RED & BLUE by Kurt Sutter

Yesterday was my little girl's fourth birthday so Katey and I took her to Disneyland.  As I walked around the happiest place on earth, I watched people.  Mickey draws folks from all walks of life.  It really is a great place to observe a cross-section of these United States.  Then I saw the flag over downtown Disney flying at half-mast and was reminded of the tragedy in Tuscon.  I began watching people in a different light, wondering about their beliefs and values.  Were they conservatives?  Where do they land on Roe v. Wade?  Do they attend church?  Then I reflected on all the folks I've met (via social networks and in person) through Sons of Anarchy over the past few years.  They are average citizens with average struggles.  They are Christians.  They are Jews.  They are agnostic.  They are Republicans.  They are Democrats.  They are Independents.  They are apolitical.  They are all decent, hard-working people brought together by a simple television show.

I've had this idea brewing in my head for awhile and now seems like the right time to explore it.  It's a simple idea, exploiting a basic function of our civilization -- communication.  It's called Red and Blue.  The basic concept is this: We go to cities throughout the country, some in Republican states, some in Democratic states.  We sit down with a panel of Liberal citizens and Conservative citizens and we just talk.  A moderator conducts an open forum that allows civilized, respectful communication between men and women with different beliefs and similar struggles.  So it's not just about debating our differences, but also engaging in discussion about how we are all the same.  This is real talk, about real issues, not hyperbolic buzz points that the media and politicians say are the issues.

I believe that the biased media (both left and right) is creating this great divide in this country.  That the conflict between citizens is not as great as we are led to believe; it is clearly being exploited to expedite an agenda.  That exploitation fuels events like the ones in Tuscon this week.  I'm not saying it made him pull the trigger, but it helped connect the distorted dots in his mind.  I applaud Jon Stewart for his attempt to out those extremities with his Rally to Restore Sanity.  If we, the people, leave it up to the media and the politicos to determine how we are divided, that division will grow and it will continue to generate more drama, more hate, more pain and more death.

Yes, I'm a bombastic liberal Hollywood writer who makes a lot of money, but this is not about my agenda or any one's agenda.  I put this pitch out here because I have no desire to profit from this concept and I am looking for people of the same mind.  Producers, production company, talent and networks who would be willing to forgo their fees for the greater good.  Other than the cost of production and airtime, no one should profit from this experiment.  When money and power are extracted from the equation, esteem is the driving motivator.  This could be an extremely esteemable act.  I am looking for people who are willing to put principles before personalities and help us heal.

I'm not sure what happens now.  This post may die on the vine and I'll just put it in my ever-growing "ridiculous idea" folder.  But if industry people (producers, talent, union-sanctioned production companies, networks) are legitimately interesting in helping me make this a reality for no pay, no career-advancement, no glory, then they can contact my reps at ICM and we will begin the process.  If you are not someone in the parenthetical category above, you can simply reply to this blog post.

I'm not delusional.  I don't think a project like this can change the tide of ill-will, but I think anything that generates awareness is a start.

And yes, Small World is still the most terrifying ride ever created. 

Read more blog's written by Kurt Sutter here: http://sutterink.blogspot.com/


Kurt Sutter is the writer and producer for the FX TV show Sons of Anarchy, he's also married to Katey Sagal who also stars in the hit show. (You know Peg from Married with Children!)

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Why Government Cannot "Make Us Safe" thru Mandating Security - by Ron Paul

The terrible violence in Arizona prompted much national discussion on many issues. All Americans are united in their sympathies for the victims and their families. All wonder what could motivate such a horrible act. However, some have attempted to use this tragedy to discredit philosophical adversaries or score political points. This sort of opportunism is simply despicable. We are fortunate to live in a society where violence is universally denounced. Not one public official or commentator has attempted to justify this reprehensible act, yet the newspapers, Internet and airwaves are full of people trying to claim it was somehow motivated by someone else's political rhetoric.

Most disturbing are the calls to use government power to censor certain forms of speech and even outlaw certain types of criticism of public officials. This was the completely apolitical act of a violent and disturbed man. How sad that the attempted murder of the Congresswoman who had just read the First Amendment on the House Floor would be used in efforts to chill free speech. Perhaps some would feel safer if the Alien and Sedition Acts were reinstated. Also troubling are the renewed calls for stricter gun control laws and for government to do something to somehow prevent similar incidents in the future. This always seems to be the knee-jerk reaction to any crime committed with a gun. Nonsensical proposals to outlaw guns around federal officials and install bulletproof barriers in the Congressional galleries only reinforce the growing perception that politicians view their own lives as far more important than the lives of ordinary citizens.

Politicians and a complicit media have conditioned many citizens to view government as our protector, leading to more demands for government action whenever tragedies occur. But this impulse is at odds with the best American traditions of self-reliance and individualism, and it also leads to bad laws and the loss of liberty. Remember, liberty only has meaning if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and more government security is demanded. Government cannot make us safe by mandating security any more than than it can make us prosperous by decreeing an end to poverty.

We need to reaffirm the core American value of individual responsibility. Consider the young man who had the courage to tackle the shooter and prevent further carnage because he himself had a concealed weapon. Without that gun he could have been yet another sitting duck. When peaceful citizens are armed they at least have a chance against armed criminals. Advocates of gun control would urge us to leave our safety to law enforcement, but eyewitness reports indicate it took police as much as 20 minutes to arrive on the scene that day.

Since police cannot be everywhere all the time, a large part of our personal safety depends on our ability to defend ourselves. Our constitutional right to bear arms does not create a society without risk or violent crime, and neither would the strictest gun control laws. Guns and violence are a fact of life. The question is whether it is preferable to be defenseless while waiting for the police, or to have the option to arm yourself. We certainly know criminals prefer the former.

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Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, a return to sound monetary policies, and a sensible foreign policy that puts America first.

For more information visit the following websites:

http://www.RonPaul.com
http://www.RonPaulNews.com
http://www.CampaignForLiberty.com
http://www.house.gov/paul
http://www.DailyPaul.com
http://www.RonPaulForums.com
http://www.RonPaul2012podcast.com

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What You Don't Know About The War On Terror

"The Jewish people as a whole will become its own Messiah. It will attain world dominion by the dissolution of other races, by the abolition of frontiers, the annihilation of monarchy and by the establishment of a world republic in which the Jews will everywhere exercise the privilege of citizenship.

In this New World Order the children of Israel will furnish all the leaders without encountering opposition.

The Governments of the different peoples forming the world republic will fall without difficulty into the hands of the Jews. It will then be possible for the Jewish rulers to abolish private property and everywhere to make use of the resources of the state. Thus will the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, in which is said that when the Messianic time is come, the Jews will have all the property of the whole world in their hands."

—Baruch Levy, Letter to Karl Marx, 'La Revue de Paris', p.574, June 1, 1928

IS ISRAEL CONTROLLING PHONY TERROR NEWS?

Who says Al Qaeda takes credit for a bombing? Rita Katz. Who gets us bin Laden tapes? Rita Katz. Who gets us prettymuch all information telling us Muslims are bad? Rita Katz? Rita Katz is the Director of Site Intelligence, primary source for intelligence used by news services, Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA. What is her qualification? She served in the Israeli Defense Force. She has a college degree and most investigative journalists believe the Mossad “helps” her with her information. We find no evidence of any qualification whatsoever of any kind. A bartender has more intelligence gathering experience.

Read more: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2009/12/30/is-israel-controlling-phony-terror-news/

The War On Terror is a Fraud

Does anyone remember that White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was fired by Dubya because Lindsey estimated that the Iraq war could cost as much as $200 billion? Lindsey was fired for over-estimating the cost of a war that, according to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, has cost 15 times more than Lindsey estimated. And the US still has 50,000 troops in Iraq.

Read more: http://sott.net/articles/show/216517-The-War-On-Terror-is-a-Fraud

Declassified: Massive Israeli Manipulation of US Media Exposed

Files declassified in America reveal covert public relations and lobbying activities of Israel in the U.S. The National Archive made the documents public following a Senate investigation.They suggest Israel has been trying to shape media coverage of issues it regards as important.

Read more: http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/08/21/declassified-massive-israeli-manipulation-of-us-media-exposed/

USA Has A History Of Attacking Themselves To Go To War!


History They Won't Teach in Schools

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Bush & Cheney Knew About 9/11 Months Before It Happened Says Whistleblower Charged Under Patriot Act

Lindauer was arrested, imprisoned without trial and declared mentally incompetent when she demanded to stand trial, but was eventually released. After five years under indictment without a trial, all charges against her were quietly dropped just days before President Obama’s inauguration. In 2003 she was accused of conspiring to act as an unregistered agent for the Iraqi Intelligence Service and engaging in prohibited financial transactions with the government of Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Lindauer was found mentally unfit to stand trial in two separate hearings. During her incarceration she won the right to refuse forced anti-psychotic medication which the United States Department of Justice claimed would render her competent to stand trial. She was released in 2006 and all charges were dropped in 2009.

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Al Qaeda Beheads Catholic Priest in Syria

"Unfortunately Syria has now become a battleground not only between Syrian forces, but also between Arab countries and the international community."

What part of these people being Al Qaeda doesn't everyone get? And yet McCain is still in office. What part of them being in league with the U.S. Gov't don't people understand? They let Al Qaeda into the country and they paid them to fly planes into the twin towers. And now they want to arm them with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. But hardly any of you are saying anything about it. Because you're too brainwashed by main stream media who uses the word REBEL instead of their real name, Al Qaeda. Jabhat al-Nusra has been identified as an Islamist terrorist organization by the U.S. government since 2011 while working in collaboration with al-Qaeda in Iraq.

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Capitalist Co-OP's -VS- State Communism

Never before have so many Americans been more frustrated with our economic system, more fearful that it is failing, or more open to fresh ideas about a new one. The seeds of a new movement demanding change are forming.

But just what is this thing called a new economy, and how might it take shape in America? In What Then Must We Do?, Gar Alperovitz speaks directly to the reader about where we find ourselves in history, why the time is right for a new-economy movement to coalesce, what it means to build a new system to replace the crumbling one, and how we might begin. He also suggests what the next system might look like—and where we can see its outlines, like an image slowly emerging in the developing trays of a photographer’s darkroom, already taking shape.

He proposes a possible next system that is not corporate capitalism, not state socialism, but something else entirely—and something entirely American.

Alperovitz calls for an evolution, not a revolution, out of the old system and into the new. That new system would democratize the ownership of wealth, strengthen communities in diverse ways, and be governed by policies and institutions sophisticated enough to manage a large-scale, powerful economy.

For the growing group of Americans pacing at the edge of confidence in the old system, or already among its detractors, What Then Must We Do? offers an elegant solution for moving from anger to strategy.

- See more at: http://whatthenmustwedo.org

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