning mainstream protestant sermon from the 1950's than a political rally.  He called on his "followers" to redeem themselves morally as he claims to have done by choosing to not get drunk and high every day(as Unabashed Left has had to do as well) and then somehow America will be "saved."He informed us all that if we take the same moral high ground he has that America will have much better success at exporting our "morality" through armed conflict overseas.  Shades of George W. Bush rehashed just 19 months after he left office with the lowest poll ratings of any U.S. President, including the previous most unpopular U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, who voters may recall was forced to resign as was his first chosen Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew.  Do you really want to vote Republican this November? Bizarrely, he began to conclude his speech(the conclusion alone lasted more than 20 minutes) with one of the few black guys actually present(the C-span cameras and Beck himself provided a disproportionate number of such faces as backdrop) and a bagpiper(yes, we're not kidding, a BAGPIPER) doing all 4 verses of "Amazing Grace," the Beck Stabber comparing himself quite favorably to the inspiring slave ship captain who changed his mind and turned his ship around and sailed his latest load of future slaves back to Africa and freed them as well as composing the most famous hymn of all.  Beck even bastardized the gospel story of Christ at Gesthemenee, offering a twisted,inacurate and egotistical interpretation of this touching gospel story that is near and dear to this Christian's heart.  The message, Mr. Beck, is about Jesus' own humanity and His imperfection in criticizing those napping apostles, not, as you implied, the moral corruptness of the apostles for daring to sleep during Jesus' passion!  The message, Mr. Beck, is that God chose to humanize himself incarnate, and was, in fact prone to human foibles--just like you and I--and his criticism of his best friends, those apostles with Him before he was handed over to suffering and death, was uncalled for, sir.  Yes, Mr. Beck, later on Jesus' best friend, Peter, did in fact deny Jesus 3 times before the break of dawn, however all the apostles were intimately involved in Jesus' passion and in fact had to be dissuaded from taking up arms to prevent His arrest!  Your pathetic theological machinations were just that, PATHETIC.   In the future, please stick to defending the slave-owning misogynists who wrote your favorite Declaration, and keep your public rants away from Jesus, who is, in fact, the Christ.At the end, Beck demonstrated his utter confusion, by repeatedly telling the assembled masses that the "night" was coming to an end, and advising everyone to drive safely as they drove home to"night," etc.  The speech concluded in Washington, D.C. at 1:21 pm on a bright and sunny August afternoon, not "night" as Beck imagined.  Good "Night" Mr. Beck.  And good "night" Ms. Palin--any Presidential ambitions you may ever have had may now go to rest along with Mr. Beck, the Libertarian Party of which you are so fond, and your pal Rand Paul the losing Libertarian Senate candidate in Kentucky.

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Medical Matter: The Nuclear Purple Pill

This past Wednesday we traveled south on Interstate 91 for the short drive from Wallingford to New Haven, CT to take a capsule of radioactive iodine at the Smilow Cancer Hospital, part and parcel of the ever-expanding Yale New Haven Hospital complex on and around Howard Avenue.  The purple capsule arrived dramatically in a lead-lined cup along with an official Yale New Haven Hospital disposable plastic cup of water(Unabashed Left came prepared; asked for and received permission to wash down the medicine with an ice cold bottle of Poland Spring rather than risk warm tap water).Accompanying the capsule were two radiologists(with the alphabet soup "MD" on their name tags), two experts from the Nuclear Safety Department("Health Physics Technicians" or "HST's" if you're keeping score at home) and one Nuclear Technician(or "NT" if you prefer).  That's four of them, one lead-lined cup containing one nuclear purple capsule, and one cup of water against only little old us and our 1/2 liter of refreshing Poland Spring water.  We were clearly outnumbered so we took the pill.Of course we did not do so without a battle.  We asked the nuke safety guys if there was any black market value for radioactive iodine.  They professed ignorance of it's potential street value.  We Unabashedly informed the attending radiologist of our intent to "cheek" the capsule and pretend to swallow in order to pursue our capitalistic ends.  She snickered.  Our goal was achieved!  A chink in the medical armor.  Some light-heartedness amid a sea of melodrama.  "Ho, ho, ho" we commented.Following our ingestion of the offending capsule, all my company left hastily.  I interpreted this to be due to their desire to avoid the potential 'fallout' from my earlier remarks.  You have to wake up pretty early in the a.m. to catch this particular glow worm. :)Minutes later the Nuke Safety contingent returned with what was obviously some sort of newfangled Geiger counter, resembling, somewhat, a jugs gun of the sort utilized to measure the speed of Roger Clemens' pitches in his day(who is, ironically, under indictment this week for allegedly lying to Congress about his own ingestion of contraband medicine in years past).  The Nuclear Officer stood at the opposite side of the room and reached far out to hand me the business end of a tape measure attached to the Geiger counter.  He told me to hold the tape to my throat.  He took several paces back measuring his distance.  He aimed!  He fired! He confirmed!  I had not cheeked the violet cylinder, and it had not lodged in my throat.  My Poland Spring plan had worked like a charm. It certainly wouldn't have done to succumb by way of choking on radioactive iodine, and the Nuclear Safety Department(NSD) of the Nuclear Imaging Department(NID) of the Smilow Cancer Hospital(SCH), subsidiary of Yale New Haven Hospital(YNHH), the teaching hospital owned by Yale Med School(YMS) in New Haven, Connecticut(CT), America(USA) was just making sure!  What an ironic way that would have been to go.  Hopefully these experts were well trained in the Heimlich Maneuver(HM). Thanks go to everyone at Smilow who perform complex and difficult tasks for folks in much more dire straits than UL was that day, and do so mostly in good cheer.We want to offer particular thanks to two MD's involved in this case.  One is M.D. and general practitioner Jae Jin Kim, sole proprietor of the Milford Walk-In center in Milford, CT.  It is really more of a blast from the past single physician office where no appointment is needed and Dr. Kim heals in amazing ways and cares deeply about whomever crosses the threshold of her office.  The other is M.D. and endocrinologist Surani Fernando of Endocrine Associates in New Haven.  Her clinical expertise, astuteness, willingness to forgo unnecessary procedures, ability to inspire confidence and to teach her patients about their conditions, treatments and possible outcomes have been a rock through this process.  Like Dr. Kim, her obvious passion for people and her craft is evident. We've had some difficulties with providers in our lifetime of near legendary proportions.  Suffice it to say that we do not support tort "reform" in the form of reduced malpractice insurance costs for medical providers.  We will simply leave it there, we invite individuals to inquire and we will discuss the matter on that basis--not out here in public.  Its a very personal issue, and one that politicians need not grandstand on at all.  However it is evident and inspiring that there are still many such as the very good Drs. Kim and Fernando, who still not only remember, but exemplify and practice the Hippocratic oath every day of their lives.  There needs to be a Nobel Prize for Nice.  And I nominate these two outstanding women.And I thank all for their expressions of concern and prayers, our recuperation is proceeding well, and the Right still needs to watch out because Unabashed Left will be back in town before they know what hit them.We close with a link to the classical version of the Hippocratic Oath provided by the Public Broadcast Service and WGBH of Boston.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_classical.html

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Medical Matter: Unabashed Request For Prayers

You may notice that Unabashed Left has not posted daily recently, and may not do so particularly in the several days to come.  Tomorrow we will undergo Iodine Radiation treatment at the Smilow Cancer facility at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut for a benign Thyroid condition.  We've had a very positive experience with the folks at the Smilow Hospital and shout out to them and recommend them to anyone in need of such services, particularly the Nuclear Medicine folks.We'd also like to offer our thanks to the nice and competent people at Endocrine Associates of New Haven as well, also highly recommended.Thanks to expert and loving care, we anticipate a speedy and full recovery, but prayers are most welcome and always are.  Often in times of trouble I hear people say "All we can do is pray."  Unabashed Left submits that prayer is our first and most powerful tool in any and all circumstances--not a last desperate resort. So Unabashed Left offers this prayer to anyone who might read this post:"May the reader be blessed with joy and happiness.  And may they and all those in their lives, friend or foe, also be so blessed. May they all find Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Humanity and all God's Creation." Amen and Peace....

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Political Pearls: UNITY, PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE?

How the *bleep* did ethnicity, race and religion take center stage in 2010 AD America???  And for what Godly reason?  Answers: Question #1: It is the extreme right wing agenda, and has been since well before the National Socialist Party emerged victorious in pre-war German elections.  Question #2: No Godly reason, only ungodly ones.The so-called immigration "debate" has devolved into a sham cover for attacking ethnic minorities--it really is that simple.  The same folks who are supporting Jan Brewer and her ilk are the same folk who have been advocating English as a national language, who resent packaging and assembly instructions in Spanish, French, or any other language but English, and who are almost universally[like Unabashed Left] European Caucasian as the driven snow with no hint of foreign accent--unless they've been hoodwinked or have some hidden agenda. Unabashed Left can state these obvious facts because we do not seek office nor anything but the right to exercise our First Amendment rights! Why race? Simply because of the fact that we have a black President--and that, too, is an obvious fact that public people simply don't have the prerogative of declaring publicly. I sympathize deeply with respectable public servants such as Eric Holder, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Governor Bill Richardson who are routinely slandered and absurd policies advocated and laws passed because of their ethnic and racial origins. How hard it must be to hold a civil tongue!  And yet they do, and are keeping a lid on what many[I still believe not the majority, or even a large contingent] on the right want to be an all-out hate fest!And religion?!!  Why the *bleep* wouldn't anyone who loves this country and our freedoms want a mosque even in the lobby of the new building being constructed at Ground Zero itself, let alone simply out of sight but in the neighborhood!  How about buying the neighboring properties and building a church and a synagogue as well!  And then let 500,000 or 1,000,000 freedom-loving Americans celebrate the dedications of the buildings and have a live "snubbing of the nose" at Osama Bin Laden and have it televised on Al Jazeera TV!  What do you think that would do to his efforts to recruit potential Jihadists! The right is feeding right into Scum Bag Bin Laden's hands! Wrap your minds around it Beck, Brewer, Palin, Gingrich and your like!  Freedom of religion is what filth like Al Quaeda despise, so they've won you over! They've conned you with the silliest of shell games and are winning thanks to you! Bin Laden's pathetic attempts to scare you were too easy, you're terrified and now want to end freedom of religion! You now not only hate Jihad, he's got you hating Islam with just 4 passenger jets in a single day!  What a bargain for Bin Laden!Unabashed Left will dare to say what others can't! In pre-war Germany the right played on "Aryians," Gypsies, and Jews.  The modern American right is playing on "WASPs," "illegals" and Moslems! Lets stop this stupid shit! Please! Mainstream Republicans--you are being hoodwinked by mindless righties, just like the National Socialists of the 1920's and 30's.  I don't expect Newt, Sharrron, Beck and Palin to be able to wrap their pathetic little minds around these concepts(like the idea that Democrats, Republicans, liberals and conservatives can all hope for that newsflash announcing the Bin Laden drone strike and should unite to bring down the chief Jihad punk). But you mainstream conservatives and Republicans, if any are left, please brain up! Start denouncing nonsense like placards with Obama in a coffin, arresting people who are brown, and eliminating freedom of religion! If you're realistically a conservative or a genuine Republican, then denounce threats to members of Congress who vote for Health Care, or are unruly on the floor and call other members "baby killers!" Stand side by side with us on the left as we denounce lunatic fools like the half dozen or so irrelevant "New Black Panthers" who intimidate voters! Join us as we decry the Al Quaeda and Taliban leadership who depend on perpetuating the illiteracy of its people to recruit pimply teenage Jihadists by torturously interpreting a Koran their followers can't even read! And in doing so succeed in keeping half of their people(woman and girls) in perpertual bondage!Believe it or not, I think you can get some votes this way! Like the old Madison Avenue campaign from years ago: Try It, You'll Like It!  Unity, not Division. Please.. Right Now!

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Unabashed Left Endorsements For Connecticut Governor and U.S. Senate

Ned Lamont fell short in his effort to gain the Democratic nomination for Governor in Connecticut in Tuesday's Primary.  Dan Malloy ran a very effective campaign, having been behind in the polling for the 6 months prior to August 10th.  His margin of victory was impressive, and Ned's immediate declaration of support for the Democratic nominee was equally impressive, but what we've come to expect from a man of integrity and vision like Mr. Lamont.Unabashed Left had endorsed Ned for the nomination. We now eagerly endorse Dan Malloy to replace Jodi Rell as the Governor of the great state of Connecticut!!!It's time to rally behind all the nominees and especially Dan, who is poised to put an end to the Rowland/Rell reign in Hartford.After all these years and the state of the state they've left us in, all Nutmeggers need a Democrat of Dan Malloy's stature as Connecticut's new CEO.We noted with irony that the national media seemed much more obsessed with the predictable victory of WWE CEO Linda McMahon in the Republican primary that she purchased for $20,000,000.00, and promises to spend a whopping total of over $50,000,000.00[our meager math mind tells us that this amount works out to way more than $100 for each vote she will garner in November--OMG--is this what our politics have been reduced to?] in her soon to be fabled "Quixotic Quest" to lose to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.The WWE angle will be fascinating to the celebrity conscious media, and Mr. Blumenthal faces this celebrity problem among many difficulties[her $50,000,000.00+ campaign budget being just one other] he'll face in the weeks to come. McMahon tauts her financial abilities in turning around a small operation[the WWF] into a big operation. The problem is, of course, that she did so by marketing assault, rage, self-centeredness, and the use of weapons[ie. throwing chairs, bashing opponents with whatever is at hand, tossing referees, managers and opponents out of the ring and onto the floors and seats below, etc.] to the impressionable and innocent children of our state and nation. And marketing assault as "funny."This representative of the Republican party[which professes self-righteously to have a corner on the market for "family values"] has contributed to the downfall of American culture, helped toward rendering that culture mindless and stupid, and contributed to the delinquency of our minors on a wholesale basis--all in the selfish interest of making money! What a morally bankrupt individual Linda McMahon is.If she had any fiscal sense whatsoever, why is she spending $50 million in an attempt to buy a Senate seat in 2010 against the most popular politician in CT history, when in 2012 she has a much clearer playing field--when Lieberman's seat is once again up? Please keep your hands off the federal budget Ms. Amateur Politician McMahon, you can't even manage your own sizable stack!Despite a somewhat rocky road the last few weeks for Mr. Blumenthal, he needs every Democrat's support and deserves it.  He will be a great Senator, and certainly the best of the two we will have in D.C. next January. Let's rally also to the Connecticut Attorney General's aid! Unabashed Left endorses Richard Blumenthal for the U.S. Senate and encourages all to do the same!We Democrats should be grateful to Ned and for his gubernatorial campaign. So should Dan Malloy, for helping to put focus on his policies and on the state Democratic agenda. Dan is way ahead in the polls for November, in large part because of Ned's campaign.  All Democrats should encourage Mr. Lamont to run for office again--Unabashed Left believes his talents have always been well suited to the U.S. Senate, and Connecticut needs to retire Joe Lieberman. Ned was the man 4 years ago, and is just the man 2 years hence to replace the Republican/Democrat/Independent/ self-serving Senator. We urge Ned to consider such a candidacy.With President Obama re-elected in 2012, Ned Lamont winning that Senate seat to join Senior Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut will have put the A-Team inside the beltway! Please: Run, Ned, Run!

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Political Pearls: CONNECTICUT PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS

Connecticut voters go to the polls tomorrow to vote in statewide primary races on both the Republican and Democratic sides.  The hottest race among Democrats is between Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy for the gubernatorial nomination.  Unabashed Left unreservedly and enthusiastically endorses Ned Lamont for the Democratic nomination for governor and commits to endorsing the winner of the Democratic primary, either Ned or Mr. Malloy, in the general election.  The Quinnipiac Polling Institute released it's final poll tonight showing that Ned's lead over Dan has been cut to a mere 3%, less than the 4.5% margin of error for the poll.  In 2006, Mr. Lamont defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman in the primary for Senate fair and square.  Ned ran an honorable and effective campaign spotlighting Joe's sharp turn to the right over the years.  Ned won in spite of Lieberman having appeared on the national ticket in 2000 as Al Gore's vice presidential nominee and winning the popular vote, only to have that election stolen by George W. Bush, Jeb Bush and a 5-4 Supreme Court party-line political theft.  Lieberman went on to abandon his party for self-agrandizement, to run as an independent and bolt the party in the Senate, only reluctantly agreeing to vote with the Democratic Senate caucus and going on in 2008 to campaign for Republican maverick/hypocrite John McCain against President Obama.  Ned is a good man of solid moral character who has earned every Democrat's respect nationwide.  He deserves the nod, and Connecticut will be far better off next January when we finally get to retire the Rowland/Rell administration in Hartford!  He will bring jobs, lower health care costs, equalize education funding, build infrastructure, bring responsible fiscal practices back and much more for all the people of Connecticut!  If you care about Connecticut get out tomorrow and vote--the race is so close that every vote will count!  And Ned needs your support right now!  The polls show he will definitely beat any Republican handily(by 15 percentage points or more) in November.  In the U.S. Senate race, multimillionaire Linda McMahon, who has made her career prior to becoming a politician just this year and purchased the nomination with her own millions, has made a career out of marketing the World Wrestling Federation(or WWE, or whatever the  "@#<@"  they call it at the moment) to kids and showing them that assault and violence are "funny" and comedy, rather than dreadful and horrifying.  These are McMahon's "family values."  Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, and Unabashed Left endorses him for that seat.  Despite his ridiculous mishandling of those embarrassing to Connecticut comments regarding his "service" during the Vietnam era, Blumenthal still has a 10% lead in the polls, but it is shrinking quickly.  Democrats cannot afford to lose this seat, and Blumenthal's transgressions are not so significant as to discourage us from endorsing him or for working on his behalf in the general election campaign.In the third congressional district, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro will sweep to victory in November because of gerrymandering, and Unabashed Left endorses her candidacy. Ms. DeLauro has been in Congress for a very long time, and has amassed very little power or influence of note.  Earlier this year, during the very endgame of the Healthcare vote in the House, Ms. DeLauro dropped a very important ball.  During the Obama administration/House Democratic Leadership negotiations with Bart Stupak and his anti-choice people in the 48 hours before the final crucial vote, Rosa DeLauro was assigned the key role of keeping the pro-choice members apprised of exactly what was going on in these key negotiations.  She failed to do so.  Yes, she did.  Huge goof, and many people did notice Congresswoman.  During her next term Ms. DeLauro needs to establish far more visibility, acquire a significant committee or subcommitee chair, and genuinely author one or more key pieces of legislation and usher them through the House, the Senate, and the White House.  All this should have been accomplished by now, given her tenure in the House.  We have no question regarding her issues orientation, rather it is with her utter ineffectiveness at advancing this agenda.  Should she not demonstrate appropriate leadership in the next two years, a challenge to her nomination in 2012 is certainly called for and would be widely supported we believe.Please remember, above all, to get out tomorrow and cast your vote proudly and enthusiastically for the best candidate our CT Democratic Party has produced in decades, Ned Lamont for Connecticut's new Democratic Governor!!!  And please get your friends and relatives out tomorrow as well. And please think about driving someone to the polls who wouldn't otherwise be able to go, regardless of who they vote for or even their party affiliation!    Peace...

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Political Pearls: Why Not Assail The Reagan "Legacy Presidency???" Why Not Invoke Abe Lincoln And Claim Him For Ourselves?

"The Great Communicator."   "The Winner Of The Cold War."  "The Conservative's Conservative."  "The Man Who Put Government In It's Place."  And so on,--to utilize another typical Republican's(VP Spiro T. Agnew--what country is he hiding in today?*) popularized slogan--ad nauseum.Republicans have succeeded in getting the "Bedtime for Bonzo" star elevated to a pedestal that even Democrats won't touch in 2010.  Let's look at Reagan briefly.  The "Great Communicator?"  Here are a few of my favorite Reagan Quotes:"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm at a cabinet meeting.""People don't start wars, governments do.""All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.""Government does not solve problems, it subisidizes them.""My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever.  The bombing begins in 5 minutes.""You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans."**"The winner of the Cold War???"  Modern right-wing revisionists credit his massive defense spending and caving in to the "Military Industrial Complex" his Republican predecessor, President/General Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned us about, and purchasing every ludicrous weapon system ever contrived, enriching Defense Contractor CEO's and totally absurd and ultimately discredited concepts like "Star Wars"(he actually did spend too much time in his life influenced by Hollywood trash, imagining Earth to be the "Starship Enterprise" and himself patterned after Captain Kirk rather than the "founding fathers").  The Soviets were so bogged down by trying to keep up with the Reagan arms race that they had to step down.  What an absurd and comical notion.Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  Andrei Sakharov.  Lech Walesa.  Leonid Brezhnev.  Pope John Paul II.  Mikhail Gorbachev.  And yes, even good 'ol Boris Yeltsin.  These are the names that any sound historian associates with the fall of the Soviet Union and it's beleagered Warsaw Pact.  Not the man who co-starred with monkeys in low-budget Hollywood comedies.All Reagan's unilateral and historically unprecedented nuclear and convential arms race with no one in particular accomplished was to create the massive, record breaking deficit that required Bill Clinton and his Democratic team 8 years to restore to surplus(which George W. turned back into deficit the very next year)."The Conservative's Conservative Who Put Government In It's Place?"  Reagan was the "Conservative" who grew government and created deficits at a rate previously unheard of!  He gave Boeing, General Dynamics, and Sikorsky Executives huge contracts, bonuses and salaries, and decided to cut corners on hot school lunches for our nation's children by categorizing ketchup as a vegetable so we wouldn't have to give them green beans or spinach.  Those darned evil "entitled" kindergartners!The Democratic Party has rightly taken up the mantle of the only truly great American Republican President and arguably the greatest American President and political leader of all time, Abraham Lincoln.  The Republican Party that the modern-day Republicans, the Tea "Party," and the Libertarians have divorced; and the principles of Lincoln's Republican Party for which the Democratic Party now stands; we should usurp and shout loudly and proudly about from every mountain, rooftop, soapbox or Congressional Well today!Instead of "Tricky", or "Great Communicator", Abe had Nicknames like "Honest Abe" and "The Great Emancipater."A self-educated attorney born into poverty, not a "B" actor as his resume qualifying him for high office.  Please compare the "communicator's" quotes with the "Emancipater's" quotes:"The resources, advantages, and powers of the American people are very great, and they have, consequently succeeded to equally great responsibilities.  It seems to have devolved upon them to test whether a government established on the principles of human freedom can be maintained against an effort to build upon the exclusive foundation of human bondage."or"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal!"Five score and four years after this Great Emancipater uttered these words, another remarkable emancipater inspired by the courageous President Lincoln(who, like King, knew the personal risk of assassination was almost inevitable because of his bold commitment to justice), the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., chose the shadow of the monument in our nation's capital dedicated to Lincoln's life, legacy and inspiration, to reiterate Lincoln's words at Gettysburg by proclaiming in such a way that the entire world heard:"I have a dream, today!  That one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it's creed:  That all men are created equal!" The absurd, almost existential, comedy that will be Beck's "I have a scheme" speech at the same location on the anniversary of that speech would actually be funny if his notions of racial hatred and class warfare didn't actually appeal to a pathetic minority of people who mostly reside within the very narrow confines of the tent that is the so-called Tea Party(the likes of whom threatened and took violence to members of congress following the health care vote-remember?).And while Reagan only complicated and made much more difficult the efforts of great statesmen, labor leaders, religious icons and political dissidents to bring about an end to the tyrrany in Moscow and end the Cold War instead of setting it ablaze with more, bigger and more expensive killing machines and people; Abraham Lincoln motivated the populace, gave the Abolition of slavery as it's central goal, in addition to preserving the Union and the Constitution, and rode herd over the military to unilaterally effect victory in America's deadliest war--the Civil War.And then following the successful conclusion of the war, Lincoln as a leader, once again rallied the American people to forgive the secessionist leaders, and invested federal cash to launch an economic revival--particularly geared for the devastated South!  Clemency, mercy, reconciliation, pardon and reconstruction was his primary goal in the short time he served following victory before being killed by a glory-seeking former secessionist.The modern day Republican Party under the "leadership" of Chairman Michael Steele and the likes of Sharrron Angle, Palin, Boehner, Gingrige, Romney, and the Pauls(Rand and Ron) and Huckabees of this world have clearly abandoned the roots of the party renamed and reinvented by Honest Abraham Lincoln.  We Democrats should loudly and proudly give them Reagan and Proclaim our inheritance of The Great Emancipater's legacy.  WE HAVE A GREAT MESSAGE TO TAKE INTO THIS NOVEMBER AT THE BALLOT BOX!  WE NEED NOT BE ASHAMED AT ALL!  OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE JANUARY 20TH, 2008 ARE AMAZING UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA'S LEADERSHIP.  LET'S WAKE UP AND BE UNABASHED ABOUT OUR PRINCIPLES, PROUD OF OUR INHERITANCE AND BE NOT ASHAMED TO STAND UP PUBLICLY FOR THE DISADVANTAGED, THE POOR, THE DEPRIVED--AS WELL AS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS!!!  LET'S STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW MANY SEATS WE'RE GOING TO LOSE.  LET'S START TALKING ABOUT HOW MANY SEATS WE'LL PICK UP AND WHETHER WE CAN INCREASE OUR MAJORITIES HUGELY!!!  WHY TALK DEFEATISM, WHY NOT TALK VICTORY!!!  THE GENERAL ELECTION IS HERE.  LET'S GET TO WORK AND WIN, AND WIN HUGE!!!  WE CAN DO THIS, AND UNABASHEDLY IS THE ONLY WAY!  :)  PEACE, AND I'LL SEE YOU ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL....*As an aside, let's think momentarily of the legacy of the currently living Republican ex-Vice Presidents. Dan Quayle. "Dick" Cheney(those Republican "Dicks" in the White House get us every time, don't they!)..  I'll take Fritz Mondale and Al Gore any day!

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Sociological Stuff: CT Workplace Shooter 911 Call Hero!

The mass murderer in the Manchester, CT workplace rampage this week apparently took the time to phone 911 before taking his own life without killing anyone else. The tape was released today and the 911 Professional(to call them Operators or Dispatchers is a pathetic understatement of the awesome duties they routinely undertake) taking the call was way beyond professional and likely saved more lives and injuries. His calm demeanor, the line of talk and perfectly chosen questions designed to defuse the situation should be classic lessons used in the future to train all involved in emergency services.Remember the 911 Dispatch Hero coaching the young boy hiding in his bathroom a few weeks ago during a home invasion. The 911 Dispatch Hero who took the call from Michael Jackson's indicted Doc when he was dying. There are so many such tapes now. We hear them often, and they bring joy to my heart at how many good and well motivated emergency workers of all kinds there are out there. Police and firefighters, EMTs, etc. are on-scene and risk their own lives(WTC 9/11 says it all)-make no mistake- and are heros almost inherently.911 heros are heros as well-make no mistake there, either.  While their own lives may not be at risk routinely, others lives are, based only on their listening skills and what they say and how they say it!  And these individuals are willing to step out and take on this awesome responsibility! It's a totally anonymous job in 99.9% of cases. No glory, no credit! No personal thank-you's from those they help. The hallmarks of these awesome and essential public(government) employees are: humility; lower pay and less concern for personal credit than many others; professionalism; courage; competence; and saving lives daily. That's my impression of these truly unsung heros. Unabashed Left will now be referring to 911 Dispatchers as 911 Hero Dispatchers from now on.  A new job title for a group of people we genuinely admire.*  *Note to the Libertarians, Tea Partyists and Republicans:  Do you oppose the "evil" government from engaging in this heroic activity and do you opt-out of 911 for yourself and your families.  Government is not "bad," it is good, just depends on how it's utilized. Peace.......

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Economc Hardship: BP's Not So Subtle Doug Suttles Bails Out on the People and Creatures in the Gulf of Mexico!

The cement at the top of the BP well isn't dry, and the pemanent "bottom kill" operation via the relief wells hasn't begun. But the ink, pictures and video look good, so Doug Suttles, the BP executive in charge of the Gulf operations is relocating his life back to home in Houston.  Just maybe his premature homecoming is for the following reasons:  1) To "Get His Life Back" a la Tony Hayward. 2) To steer media attention away from the Gulf as much as possible. 3) As his $50,000,000.00+ media blitz ridiculously declares: "Staying in the Gulf until he makes this right"(as if 11 dead men and their devastated families, dead wildlife, poverty, disease, injury and species eliminated can ever be made "right"). Apparently Doug Suttles figures everything is all "right" now! The only good news from a BP executive since this whole mess began was Tony "Wayward" Hayward's" resignation and BP exile to Russia, where there are no warm water ports and no yacht races. Unabashed Left is investigating to see if this move is designed to avoid Tony's extradition to the US for testimony and/or criminal charges--certainly it's easier to extradite from the UK than from Putin's Russia, and certainly Tony's 1st choice in life is not to be a figurehead over BP's ongoing project in Russia! We are checking into the extradition treaties with Russia and will report back here at unabashedleft.blogspot.com - ASAP. What do you think Tony and BP's motives here are? Comments welcome and always are. Argument and opposing views are most welcome always here.  Peace....

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Political Pearls: Let's All Refudiate Together Boys and Girls

In the interest of advancing the art of etymology and to move our glorious English language forward to the year 2010; and in the spirit of playwright William Shakespeare and modern day philosopher/thinker(currently unemployed) Sarah Louise Heath Palin, we offer the following from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary for your elucidation:re-futation  \ref-yu-'ta-shen\ n(1548): the act or process of refutingrefute  \ri-'fyut\   vt  re-fut-ed; re-fut-ing  [L refutare, fr. re + - futare to beat - more at BEAT] (1597)  1: to prove wrong by argument or evidence: show to be false or erroneous   2:  to deny the truth or accuracy of < refuted the election returns which showed her the loserrepudiate  \ri-'pyud-e-,at\  vt [L repudiatus, pp. of repudiare, fr. repudium divorce] (1545)  1:to divorce or separate formally from(a woman)  2: to refuse to have anything to do with: DISOWN  3a: to refuse to accept; esp: to reject as unauthorized or having no binding force  b: to reject as untrue or unjust <-a charge>  4: to refuse to acknowlege or pay   syn see DECLINEGiven this wonderful information from Merriam Webster, the Unabashed Dictionary, utilizing this as our unique etymology, defines the following term:re-fu-di-ate \ri-'fyud-e-,at\  vt  [old Palin refudiatare, idiocy we guess]  1: to demonstrate ignorance  2: to demonstrate ignorance  ie,  "Sarah Palin refudiates every time she writes on the palm of her hand or opens her mouth"   See also; old "W": NUCULAR; MISREMEMBER

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Political Pearls: UNABASHED LEFT REQUESTS INTERVIEW WITH SHARRON ANGLE!

The Unabashed Left cordially invites Ms. Sharron Angle for a "mainstream" interview with a hard-hitting journalistic organization.  If she accepts our invitation, Unabashed Left promises that the interview will make news and that she will be quoted from coast to coast.  We also promise Ms. Angle that if she gets the urge to run during the interview we will be patient and await her return, and that we will only videotape her jog with her expressed written approval.  Unabashed left even will commit to providing her with a Large Dunkin' Donuts coffee and a box of up to 50 savory "Munchkins" at absolutely no cost to her, nor the taxpayers, and that it will in no way contribute to the national debt(and that if it does we will only raise taxes on the filthy rich to pay for them).  While we will not compromise our journalistic integrity by paying her for the interview, Unabashed Left agrees grit our teeth and turn our heads the other way when she hypes her campaign website and pleads for donations.  However Unabashed Left is proud to offer the following cash incentive to Ms. Angle, unrelated to the interview:  As of this instant Unabashed Left announces its willingness to part with a crisp, brand spanking new, fresh off the printing presses five dollar bill[complete with an attractive profile photo of Real Republican Abraham Lincoln and including a nice shot of the Lincoln Memorial on the back- without the Beck Stabbing Beckster doing his "I Have A Scheme Speech"] if Ms. Sharrrron "Right" Angle of Nevada will agree to withdraw from politics for this and the next 25 lives, or 2.5 millennia, whichever comes first.  $5.00--just for quitting--something you do very well--please give serious consideration to our generous offer Ms. Angle.  And to our invitation for The Interview--just think about all those free munchkins.  And a large, delicious DD coffee--fixed any way you want!  Contact us at    unabashedleft.blogspot.com    -- we're waiting for you!  It will be fun.  We promise.  

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Political Pearls: UNABASHED BULLETIN: ANGLE NOMINATED!!!

Internal sources have informed Unabashed Left that Sharrrron "flyrod" Angle has been nominated as the 2010 Angler Of The Year by the North American Fishing Club. Angle said she's fed up with commenting on this story, but the same sources indicated that Angle's philosophy is that the finned species are an "entitled" lot and deserve to die.

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Political Pearls: BREAKING UNABASHED NEWS: ANGLE ON THE RANGEL ANGLE

Sharrrron "Fastest Woman On Earth" Angel responded tonight to reports by the world famous and always reliable Unabashed Left that deposed House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie "Wrangling" Rangel is going to be joining Connectut's Republican Senate Candidate Linda McMahon's World Wrestling Federation as a "wrestling comedian character" like Ms. McMahon's stable of wrestlers who target children to make a comedy out of assault and violence.  Angle said "Rangel's angle is stupid. He's out of shape and shouldn't wrestle.  If Rangel can wrangle a deal with the ethics committee, I, Sharon Angle, will stop angling for votes in Nevada if Rangel stops angling for votes on the commitee. This is the official Sharrron Angle Rangel Angle."  :)

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Political Pearls: What Do Fishing, Jogging and Wrestling Have In Common?

We are all aware of Sharrrrron "Right" Angle's athletic prowess.  Her abilities as both a sprinter and a long distance runner are well documented on video each time she is approached by a genuine journalist or is filmed running away from press conferences she's called.  Unabashed Left, in fact, has confirmed through sources who rudely demanded anonymity because they are not authorized to speak until negotiations are complete, that Ms. Angle will be starring in a lengthy series of television commercials endorsing Nike "Air" following her election loss in November.  Marathon Sharrrron's contract will reportedly be worth millions.We've also confirmed that Angle is negotiating with the Zebco company, manufacturer of fishing rods and reels.  While there is no reason to believe that Angle is an angler in the traditional "fishing" sense, Zebco believes that her success at acquiring the Republican nomination in Nevada and to even be taken seriously at all as a general election candidate, given the absurdities that emanate from her now famous mouth, clearly demonstrate angling ability way beyond legends such as Ted Williams and Gaddabout Gaddis.  When word of the Zebco negotiations with Angling Angle were rumored this morning, Zebco stock prices soared and closed up 70%.Seizing upon this development, Zebco did not stop there.  Familiar with the blossoming friendship between Sharrrron and Arizona Governor Jan "Just Lock 'Em All Up And Throw Away The Key" Brewer, Zebco is negotiating with Brewer for joint commercial appearances with "Obtuse" Angling Angle for their new line of fish "chum."  Reportedly Brewer's face will be emblazened on the packages of old, rotten ground menhaden, and the product will be called "Sharrrron's Chum."Meanwhile, we have confirmed that another politician, this one from the Democratic side, is now in negotiations for a big commercial deal.  Likely Connecticut Republican U.S. Senate nominee Linda McMahon, a CEO of the World Wrestling Federation/WWE(or whatever the bleep they're calling it today) has been aware of the scandal involving the former chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.  She's reportedly offered an eight figure deal with "Wrangling [Charlie] Rangel for a slick Madison Avenue series of television ads , with the potential for a 9 figure bonus should he actually agree to get into the ring with one of her professional comic assaulters.  Remember, you heard it here first--your source for hard news:  Unabashed Left.

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