Update on 7/7/07 Al Gore’s Rock Show Live Earth and Where To Get Tickets

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

Al Gore’s big blow out on 7/7/07 is still scheduled on seven different continents; Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, Brazil – TBD, Japan – TBD, United States – TBD, and Antarctica – TBD. They expect over 100 different artist performing, among those already committed are; Pharrell, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, Bon Jovi, Paolo Nutini, Sheryl Crow, AFI, Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer, Damien Rice, Corinne Bailey Rae, Duran Duran, Snow Patrol, John Legend, Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy, Maná, Keane, Kelly Clarkson, Korn, Faith Hill w/ Tim McGraw, and Bloc Party. For more information, and to get tickets to the big show, Live Earth: The Concert For a Climate in Crisis click here. To get live updates and participate, and watch the show via the internet visit http://liveearth.msn.com/. Even if you don’t believe Al Gore this is going to be a great concert worth watching. Hope to see you there!! Rock On.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Tom Tancredo to Decide in The Next Two Weeks VIDEO

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

Tom Tancredo said this Thursday that he will decide if he is going to run in 08 sometime in the next two weeks. He is an out spoken critic of immigration reform. Today Tancredo even criticized a new immigration reform bill that would allow up to 400,000 new immigrants to legally enter the US by paying fines. Tancredo said, “They keep changing the shade of lipstick, but like I’ve said time and time again, it’s still the same old pig.” Tancredo said his decision to run will depend on his family, and how much money they think they can raise. So far he has raised over a million dollars in donations, which is a drop in the bucket compared to what will be needed. Tancredo has separated himself from the rest of the Republicans by saying that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should step down. Rudy McRomney have all said that we should give the President and the attorney general the benefit of doubt. I doubt there is any benefit to that idea though.
Alan Cosgrove

Here is a Video of Tom Tancredo giving an interview with MSNBC’s Tucker March 20, 07, talking about attorney general Albert Gonzales and immigration.

Posted in Politicians, VIDEO | 1 Comment

A Letter From John Edwards About His Wife Elizabeth

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

This is a letter sent from John Edwards concerning his announcement today about his wife’s recurring cancer;

Dear Friend,

Elizabeth and I are so grateful for your prayers and wishes. Your support means a great deal to us during this difficult time.

As you may have heard, yesterday we found out that Elizabeth’s breast cancer is back, but confined mainly to her bones. Although this isn’t the news we wanted to hear, we are very optimistic. Having been through many struggles together in the past, we know that the key is to keep your head up, keep moving and be strong. And that’s exactly what we intend to do.

Elizabeth and I have been married for nearly 30 years and we will be in this every step of the way together. We will keep a positive attitude and always look for the silver lining—that’s what we do.

Although the cancer is no longer curable, it is treatable, and many patients in similar circumstances have lived full, energetic lives. We expect nothing less for Elizabeth. She expects to do all the things next week that she did last week.

Our campaign goes on and it goes on strongly. We are so proud of the campaign we are running—a campaign based on ideas and reaching out to people. This campaign is not about me or Elizabeth—it’s about all the people we have met these past few years and people like them all across America and the world—people worried about feeding and clothing their kids; people without health care; people facing hardships overseas.

Both of us are committed to this campaign. We’re committed to this cause and we’re committed to changing this country we love so much.

Thank you again for your support and for standing with us.

John Edwards

If you would like to send a message to Elizabeth or John click here.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians | Comments Off on A Letter From John Edwards About His Wife Elizabeth

A Bad Pro-Hillary Ad In Response To The Good Anti-Hillary Ad

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

Here is a response ad to the Anti-Hillary Apple 1984 mash up ad that caused such a stir. This is another unauthorized citizen ad brought to us by someone that calls themselves obamaloveslieberman. It is not as good a quality as the Anti-Hillary ad, but as the creator of that ad said, “The game has changed.” So here is a new version of political ads 2007 style, YouTube politics. My only question is, aren’t there any ads since the 1980’s that are worthy of this political transformation? or, Are the only people doing this stuff old farts?
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians, VIDEO | 2 Comments

John Edwards Makes Tough Decision, and Romney Breaks Up Friendship

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

John Edwards met today with the press to say he is going to continue his campaign despite the fact that his wife, Elizabeth is battling an incurable reappearance of cancer. She was first diagnosed in 2004 the day after Gore and Edwards had conceded the election to George Bush. At that time they announced she had a common type of breast cancer. Now the cancer has moved into her bones. At the meeting Edwards told reporters, “The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly.” “We’ve been confronted with these kind of traumas and struggles already in our life,” Edwards said. “When this happens you have a choice — you can go and cower in the corner or you can go out there and be tough.” I wish the Edwards luck.
Mittt Romney is trying to distance himself from an old friend these days. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Romney worked close together during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Anderson, a Democrat, was so impressed with Romney’s work on the Olympics that he made a commercial endorsing Romney’s Massachusetts governor bid in 2002. In the commercial spot Anderson said, “People often say I’m a Massachusetts-type Democrat. To me, that’s a compliment,”….. “take it from this liberal Democrat: If you want an amazing leader, vote for Mitt Romney.” Romney later returned Anderson’s favor by making a commercial for Anderson’s second mayoral run in 2003. But now since Romney is in the spotlight he can’t have liberal friends like Anderson. Because Anderson supports such causes as abortion rights and gay rights and he has called for President Bush’s impeachment. Romney already is facing critics because he has changed his stance on gun rights, gay rights, and abortion just to appease the right. While at an event in heavily Republican western Iowa Romney said this about Anderson, “He was a mayor that worked well with me during the Olympics, and I supported his work as a mayor,” said Romney, but, “I do not endorse or support his views on President Bush or almost any other issue, particularly that’s unrelated to being a mayor.” Just like the saying goes politics makes for strange bedfellows. or, You are my buddy until you start costing me votes.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians | Comments Off on John Edwards Makes Tough Decision, and Romney Breaks Up Friendship

A Letter To President Bush From The Father of A Fallen Solidier

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

I found this letter on the web sight The Blue State. It is a letter from the Father of an American soldier who was killed this year in the Iraq war. It is addressed to President Bush, but I doubt he will read it. It is worth a read;

Dear Mr. Bush:

This will be the only time I will refer to you with any type of respect.

My son was killed in Iraq on February 2, 2007. His name is Captain Kevin Landeck.

He served with the Tenth Mountain Division. He was killed while riding in a Humvee by a roadside bomb just south of Baghdad. He has a loving mother, a loving father and loving sister.

You took him away from us. He celebrated his 26th birthday January 30th and was married for 17 months. He graduated from Purdue University and went through the ROTC program. That is where he met his future wife. He was proud to be a part of the military and took exceptional pride in becoming a leader of men. He accepted his role as a platoon leader with exceptional enthusiasm and was proud to serve his country.

I had many conversations with Kevin before he left to serve as well as during his deployment. The message he continued to send to me was that of incompetence. Incompetence by you, (Vice President Richard) Cheney and (former Secretary of Defense Donald) Rumsfeld. Incompetence by some of his commanders as well as the overall strategy of your decisions.

When I asked him about what he thought about your decision to “surge” more troops to Baghdad, he told me, “until the Iraqis pick up the ball, we are going to get cut to shreds. It doesn’t matter how many troops Bush sends, nothing has been addressed to solve the problem he started.”

Answer me this: How in the world can you justify invading Iraq when the problem began and continues to lie in Afghanistan? I don’t want your idiotic standard answer about keeping America safe. What did Sadaam Hussein have to do with 9/11? We all know it had to do with the first Iraq war where your father failed to take Sadaam down.

Well George, you have succeeded in taking down over 3,100 of our best young men, my son being one of them. Kevin told me many times we are not fighting terrorism in Iraq and they could not do their jobs as soldiers. He said they are trained to be on the offensive and to fight but all they are doing is acting like policemen.

Well George, you or some “genius” like you who have never fought in a war but enjoy all the perks your positions afford you are making life and death decisions. In the case of my son, you made a death decision.

Let me explain a few other points he and I discussed. He said when he and his men were riding down the road in their Humvees, roadside bombs would explode and they would hear bullets bouncing off their vehicle. He said they were scared. He thought “why should we be the ones who are scared?” He asked permission to take some of his men out at night with their night vision glasses because as he said “we own the night” and watch for the people who are setting roadside bombs and “take them out.” He said, “I want them to be the ones that are scared.” He was denied permission. Why? It made perfect sense to me and other people who I told about this.

When he was at a checkpoint he was told that if a vehicle was coming at them even at a high rate of speed he could not arbitrarily use his weapon. He had to wave his arms and, if the vehicle did not stop, he could fire a warning shot over the vehicle. If the vehicle did not stop then, he could shoot at the tires. If the vehicle did not yet stop he could take a shot at the driver. Who in their right mind made that kind of decision?

How would you like to be at a check point with a vehicle coming at you that won’t stop and go through all those motions? You will never know!

You or Cheney or Rumsfeld will never know the anguish, the worry, the sleepless nights, the waiting for the loved one who may never return. If the soldiers were able to do their jobs and the ego’s of politicians like you, your “cronies” and some commanders had their heads on straight, we would be out of this mess which we should not be involved with in the first place.

My family and I deserve and explanation directly from you……not some assistant who will likely read this and toss it. This war is wrong.

I want you to look me and my wife and daughter directly in the eye and tell me why my son died. We should not be there, but because of your ineptness and lack of correct information I have lost my son, my pride and joy, my hero!

Again, you, Cheney and Rumsfeld will never understand what the families of soldiers are going through and don’t try to tell me you do. My wife, my daughter and I cannot believe we have lost our only son and brother to a ridiculous political war that you seem to want to maintain. I hope you and Cheney and Rumsfeld and all the other people on your band wagon sleep well at night….we certainly don’t.

Richard Landeck

Proud father of a fallen soldier

I know if I was in Mr. Landeck’s position I would want to know the same thing. Cindy Sheeham has been asking President Bush for an answer for a couple of years, and still has gotten little more than ridicule from the right. It is simple, President Bush, What was the noble cause? There are evil dictators all over the world and many of them we call “friends”, so that couldn’t be the real answer. We know the WMD line was bullshit. Sadaam wasn’t a real threat, but we helped hang him in a style that would even embarrass the Klu Klux Klan, and they are still hanging his cronies today. Maybe it was the part about Sadaam trying to kill George W. Bush’s daddy that got us involved in Iraq. All I know now is that it was a slam dunk stupid decision and over 3,000 soldiers like Mr. Landeck’s son have died, and over 20,000 have been injured, many permanently. And, untold thousands of Iraqi’s have died, many of those woman and children, and 100’s of thousands of Iraqi’s have been displaced. And for the most part we really don’t know why. I do know it is not so I can write stuff like this, or any of those other jingoistic slogans right wingers come up with. President Bush, Just one more time, Why are we in Iraq? No seriously, what’s the real reason?
I say, Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home From Iraq.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in War and Peace | 1 Comment

McCain Says His First Trip As President Will Be Down South

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

John McCain spoke before a group of veterans of the 1961 failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba today in Miami. He told the crowd that the war in Iraq, “has diverted attention from our hemisphere and we have paid a penalty for that” with new leftist governments in Venezuela and Bolivia. McCain said if elected President that his first trips would be to Mexico, Latin America, and Canada. He said the leaders like Hugo Chavez and Castro, “inspire each other. They assist each other. They get ideas from each other,” McCain said. “It’s very disturbing.” McCain also told the Cuban audience that he would not lift the sanctions until Cuba had free elections. The group of Veterans presented McCain with a copy of the book “Against All Hope” by former Cuban political prisoner Armando Valladares, who was frequently tortured during his 22 years in a Cuban prison.
Also in an interview with ABC McCain said he supports closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. McCain said, “Guantanamo Bay, if I were president, would be closed but I would be moving those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, a federal prison.” At least McCain learned from Romney and didn’t use any Castro fight songs to fire the Cuban crowd up.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians | Comments Off on McCain Says His First Trip As President Will Be Down South

Al Gore Warns Congress That Earth Has A Fever

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

The last time Al Gore showed up in Congress was 2001 to tell everyone that George W. Bush was the winner of the 2000 election. That time he was the loser, but today he came back as an Oscar award winner and hero to some Democrats. Gore told the overflow crowd that “our world faces a true planetary emergency”. He brought with him boxes full of letters from people asking Congress to take action on global warming now. Gore said, “The planet has a fever,” “If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, `Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it’s not a problem.’ If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action.” Gore appeared before a joint hearing by two House committees, and later spoke before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Gore didn’t go unchallenged. Texas Rep. Joe Barton told Gore, “You’re not just off a little, you’re totally wrong,,,,,Global warming science is uneven and evolving.” Barton was also a bit upset that Gore didn’t provide a written statement of his testimony until two hours before he was supposed to speak, “How are we supposed to prepare questions for our esteemed witness when we’re given the testimony two hours before he shows up?” Barton asked. Gore also was questioned by Texas Republican, Ralph Hall, who was worried that regulations to help cut greenhouse gases would hurt the energy industry, and therefore; the U.S. economy. In the Senate meetings, Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma told Gore that “Some of the statements you have made have inaccuracies and are misleading.” Inhofe then grilled Gore about his own personal energy use, and kept cutting off Gore when he tried to respond. The exchange got heated enough that Chairwoman Barbara Boxer had to stop them. Boxer explained to Inhofe that the Democrats are now in charge since the last election, and it was time for him to shut up. Gore invited Inhofe to a private breakfast to discuss it later. Gore likes to talk over food. On his way out Gore was questioned about his presidential bid in 08 and he didn’t say no, instead he said, “I don’t have plans to run for president again.” If you would like to see his whole 37 minute testimony to the House Energy & Science committees click here.
Here’s highlights brought to us by PoliticsTV.com.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians, VIDEO | 1 Comment

The Guy That Brought Us the Awsome Anti-Hillary Apple Mash Up Ad Fired

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

This afternoon it was discovered who was responsible for the great Anti-Hillary Apple mash up ad. Arianna Huffington of “The Huffington Post” made some calls today to Phillip de Vellis who works at Blue State Digital. At first he refused to respond, but later admitted he did it. De Vellis said, “I made the “Vote Different” ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process. There are thousands of other people who could have made this ad, and I guarantee that more ads like it–by people of all political persuasions–will follow.”
But, company policy prohibits work on political campaigns outside the company, and therefore; Mr. de Vellis was fired from Blue State Digital. Mr. de Vellis was bored one Sunday and created the ad on his own time. Neither Blue State Digital nor the Obama campaign was aware of de Vellis work on the ad. De Vellis used an updated Apple ad, and used common Apple equipment to modify the ad with Hillary’s picture and voice. It has become a hit on YouTube, and the blogs with over 1.5 million showings. I wish the talented Mr. de Vellis good luck with his unemployment. Maybe he can make some more cool political ads. According to de Vellis, “This ad was not the first citizen ad, and it will not be the last. The game has changed.” Let the games begin.
Alan Cosgrove.
and one more time for those that missed it, The Anti-Hillary Apple 84 Mash Up ad,

Posted in Politicians, VIDEO | Comments Off on The Guy That Brought Us the Awsome Anti-Hillary Apple Mash Up Ad Fired

Mitt Romney Uses Castro Catch Phrase to Please Cubans in Miami

Posted on March 20, 2007 by Alan Cosgrove

Mitt Romney was in Miami and he tried to speak a little Spanish for the crowd, but he should have checked with some advisers first. He mispronounced some prominent Cuban GOP politicians names, calling Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, “Mario.” He ended his speech with the phrase “Libertad, Libertad, Libertad,” which was made famous in the movie “Scarface.” Cubans feel it is just some stereotyping bullshit, and not something any Cubans go around chanting. But Cubans are giving Romney the most grief for using the phrase, “Patria o muerte, venceremos” which is “Fatherland or death, we shall overcome.” He thought it was a Cuban freedom fighter phrase that Hugo Chavez stole. Romney said, “It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba.” But to Cubans, it is only used by Castro and his cronies, and was never a freedom fighter phrase. It is a communist catch phrase, but Romney’s aides claim it still belongs to the free Cuban people. Maybe Romney shouldn’t check with that bunch of aides because they are giving him bad advise. You can’t just take a communist catch phrase and tell the Cubans it’s really theirs. Do they even want it?
I won’t even go into Romney’s Finance Co-Chair who contributed to the ad campaign that compared a political foe with Hitler, swastika included.
Alan Cosgrove

Posted in Politicians | Comments Off on Mitt Romney Uses Castro Catch Phrase to Please Cubans in Miami