Ex-president George W. Bush denounces Rush Limbaugh

President George W. Bush laid into Rush Limbaugh quite nicely yesterday.
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A Call To Action: It may be time to take it to the streets

By Pablo Fanque

All This Is That National Affairs Editor

"One man one vote
Now is that really real?
The name of the game
Is let's make a deal."

- Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth

[thanks to Jack Brummet for pointing out this quote, along with Arianna Huffington's far more eloquent call to action. /PF]

Can we save health care if Martha Coakley loses to Scott Brown in Massachusetts tomorrow? Maybe. Both houses have already voted...they have a big stake in all this. If we lose our "filibuster-proof" majority things become much trickier. But I think there will be hell to pay for both parties. And both parties will pay in November.

The way it could work is if the House passes the Senate bill, and then launches a reconciliation bill to iron out the kinks. This is probably the quickest way to get a bill passed. And it would short-circuit having to jam a bill through the Senate again. This will be very hard to swallow for House Democrats, who've made clear recently that they won't go along with every piece of the Senate's version.

If things go the wrong way tomorrow in Mass. (which now seems likely), the GOP and insurance companies will have us right where they want us--dead in the water. Next time, or next week, it's probably time to take it to the streets. There's something to be said for uncivil unrest.

Maybe the only way left to effect massive and real change is to take to the streets by the millions. It worked during the Vietnam War. It's probably time to see if it can work again, and if we can really set the stage from outside the Beltway for Real Change.
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Painting: Muhammad Ali

Digital art by Jack Brummet - click to enlarge

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Warning: This beach doesn't look like any fun at all

click to enlarge

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Painting: Parts by Jack Brummet

Pen and ink, and acrylic on muslin, 24" x 24" by Jack Bummet 2010.


click to enlarge
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Mount Rainier's three summits

Mount Rainier is 54 miles southeast of my house. This photo is not the more traditionally beautiful and rounded face we see on clear days in Seattle, but a great view of its three summits (Liberty Cap, Columbia Crest, and Point Success).


click to enlarge
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Our two favorite letters from George W. Bush

By Pablo Fanque (National Affairs Ed.) and Jack Brummet (Arts and Social Mores ed.)


As you may or may not remember, we (Jack and Pablo) have corresponded periodically with the Presidents (we've only had two since All This Is That started five years ago). Our letters to them ranged from out and out trolls to respectful invitations. One letter we received--that we cannot find!--came from a staffer and basically said "are you crazy? We're not giving this to The President."

But in response to some of our more, shall we say apparently positive and supportive letters?, we did hear back from The Boss himself.

Click the letters to enlarge.




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A salute to Rev.Pat Robertson

I have a zero tolerance for sanctimonious morons who try to scare people.

- Pat Robertson



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Mount Shuksan

A photo of that most gorgeous mountain Mount Shuksan. Shuksan is a glaciated peak in the North Cascades, north of Seattle, near Mt. Baker, and just below the Canadian border. It is 9,127 feet tall, and 'though it is 5,000 feet lower than Rainier, it one of the most photographed of the Cascade Mountains. I've always thought this was a beautiful mountain.




click to enlarge

by David et Magalie from Vancouver, Canada
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Drawing: Faces No. 31

Faces No. 31 by Jack Brummet


click to enlarge
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Fun With Dick Nixon's Ghost

If you're a friend, or a blog follower, you probably know that LBJ and Nixon are the presidents I've studied most. With Nixon, it has been a life-long fascination. When I lived in NYC, I often brought friends over to pay homage at his townhouse on the Upper East Side--and where the Secret Service never hassled us, although we rarely arrived there before 2 AM, or even closing time (which in NYC then was 4 AM). I wrote a while ago about visiting him here. Or check here.

Anyhow, yesterday, I spent a half hour at his grave site, communing with the shade of Richard Nixon, who has fascinated me for forty-some years, and a couple more hours at his library, and birthplace. Despite being a Gorbachev Democrat, I still like the guy, and despise about 90% of his politics. He was a treacherous sneak, but managed to pull off some pretty stunning accomplishments before he was driven to the sea.

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Adlai Stevenson quote on Republican lies

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

Adlai Stevenson wasn't very good at winning Presidential elections, but he was a very wise man.

"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”

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