Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor’s efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes “that’s exactly the attitude they want you to have.”

Indeed, Maes has recognized the creeping grasp of the one world UN run socialist paradise that’s taken root in Denver, CO and stood forth, like a real patriot, and screamed J’accuse at Mayor John Hickenlooper and all the other peddlers of socialism.

Of course, this is not the first time that conservatives have recognized the villainy of the velocipede. In the 19th century, conservatives campaigned hard against these cycles of sin. They noted with disgust how cycling allowed women to shed their corsets and bustles, or as the Right Reverend Reynolds pointed out in 1899:

A large number of female bicyclists wear shorter dresses than the laws
of morality and decency permit, thereby inviting the improper
conversations and remarks of the depraved and immoral. I most certainly
consider the adoption of the bicycle by women as detrimental to the
advancement of morality.”

Proud conservatives even raised the horrid specter of female masturbation as a byproduct of the evil conveyance.

Conservatives of today, like Maes, are still very concerned over women’s health and morality, but they also see the larger totality of these rims of revolution. Maes knows that cycling is but one gear in the great conspiracy to bring down America, and without his key insights our once great country will be reduced to this:

wingnuts, humor, Maes,

Some 234 years ago our country’s founders declared their independence from the British monarchy. In doing so they declared themselves traitors to one of the most powerful empires on earth. And after years of bloody battles, cunning diplomacy, and with the aid of geographic fortune they achieved an independent nation. And after some false starts and years of debate they laid the basic structure of the nation we have today. The cornerstone of that structure laid so many years ago is the simple and basic principle that We the People govern ourselves. That We are the government.

Around 30 years ago a mantra rose up from politicians seeking a quick path to electoral office: the notion that We aren’t the problem; rather, government is the problem. At the time, only a few questioned that premise. After all, weren’t We suppose to be the government? But the mantra stuck and for years afterwords we have lived with the Other  government. And the very idea of a government divorced from Us has allowed most of us to abrogate our responsibilities as part of We the People. It has allowed those with direct interests to craft laws in their favor; it has allowed politicians to become reactionary when called upon to act and often incompetent when ignored; it has allowed private and personal interests to send our fellow citizens off to die in foreign lands.

Our nation was never envisioned as a utopian paradise. It was never established as a perfect government or system. Rather, it was conceived of as an ongoing, constant, debate. And as new generations arrose their voices were to be added to the debate and their ideas would become part of the discussion. And through this endless debate would arise better ideas, compromises, and growth. Every epoch, every generation, re-founds our nation. It is far too important a task to leave to the British Petroleums, the Goldman-Sachs, the Limbaughs, or the Becks. It requires that We join the debate: join with the understanding that our nation is big, and complicated, and messy, and that rarely should one idea ever win out, and that though our voice seems like a whisper it remains part of the chorus of We the People.

Happy 4th of July.

4th of July, We the People

Wonder Woman may have finally been given a pair of pants, but has she been stripped of her patriotism? The new and allegedly improved Wonder Woman (a.k.a Diana Prince), has been given a head-to-toe makeover by artist Jim Lee, replacing her signature American flag decorated briefs with skintight black pants and purging the super hero of all her trappings of Americana.

Of course, Fox watcher quickly saw the broader picture of this nefarious plot:

snipezilla
not with this administration in power..pop culture is also following suit! Liberal extreme prez apologizing for America on foreign soil first week in office, then again and again, makes me sick Liberal comic artist following suit, not surprised in the least

randy
If the libs want to remove the patriotic colors, maybe they should just make her costume that sickly UN blue color.

blsoft
Whos suprised???Another small step in taking America out of America. Loss of patriotism will result in loss of country. Beware. get rid of these left wing commies in Nov.

Susana Polo has pointed out other reasons Fox should have chosen to demonize Wonder Woman but she left out a couple, so I thought I’d mention them.
 Wonder Woman was created in 1940 by Elizabeth and William Marston.. William had become famous as the inventor of the polygraph  — the inspiration for the Wonder Woman’s magic lasso — and introduced the idea to All American Publishing. Marston saw Wonder Woman not simply as a female superhero, but as the embodiment of female liberation and supremacy. Early comics were ripe with these themes and often depicted the utopian gynarchy of the Amazons, which Wonder Woman heralded from. Additionally, Marston seemed to have no problem including a kind of fem-dom bondage (his own fetish) into these the early comics either. Panels regularly depicted other women binding or spanking Wonder Woman or vice verse. There is often an a strange mix of self-determination and domination in the early Wonder Woman art, and it’s hard to imagine that this would go unnoticed by readers in the 1940’s or today. In fact it’s hard to imagine that if the Fox reporters would have done 5 minutes of actual research on the subject they probably would have steered clear of Wonder Woman all together.
In her early comics, Wonder Woman represented not simply female inclusion, but a subversion of gender and sexual mores of her day. Many of those cultural mores are still with us today, and it will be interesting to see if Wonder Woman’s newest incarnation returns her to her more aggressive roots.

wonder woman, sex, Fox News

For the seventh election in a row, Pickacup Coffee will be giving out free coffee to anyone who presents their voter’s receipt on Tuesday, February 5th. This isn’t cheap, over-roasted, acidic coffee either, but artisan roasted, organic, fair-trade coffee: the good stuff. On Tuesday, go cast your ballot and stop by for a cup of coffee on us.

Nonetheless, both Carol and I have been attending to the business of citizenship and paying close attention to the debates and candidate positions. As next Tuesday is our primary, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the election. Of course, I am not nearly important enough to make an endorsement, but like most Americans I speak with friends and family, and even strangers, about the candidates and our voting preferences.

Like many I see this particular election as a turning point — a change in the national zeitgeist. And while watching the final Democratic debate last night I came to the conclusion that both Sens. Clinton and Obama, are both fine candidates. Senator Clinton has an excellent understanding of both the details and effects of the policies she is endorsing. Her grasp of the nuances and complexities of the federal government would suggest she would make an extremely effective president. Senator Obama, on the other hand, seems to be a true visionary. An orator of such unparalleled skill that his reflections and hopes seem able to conjure a better America then we have today. Such men have often gone on to be our greatest leaders.

The most disquieting thing about the upcoming election is the fact that we are no longer voting for a traditional president, but are now electing the unitary-executive, an emperor-president. By failing to impeach GW Bush, the congress has passively accepted extended presidential powers. Powers which include the ability to violate domestic laws, ignore international treaties, and refuse congressional oversite. There is absolutely no reason to believe that any future presidents would not fight to maintain these extended powers, and there is little evidence to suggest that congress will attempt to revoke these accepted powers from the next president. Certainly one party or another will claim that they never expected the succeeding president to assume the powers granted to the current one. But this will mean very little. We have come to a point where the only check on presidential authority is the process of impeachment, and regardless of how much power a president asserts, we have seen that party members will stand behind her or him to prevent removal. Therefore, when choosing our next president we must accept that we are, in fact, electing a person to a position closer to king then chief executive.

It is with this in mind that we must choose our next president carefully: to try to choose one which is willing to, at the very least, try to set some precedent of checks and balances, and not overly use the greatly empowered position of president. Among the current crop of candidates there is only one, from either party, that seems to understand the need to build consensus and respect the rule of law. Barack Obama has practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law. These two facts alone set him far apart from the current occupants of the White House, whose business experience has honed their skills at circumventing the law, rather than upholding it. Obama’s further experience as a grassroots organizer in Chicago certainly suggests he can he can bring together diverse and even antipathetic groups to work together.

As I said, I’m not nearly important enough to make endorsements. I can simply pass along my own thoughts on Tuesday’s election. I have no illusions, Sen. Obama’s voting record has not been stellar, though acceptable given the current atmosphere: while he stood against the war in Iraq early on, he continued to support funding; and though the Senator has voiced his opposition to the extensions of warrentless wiretapping, he has not taken to the Senate floor to oppose it. But Obama often preaches hope, and he may have the voice and the experience to offer it. After years of failed policies and corruption, it seems that hope is all we may have left.

We gave this to our cats just before Christmas. There’s nothing that says happy holidays more then watching your cat tear into a George W. Bush stuffed with catnip.

This is the primary reason conservatives despise unions as much as they do. Unions represent a shared burden and a shared goal. It is far more profitable to pit one worker’s salary and benefits against another then it is to deal equally and justly with all workers. It is easier to mistreat people if you can convince them that they are alone and isolated then if they stand together as a group. While conservatives love to proclaim that we all share a moral agency as Americans, to support the troops or support the president, or as Christians, to control women’s bodies, or discriminate against gays and lesbians, they loudly deny that we share any economic bonds. The ‘market’ they say should determine if you work 5 or 7 days a week; they market will decide if children should mine coal or not; the market will weed out unsafe workplaces, etc. The truth, of course, is that as a country, as a people, our shared economic interests far outweigh any trumped up culture war. It does matter if I buy tubesocks made in a sweatshop China versus those made in a union shop in South Carolina. One may be cheaper, but the other helps feed my neighbors, funds their schools, and pays their taxes.

A couple of months ago the Writer’s Guild of America (West) voted to strike over residuals for new media payments. Frankly, like many of my friends, I assumed the Guild would fold in less then 60 days –after all, we’d all watched as unions have broken over the past years, and had little hope for the WGA. But something unexpected happened: the writers fought back using the Internet, and they came to see themselves as a union of workers, linked with other workers. The issues surrounding the WGA strike are issues of basic fairness and pay, both StrikeTV, and United Hollywood, lay out the issues involved. The success of the WGA strike effects all of us — not simply because it save us from yet another tedious award show. The WGA is fighting for issues which will effect the future of media in this country; they are fighting for a living wage for their members; they are fighting for all of us, because we are all in this together.

FDL has a petition up where you can contact executives in charge of your favorite show and inform them of your support for the WGA. I urge you to sign it.

I wish you all a happy and joyous holiday.