Thieves in the Temple.

warrior needs executive branch beatdowns, badly!

Mr. Bush might be a lame duck, but his executive branch's wanton abuse of power continues! Citizens for Tax Justice reports that the Treasury Department has told banks they can ignore Section 382 of the IRS tax code. Passed as part of the Reagan 1986 tax overhaul, Section 382 explicitly bars corporations from buying up companies with huge losses just to reduce their tax liability. See, Ronald Reagan wasn't anti-merger, per se, though he should have been, but he didn't like bad mergers. George W. Bush, on the other hand, thinks corporations are too good for the law. H.R. 7300, a Lloyd Doggett production, and S. 3692, a Bernie Sanders production, would reverse the Treasury notice; it's a shame we have to pass laws to ensure that laws get enforced, but it's also a shame that George W. Bush is President. Tools for calling your Congressfolk are, as always, in the upper left-hand corner of this page. Your Reps and Senators will never see it coming.

In other the-law-says-this-but-who-cares? news, Mr. Bush's Consumer Product Safety Commission has told corporations they can go on selling toys with toxic phthalates until they run out of them, never mind that Congress just passed (and Mr. Bush signed) a law banning toys with toxic phthalates in them after February 2009. I presume the corporations in question will invoke the financial burden of destroying said toys, to which I would respond that it's about time corporations bear some burden, somewhere, in our culture, and they can pay for it out of their CEO's ridiculous compensation packages. USPIRG helps you beat down the CPSC.

I wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow -- just try to put out of your mind how many Native Americans our ancestors ultimately slaughtered after breaking bread with them on that most holy of days.

more memos to the President-elect.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State help you tell President-elect Obama to stop religious discrimination in the federal Faith-Based Initiative. Mr. Bush's Faith-Based Initiative permits religious organizations to discriminate in their hiring practices while still getting federal money. Mr. Bush has also shunned the idea that federal faith-based initiatives should make sure that organizations that receive federal money don't use it to proselytize. Mr. Obama seems receptive to our complaints, but he needs to know we're watching him, just like we watch Mr. Bush.

Also, Union for Concerned Scientists provides a petition calling on Mr. Obama to make clean energy a top priority. More specifically, the petition calls for a move to 100% renewable electricity, improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency and public transportation investment, the creation of five million new clean energy jobs, and the reduction of global warming pollution by 80 percent. All seems pretty doable to me -- unless, of course, you're a big corporation caring more about your own bottom line than your country's health, or your planet's.

Lizard People must feed!

Congress has somehow failed to finish legislation that would protect credit card-holders from unfair practices -- random interest rate hikes, agreement term changes, and the like. The House did pass a bill a few months back, but the Senate hasn't yet taken it up, possibly at least in part because the banks don't like the bill. Because their $700 billion corporate welfare handout, apparently, just wasn't enough. Consumers Union helps you encourage the Senate to do the right thing. Congress could do a little more to help the folks, you know. In fact, that's really kinda their job.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Public Radio takes a look at ballot challenges in the Franken/Coleman Senate race. Not only is the MPR report far more balanced than than the article the Drudge Report flogged all last week (and did Drudge hawk the report that Mr. Coleman had challenged more ballots than Mr. Franken as of Saturday night? It must have slipped his mind), the MPR reports also permits you, dear reader, to judge each of 16 (at this writing) particular challenges. It's quite educational -- though, frankly, I worry that the Lizard People (day #1, ballot #5) already get too much free publicity.

UPDATE. Congressional Quarterly reports that the Coleman and Franken campaigns have challenged roughly the same number of ballots in their Senate race as of 10.30 this morning. Of course, those who get all their news from Drudge or Fox News (or Morning Joe) would never know that. Plus, they're probably also Lizard People.

penny rants for the day of November 22, 2008: the honor of an audience.

Sumbul Ali-Karamali wonders why the mainstream media keeps giving al-Qaeda free publicity. The specific touch-off is a headline like "Al-Qaeda's #2 Insults Obama." "Why are we even granting al-Qaeda the honor of an audience?" she asks in response, before comparing al-Qaeda to those famous domestic terrorists, the Ku Klux Klan. Of course there's a simple (and dishonorable) answer to her rhetorical question: the mainstream media makes a lot of money covering the "war on terror." But there's more than that to it -- when I look at the report in question, I think it says more about us than about them. I'm sure al-Qaeda is perfectly capable of deploying the term "house Negro," but in media reports they always seem to talk the way Americans would expect them to talk. Maybe al-Qaeda knows its audience, but maybe the media does, too. Fox News may be eager, at this point, to demonstrate to its consumers that Barack Obama is not some radical that al-Qaeda would like -- you know, like Malcolm X. And that goal may even supersede their desire to smear Malcolm X with al-Qaeda association.

Meanwhile, vaunted independent Bill O'Reilly inaccurately says Norm Coleman has been "certified" the winner in the Minnesota Senate race. He could have avoided a lot of trouble if he'd just said "the state has finished its initial count and finds Norm Coleman in the lead, and that's interesting for a number of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Al Franken slammed me in his book." Sadly, Mr. O'Reilly goes on to claim that 400,000 Obama voters crossed over to vote for Mr. Coleman. I suppose that's remotely possible, just like a Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl win is remotely possible, but in Minnesota Norm Coleman got 60,000 fewer votes for Senate than John McCain did for President. Looking over the election results, it seems Mr. O'Reilly just subtracted Al Franken's vote total from Barack Obama's, and ignored the fellow named Dean Barkley who also ran for Senate in Minnesota and got well over 400,000 votes. I know they don't teach that kind of sloppy thinking at Harvard. And yet well-paid mainstream-media types get away with it all the time.

light posting notice because it's Friday, pimps!

Ahem. I'm planning about six paragraphs this weekend, but none today. Continue to patronize the excellent blogs on my blogroll in the meantime.

nope, still stuff to do.

Common Cause responds to all the not-bailing-out-of-the-economy being accomplished by the bailout by calling for public campaign financing, and you can, too. Sound incongruous? Maybe, but it's really not -- if big corporations had less influence over political campaigns, you just might see fewer welfare handouts to corporations like the $700 billion bailout. You know a public campaign finance system won't cost $700 billion. In fact, the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates didn't quite spend $1 billion put together in 2004 or 2008. $1 billion is approximately seven dollars per tax return, by the way. Think House and Senate races would cost very much more than that?

More than 100 retired generals and admirals call for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network stands at the ready with a letter-to-the-editor tool with which you may "multiply the message force," if you will. Gays have had a bad month, what with the success of the evil Proposition 8 in California on Election Day, but if you stand for justice and decency, it just might get better. Most European nations let gays serve openly in their armed forces, a fact which no doubt makes lovers of "freedom fries" howl in horror. Well, just turn up the radio when they howl.

The Supreme Court told the EPA in 2007 that carbon dioxide is, yes, a pollutant that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act, and the EPA has tried to draft a plan to combat it, but (in a hilarious turn) EPA Admin/Bush Mobber Stephen Johnson has bashed their efforts in an introduction to the plan! He did see Obama stomp all over McCain, right? He did see Democrats gain 22 House seats and 7 Senate seats (so far), right? C'mon, Johnson -- stop doing Tha Bush Mobb's will! The people are giving you cover to do your job! Anyway, the EPA is accepting comments on their plan until November 28; Union for Concerned Scientists helps you leave said comments.

the correct definition of "crisis."

NETWORK tells me that H.R. 7110, the Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008, would do all the things you asked your Congressfolk to do on Monday -- fund infrastructure repairs, increase aid to states, extend unemployment benefits, all the good stuff that doesn't cost all that much and gives good folks a hand up rather than a handout (handouts being what corporations get from the government). The Congressional Budget Office estimates that H.R. 7110 will cost a little over $58 billion in 2009. Congress just gave away well over ten times that amount to the financial services industry because ohmigod it was a crisis. What this government does to its owners, the American people, is a crisis. The House actually passed H.R. 7110 in September, but the Senate still has to vote on it. The American Friends Service Committee provides a toll-free number, 1.800.473.6711, with which you may call your Congressfolk, and NETWORK provides a handy email tool as well. Resist your Senator's inclination to attach a bailout for the auto industry to this legislation. The people have more pressing needs than corporate handouts.

In other news, the right-wing now instructs us as to why the gay struggle for civil rights is nothing like the black struggle for civil rights, and, as usual, you can tell they're wrong just from their bad arguments. Washington Times deputy editorial page editor Tara Wall says they're not the same because "[b]lacks were stoned, hung, and dragged for their constitutional right to 'sit at the table.' Whites — gay or not — already had a seat at that table." Like that bait-and-switch? You think you're getting an argument about blacks and gays, but instead you get one about blacks and whites. Mike Huckabee (who's sinking so, so low these days) commits a different error when confronted with the fact that, er, gays get beaten up, too -- he changes the subject. "And there is Christian bashing," he says, hoping you won't notice that he fails to say well, you're right, gays get beaten up, too, so using "blacks get beaten up" as a reason to deny gays their civil rights doesn't work, you know, like a damn grown-up would. Right-wingers must think we're all stupid. The "liberal" media must think we're stupid, too, if they think we'll think they're "fair" every time they give right-wing idiots more airtime than they deserve.

a storm is coming soon/like dust on the moon.

Hmm. The Employee Free Choice Act, despite what you might have heard, has more bipartisan support than many other "bipartisan" initiatives. And the Democrats have a 70-plus seat majority in the House. And they might well have 60 seats in the Senate before very long. And they have a President-elect who's pledged to make the Employee Free Choice Act law. But don't get complacent -- the "liberal" media has reported the issue pretty shoddily, and given their corporate bent can be expected to continue doing so. Toward that end, American Rights at Work provides a letter-to-the-editor tool with which you may express your support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Be sure to note that the Employee Free Choice Act would not destroy the right of employees to hold secret ballot elections if they so choose, and add that anyone who reads the law can see that.

The Coalition on Human Needs would like you to call your Congressfolk and ask for a stimulus package that helps people, not corporations; tools to call said Congressfolk may be found, as always, in the upper left-hand corner of this page, or you may use the Coalition's toll-free number at 1.800.473.6711. I think calling for a stimulus package is tricky -- I think the government needs to be making major infrastructure improvements, and I think they need to pay for it by taxing the rich a lot more than Mr. Obama called for during his campaign. Still, extended unemployment benefits, food stamps, and state aid to prevent huge budget cuts are all good things, and you shouldn't feel bad demanding them from your Congressfolk. (For more ideas, see this Coalition paper.)

The Executive Branch (sic) is at it again! The Department of Agriculture would like to ram through regulations that would weaken restrictions on genetically-engineered crops. The USDA no doubt would point out that their rule changes only apply to genetically-engineered crops that go into pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals, not food. To which one might reasonably reply: pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals wind up in our ecosystem and our bodies, too. Wouldn't a conservative demand that we not put Frankencrap in our bodies at least until we can predict what they could do to us? Union for Concerned Scientists helps you demand stronger rule changes, not weaker ones.

the war on Obama, summarized.

FAIR summarizes "liberal" media efforts to tell Mr. Obama to govern from "the center" -- and surprise! The "liberal" media get the history of 1993-94 exactly wrong as a result. Also, Roy Edroso runs down right-wing bloggers' reactions to the Obama election, and they are as various and hilarious as you'd expect. Finally, Media Matters explodes the myth of America as a "center-right" country by citing five right-wing ballot initiatives that didn't pass. Media Matters disappoints me by failing to cite, in addition, the failure of anti-progressive taxation initiatives in three states, but those of you playing at home can add that to your list. (You might also add that gay-marriage ballot questions are, really, outliers -- plenty of folks who are progressive about so many things just aren't that prog when it comes to gays.)

All of this ties into a point I planned to make, but didn't make, in my extended rant last week: exhortations for Mr. Obama to govern from the center, like exhortations for Mr. Obama to make common cause with Republicans, are really attacks on the people, because the "liberal" media describes "the center" as, somehow, being in opposition to all kinds of things that most people actually want. To the "liberal" media, the center opposes universal health care, more progressive taxes, better government programs, expanded entitlements, etc., though poll after poll after poll says exactly the opposite in each case. The "liberal" media really are no better than propagandists for power. Actually, they're worse -- they're paid well-enough that they might just be indistinguishable from power.

anger? not done.

Seymour Hersh claims (see third paragraph) that plenty of Bush Mobb insiders have told him to call them on January 20 for scoops of power abuses, though he also says anyone thinking Tha Bush Mobb is going to jail is "kidding themselves." We are such kidders, we are. The People's Email Network still sponsors a page with which you may call for the impeachment of Messrs. Bush and Cheney. If it's true that the time to do the right thing is always now, it's also true that it's never too late to do the right thing. Besides, the onslaught of Presidential pardons is due.

Public Citizen tells us that "fair-traders" captured 31 seats in Congressional elections last week. And yet the "liberal" media still insists that opposing NAFTA is a dangerous act. When they say that, it might be more threat than analysis. I'm not kidding about that. But threats should only make us more determined -- to pass the Sherrod Brown/Mike Michaud production, the TRADE Act, for example, which would force the federal government to put the needs of workers and the environment ahead of the needs of corporations to steal money. It's fair trade, not free trade, that has all the bipartisan support. That's exactly the opposite of what the "liberal" media says, but we don't go to them for sage advice.

The National Whistleblowers Center also sees the Obama election as an opportunity to get some strong whistleblower protection laws passed. Congress had been working on stronger protections for those who expose corruption and fraud, but President-elect Obama can strengthen said protections in other ways -- by using his "bully pulpit," for one thing, and by appointing folks to regulatory agencies who might actually enforce the law, for another. He would not be overstepping his Constitutional authority in doing these things.

In other news, alicublog points me to From 52 to 48, which publishes photos of Obama and McCain supporters giving each other valentines, preaching the gospel of unity, et cetera. Right-wingers have problems with that, because they are the true sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome, but I've a few problems with it, too. One, the actual vote count was 53 to 46; the name "52 to 48" makes it seem like this election was close like the last one (51 to 48), when in fact it was a beating on the order of 1988 (54 to 46). Two, it shouldn't even be called From 53 to 46 -- maybe it should be called From 53 to 23, since about half of McCain's voters would prefer that all liberals were dead. I support reaching out to people not like us, I really do. I don't support reaching out to people who can't be reasoned with. They will abuse you if you do that. And the rest of us can just outvote them.

congratulatory action alert, plus bonus irresponsible speculation.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums asks you to congratulate Barack Obama on his election and ask him to oppose mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. If you believe the punishment should fit the crime, or that mandatory minimums give too much weight to drug violations, then you may well support FAMM's aim. Mr. Obama can't make the laws, but he won't be powerless, since he'll have a) the bully pulpit and b) veto power. And one hopes that, given the irrational punish-first mentality of most of the remaining Congressional Republicans, he won't be excessively bipartisan. Americans don't want bipartisan government so much as they want good government.

In other news, how 'bout those Alaska Republicans coming out for Ted Stevens? Think the good citizens of Alaska have been punking the pollsters the last two weeks? Mitch McConnell, turns out, did the Republicans a favor by saying Mr. Stevens would be expelled if he returned to the Senate -- the expulsion of Mr. Stevens would set up (per Alaska law) a special election within 90 days, essentially rebooting the entire election and depriving Mark Begich of his main campaign issue. My first thought upon realizing this was: so that's how they get Sarah Palin into the Senate! But upon further reflection, no -- Mrs. Palin would obliterate her reformist reputation among Alaskans if she schemed her way into the Senate like that. Alaskans have a nose for games like that, and they don't like them. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, on the other hand, has already run (and lost) in the House primary; a Parnell candidacy could work.

now what?

I congratulate Barack Obama for becoming the 44th President of the United States. I also congratulate him for being America's first African-American President (a feat I didn't think I'd see in my lifetime) and also the first President elected by the American people since 1996. Mr. Obama should enjoy these accomplishments today, because tomorrow he becomes a hunted man.

Republicans took a bath yesterday -- and frankly, they're going to take another one in 2010. But they are far from powerless, not merely because because they'll likely still have the filibuster power they used to kill dozens of decent Democratic bills last term, but because they still have the "liberal" media in their grasp and because Matt Drudge is still (as Atrios puts it) America's Assignment Editor. Thus will we hear (for example) incessant gossip about the "Chicago mafia" the moment one Illinois-based individual becomes a candidate for a cabinet spot. Thus will we continue to hear about the "unanswered questions" regarding Mr. Obama's relationship with Antoin Rezko. Thus will the most disgusting fantasies of right-wing bloggers -- murders, affairs, secret ties to al-Qaeda, et cetera -- get treated by the "liberal" media as important questions to consider, and not just on Fox News. I hope that Mr. Obama's vaunted discipline discourages Republicans from trying to impeach him, but I wouldn't put that past these clowns. Maybe this time they'll try it during his first term.

More generally, we'll hear, despite the voters' resounding rejection of Republicans yesterday, that the people still want bipartisanship. When I hear such a thing, I have to wonder whether reporters and columnists ever talk to people they don't see in the mirror or hear in their heads. As smarter people than I have put it: voters don't care whether politicans "work together" so much as that politicians govern effectively, and this group of Republicans have demonstrated, time and time again, that they don't give a rat's hind-quarter about governing; they only care about power. I said it in 2006 and I'll say it again: the only reaching out across the aisle I would ever do would be to slap some Republican upside his damn head. How many more wars, how many more federal budgets trashed, how many more port cities left to drown, how many more Middle Eastern countries left without adequate utilities five years after an invasion, how many more neighbors and friends and family members divided from one another, will it take for the "liberal" media to recognize that Republicans are responsible for all of it? When Republicans are interested in governing again, we should listen to them. Obviously we should try to get along with other people. But that doesn't mean we should keep letting burglars into our house.

Unfortunately, that's why I never supported Mr. Obama -- I became convinced that he would be the kind of fellow who prizes "getting along" and "reaching out to the other side" more than he would prize the popular will and good government. This doesn't mean I didn't root for him every time the right-wing spewed filth about him, nor does it mean I won't root for him when they try to destroy him starting approximately by the end of this paragraph. But it does mean that I'll always push him to be a better President. That's my job as a citizen. And I expect the good folks at Public Citizen, the People's Email Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, American Rights at Work, the Electronic Freedom Foundation, United for a Fair Economy, and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (among others) will take it as their job as well. Nothing has changed. It isn't time to "let Barack take care of it." We are still Americans, and our counsel is still our greatest gift, and we must never withhold it out of a misguided sense of loyalty to the President. As I've said many times, it's not our job to be loyal to the President -- it's the President's job to be loyal to us.

One last thing: I will never, ever ever shut up about what a lousy so-called President Mr. Bush was, or about the hate and hurt he inflicted on the country I love so he could steal more taxpayer money for his cronies. It's not time to "move on" from that. There may come a day when it doesn't hurt as bad; there may come a day when I'm just weary of being angry; there may even come a day when I'm spiritually advanced enough to forgive him. But I won't shut up about it, because I want everyone to remember it. And I want everyone to remember it because I never want to see this great land elect an arrogant moron as its President again. If we forget, we might one day wind up with someone even worse. This is America, where we are, all of us, leaders. Of all the people on earth, we have the least reason to tolerate bad ones.

I can quit when I want to!

If, like me, you like/can't stop looking at Election Day-related news, but would prefer not to get said news from the "liberal" media, you can look at Common Cause's blog. They've been covering the various voting snafus extremely well today -- and, well, until results start creeping in, voting snafus are really the only interesting Election Day-related news.

So have fun -- and if you haven't voted already, block out the rest of the night on your calendar.

gosh darn librals.

I found the following block-quoted text (once a viral email, I presume, though I never received it) in a comment at ThinkProgress. I believe the original author is one John Gray of Cincinnati, Ohio. Anyway, today seems like a good day to put it up.

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans.

The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”

If the Presidential election goes as I expect, I'll have a post of some length up tomorrow. But if it goes as Greg Palast fears, maybe not. Or, maybe, it'll be a bit different. Really, who can say?

the sun never sweats.

Tomorrow, of course, is Election Day. OMB Watch provides an Election 2008 page with which you can, for starters, find your polling place, and answer other questions you may have about the federal election process. Common Cause provides another page containing state-by-state voting information. As always, if you run into problems voting, call 1.866.OUR.VOTE (or 1.866.687.8683, if, like me, you find mnemonic devices for phone numbers a hindrance).

Though the FCC recently concluded that freeing up vacant TV channels, or "white spaces," for high-speed internet use would not interfere with other TV broadcasts, the National Association of Broadcasters still aims to convince everyone that they do interfere. I remain fairly well convinced they have no agenda other than stifling competition, and rural and low-income folk be damned. FCC Chair Kevin Martin sounds fairly convinced of the truth, but maybe it'd be nice if we indicated that we, too, are listening. Don't be discouraged -- after all, the oil companies fought product safety legislation and lost, and the big telecoms are about as popular as the oil companies right now.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Mr. Bush wants the EPA to change how it measures emissions from power plants. Currently the EPA caps a power plant's emissions yearly, but now the EPA wants to cap emissions hourly, so that a power plant could essentially out-pollute the current yearly caps while remaining under the hourly caps -- and, perhaps more importantly, evade an EPA requirement to buy new equipment to curb their pollution, which they'd have to buy if they outdid the current cap. It's not like anyone else breathes the air or anything. CREDO helps you say, like Stevie Wonder, I ain't gonna stand for it, baby.

Also, please take a moment of silence for journalist Louis "Studs" Terkel, who died Friday at the age of 96. I hope I'm as ornery when I'm that old! FAIR co-founder Jeff Cohen provides an obit.