The Mind Wanders During the Summer

In the “no-duh” department Fox News(?) has been caught doctoring videos
again to victimize a member of the Obama administration, Shirley
Sherrod, who is liberal and a person of color. This was their third
scalp following the attacks on Van Jones and ACORN.


The Iowa connection in this is of course Secretary of Agriculture Tom
Vilsack. Vilsack apologized profusely for over-reaction and took all the
blame for the dismissal of Sherrod himself. I am finding it hard to
believe it was all Vilsack. But I believe that the Obama administration
will be very happy to let this story fade and disappear down the memory
hole.


But out of the whole incident came one of the best pieces off
journalism I have seen in a long, long time. Rachel Maddow set the
background for our current racial climate with a great little history
lesson. Then she applies that to Fox and their role in the continuance
of racial politics.

Both pieces need to be seen. Unfortunately many of the videos out there
begin with Glenn Beck and ignore the historical background. I found
this site to have a full video. That is the first video. The second
video is not as much of a must set, but very, very interesting. Running
time for the first is about 12 minutes, the second about 9 minutes.



In a story that is unrelated, but I will tie in a sneaky little
maneuver, out daughter and her husband moved from Indianapolis to the
Twin Cities. The economy is working for her. Her services were sought
out by a company and they hired her away. Moving to Minnesota was
something they have always dreamed of.

One of the reasons that they wanted to get back to this area is the
type of people that live in Iowa and Minnesota. To quote my daughter
“They are just more honest and real.” They plan of helping the Tarryl
Clark campaign once they are fully settle. Clark is Michelle Bachmann’s
opponent in Minnesota 6th district. And while our daughter does not live
in the sixth, it is a short drive away.


And now the tie. I hate liars. Especially liars who are in positions of
power. Whether it is a church covering up a sexual scandal or a
politician or news company distorting facts and videos for gain of some
sort.


And this is precisely why I am fighting so hard to send Grassley back
to his farm. Grassley has always been a slick politician in the guise of
an ‘Aw shucks” down home persona. But his performance in the past
decade and especially since Obama has been president has been little
short of totally dishonest. Deserved or not, Grassley had an image of an
honest politician. He has traded on that image to sell Iowans on things
like tax cuts for the rich, two wars that have killed untold thousands
and cost trillions, and recently to greatly alter things like the
stimulus, health care and Wall Street reform.


If there is one thing I would love to see it would be Chuck Grassley
being forced to wear NASCAR type outfits with all his sponsor logo in
full view. Then he could send out a news clip with a picture pointing to
the Goldman-Sachs logo to explain his latest vote. I need to learn how
to use photoshop.


Last weekend was the fifth gathering of Netroots Nation in Las Vegas.
Over 2000 attended. Candidates and office holders came to pay homage.
The blogosphere has become a crucial tool, not only for Democrats, but
simply as a tool to disseminate information. Which is why the right wing
continues to work so hard to end net neutrality. We can not let up
defending net neutrality for even a minute. Let your congressman know.


Back to radio reports next week. I could not let the Maddow piece go by without commenting on it.

Dave Bradley
E-mail Dave here

Dave Bradley is a self-described
retired observer of American politics “trying to figure out how we got
so screwed up.”  An
Iowa City native currently living in West Liberty,  Dave and his wife
Carol have two grown children who “sadly had to leave the state to find
decent paying jobs.“