Have You Heard of the “Wailing Wall”? The “Widder’s” answer – “The Reading Fence”
This is Widder Curry’s Reading Fence. Click on it for a larger image.
It is hard to believe that during the last presidential election my husband was alive and protesting the Bush regime. We first made contact with the OB Rag because of posters and/or pictures we had depicting our feelings.
As the anniversary of his death of three years approaches, (September 21st) I feel it is only fitting to construct a “Reading Fence” of the current posters being circulated on the Internet.
(Of course it must be realized that I am selecting only those that he would have approved of – which means that some of you will not approve of them). Oh well….he wouldn’t care – nor do I.
And…for those of you that think you can steal over here in the dead of night and remove then … I have many duplicates to replace them. And…if you would want some for your own “reading fence” let me know. They are easy to come by. More posters will be added as the become available.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Way to go Judi! I’m willing to bet that these will be taken in the still of the night. Too bad you can’t rig up a camera to catch the culprits.
Who says I haven’t?
how about a fence of shame? you can put all of Obama’s broken promises on it. you could even leave some of those bush pics up and write about how Obama has surpassed W on violating our civil liberties.
Sorry, Harold. I fail to find any items you are referring to.
Here you go…
1) Guantanamo is still open and has a new soccer field
2) extended the Patriot Act
3) Signed the NDAA so the govt can suspend habeus corpus and imprison US citizens suspected of “terrorism” indefinitely without trial (signed 12/31/11 on NYE)
4) Ignoring due process (obama is a constitutional scholar!) and killing US citizens abroad with drones
5) Going after whistleblowers like never before
6) stonewalling FOIA requests by using “national security”
7 ) the drone wars overseas.
There’s more but I’m lazy.
Oh… with Bush we had the Global War on Terror. Under Obama it’s now called an Overseas Contingency Operation. That sounds much better right? Forward!
Harold, I’m imagining that you’re staying home on election day?
I’m lazy, too. Its a good thing Obama is not:
“Obama has overhauled the food safety system
Advanced women’s rights in the work place
Ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) in our military
Stopped defending DOMA in court.
Passed the Hate Crimes bill.
Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court.
Expanded access to medical care and provided subsidies for people who can’t afford it.
Expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Fixed the preexisting conditions travesty [and rescissions] in health insurance.
Invested in clean energy.
Overhauled the credit card industry, making it much more consumer-friendly.
While Dodd-Frank bill was weak in many respects, it was still an extremely worthwhile start at re-regulating the financial sector.
He created a Elizabeth Warren’s dream agency: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He’s done a lot for veterans
He got help for people whose health was injured during the clean-up after the 9/11 attacks.
BROAD POLICY:
Mandate to follow the standards of the Freedom of Information Act (exec order). ref
Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible. ref
Unveiled “open government” plans. ref
Federal IT Dashboard, “a website enabling federal agencies & the public to view details of information technology”. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Released presidential records. ref
Imposed limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. ref ref
Imposed limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration. ref
Closed lobbyist loopholes with respect to the Recovery Act ref
Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees. ref
Provided more town halls and media access than previous administration. ref, ref
Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care. ref
Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. ref
Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliations or contributions. ref, ref
Established a uniform standard for declassifying, safeguarding and classifying national security information (12/29/2009). ref
Created a national declassification center. ref
DOD opened access to social media sites (Air Force News). ref
DOD will film all interrogations. ref
Cracked down on tax cheats (exec order). ref
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, cutting ties between industry and government. ref , ref
Established the USA.gov portal connecting people to the services they require ref
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. ref, ref
RESULTS:
White House voluntary disclosure policy – visitor access records/450,000 records to date ref ref
None of these things were priorities for Republicans. They actively opposed, directly or indirectly through obstruction, every single item on this list. In fact, they succeeded in killing a Cap & Trade bill in the Senate after it had passed through the House.
All of these things are improvements that would not have occurred under a McCain-Palin administration. Moreover, a McCain-Palin administration would have moved in the other direction on most of these issues, or come up with even worse compromises. “
I guess cutting and pasting Obama talking points is much easier than addressing my points on Obama and civil liberties. so what do you think of Obama’s Kill List? What about Obama’s war on medical marijuana? Remember in 2008 when candidate Obama said he’d leave it up to the states? How many storefront dispensaries are in OB after Obama’s DEA went after them?
As I said, I’m “lazy”, too. And the only thing I would add to this popular list of accomplishments _IS_ Obama’s agenda – though we all agree it wasn’t perfect! – which has had The Most Positive effect I see possible amidst the grid lock of intolerance now gripping our presidency and country. And as so many grapple with your own “list” of differences – nothing youve stated is “original” or are you unfamiliar with our ancient Greek philosophers? – nor do I see any examples that indicate “a Romney” could possibly improve OUR economy or country! (Unless you define “our economy” as only the top 1% of our country)
and btw: this R/R ticket supports only a demographic which will never include you. these elitists live unaffected, hence out of touch, dwelling in apolitical realms which do not dabble in common matters, and only use blogs indirectly as their minions take the pulse of, you know “you people”, I recall, is how the Mrs. Romney referred to U.S. quite recently.
The only question I have for you: Which third world economy do you think is NEXT on the right-side’s “list” to develop by outsourcing more American jobs?
We _still_ know what’s up and where most of U.S. are focused: It IS the economy . . . . . . .
This is the most unfortunate piece I have read on the OB Rag. I fail to see what Ms. Curry is hoping to accomplish with her display. Her “Reading Fence” adds nothing to any debate and lowers the political discourse (and it is already very low). Ms. Curry, what point are you trying to make by posting a photo comparing Mr. Bush to a turd and stating that he should be “flush”ed? By taking the time to not only mount these types of photos on your fence, but to then blog about them leads me to believe that doing this makes you feel good and you take pride in this action. If so, I have to ask,why? After all, Mr. Bush (and I’m no fan of his) has been retired to Texas for 3 and a half years. Like my parents told me, if you can’t say (or post) anything good, don’t say anything at all.
Also, Ms. Curry, I find your dismissal of Harold’s comment to be intellectually dishonest. Are you saying that Mr. Obama, as a candidate, did NOT promise to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, yet it is still in operation? Are you saying that President Obama did not authorize lethal drone strikes that targeted American citizens, despite the admissions of his administration? Are you saying that he didn’t sign the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, despite the fact that his support of the NDAA is well documented, including here at the OB Rag. Or do you simply wave a mental magic wand and tell Harold that you “fail to find any items” he refers to because these inconvenient facts don’t support your preferred narrative?
I think both President Bush and President Obama have made many grievous mistakes (they are both human, not turds, after all), including those listed above; and I believe President Obama will continue to do so if re-elected. Both should be accountable to future generations for these mistakes and for the massive deficits we allow them to run up.
As an aside, I fully support your right to post whatever you want on your fence. However, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Chris, when I first read your response I thought I would ignore it, but that would not solve anything. You, like me, have the right to express our beliefs in many different ways. In carrying on my husbands’ tradition, I decided to continue the “reading fence” that he started over 4 years ago. My fence definitely leads to a debate – everywhere I go I read or hear things that the GOP states is the gospel truth. Most of what they have to say is not true but people believe it. I feel that if I can enlighten people by posting humorous rebuttals to what has been said, everyone involved has the opportunity to question what is being said and make their own decisions. It may even have a few start to think about the issues today.
The comment about Mr Bush and comparing him to a turd is your interpretation. For your information, that toilet seat was from the previous election and a reminder of why we are so bad off today. He should have been “flushed” many years before his term of office expired and, in reality, if not for the Supreme Court should not have been president at all.
The posters DO make me feel good; and I am glad that I have the where-with-all to find them on the web.
My fence is not to debate whether Mr. Obama fulfilled his promises; my fence is not to give credence to either you or Harold. My fence is to allow me to express my feelings about the upcoming election. I do not agree with Harold, nor do I agree with you. But I do not have to defend my position – as you do not have to defend yours – because that is not what this is all about. Think of the fence as a “political cartoon”; a spoof, if you will, on events occurring today. And….because I can post to my fence, I am. It is not up to you to tell me that I shouldn’t.
Some people tie twine to their fences for prayers and dreams and wishes. Some tie bits of signed paper to a tree. Some express thier thoughts in books and blogs. If guys like Romney hadnt outsourced so many American jobs to help develop OTHER economies or if Bush hadnt bankrupted (nearly, but only thanks to Obama) the U.S., then I would have a fence of my own, no doubt, and I might express myself in similar fashion. While I dont believe this is the only outlet Judi utilizes – I suspect she is active on many fronts- the wall is a great way to “engage” others and encourage more thoughtful discussion and discourse. These comments are evidence of that!
A fully active democracy is a more healthy democracy.
It seems as though the points made by Harold Fine are painfully inconvenient for fans of Obama.
The unfortunate thing is that the only method of defense being employed by fans of Obama is the old “Bush is Stupid” routine. What makes this defense unfortunate (and infinitely weak) is that Obama is not running against Bush.
Carter 2.0 is in for some rough seas. I hope he has a good life vest. Maybe he can simply stand on David Axelrod’s head; it’s so full of hot air that I’m sure it could support a lightweight president.
David, to begin with, see Chris Dotson’s comments at 11:13 a.m.
I did. What kind of measurable metrics are involved with phrases like:
“He’s done a lot for veterans” (BTW, I’m a veteran and Obama hasn’t done a thing for me)
“Invested in clean energy.” (Yup, Solyndra was a real success. May as well have had an OB bonfire party using rolls of $100 bills as logs)
OR, things like these very opinion-based items, like:
“Ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) in our military” (A majority of Americans do not believe this was a good idea)
“Passed the Hate Crimes bill.” (Great! Just like Animal Farm: some animals are more equal than others – Murder is murder; rape is rape; assault is assault…why is it more reprehensible if it happens to a homosexual or a person of color?)
I would spend more time arguing each of Chris Dotson’s inane points, but I have a job. Someone needs to pay taxes to support Obama’s Welfare State (which has a measurable metric: 41% increase in welfare recipients under Obama – That’s an irrefutable fact, Jack).
I think that this is a good time to post the following passage that I came across on the “About” tab on the OB Rag Home Page. I am assuming that this is the sentiment of the Rag’s editorial staff; a sentiment that I tend to agree with – for the most part:
“Things have changed since we first started blogging. We initially supported the candidacy of Barack Obama for President, and we celebrated with champagne and tears the night he was elected. But our eyes are not shut. We remain critical – and hopeful – of our political environment. … We have become very disappointed in what President Obama has achieved and not achieved during his first two years in office. We oppose the continuation of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and Pakistan), and have been disheartened by the so-called “compromises” his administration has made with those who have vowed to destroy the American social networks established over the last century. This president seems to have sacrificed his message of change and hope to the expediencies of Washington, DC. We remain critical – and hopeful.” Well written, and well said.
Again, my disappointment is not with Ms. Curry’s postings on her fence. It is with her glib dismissal of facts that challenge her chosen worldview, and with the hubris with which she made her original Rag post on her “Reading Wall.” Though I -perhaps- may someday be inclined to take similar actions on my own fence, I would hate and be saddened by the fact that I was driven to such unfortunate action by the sad division that faces my, and Ms. Curry’s, country. I would not -under any circumstances- be cavalierly celebrating and perpetuating this division (while feeling good about it); I would instead be rooting for a positive outcome rather than publicly slandering those that disagree with me.
Ms. Curry, I can not make out all the text on your “Reading Wall.” Is there anything posted there that highlights positive contrasts by the candidates you support to previous candidates/administrations (or any others), or their positive accomplishments?
Chris, I was reading your comment – until I came to this: “Ms Curry, I can not make out all the text on your ‘Reading Wall’. ” Seriously, you’ve lambasted Ms Curry up and down now, and you can’t real all the text that you are criticizing.
But that’s not the point – you’ve been ranting against Ms Curry – even though at times you sound like you’re a progressive – yet why can’t you simply acknowledge that you are simply on the other side of the aisle, so to speak here, and your critique of Judi putting statements, signs, and yes, even photos of presidents in toilet bowl covers up on her own fence rankles you. You can’t stand the fact that some progressives – like Ms Curry here – are so emotional and passionate about their politics, they’re willing to let their freak flag fly – and her neighborhood is quiet conservative. Ms. Curry has, in fact, suffered having someone dislike what she says and pulled down signs repeatedly during the stealth of night.
Okay, Chris, you’ve said your piece. Your sarcasm is beginning to show through and this is not a positive interchange of ideas any more.
Chris, I do not see anything positive about Mr. Romney nor his running mate. I fear for women, children, seniors, etc. if they are elected. I have never said I wish I had lived in the 18th century. Unfortunately, I feel that we are headed backwards if that team is elected.
I have been known to vote for Republicans when I thought they warranted it. I do not see any redeeming qualities with the current Republican slate. Therefore – you will not find what YOU are looking for on my wall. What is there is what I want to be there.
See you at the polls.
Hey Judy, here’s some more decorations for your fence:
http://www.internetweekly.org/iwr/parody_wire.html
Fantastic site. Thanks Citizen!!!!!
And you can color me bizarre, but I think this would be a good political ad song for Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gapCK5_rMuY
You are so right. Will never be able to listen to this song anymore without thinking of Obama. Thanks for a great thought.