http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/09/ifascism.php#more?ref=fpblg
I could not let this false "fact"of Bill Gates supposed generosity pass with out comment.
The form that  of the donations by MS and Gates has historically been product promotion.
An example was a number of years ago MS through the Gates Foundation "Donated" generous amounts of software to Children's Museums. The kicker was that it was Windows only software exclusively produced by MS. Even if there was a Mac version of the software produced by MS they would not give that away or exchange it or even offer a discount. The upshot was with thousands of dollars of software sitting on the shelf the local Children's Museum switched from Mac's to Windows.
A very clever tax deductible product promotion by MS. If one reads the fine print on many of Gate's and MS "donations" you will find they come in the form of Windows products/hardware exclusively. That is not philanthropy but rather marketing with the US taxpayer subsidizing it because of the tax deductions that MS claims for its generosity.
I am reminded of growing up in Chicago when the press would launch an investigation into mob activities all of a sudden many local churches etc. would get donations from people of interest and they would be publicly exalted as Civic heros rather then the thugs they were. 

It is the same syndrome as Al Neuharth exhibited, After being the head of Gannet and using every method he could to monopolize and dumb down the news (Richard McCord's The Chain Gang: One Newspaper versus the Gannett Empire - Columbia: Uni of Missouri Press 1996) he takes his ill gotten gains and starts a Journalism foundation ( The Freedom Forum) to decry the evils he promoted in journalism, without ever admitting any guilt. 
So it is with robber barons, Mafioso's and retired dictators who when, in old age, they find the cold breath of natural mortality they donate to the church a portion of their ill gotten gains in hope of redeeming their reputation and purchasing forgiveness.
So it is with Gates and MS after 20 years of promoting an inferior product through the use of FUD ( Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) while stealing other peoples code ( i.e. Stacker, false error message with Windows using other then MS-Dos etc.etc) are now trying to buy respectability. Just like old John D. Rockefeller trying to appear beneficent with his very public campaign of handing out dimes to poor waifs after crushing so many to build Standard oil.
Interesting to note that only after the anti trust trail  is when MS and Gates decided, like the oil and tobacco companies, that a little money to grease the PR and political machine might erase the ugly truth. Remember this was the trail where where every, I repeat every, MS witness was discredited on the stand, including Mr. Gates during his deposition.


Lets not forget the money that MS poured into GW's campaign in 2000 in a successful effort to buy a lenient DoJ who promoted a minor slap on the wrist to MS. Do not forget the campaign scandal it was involved in by hiring future Bush apparachec, such as Ralph Reed, to keep them on tap for the Bush campaign without it being listed as a contribution or cost to the bush campaign. So lets make sure we add MS and Gates contribution to giving us 8 years of GW to the balance of their marketing "generosity".

So when citing MS and Gates generosity lets put it in perspective rather then simply buying the PR hype. 

http://nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/23/us/politics/AP-US-Census-Worker-Hanged.html

I Hope Michele Bachmann is proud of herself. remember her spreading lies and fear about the Census. (Bachmann Warns Of Link Between Census, Japanese Internment | TPMDC)

Don't leave Glenn Beck and his anti government rants out of the picture.

Or the GOP leadership who have spent 30 years promoting fear of the government based upon lies ( i.e. addled ronnie rayguns "gov. is the problem") 

Now this cynical destructive political; strategy is leading to more and more deaths.

If Rush Limbaugh can claim that Obama led to a fight on a school bus incited by shoving the "victim" shoving the other students books onto the floor then we can safely lay this resurgence of "Strange Fruit" (Strange Fruit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) in the so called Bible Belt best known for murder ( 355 Lynchings between 1865 and 1940), bigotry, ignorance (Home of the Creation "Museum"), and home to at least 11 hate groups ( SPLC) plus several self styled "militias"  on the hate mongers that are the G.O.P. , Faux news and right wing bloviators.

In this rancid stew of ignorance and hate it should be of no surprise that the anti government paranoia has been ratcheted up to level of murdering Government workers in response to the delusions promoted by the G.O.P., Faux news and associated nutcases. (i.e. Beck, Limbaugh, OLielly)

One has to wonder if lynching of Government workers is one of the principles promoted in private discussions at the recent "Value Voters Summit" with subjects such as "THUGOCRACY - FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY" or maybe this was just  an expression of the "New Masculinity" promoted at that recent hatefest.

Either way the paranoia based upon lies feeding ignorance and appealing to bigotry is coming home to roost with the ambush of Police by people worried about the loss of weapons they were obviously to stupid to own, the murder of Doctors by nutcases with Operation Rescue phone numbers on their dashboard, and now Census workers.

Thank You Michele Bachmann. I'm sure you'll send flowers.

http://susiemadrak.com/2009/09/23/11/28/a-scathingly-brilliant-idea-on-how-to-lobby-for-healthcare-reform/

This idea is great. From http://susiemadrak.com/
"I want every uninsured man and woman who comes down with swine flu to go sit in the waiting rooms of their elected representatives.

That's it. Just sit there - coughing. Throwing your used Kleenex in their trash receptacles. If they want us to suffer, they should have to look at at the logical consequences of their inaction. Tell them you're going to keep coming back until they manage to pass something that's actually going to help people instead of lining the pockets of the insurance companies.

If the weather gets cold, set up a tent in the parking lot, put a sign on it that says "Waiting Room: Waiting for Affordable Health Care" and call your local media."

The only thing I would add to it is to add the offices of Health Care Insurance Companies and Lobbyist to the places to visit.

Just walk in and state that you are interested in Health insurance and drag the conversation on as long as possible. That should be easy just imagine that you are a rethuglican in the Senate Finance committee and channel the obstructionalist in yourself.
For the Lobbyist just start asking questions.

NYT's "While some are prepared to write the obituary on our values and our movement, I believe we are on the brink of a great American awakening," RepresentativeMike Pence, Republican of Indiana, said at the summit, raising cheers from the crowd in the room. "I believe we are on the brink of a great American awakening. I can see it. I can feel it wherever I go."
Awakening's have been referred to by the christianist right of those periods in our history when the delusional gained political and social ascendency and sent our country and culture in reverse.
The first during the Colonial period ( 1720) fostered the belief in witchcraft and rejection of sanity ( Rationality) .
The 2nd awakening  (1790-1840) paralleled the rise of Nativism thats truest expression was found in the "Know Nothing" party. ( the obvious unaware truth of that party's name is to obvious  for fiction) A political movement founded on certain narrow delusional ( fundie religions ) , american exceptionalism and paranoia of nefarious plots by the "others" ( Papists, Jews, Freethinkers etc).
The Third Awakening, though less obvious and longer duration, gave us such things as Prohibition in the 20's and paralleled the rise of the hate theologies, culminating with Father Coughlin, the rise of the Christian KKK and american imperialism. ( South,and Central  America, Philippines, Hawaii, etc) 
Now having slammed on the brakes( versus simply being a drag in the normal course of events) to progress  of the US at least 3 times they are calling for another "Great Awakening" the goal of which is probably to race the theocracy of Iran to who can return to the 14th century first.
Beware the Elmer Gantry's are rising up, loading their tents and ready to sweep away science, literature, reason and humanity all in the name of the delusion. 
Creationism instead of Biology, Bigotry instead of ethics, Theocracy instead of Democracy and Exclusionism instead of inclusionism these are the "Values" these voters wish to bring to the rest of the world with their new "Awakening".
This is what the dog whistle is summoning.