Hey Whoopi G. I’m glad to see that you’re on the computer. I know that I’ve heard you comment on The View before that you didn’t do emails and such. You’ve certainly jumped into the waters with both feet here at wOw … Whew - so how’s it going?! I have to say that I didn’t read any of the commentary about your threads/articles. I find that the political commentary in open forums on the web always devolves into a cesspool of raw nasty hate. I’ll visit and highlight some of the ignorance (especially if it is mainstream) but I won’t get sucked in and passionate about it again because it saps me of good energy and changes nothing. My advice to you is to put your message out there, take a step back and not suffer the fools. Find that delicate balance and have faith that there are a lot of people out here (of all origins) who know a turd when its in front of them. If only wOw gave members the power to choose to ignore (hide) commentary from the members we choose to ignore.

Lorraine— Only twice in my entire life— prior to the Bush Junta seizing power in 2000—I witnessed overt racism. The first time in grade school when I was horrified by TV images of police turning dogs and hoses on black people in the South. And then in the early 80s when I was at Duke University in NC on business and a young NC woman in the project group said something so outrageously and nakedly hateful and racist that I was rendered speechless. I still feel ashamed today that I didn’t speak up and counter her remark. Never has this country been so polarized and divided and it has happened by Rove/Bush/NeoCon/Fox News DESIGN. For the people who are asleep, apathetic, myopic and ignorant to the root cause and aggregator, they are as guilty as were the German population that let Hilter rise to and remain in power. As FDR said, “Liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power ” That’s what we have oil-corporate facist state. Who do people THINK are in control of Congress and the WH? Who WROTE our ”energy policy” behind closed doors with oil-man Cheney? Whe DETERMINED our Iraq policy? NOT the military but the NeoCon idiot think tanks. If people want to talk welfare—the biggest welfare receipients are the corporations and oil companies and families like the Bushes who have USED AND PROFITED by government. They have in no ways been public servants and neither McCain or Palin. McCain’s service is decades in the past. Subsequently, HE has BLOCKED legislation beneficial to POWs and there are many Vietnam Vet groups dedicated to exposing him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CazKanlYDg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGh-vq0O5gw&feature=related JFK/RFK/MLK gave their lives trying to unite the country for the people. Bush Inc has wasted the lives of over one million innocent people (not going back to their earlier phony Contra wars etc) in service to the oil companies and multinationals. In the fact of abject evil people are concerned about political characterizations like Caribou Barbie? Can we say: Priorities? Do these delicate souls watch Late Night? The problem with GOP Sheeple is they don’t know they REAL history of their party or what it stands for besides the propaganda, smear machine of FOX, etc. We have a Corporate-Facist regieme racking in trillions and they’ll do whatever they can to keep it that way. Bush LIED us into an inhumane, immoral, illegal war and then turned it into a joke while his GOP audience laughed. What KIND of human beings are these? Do we see anyone get up and walk up as anyone with a SHRED OF DECENCY would? THAT’S the GOP today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjXPOxnu2N8 Caribou Barbie, give me a break. Forget the Bill of Rights and Constitution, this is what we are today thanks to Bush Inc: 1.) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism: Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. 2.) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights: Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. 3.) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause: The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 4.) Supremacy of the Military: Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. 5.) Rampant Sexism: The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy. 6.) Controlled Mass Media: Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. 7.) Obsession with National Security: Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses [Gee, we haven’t seen any of the Orange Alerts….because they became so blantly manipulative that they were ignored….guess Rove will have to stage something big to get Sheeple afraid again] 8.) Religion and Government are Intertwined: Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions. 9.) Corporate Power is Protected: The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. 10.) Labor Power is Suppressed: Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. 11.) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts: Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts. 12.) Obsession with Crime and Punishment: Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations 13.) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption: Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. 14. Fraudulent Elections: Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. For more details: http://oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm