by Steven Whitney

In our first two Presidential elections, George Washington ran unopposed, with no affiliation to any Party, even though a multi-party system composed of Federalists, Anti-Federalists and the Democratic-Republican Party – yes, they were one united Party back then – was forming quickly, with each party eager to recruit him. But Washington felt it imperative to ensure the people that his first allegiance was to the country and not to any political party. . . and so he ran as a “Non-Partisan.”

Since our country was brand spanking new, urgent issues and conflicts sprang up at every turn. Under other labels, conservatives and liberals jousted for position and, as today, fiercely disagreed on the course the government should take. But guiding them all in those early days was a President whose very bipartisanship allowed the various factions to join together to construct a nation built on freedoms that otherwise might tear our democracy apart.

How were they able to do that? How did they manage to put personal and political issues to the side so they could “provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare” and secure for the populace the inalienable rights of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” – without political parties, agendas, ideologies, and platforms?

At the birth of our nation, political factions came and went, howling like low winds on the Chesapeake Bay. Instead of trusting in parties, voters trusted men proven to be of good character. Our first three Presidents – Washington, Adams, and Jefferson – held wildly conflicting moral, philosophical, and political views. Yet they were elected in succession because each had a strong character that had firmly won the faith and trust of the people.

That’s all – just Character, with a capital C.

Of course, today no man or woman can ascend to the Presidency without the backing of a political party, or without hundreds of millions of campaign dollars. But that should not preclude the importance of evaluating character at the ballot box. Isn’t that the first thing we should ask for and vet in candidates – that they possess good characters?

So let’s measure Romney, Ryan, and the RNC against the cornerstone of good character on which almost everyone agrees – honesty.

On its simplest level, honesty is merely telling the truth and avoiding deceit. On this score, the GOP and its candidates scored an unprecedented low with one lie and deceit after another. Even Fox News, the media arm of the Republican Party and not usually concerned about letting facts get in the way of agenda, was absolutely gob-smacked by the outrageous lies and deceptions delivered by their Vice-Presidential candidate: “…to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.” Again – that’s Fox News!

Ryan deliberately misquoted the President on private sector success, reproached him for closing a GM plant in Wisconsin (it closed under Bush), called him the “biggest threat to Medicare” (when, in fact, Mr. Ryan’s “budget” claims that dishonor), and also blamed the S&P downgrade of America’s credit rating on Obama. To the contrary, when Standard & Poor’s made the downgrade, it clearly stated the reason: “We have changed our assumption…because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues.” Could S&P have targeted the blame any more precisely?

Ryan even lied about his personal accomplishments, saying he ran a marathon in 2 hours and 50 seconds. But according to his own brother, Ryan didn’t break 4 hours.

Not a big thing? Okay, but then why lie about it? Especially if he wants to be seen as an average Joe, the 4-hour mark is much more in keeping with the norm.

Back in 2000, the GOP loudly accused Al Gore of lying about “inventing the internet.” But Gore never said that – what he did say was that he was a strong supporter and initiator of the web in the Congress that funded and sustained its invention. So if Bush’s campaign made such a big deal about a so-called lie from Gore that they just made up, are we supposed to sit back now and accept real and numerous lies from Republicans just because they say it’s so?

Over this past weekend, Crooks & Liars released a well-documented list of 533 different lies Mr. Ryan told in just 30 weeks, which has to come close to the world record touted for him by Fox News.

But it’s not only the lies, Ryan also has been extremely deceptive since being tapped for V.P. But he’s still no match for Romney, the king of deception. Romney released only one year of tax information – and that was incomplete. He steadfastly refuses to release any more, saying the opposition would only use it as “ ammunition.” Ammunition for what? If his tax record is clean, there would be no evidence of wrongdoing. Ammunition could be used only if it’s found that he was part of the 2009 Swiss Bank Tax Evasion Scandal, or if he’s hiding even more money overseas, or if he paid no taxes for a number or years (as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested), or any one of a number of questionable and even malfeasant transactions. No one worries about ammunition unless there’s a smoking gun hidden somewhere – and yet both Ann and Mitt have stated repeatedly that they don’t want to give their opponents any ammunition. Doesn’t it sound like they’re afraid that releasing more tax returns would explode in Mitt’s face and shoot dead any chance of being elected? That’s what ammunition does, isn’t it?

But Mitt is the Crown Prince of Avoidance. Ask him about his healthcare plan and he says he won’t reveal the specifics until after the election. It’s the same with his tax and budget plans (although we can surmise that they don’t stray too far from his running mate’s). He details nothing, by implication saying “Trust me,” even as he gives us nothing to base trust upon. Whenever they’re asked for specifics, his campaign says only that if a voter really wants to research the issue, he/she can find all the information they need. Which leads to the question: if experienced political journalists can’t find the specifics – and they haven’t – how can the average voter? But then, the sentiment exactly echoes Queen Ann’s statement about releasing more than one year of incomplete tax returns: “we’ve released all the information you people need to know” (italics mine).

Is this a crime syndicate taking the 5th in front of the American people or a political party trying to get elected in the absolutely worst way possible?

Doesn’t honesty – or at least the kind of honesty that leads to trust and transparent governing – start with full and truthful disclosure? If so, then Romney, Ryan, and almost the entire cast of the Republican National Convention fail the test by a large margin. Indeed, the lies, avoidances, and deceptions during the RNC were so numerous and shameless it appeared as if the GOP was celebrating National Liars’ Week. And that they didn’t care if the whole world knew. Romney’s press secretary Neil Newhouse even admitted as much when he said: “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.” Or facts, one has to conclude.

In the best of all possible worlds, men and women of good character cultivate their political garden with truth, allowing them to govern compassionately, fairly and responsibly. They do not hold the electorate in contempt by telling constant and contemptible lies. On every level they respect the people – all the people, not just the rich who can buy their way into influence.

Although informed by the past and present, elections are always about who will govern in the future. And those of good character know that a successful – and especially, democratic – future cannot be built upon a platform of lies.

This November, voters across America must not only cast Republicans out of office but also leave their party in ruins.

Why?

Because the GOP needs to be effectively reminded that our nation was created on the principles of truth that George Washington and our founders espoused. . . and not based upon lies that rob our country and its leaders of credibility, integrity, and, yes, good character.

The truth still matters.

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Fighting Back Part 4: The Big Liar, Intimidation And Revenge
Fighting Back Part 3: Fighting Fire With Fire
When The Past Is Prologue
Fighting Back Part 2: Defining Rovian Politics
Fighting Back
The Electoral Scam
Being Fair
Occupy Reality
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A Tale Of Two Grovers
A Last Pitch For Truth
America: Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
Gotcha!

by Moby

This might not be of interest to very many people, but I wanted to write about the federal government…

I know, 99% of you will stop reading right now. I assume that this is probably of interest to about six people, which is a shame, as it’s a subject that effects all of us, even those who don’t live in the United States.


See, one of the big issues in this election cycle is federal spending.
 The Republicans say over and over again that they want to drastically cut federal spending.
 And most people go along with it, saying, “sure, let’s cut federal spending.”
 But do people fully understand what federal spending involves?
 In very general terms, and excluding debt and interest payments, federal spending can be seen in quarters:

• 1/4 of the budget goes to Medicare/Medicaid.
• 1/4 goes to Social Security.
• 1/4 goes to military spending.
• 1/4 goes to ‘discretionary’ spending.

The Republicans have said that they don’t want to touch the military budget, they don’t want to touch Medicare/Medicaid, and they don’t want to touch Social Security.
 But they do want to drastically cut ‘discretionary’ spending.


What exactly is ‘discretionary’ spending?
 Technically it’s non-mandatory federal spending.
 But practically it’s 
railways, schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure, arts programs, health, police, museums, emergency services, state and national parks, public broadcasting, water safety, etc., etc.


Some of these are also paid for by state and local budgets, but for the most part they’re all reliant upon federal ‘discretionary’ spending.
 And what I find incredibly frustrating is that no one, not even Democrats, is sticking up for this type of government spending.


When I travel I go to countries with a higher percentage of discretionary spending than the United States.
 Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Scandinavia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, etc., etc.
 Most Americans don’t leave the United States, so they assume that no matter where you go you’ll find hospitals that are over-crowded, schools that are under-funded, railroads that are slow, higher education that is expensive, water that isn’t always safe to drink, etc.
 But in almost every other Western country they have great hospitals, great schools, great roads, great public transportation, clean air, clean water, etc., 
because, simply, they spend more federal money on programs that benefit the people.


The Republicans want to cut all discretionary spending.
 And they want to cut taxes on the wealthiest 1% of wage earners.
 So the towns where these wealthiest 1% live will have great public services, but the rest of the country will, literally, fall apart, as is already happening.
 By most objective criteria the United States is already leaving the ranks of first world countries.

Here are two salient indices:


1. The United States comes joint 23rd in a list of countries ranked for literacy by the United Nations – below Cuba, Estonia, Latvia, Barbados, and Belarus, among others.

2. There are 48 countries with a lower infant mortality rates than the United States – this one is stunning!

In almost all indices for development and well-being the United States is either lower than most other Western countries or slipping fast.
 There might be other variables, but the one constant is we increasingly spend less on ‘discretionary’ items.
 And if Romney/Ryan and the Republicans have their way, we’ll continue to spend less and less on discretionary spending, and continue to push the United States out of the ranks of first world countries.

To be clear and seemingly self evident:

• Kids are better educated when they have well funded schools.
• Old people are healthier when they have well funded hospitals and health programs.
• People are safer when they have well funded health and safety programs and regulations.
• Countries work better when they have well funded public transportation.

Giving more money to the military will not improve the quality of life for people in the United States.
 And giving more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires will not improve the quality of life for most of the people in the United States.

I truly believe that if Romney/Ryan and the Republicans are allowed to further cut federal discretionary spending that the United States will increasingly become a crumbling country filled with increasingly sick and uneducated people. It’s already happening. A Romney/Ryan administration will just accelerate the process.

It’s just a shame that most Americans can’t travel, even to Canada, to see an example of what a country looks like when it has great public education 
and great health care and great public transportation and great arts programs.

I’m writing this because I strongly believe that someone needs to speak up for discretionary spending. Someone needs to clearly state that many of the things Americans value – roads, health, education, police, emergency services, public transport, museums, national parks, safe water, clean air, etc., etc. – all require healthy levels of funding.

A Romney/Ryan Republican America would be paradise for the few people worth over $10,000,000. But it would be a crumbling dystopia for everyone else.

by Damon Martin

For every Geoff Johns and Jim Lee in the comic book industry there are a thousand writers and artists just hoping to climb, scratch or claw their way onto the radars of a major publisher like DC or Marvel. The role of independent comics however has served as a rich creative breeding ground where there is no corporate bottom line to meet or concerns that stories are too graphic or gritty to land on the page. With that freedom also comes the kind of passion that is lost in the more mainstream comic world, since, as most independent comic book writers and artists will tell you, no one is making millions from self-publication.

Michael Easton is a life-long comic book fan and writer, who worked for DC/Vertigo when he co-penned the graphic novel The Green Woman with award winning author Peter Straub. As much as Easton loved working on that book, there is a certain freedom that comes with a self-published work like his 2008 graphic novel, Soul Stealer, which is a 500-plus page gothic story following an immortal warrior named Kalan, with wonderful art provided by Christopher Shy.

The freedom allowed Easton to tell the story in his own words, without worry that a publisher would tell him something was too graphic or that he needed to cut pages. He told his story to a very specific audience, but those that read it stuck by him, and that’s one reason why independent comics will always hold a special place in the industry.

“You end up having a lot of late night phone calls with Shanghai when you’re going through the printing process. You end up talking at 3 o’clock in the morning about how you want your color bleeds going. But we set this up because it was going to be a freedom issue. Nobody was going to let us do a 550-page, large format, hardcover comic book, but that’s where I think the independent business is going,” Easton said when speaking at San Diego Comic-Con. “Digital comics are great, but if you offer people something extra, you offer the large format, you put in sketches, you put in outtakes, you put in an audio track, posters, things like what were doing, I think you’ll get a collector audience.”

Those late nights also included writing sessions till all hours as he listened to Radiohead and Jeff Buckley for inspiration. The end result paid off because the collectors picked up on Soul Stealer and it has become a cult classic among comic book enthusiasts. Easton admits his book wouldn’t have been the same if he’d had to conform to certain standards required by many major publishers.

“Some of the comic companies now are having very specific regulations about what you can and can’t do. And with Chris, I mean he’s the ultimate graphic artist…you want somebody who’s going to bleed on the page with you. The horror has to be horrific, and the violence has to be violent, and the beautiful, passionate sexual element has to be there too. You can’t always do that when you’re worrying about some kind of censorship issue and things like that. We don’t have that, we have complete freedom,” said Easton. “We did the book exactly like how we wanted to do it.”

Part of the reason Easton is able to do the things he’s able to in his books is because writing is his passion but it doesn’t always pay his bills. During the daytime hours, Easton has been an actor for most of his adult life, working on several television shows including soap operas like General Hospital and One Life to Live. Not needing to bow down to the almighty dollar has given Easton the flexibility to tell his stories the way he wants to. It’s also allowed him to keep his stories personal. He’s never has to sell to the highest bidder because he had to make rent.

“I’m very fortunate to have a day job. This allows me to do everything the way I want to do it. We’ve had film companies come to us, and in another life I would have optioned this thing off a long time ago, but having the day job has allowed me the financial independence to say I’m waiting for the right people to look at this. Waiting until Christopher Nolan sees this or Ridley Scott or James Cameron, we really want to be turned down by all of those people before we would go somewhere else,” Easton commented. “You only get one shot. It really is a passion, and it’s a passion to take something like this to another level.”

With Soul Stealer now available in a special one-shot hard cover edition, Easton is moving onto his next story called Credence, about a New York City cop which he has described as “Californication meets The Bad Lieutenant.” Long-term, Easton would love to see his newest creation land on television alongside shows like Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy – the kind of edgy shows that push the envelope and have developed loyal and deeply involved fans.

“We’ve done about 135-pages, it’s going to be a long graphic novel…the story stops when it needs to stop. It’s got a real great, edgy feel. Everyone right now is talking about movies, but I love what’s going on with TV right now. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Justified, Californication. and Weeds. I think it’s the most interesting storytelling,” Easton said. “I think if Shakespeare wrote today he would have written The Sopranos, he would be David Chase. He would tell the story the way he wanted to. So where Soul Stealer was this big epic film, Credence is going in the other direction. Let’s do a gritty little movie. I live in New York, so it has that ‘70s kind of French Connection feel to it.”

Easton hopes to debut Credence this October at the New York Comic Con, and if there’s one thing to say about this particular independent comic book maker – he’s definitely going to do it his own way.

For more on Michael Easton’s work visit: michaeleaston.com/

Smurfasaur Suicide in Tiki Mood

• INTO: ET, My Little Pony, toy collecting, comics, anime, cameras, photography, painting, raves, dancing, retardedly huge things and retardedly small things, Hello Kitty, drug references on little kids shirts, the beach, vintage things, vegans, extreme mods.
• NOT INTO: Attitude problems!
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Toys, raves, beaver lighters, music, Care Bears, comics, conventions, TV, getting tattooed.
• MAKES ME SAD: People who lack respect.
• HOBBIES: Everything. I’m a serial hobbiest/collector – no, really, it’s getting scary.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Sugarfree Red Bull, dancing, cigarettes, spell check my sketchbook.
• VICES: Sugarfree Red Bull.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Surfing the web, and working.

Get to know Smurfasaur better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by Lee Camp

What are you doing right now? Does it really fucking matter? Like really matter? What would it be like if it did? This video has the answer to all those questions as well as a killer recipe for a key lime pie.

[..]

by Blogbot

Artist / SG Member Name: Carolina Montoya a.k.a. SG Hopeful SaintKitten

Mission Statement: Some of the things I do are inspired by weird dreams I have, so there’s no common meaning. I’m working on a project about how tattoos are a physical introduction to the person that has them. I guess everything that I’ve been doing lately has an element of that. For instance, I love classical paintings and sculptures, and you can tell by some of my own paintings and tattoos that I do. 



Medium: My favorite it’s definitely oil. But I also love to try new things, and mix them up. I’ve done some watercolors as well, but I will always return to oil.

 (I’m also a tattoo artist, and as such, my medium is ink in skin.)

Aesthetic: Finding my own style has been an issue for me, so I’ve tried pretty much everything I think it’s possible to. I’ve even done a few “Buffay’s” (you’ll get it if you ‘re a Friends fan). But I have to say realistic drawings and paintings are my thing.


Notable Achievements: Notable? Not yet. Personal achievements? Yes, everyday! I try really hard to get better day by day, and I’m proud of a few things I’ve done, but I have to say to be in the place I want to be I’ve still got a lot of stuff to discover and learn.



Why We Should Care: You should care because I’m just like most of you. It’s not easy for me to buy cool stuff, or wear nice clothes, and most of the time I give away my work. What I really want with my work is that people can relate to it, and the only way of making that possible is that my work is seen. 



I Want Me Some: You can contact me via SG or on Facebook.

[..]

by Fanny Merkin a.k.a. Andrew Shaffer

The following is an exclusive excerpt from Fanny Merkin’s parody novel, Fifty Shames of Earl Grey. At this point in the story, the rich, sexy tycoon, Earl Grey, has just led college student Anna Steal into his “Room of Doom”…

The first thing I notice is the smell: Nag Champa incense and dirty laundry. The room is illuminated only by black light, but I can see enough to tell this is the kind of closet R. Kelly wouldn’t mind being trapped in. The room is tiny compared to the rest of Earl Grey’s apartment. There’s barely enough room for the waterbed. Whips, chains, ropes, riding crops, paddles, and iron shackles are hung up on the walls next to black-light posters — really trippy black-light posters. Room of Doom? More like the “Dorm Room of Doom.”

I feel Earl’s hand on my left shoulder. He’s breathing into my ear. “Welcome to my world, Anna.”

“Do you bring all your dates here?”

“I don’t know if I’d call them ‘dates,’” he says. “They are, more accurately, LARPers. ‘LARP’ stands for ‘live-action role playing.’”

“If they’re not dates, then what are they? Volunteers? Where do you meet them?”

Earl picks up an impossibly large, rounded red die off the nightstand and rolls it around in his hand. “There are women who LARP professionally,” he says. “They’re all over Craigslist.”

I laugh at the thought of him trolling for women on Craigslist. Surely someone as good looking and rich as Earl Grey doesn’t need to resort to picking up girls on the Internet! “You’re kidding,” I say.

He shakes his head. “I know, it just seems so dirty to meet women on Craigslist.”

“Dirty and gross,” I say.

“It’s just one of my fifty shames, Anna,” he says, lowering his head. “You don’t know the depths of my perversion.”

I’ve already seen him at what I figured was the depth of his shame, buying a Nickelback CD. Do I want to know how deep his perversions go? “And you use these . . . things on them? You torture them?” I ask, motioning to his toys.

“If the game calls for it.”

“And who decides that?” I ask.

“I do, with a little help from my trusty D-sixty-nine,” he says, rolling the die on the nightstand. “This is a sixty-nine-sided die, Anna. As the Dungeon Master, I use it to guide the action.”

The die rolls to a stop. “So you want me to role play with you?” I ask.

“Eventually,” he says, grinning.

“What do I get out of the whole deal? I don’t know if pretending I’m an elf being whipped is really my thing.”

“I see you as more of a faery than as an elf, but we can get into specifics later. What I get out of our arrangement is you, submitting to my every whim,” he says. “And what you get is Earl Grey.”

Wow. Somebody thinks highly of themselves.

“But we can ease our way into our LARPing characters with time. I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Anna: I don’t feel the need to pretend you’re a captive orc princess in order to get off. All I know is that I need you right now — any way I can get you.”

Oh my. Earl reaches a hand out to me. I take it in mine, and he leads me to the waterbed…

Continue reading the story in Fifty Shames of Earl Grey, available in bookstores everywhere! To locate a copy near you or find one online, visit 50shames.com.

Fanny Merkin lives in a Beverly Hills mansion purchased using the embarrassingly large advance she received for Fifty Shames of Earl Grey. She is a former Walmart employee who writes under the pseudonym, “Andrew Shaffer,” for publications as diverse as Mental Floss, Maxim and SuicideGirls. Andrew Shaffer is the author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love. He reviews romance, erotica, and women’s fiction for RT Book Reviews magazine.

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