On this page you can share your own stories and pictures of protest and challenging the Right. We know you know they're Wrong! Let that voice be heard!  Email your stories and pics to: telltheright@gmail.com and we'll get them up here as fast as we can.... Update 5/23/13: by Eugenio Cifelli: Gosar and Protecting the IRS
Rep. Gosar said, “It’s time to fight back against the IRS’ bully tactics. If the IRS can target and discriminate against one group of Americans, it can do it to anyone. This is unacceptable.
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/13/how_irs_scandal_could_help_karl_rove_and_dark_money/
Why didn't conservatives raise any concerns when the IRS audited the NAACP and Green Peace under the Bush II Administration ? The IRS didn't target large right-wing organizations such as Freedom Works or Cross Roads GPS. Only a third of the groups targeted by the IRS were conservative groups. It had also targeted progressive groups and it denied tax exempt status to at least three of them. None of the Tea Party groups had their tax exempt status denied.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4451984
The Citizens United decision helped conservative groups pour money into influencing elections. There should be some campaign finance legislation created so that the common folk's voices aren't drowned out by the interests of millionaires and billionaires.
Update 5/16/13: Here's
more nonsense from Gosar when he was in Bullhead City:
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2013/05/02/news/local/doc518215dcb25f0741158862.txt
On March 2, 2006, just two days before President Bush was scheduled to visit Pakistan, a suicide bomber targeted the U.S. consulate in Karachi, killing four, including a US diplomat believed to be the target, and as many as 50 others. (Source)
On September 12, 2006, four armed gunmen stormed the U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria. In the 20 minute attack, they threw grenades and fired automatic weapons at guards. In the end, one person was killed and 13 wounded. (Source)
On January 12, 2007, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the US Embassy in Athens Greece. Thankfully, it was early morning, and the building was empty and no one was injured. (Source)
On July 9, 2008, men armed with a shotgun and pistols stormed the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. At the end of the five-minute battle, three Turkish policemen were killed. (Source)
In 2008, there were two attacks on the U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen. The first was a mortar attack on March 18, that missed the embassy and hit a nearby girls’ school, injuring 13. (Source)
On March 2, 2006, just two days before President Bush was scheduled to visit Pakistan, a suicide bomber targeted the U.S. consulate in Karachi, killing four, including a US diplomat believed to be the target, and as many as 50 others. (Source)
On September 12, 2006, four armed gunmen stormed the U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria. In the 20 minute attack, they threw grenades and fired automatic weapons at guards. In the end, one person was killed and 13 wounded. (Source)
On January 12, 2007, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the US Embassy in Athens Greece. Thankfully, it was early morning, and the building was empty and no one was injured. (Source)
But the biggest attack came on September 17, 2008, when terrorists dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles and grenades. There was also a car bomb. In the end, 16 were killed and many more were injured. (Source)
**** Update 4/25/13: Eugenio Cifelli: Paul Gosar & The Balanced Budget Myth Paul Gosar says he wants balanced federal budgets because he claims that having surpluses can help the US economy and lead to the elimination of the national debt. Well, he's quite wrong as usual.
http://gosar.house.gov/press-release/rep-gosar-growing-national-debt-threatens-nation
Having balanced budgets actually hurts the economy in the long run. Let’s look at when balanced budgets existed in succession throughout American history:
1817-1821
1823-1836
1852-1857
1867-1873
1880-1893
1920-1930
1998-2001
Now, let’s look at years when the great US economic panics began: 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, 1929, 2007.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/21/opinion/la-oe-kelton-fiscal-cliff-economy-20121221
Bill Clinton was the last US President to have balanced the budget in consecutive years; his fiscal restraint was seen as being a wise strategy for creating a strong US economy.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/
Unfortunately his surpluses actually created much of the US's economic woes:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-bill-clintons-balanced-budget-destroyed-the-economy-2012-9
Here is the equation for the Gross Domestic Product:
GDP=C+I+G+(X-M)
C is private consumer spending, I is investment spending, G is Government spending, and (X-M) is exports minus imports, the trade surplus.
Clinton supported and still to this day supports free trade. He supported and signed NAFTA, GATT, and the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000, into law. This lead directly to the loss of US manufacturing jobs; which were outsourced to countries where safety conditions and labor rights seldom exist. The free trade agreements helped weaken the union movement, because many unions were active in manufacturing industry. The US economy was then shifted to the service and retail business where there was virtually no history of organized labor. US household incomes declined and US investors and executives began making fat profits. A trade deficit was created because the US started importing more products than it was exporting. Retail outlets such as Wal-Mart introduced cheaply made products that were made in China and Mexico.
Clinton didn't make the situation any better by signing the Gramm-Leach-Biley Act of 2000, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. Glass-Steagall kept the commercial banking and investment banking separate. Between 1933 and 2007 there were no banking panics at all. The Great Recession was partially caused by Clinton repealing Glass-Steagall. He added more problems to the US economy by supporting and signing the Commodities-Futures Modernization Act, which deregulated derivatives and exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. The lack of adequate legal oversight lead to out-of-control investing by the private mortgage industry, banks, and Wall Street firms. Clinton rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act in 1995, added pressure to banks to lend money to low-income house holds that couldn't afford their mortgages.
Spending under Clinton went down because of his willingness with House Republicans to balance the budget. Because federal spending couldn't stimulate the economy, consumer spending became the stimulus. Household debt went up dramatically, households were saving less money, and borrowing through loans and credit cards.
Also, since the federal government was running a surplus there wasn't much debt to issue. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to pick up the slack by issuing mortgage backed securities. This negatively affected both of these institutions in the long run when the private sector economy went into a tailspin.
Also, there's a myth that F and F helped caused the crisis, by issuing loans. They can't, both can only buy loans that have already been made by those in the private sector.
http://www.freddiemac.com/corporate/company_profile/our_business/?intcmp=AFCPOB
The conservatives wish to shut down these two for being bailed out by the federal government, but it was mostly the private industry that cause the Great Recession which was aided by government deregulation and neglect which lead to the Great Recession.
Both are set to repay their bailout loans
Well, that's all.
Update 4/22/13: Call for Action on AZ State Senator Kelli Ward's Hypocrisy: CALL KELLI WARD TO EXPAND OBAMACARE IN ARIZONA. She is soliciting republicans to call her AGAINST health care for America. Kward@azleg.gov 602-926-4138 She is trying to get LOTS of republicans to call in to SQUASH Obamaczare in Arizona. If you get a message saying she was not accepting calls I would like to know this as well. This is vitally important to Americans! *** Update 4/18/13: Guest Column by Eugenio Cifelli: Gosar Watch (Part 2) Paul Gosar Voted NO Against: Extending Student Loan Interest Rates 2013 ***** Update 4/11/13: Guest Column by Eugenio Cifelli: Gosar Watch, Episode One: What Are Some of His Bad Policies? 1. He a climate change
denier and blamed the AZ wild fires on "extreme environmental groups"
7. His position on District of
Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, (H.R. 3803) “I am deeply saddened and disgusted that this simple, humane and moral bill failed to pass the House today. I find it deplorable that our nation’s capital allows the genocide of its unborn children,” said Dr. Gosar. “These procedures undeniably rob the world of a human life in a most cruel fashion – and can often cause severe complications and health risks for the child’s mother. It is worth noting that these procedures are more lucrative to the abortion industry, however. The right thing to do is to ban these procedures.”
“Just yesterday, a federal judge upheld Arizona state law to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, unless the mother’s life is at risk. As a father and a health care provider, I applaud Arizona in protecting the unborn from ending their short precious lives in excruciating pain. I hope that those in Congress who supported the District of Columbia’s genocide can one day join me and other pro-life members of Congress in banning these gruesome and inhumane procedures, which have no place in a civil society.”
***** update unknown June 2012 a poem by Carl "Cal-Oakie" Stilwell Lefty had to go. He not only said the world was round but according to his calculations revolved around the sun and not vice versa. Uncle Albert thought Lefty’s unorthodoxy no big deal. What did it matter which orbited which? It was all relative. Aunt Demeter wondered with all the work we had to do to keep everybody alive why in hell were we arguing religion? Our priest, Holy Bull, knew better. Hanging was too good for such a blasphemer. The unbeliever should be burned alive but nobody knew how to start a fire. It was then that Coyote showed us how to ignite fires. So that is how Lefty became the first heretic to be burned at the stake. We also found out how much better food tasted when it was cooked. Soon our hunting and foraging band got tired of eating out and built houses so we could enjoy home cooking. Our village grew to a city and then a country. We cut down so many trees for cooking and heating that the Sahara forest became a desert. Coyote to the rescue again. He disclosed to us how to extract coal and oil from the bowels of Mother Earth. Soon everybody was cooking with gas and living better electrically. Coyote also got the bright idea of replacing horses with internal combustion engines to pull carriages. Soon honking autos cruised concrete highways dotted with lots of gas and fast food stops. Moreover, Coyote demonstrated ways to make styrofoam cups, toothbrushes, plastic bags, fertilizers, pesticides, lego blocks and a host of other fossil fuel based products. Prosperity followed but also problems. Aunt Samantha visits Coyote. She thanks him for all the affluence he’s brought throughout the land but there remain pockets of poverty. “Tell them lazy turds to get a job!” Coyote replies. She also reports an epidemic of obesity among the people. “No problem. Market more diet books, sodas and pills.” They’ve had 100 straight days of 100 plus temperature. Most scientists connect this extreme heat wave to global warming. “Tell them whiners to turn up the A/C and use more sunscreen.” The ocean is filled with carbonic acid and patches of plastic debris. Scientists fear the extinction of most if not all marine species. “Must I do everything for you goddamned homo moronus? Figure it out for yourselves!” Before leaving Aunt Samantha asks him has he-- by any chance--seen her missing cat? Coyote burps as he shakes his head. --CaLokie
“WE’RE NOT PLAYING BY THEIR RULES ANYMORE.” Nation magazine and MSNBC contributor John Nichols raises the roof at Arizona Advocacy Network when he talks movement politics. From Arizona’s successful Russell Pearce recall to the upsurge to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio and governor Jan Brewer, grassroots Arizona is rising up to take back our democracy. John Nichols is the author of Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street. Alison
McLeod, RN, BSN Southern Arizona Field Organizer Progressive Democrats of America "The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities." --John F. Kennedy  I protest because I have been seeing this great country of ours become the
laughing stock and debtor of the world under cowboy- what all the Europeans I
have met called him - Bush, our disgrace of being the only developed
country in the world without a national healthcare plan because of the lies told
to the United States public, the constant attack on and decline of all our
public and private sector unions and the attacks by the christian right -
they are neither - on women, the poor, people of color, immigrants and the LGBT
community to show how tough they are, the destruction of the World economy
by the stupidity and greed of the too big financiers - as evidenced this
week AGAIN by JP Morgan - getting away with no accountability or criminal
prosecution, our incomes and monetary worth being stripped from the middle
class and pushed up to the plutocracy who hoard it in hedge funds and private
investments that never go to help our economy and the obstructionism of the GOP
Congressmen who will destroy our economy further to get that Black man out of
their White House.
Whew, that is quite a load and their are so many more attacks on anything
and anyone that is not 'them' that I could go on seemingly
forever.
I have two battles going in my small town and I seem to be losing both of them.
I've been trying to stop government meetings from starting with sectarian prayer. The Town Council has been quite vicious in refusing to consider it. Last word from the mayor was, we're going to say Jesus Jesus Jesus and if you don't want to hear it go outside. I've also been trying to get the Desert Caballeros Western Museum to unlock the handicap doors on its new Learning Center. They don't even want people to exit through those doors. Why is a mystery. The Director of the museum threatened to charge me with harrassment so I filed a complaint under the Americans With Disabiilties Act. The Department of Justice in Arizona and the museum have been in negotiations for some time now but I suspect I'm losing that one too. Nicki Hamilton Values Made Visible Christine M. Meisenheimer - 5/12/12 
Standing firmly for something, such as peace, fairness, justice, or respect of women’s rights, is an ennobling stance to take. No raging. No shouting. No rejection of other’s belief system. Just a direct and simple statement to express passionately held beliefs. I continue to stand witness to guiding principles I believe in and to do this for those who can’t - or are simply unwilling to do so, IS important. The first time I participated in a peace vigil, or any other number of causes over the years that I strongly support, it was exhilarating and a bit threatening. I have made a public overt expression of my support and this does make an audible, hard to ignore, statement to the public. I liken it to a grammatical exclamation mark. At first it IS intimidating and yes downright scary but I know it is important to be willing to push beyond my comfort zone for change to happen. I passionately believe in guiding principles such as respect, compassion, honesty, justice and care for those who are unable to care for themselves. When I stand on a street corner, with my placard stating my beliefs clearly it reinforces the strength of my principles. I look at activism as Alice Walker so eloquently stated when she said “Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet.” Standing for values and principles I believe in makes visible opinions that otherwise remain unspoken or unseen. I am a poet and this is but one additional poetic way I speak truth to power, truth that is the way I see it. I refuse to be in this life slinking my way to anonymity with unspoken principles being washed lazily against distant and far shores. (This is from Christine Meisenheimer in Kingman. A wheelchair bound retired Air Force officer, Christine is the leader of Kingman's local anti-war effort and has organized peace vigils on Sundays in Kingman for the past two years continuing work she'd begun with anti-war groups in Wisconisin. I originallly wrote about Christine in a series on veterans.)  "Hear Me Now" |
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