Ya know, it's been quite some time since I posted a retrospective, and not without good reason:

Everytime I've done so, I've been reminded by numerous readers that Bushflash ain't about me, and I shouldn't waste column inches talking about myself. While there is a great deal of merit to this argument, I feel that concerned parties and individuals deserve to know why I've been away, for the past month-plus.

To fully describe where Bushflash finds itself today, one must understand how this all started.

I started Bushflash in 2003, a few weeks before the invasion of Iraq, because the words of those who were speaking out against the coming war were not being heard. No one on any television network was daring to utter a single word of caution against the desperately suicidal path that we were embarking upon. Those who had a nasty habit of questioning authority, like Phil Donahue, were jerked off the air, and replaced with foul-mouthed brownshirts like Michael Savage.

Whenever someone like Scott Ritter, Amy Goodman, or Jim Hightower was granted a measly 20 seconds of airtime, they were never given their fair time to speak, and were roundly condemned by the show's host for having the gall to question the policies of a man so brilliant and visionary as George W. Bush. Neil Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck were shoved into our collective living rooms as the final arbiters of truth in the new Bush Order.

The only place where any dissent or word of caution could still find purchase was the Internet, and even there, things were dicey. In the wake of 9/11 hysteria, many websites critical of the idiot-in-chief had voluntarily shut down.

The country was being led down the garden path to a war that was certain to be more disastrous than Vietnam, and it seemed that the american people were perfectly willing to surrender their power of critical thought, in favor of a chest-thumping groupthink peddled by charlatans. Even the now-venerated Jon Stewart refused to utter a critical word, in the leadup to the war.

It was an utterly distressing time, for those of us who still were able to think clearly. Recalling those days- it was, at that time, credible to believe that book burnings and torchlight parades were right around the corner.

Now, I was raised in a household where I was taught the lessons of history- particularly those which were learned at great expense during the years of World War 2. While much can be said about that horrific conflict, the question that arises time and again is:

"When The Nazis were ascending to power, how come so few spoke out? How come so many could not find it within themselves to stand up for what was right, when it mattered the most?"

(Oh, and for the purposes of this discussion- Godwin's law is bollox.)

Now, we here in the USA were being called upon to utter those few, crucial words of dissent- and I was determined that no matter what came, I'd do whatever I could, in my limited capacity, to make it known that when things were darkest, there was at least one human being left in the United States of America that refused to be a "loyal German."

When Bushflash came into existence- there was no YouTube, archive.org, or- for that matter- 99% of the Blogs that exist today. If you were looking for online political media, you had a few realplayer streams, a few talk radio archive sites, and a few sites like Information Clearing House. "User-generated content" had yet to be coined as an advertising buzzword.

It was into this primordial soup that Bushflash took form, and grew to become one of the most popular political sites, for but a brief time. It all started with a simple flash animation that, despite its primitive nature, garnered tens of thousands of views in the first week it was online.

I was soon to learn that in times that are consumed with lies, daring to tell the truth is certain to be deemed as treasonous. Death threats soon came- threatening phone calls- nasty letters- e-mails containing nothing but my home address, along with the word "click."

Rather than do anything to dissuade me in my activities, every one of these dribbles of cowardice that I encountered only confirmed in me the knowledge that I was doing the right thing- and I WAS HAVING AN EFFECT. I was letting the brownshirts of america know that there were still people out here who hadn't sacrificed their reason on the altar of a grotesquely shallow and transparent political expediency- and goddammit- they resented the hell out of me, for doing that .

But rattling the cage of the radical right was just icing on the cake- ya see, the real joy of making and maintaining Bushflash was getting all of those thousands upon thousands of e-mails from people saying:

"Thank you for letting me know I'm no the only one out here who feels this way."

The true honor of running this site is that, during the darkest times of the past few years, I was able to give other people hope- because such was a commodity in short supply, for far too long.

Now, five years later, that spark of dissent and independent thought has once again strengthened, and has been fanned into a flame that now illuminates 89% of the american people.

I turn on CNN, and I see Jack Cafferty shouting that Bush is a "Moron," and his cabinet is a "Gaggle of mutants." Every night, I can tune into Keith Olbermann, and get a full hour of righteous truth, free of any semblance of whitehouse spin. The blogosphere has finally awoken from its dormant slumber, and surprise, surprise, we find the paleoconservatives finally re-emerging, and calling bullshit on the entirety of the Bush administration, loudly and fiercely.

When I look upon this spectacle, I can only think:

"My job is done, here."

Ya see, I never wanted to be a blogger- I never wanted to be a media portal. I never wanted to do anything, but whatever I could to make sure that dissent stayed alive, during those dark years.

I can't claim that I did it single handedly- but I did what I could- and it's cost me.

For two whole years, I pretty much ran Bushflash as a full-time job- and even turned down a few REAL jobs, because they restricted my ability to run this not-for-profit site. I didn't even offer or accept advertising for the first three years, because I didn't want to have anyone get the idea I was running this site, for any other reason, outside of ideological ones.

Needless to say- during those three years, times were pretty lean... To make matters worse: even though I was making just enough to get by on, the IRS decided that I was just too fat and wealthy, so they bumped me to the 25% tax bracket.

In addition , running Bushflash was psychologically damaging. You try running a website that demands that you are pissed off and angry every waking moment for five years, and see how you end up feeling. There are so many pictures of dead kids that one can look at, before one starts to lose their grip.

Needless to say- this could not continue. I like being a dissident, but I don't wanna be one that winds up dying in a cheap hotel room amidst a million cigarette butts, and thousands of hand-written pages in a coded script that will be puzzled over my cryptologists for generations to come.

In 2006, I started working less on Bushflash, so that I could work with a friend to start a highly speculative business. Long story short- they don't call 'em "speculative" for nothin'. I had another year of lean times, and another whopping tax bill (ya see- the IRS thinks that anyone who makes 18,000 a year is just too danged rich for his own good, and should pay extra penance to make up for those Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy.)

Now, in 2008, we see Bush heading towards the exit, and quite frankly, it's a completely different internet, than it was, when I crafted the first version of Bushflash. Now, there are literally thousands of hours of online political videos/documentaries, available in seconds, that are far better than any flash I ever created. Blogs like DailyKos allow anyone to piggyback their opinions on a site that gets millions of daily hits. Obama is shattering any and all preconceptions of what a political campaign can accomplish, via the web.

15 years after Jello Biafra exhorted his post-punk fans to "Become the Media!", his words have become the unknown gospel to a generation that is emerging- a generation that has used the internet since they were in kindergarten- and they don't see media as something to be observed- they see it as something to CREATE.

But I digress....

In recent months, I have woken up from a long slumber, and realized that I had to make changes. It was finally time to quit smoking- time to stop spending so much time at the keyboard- time to get out to the local Y, and get in shape, at long freaking last (still single at 38, and certainly ain't getting any younger.)

I have also been working demanding jobs (sometimes three at a time,) paying off my back taxes, and actually leaving the keyboard for a few hours, to remember why life is worth living...

I cannot continue to run this site in a manner that can keep up with what is expected of blogs, by myself. I have tried hard to find someone who could create a content management system that would allow me to turn Bushflash into the community that I always envisioned, but despite a lot of time and money spent, such searches were always ultimately fruitless.

In times past, I have asked for contributions, but always felt guilty for doing so. This time, I shall pay off my debts with money that I've EARNED.

I must lay aside Bushflash, so that I can repair all the damage that has been done, in my own life, during the Bush years.

Does this mean I'm shutting up, giving in, or surrendering?

HELL NO.

Bushflash will stay online- every last sentence, youtube link, video, picture, and scatological reference will be freely available, until the day that Bush leaves office. I stand by everything I've done or written for this site, and am proud to have done so, when too many others sat silent.

I will be posting comments on the night of Obama's nomination, and the day prior to the election. I will also post, should the Bush Bowl initiate war with Iran.

I am years behind in my e-mail, but will answer every one of you, over the next few months. I owe each and every last one of you all my thanks.

Despite the challenges and hardships of the past five years, they have been the greatest in my life.

I love all of you- and it has been an honor to stand with you in times past- as it shall be, in the future..

Make me proud- fight the power- and keep hope alive.

(And I know this kinda cheeses folks off, as I'm supposed to be about slamming Bush, and his misbegotten, illegal war. The problem is that these days, attacking Bush is akin to throwing dirt on dirt, and is about as edgy as a bowling ball. Aside from a few delusional whackjobs, just about everyone has come around, and now sees that the emperor is butt naked.)

Today, the following odure plopped into my inbox:

Well, the first thing I wanna say about this is that if you send crapola like this to me, signed with your real name, you deserve to be outed. Now, afore ol' Ronnie starts to feel all butthurt over this, he should understand that If I were truly malicious, I have his IP address, and I could quite easily find his home address and phone number, and post them anonymously on a few image boards crawling with the worst 15-year-old hackers you could imagine- but I am kind...

Now, to move on to the meat of the matter:

In the wake of this story breaking, I've noticed that only the most ill-informed and delusional people tend to call into C-Span, complaining about it. Campaignnetwork.org has a comprehensive archive of call-in programs, where you can hear them expressing their hillbilly outrage in monosyllabic grunts.

But for now, let's take Ronnie's letter as an example:

Note that he accuses Obama of being a "Racist" and an "America Hater", not because of anything that Obama has said or done, but because of statements made by the pastor of the church that Obama attends. I have a feeling Ronnie might have known of the disconnection with the facts contained in his letter, but alas, Pabst Blue Ribbon is still less than five bucks a sixer, and I can tell you from bad experience that it's hard to form cogent arguments while under the influence.

I will say that Obama made a rather large blunder, by keeping Pastor Wright on his campaign, despite knowing full well that this guy had been caught on tape, saying some rather nasty things.

I would say that it was a lapse of judgment on the level of John McCain's acceptance of the endorsement of John Hagee, an obese, pathologically insane rapture-right whackjob that spends half of his time falling over himself professing his love for the jewish people (because Jesus ain't gonna return until 144,000 jews convert to christianity, the rest to burn in hell,) and the other half of his time condemning the USA as a "damned nation" because we've committed the unpardonable sin of allowing women control of their reproductive rights.

The difference between McCain's bad call and Obama's is that Obama promptly dismissed the bad apple from his campaign. John McCain has yet to repudiate the the craziness of Hagee ('cause he needs the extra-chromosome vote.)

And hell- Idiot Boy has been the extreme "christian" right's BFF since the day he slithered into office, and I've never encountered a larger pile of crazy racists in my life than what I've seen, while doing oppo research on their websites. Much of the stuff over at oneplace.com is far more shocking than anything to be found on Stormfront.

And let's not forget Reagan's embrace of Jerry Falwell, a man who said every woman who fell victim to rape was pretty much asking for it, and proclaimed  that God does not hear the prayers of jews.

So, in closing, Ronnie, get your facts straight, before wasting my hard drive space with your drivel.

(Why no new videos/media? Too danged busy, and hell- that's why I wanted a damned CMS.)

Last month, an internet collective known as "anonymous" pulled off a seeming impossiblity: They were able to organize almost 100 peaceful worldwide protests against the Church of Scientology. They did it with no funding, aside from what they were willing to spend, themselves. They had no central authority, no leader, and no place to organize, aside from a few websites and message boards. In order to avoid prosecution/persecution by the Church of Scientology, they did everything anonymously. 99% of those who attended and organized had no idea who anyone else was. They were mostly young, and 99% of them had never taken part in any street action, before. Despite all of this, they were able to exceute their plans, flawlessly.

Since their first protest, their activities have become the most entertaining saga currently gracing the internets. Scientology has tried to fight back, but has been comically incapable of stopping these guys. Scientology's last stand was to try to get a restraining order against the entity known as "anonymous", and was laughed out of court, with a warning to stop filing unconstitutional lawsuits.

This last saturday, Anonymous picketed scientology, once again. This time, their numbers grew, and their coordination worldwide was again, without flaw (aside from the Atlanta riot squads arresting two protestors in a case that's certain to be overturned.) These guys are motivated, savvy, professional, and having the time of their lives.

If Anonymous ran the antiwar movement, we would have been out of Iraq in 2004.

Can I get a witness, here?

One of Barack's unpaid staffers calls Hillary a "Monster", and she's cut loose, within 12 hours.

One of Hillary's fundraisers dismisses Barack as an afirmative action hire, and she's still around, ten goddamned days later, never to be fired- only let to resign, while promising to serve as her unofficial hatchetwoman?

Hillary has broken one "glass ceiling"- she's proven that women can campaign every bit as nasty and vile as Strom Thurmond's dixiecrat run.

KUDOS- Sistas are doin' if fo' themselves!

MoveOn.org has issued a call for vigils to mark the fifth year of war in Iraq.

I'm in a town that has always - ALWAYS - brought out the antiwar crowd. Before the war started, we had at least 200 show. On our night of solidarity with Cindy Sheehan, at least 300 showed...

We're days away from the date of our local vigil, and only one freakin' person has signed up to join- me.

Nichevo.

(Listen to the audio, for full impact... But afore I address the topic at hand, I have to get the following off my chest- just skip to the end of the blue text for the meat of the matter.)

Someday, someone somewhere will be able to explain to me in coherent, cogent terms how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David became the multibillionaires they are, on the basis of "Seinfeld-" a televisiual effort that is unique amongst american comedy television shows, in that it consistently failed to deliver anything that could be described remotely as "comedy."

Ya see- comedy shows are supposed to make the viewer engage in an activity called "laughing." For such activity to occur, a quantity called "humor" is required.

I've sat through about a dozen episodes, and to me, it's like watching video of a decade-old city council meeting- Let's look at the characters:

Jerry:

Every single "joke" that Jerry Seinfeld has ever delivered:

Hey, have you ever noticed how all observational comedians just take received opinion and blatant cliches and spout them off at the audience as if nobody's ever thought of them before? And they keep presenting statements as questions?

(Waves hand out at the audience, palm facing upward)

I mean, come on? And then they'll try to expand the joke by basically just repeating it in a specific context, like how I watched this Jerry Seinfeld guy and he did exactly that?

(Walks to the other side of the stage, continuing the arm movement.)

And, you know, the jokes usually just peter out without a proper punchline, and yadda yadda yadda?

George:

Actually the most brilliant guy on the show (Jason Alexander- actor of stage, film, and wonderful as the voice of "Duckman,") but is resigned to second fiddle. Despite his character's nominal identity as a catholic, Jason comes across as a grotesque charicature of the "angsty jewish guy" in a performance so shallow and blatant that even Franz Hippler (director of the notorious nazi antisemitic film "The Eternal Jew") would dismiss it is "unrealistic." (And in doing so, succeeds in being an unflattering, unrealistic cartoon of both catholics AND jews, in one regrettably unfunny package- way to go, Jason.)

Kramer:

Okay- so the guy jitters around, and acts like a spastic clown. If I were three, i'd consider such behavior to be downright hilarious, but as I'm rapidly approaching middle age, it fails to impress.

Elaine:

Lamely shows up in each episode, to lend a bit of balance to the testosterone-laden cast, and performs as if she couldn't give a rat's ass about the show (and in doing so, comes out smelling like a relative rose.)

So, please- if anyone out there can explain how "Seinfeld" could be considered even remotely funny, please explain it to me- I'm genuinely curious...

Now- to the meat of what Larry had to say:

After watching Hillary's behavior for the past few days, I've been shaking my head in wonder. Her campaign has gone from being a symbol of empowerment to women, to become a living validation of the worst elements of contemporary male chauvenist sexism.

You know the crap to which I allude: "Women are flighty," "Women are unpredictable," "Women are irrational," "Women are driven by their emotions, rather than logic."

And the crowning gem of male chauvenism: "Gee- catch a load of HER- she must be on the rag..."

It's all bullshit, of course- if we're honest with ourselves, for every dysfunctional/crazy person we've met of one sex, we've met their equivaled in the opposite sex. The generalizations and crap we burden gender with are archaic, and need to be buried, along with the equally odious unfounded hyperbole that accompanies racism.

However:

What are we to make of a democratic candidate for president that, on the night of a debate, states with apparent sincerety that she is "Honored" to share a stage with her rival, and yet, within 12 hours, is denouncing that same rival as being no better than Karl Rove? What are we to make of a democratic candidate that is endorsing her republican rival, over her democratic competitor? What are we to make of a democratic candidate whose demeanour changes so radically from day to day?

If someone were to make the sexist answer to the aformentioned antisemitic Hippler film, it is doubtful that they would present a figure whose actions could be more irrational and reckless than those which Hillary has displayed, in recent weeks- and it's a damned shame, because we need to have a woman as president of this country- the sooner, the better.

But for every month that Hillary continues in her doomed and fratricidal campaign, and continues to behave in the manner that has so unfortunately become her recent hallmark, she delays the coming certainty of a woman's presidency in this county, by four years.

And yes, I can see the utter unfairness in this conclusion. Heaven knows, for the past few thousand years, many unqualified people have attained office, simply because they possessed a pair of testicles.

Such is our world- and we're certainly not going to overcome this paradigm, when we are stuck with someone such as Hillary to serve as the ground breaker.

Damned strange conicidence....

Now- I'm not pulling the above entirely out of my butt- I was just forwarded this:

When the Daily Kos broke the story that the Clinton campaign had made Barack Obama's face several shades darker in its "who would you trust when the red phone rings at 3 A.M." commercial, all of the mainstream media ignored the story—except for the New York Post.

However, Post reporter Bill Sanderson pointed out that Carson had previously told Fox News that Obama's face "was darkened as part of a 'saturation-desaturation' process commonly used in TV commercial production. Saturation refers to the amount of color in a picture, and it can be adjusted with common photo- or video-editing software."

Read the rest, here...

I am now totally vindicated in my assertion that Hillary's campaign has gone batshit insane- what's next- photoshopping watermellons and buckets of KFC into Obama's publicity shots? This makes Karl Rove's chicanery look downright genteel.

Hillary needs to do us all a favor, and drop out, now.

Such were Idiot Boy's words, as he bestowed the mantle of successor to John McCain, today....

I just wanna take a sec here, to thank "president" Bush for spewing his verbal approval upon the candidacy of John McCain, because, as we all know far too well- everything that comes out of Bush's mouth is completely opposite of what is certain to come to pass (can anyone cite an example of when the guy's been right about anything? Do I need to even bother asking?)

Anyone who has followed the news closely in this electoral contest is all to aware of how the MSM has jumped the gun, time and again.

When Obama won Iowa, they declared Hillary's candidacy dead. When Hillary was able to squeeze out enough tears to secure a win in New Hampshire, the MSM declared Obama's candidacy a relic. When Obama won 11 in a row, Hillary was declared dead in the water, and never to return...

It's only predictable that a media that has such a sorry track record in relation to past contests would seize upon Hillary's win in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island, declaring them to be "decisive," and a "serious" challenge to Barack Obama.

It's all BS- but before I proceed to pick the numbers apart, I feel the need to address a few points, vis a vis Hillary:

Last night, as she gave her "victory" speech (more on the quotes, in a bit,) she was interrupted by a chant from her adoring fans:

"Yes she can! Yes she can! Yes she can!"

Holy freaking "Bob" impaled on a stick- That's a piss-poor response to Obama's rallying cry "Yes, we can," and is laden with antidemocratic ideals, while simultaneously making her campaign look like a personality cult.

Need I quote JFK?

"Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country."

This simple quote has become historic, because it transcends ideology- it speaks to both the liberal cause of active citizenship, and the conservative ideal of personal responsibility.

"Yes, we can" is a phrase that speaks to our collective ability to set things right, regardless of where we stand.

"Yes, she can", is a collective yelp of surrender to the will of a political figure, and sounds quite fascist.

Secondly, Hill-dog and her surrogates were making the rounds of the talk show circuit today, and loudly proclaiming that when Hillary "becomes" the nominee (statistically impossible- see below,) she'll deign to take Barack Obama as her vice presidential running mate.

When I heard this, I was immediately reminded of Idi Amin announcing in a press conference that Uganda would be sending food aid to the UK. If Hillary's campaign has degenerated to this level of self-delusion, it speaks of just how out of touch they are...

Ya see...

Since the first caucus in Iowa, there has not been a single day in which Hillary has lead Obama in terms of the popular vote, or in terms of elected delegates.

Yep- Hillary has never been the frontrunner in concrete terms, since day one.

Prior to tuesday's contests, Obama surpassed Hillary by a million votes nationwide, and by 150 pledged delegates. When you took Florida into account, his lead in the popular vote shrank, but not in a decisive manner.

Hillary needed to win Ohio and Texas by a margin of at least 15% to remain competitive. She took Ohio by a goodly margin, but her lead in the Texas Primary was a mere 3%, and less than 100,000 votes. Obama took the Texas Caucus by 6%, effectively negating her lead, and walking away with a slim advantage in Texas delegates.

A lot of pundits and Hillary supporters are claiming she has "Momentum" now- Unfortunately, within 72 hours, the citizens of Wyoming will hold their statewide caucus, and Barack always does better in midwest contests. Look for Hillary's momentum to end, there.

Supposing a miracle occurs, and Hillary takes Wyoming by a slim margin, the following contest is in Mississippi, where african americans and young voters RULE the day. It is most certainly going to be an Obama win, and yet another nail in the coffin of the Hillary campaign.

Despite this, Hillary and her surrogates are certain to yelp out "Pennsylvania", as their only remaining trump card.

The big problem is:

Hillary will have to win over 70% of the vote in Pennsylvania, to remain viable- and that ain't gonna happen.

But, as we all know- nothing is more dangerous than a cornered rat...

And in keeping with this, Hillary's campaign has gone intensely negative. I really can't blame her, as such usually works- but she strolled right over the line, when she came out yesterday and said that John McCain (The presumptive republican nominee) would be more qualified for the job of President, than Obama.

So- we have someone who is seeking the nomination of the democratic party, who has preemptively endorsed the republican party's candidate, should democrats not vote for her.

I try to keep foul language to a minimum, here- but Hillary's gone batshit insane.

Hillary had a chance to bow out gracefully, and she blew it- and she's only going to get more crazy, in weeks to come.

The only problem is, she's gonna take the party down with her, in every way she can. She truly believes that if she screws things up enough in 2008, she'll have the advantage against a 75-year-old McCain, in 2012...

Dream on, Hillary...