Combat "Rage Fatigue": Get Perspective

Ask any liberal talk show host; due to perceived let-downs of newly-elected Democrats to the House-- especially regarding Iraq policy-- supporters feel let down, burned out and worse--angry: rage fatigue.

How do you combat that sense of anger and the fatigue of carrying it with you? There are many ways to manage anger, but those not requiring activities longer then a blog post can cover, work too.

First check your expectations. In nearly every case anger is a result of expectaions being misaligned with reality (yes, this is a personal responsibility thing). Recognizing your own part in inflating your expectations, though humbling, can go a long way toward lowering your blood pressure.

Then try getting a broader perspective of the over-all issue and look for the areas of "wins" behind which you can invest what's left of your passions. The occupation of Iraq (please do yourself a favor and loose the "war in Iraq" frame NOW) is a part of not only larger foreign national policy concerns but a symptom of this administration's general policy attitudes.

There are many fronts from which Democrats must fight--not just one fire to put out-- but a whole country's worth. If you simply *must* focus on Iraq, look for the news that reinforces the opportunity to discuss solutions--like what was working in the arena before this whole mess started-- and then revive pertinent areas of those debates. Take this for example:

Told you so, U.N. Iraq arms inspectors' report says on Yahoo! News: "'Despite some skepticism from many areas within the international community, in hindsight, it has now become clear that the U.N. inspection system in Iraq was indeed successful to a large degree, in fulfilling its disarmament and monitoring obligations,' said the unit's 1,160-page summing-up report.

'The UN's verification experience in Iraq also illustrates that in-country verification, especially on-site inspections, generate more timely and accurate information than other outside sources such as national assessments.'"

By going back to what the world was like before the invasion of Iraq you find there was sanity and methodology for problem-solving. Those solutions are still sound.

Find what has worked and what can work and focus on solutions--not failures--and your anger will find direction.

Petroluem Broadcasting System (PBS) Finally Caves to The Dark Force

Sometimes things are done so ludicrously opposite to the argued intention that ones' mind reels in its perception of the contradictions.

PBS to use "noted pollster" Luntz for presidential forum, despite GOP ties and reported reprimands: "According to an April 4 press release, Republican pollster Frank Luntz will participate in the Public Broadcasting Service's coverage of the June 28 Democratic presidential forum, which will be televised live and moderated by PBS host Tavis Smiley: 'Immediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz, who will also appear on 'Tavis Smiley' on PBS the following evening to discuss his findings.' Fellow pollsters have criticized Luntz, a longtime Republican strategist, for mischaracterizing the results of his research, as Media Matters for America has noted. The PBS press release does not mention Luntz's Republican ties, repeating a pattern in the media identified by Media Matters."

Really, someone should run a contest to see who can create the perfect simile to capture the real nature of PBS's choice of Frank Luntz for Democratic forum coverage. And additionally, for fun, maybe we can dispatch a grammarian just to count the number of times Frank will take the opportunity to slaughter the adjective Democratic down to his preferred "noun-ization" of "Democrat".

Here's my simile: Frank Luntz objectively covering a Democratic forum for the intended purpose of providing "balance" is like Frank Luntz objectively presenting the business of logging lobbyists intention to strip old-growth (hell, all growth) forests as a "Healthy Forests" initiative.

Give Unto Bush What is Bush's, And Leave the Rest of Us Alone!

When it comes to the ludicrous argument of whether church should continue seperated from state I never realized the implications for big business getting behind that push until this article:

The Abstinence Gluttons: "Over the past six years George W. Bush's faith-based Administration and a conservative Republican Congress transformed the small-time abstinence-only business into a billion-dollar industry. These dangerously ineffective sexual health enterprises flourish not because they spread 'family values' but because of generous helpings of the same pork-heavy gumbo Bush & Co. brought to war-blighted Iraq and Katrina-hammered New Orleans--a mix of back-scratching cronyism, hefty partisan campaign donations, high-dollar lobbyists, a revolving door for political appointees and a lack of concern for results.

One of the chief cooks is a media-shy 63-year-old Catholic multimillionaire, welfare privatizer and Republican donor named Raymond Ruddy. With close ties to the White House, federal health officials and Republican power brokers that date back to W.'s days as Texas governor, Ruddy has leveraged his generous wallet and insider muscle to push an ultraconservative social agenda, enrich a preferred network of abstinence-only and antiabortion groups, boost profits for his company and line the pockets of his cronies--all with taxpayer dollars."

Is it first evangelize the government, and then privatize it tax-free, or vice-versa?

One (More) Great Reason to Crush Giuliani

Dear Republicans, take note:

NAFTA Superhighway Has Giuliani As Key Player: "At the center of negotiations for multiple legs of the Superhighway Corridor throughout Texas, is none other than Rudolph Giuliani’s law firm which landed the Comprehensive Development Agreement for a widening of Interstate-35, now referred to as the TTC-35, in addition to the Master Development Plans for State Highways 121 and 130 among other legs of the TTC. All negotiations for Cintra were and are presently handled by the law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP, of which Republican Presidential candidate, Rudolph Giuliani, has been a senior executive partner since March 2005. His law firm is the exclusive legal counsel for Cintra. Bracewell & Giuliani is comprised of 400 attorneys, based in Houston, TX with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., London and Kazakhstan."

-SNIP-

Particularly unnerving, given Guiliani’s personal experience on 9-11, is his defense of open borders at any cost while condoning the NAFTA Superhighway Corridor and by extension the North American Union, without the purview or consent of the U.S. Congress or the will of the American people.

We should have seen it coming when Giuliani enacted Special Order 40 in 1994, during his tenure as Mayor of New York City, in ordering law enforcement officers to no longer check the legal status of suspects caught violating the law. We should have seen it coming when Rudolph Giuliani single-handedly decided that illegal aliens were not lawbreakers and also quit upholding the law. And unfortunately we now do see it coming. But sadly, he may now actually be handed the opportunity to no longer defend and abide by the U.S. Constitution of the United States of America.

Note: As currently written, the deal with Cintra would allow the Spanish-owned company to SET TOLLS and retain ALL PROFITS for FIFTY YEARS.

Fight Terrorism by Fighting Poverty? You Don't Say?!

Oh this is rich:

Gates considers roots of terrorism: "Declining to say whether the U.S. and its partners are winning the war on terror, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Saturday for more focus on combating poverty and other underlying causes of extremism."

In 2001 when the relatively calmer heads of social liberalism (humanists) suggested fighting terrorist threats by understanding its roots, those voices were decried as "emotional", "weak", "dangerous" and worse, "un-American".

Make note (a-gain) that liberals are YEARS ahead of conservatives in their ability to understand the human elements underpinning behavior, and the first to point them out.

That includes liberal SOLUTIONS for problem behaviors.

Of course they then spend the interim defending their IDEAS while conservatives figure out how to appropriate those ideas as their own (while at the same time projecting their wrong-headedness as the liberal position).

Liberals; defend less, do more. Nothing speaks louder then success.