If you told the Beefboy to create a blueprint for destroying America, I’d do something like this:

• Allow illegal immigrants to flow into the country and use resources they are not paying for to stress the system
• Have Senator Barney “the Hutt” Frank force the banks to make loans they can’t possibly cover
• When the banks fail give them nearly a trillion dollars and not require them to pay off their debt with it
• Pass several trillion dollar “stimulus” bills that’s actually a political payoff instead of real stimulus and is paid for by printing dollars
• Pass a health care bill that will cripple small business and skyrocket unemployment
• Pass a cap and trade bill (based on a complete fantasy) that will destroy small business and send us into a great depression
• Use the media to propagate your lies and distract the public with stories of Michael Jackson, Balloon Boys and Tiger Woods
• Use regulatory power and the pulpit of the White House to control the internet, talk radio and cable news, to squash dissent
• Use regulatory power to prevent local energy resources from being used and create a fake energy crisis
• Treat terrorism like a police matter and give foreign terrorists the full legal benefits of an American citizen
• Wait for rampant unemployment, a weak dollar, high energy prices, a press with no teeth, and a serious terrorist attack, to declare an emergency, scuttle the Constitution and create a socialist totalitarian utopia…

Looks like we’re on the right path to create North Cuba!

On Sunday, Meet the Press featured Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius talking about the Health Care legislation that is currently in congress. What the Obama Administration and congress tells us is that the purpose of the legislation is to cut health care costs. Okay. Good.

When “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory pointed out, three times, that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that the Health Care legislation will do nothing to cut costs, and may actually drive costs up, Kathleen Sebelius’ only response was this legislation was a work-in-progress and that we would get to the cost-cutting down the road. Then, in the same fucking interview, Sebelius stressed how important it was to pass this legislation AS FAST AS POSSIBLE to help the economy by cutting costs!

Uhmmm… didn’t we just establish that the Health Care legislation DOESN’T HELP CUT COSTS?!!!

Have you noticed that everything… EVERYTHING, is now justified by telling you that we desperately need new legislation to save the economy? And more importantly, it must be done as quickly as possible. The Omnibus Government Spending bill had to be passed as quick as possible for the sake of the economy. The Stimulus Spending bill had to be passed as quick as possible for the sake of the economy. The Waxman/Markey Cap and Trade Tax bill had to be passed as quick as possible for the sake of the economy. Now, the Health Care Reform bill has to be passed as quick as possible to save us from the evil economy.

All of the bills I just mentioned are designed to do anything but help the economy. The Cap and Trade bill alone could decimate the economy by placing the largest tax on the backs of Americans in the history of the country (and it affects everyone from the dirty poor to the filthy rich). The Omnibus bill saddled the country with a budget-busting spending spree. The Stimulus bill was touted as the only thing that could save us from having over 8% unemployment, and now we’re well on our way to 10% unemployment nationwide. Do you see a pattern Beefanatics?

In March, Chief of Staff Raum Emanuel said “You never want a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quickly followed Emanuel’s statement by saying, “Never waste a good crisis,” in front of the European Parliament. The Obama Administration isn’t even hiding the fact that they seek to use fear to pass whatever their pet legislation is! Solving the problem is NOT THE GOAL! Taking away your liberties and grabbing unprecedented power is the overarching goal of everything that is coming out of congress and being signed by President Obama.

And what’s the rush? Simply put, our leaders know that we’re not paying attention right now and that everyone is basking in the glow of a new President, with oodles of charisma. The press is happy because they got their guy. People are more concerned with Michelle Obama’s toned arms, and Michael Jackson dying and an ugly woman who has a pretty voice on Britain’s Got Talent. Yes, we’re concerned with the economy, but we assume that our leaders have our best interests at heart, so we let them do their thing while they steal our freedom right under our noses. The longer they wait to pass the Health Care legislation the more likely that we will wake up and cry foul… in fact, it’s starting to happen already.

I know some people don’t want to believe that their leaders are on a power-grab and using fear to accomplish their goals. I know that some people want to believe that I’m only picking on our current leaders, because that would allow them to ignore me and the facts. However, using fear to justify restriction of our civil liberties and grab power has been around long before Obama. “The War on Drugs,” established by the Nixon Administration, and carried through until today, has given lawmakers all kinds of new powers that are explicitly not allowed by the Constitution. “The War on Terror,” established during the Bush Administration, has been used to justify vast expanded powers over the populace and shady international policy. Do you really feel safer with Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, or do you feel lighter in the wallet and more harassed than ever?

Now the pendulum has swung the other direction and the Obama Administration wants to use fear to control business, energy and health care. These leaders are so brazen they are actually telling you straight out that they are using this crisis to steal your liberties! I don’t care if its conservative pet projects or liberal pet projects, lying to us for the purpose of destroying our civil rights and expanding the powers of government is never acceptable.

The next time you hear the talking points “economic crisis” or “we have to pass this legislation as quickly as possible,” then please take a moment and look at what they are proposing. If it grows government or gives them expanded powers over some aspect of your life, then it’s complete bullshit. It’s a power grab.

Just a simple reminder from your friendly neighborhood Beefboy!

The way we consume media has changed radically over the past ten years and we’re only halfway to where we’re going. Where are we headed with television, movies and music, and how will that affect all of us? Sit back, relax, enjoy, and let the Beefboy do, what the Beefboy does best, and that’s break it right on down for you!

Last weekend I finished watching the complete Firefly series on DVD. As you probably know, Firefly got cancelled early in the run, so the complete series is only about half a season. I found myself wanting to talk to someone about how good Firefly was and what a tragedy that it was cut so short, but let’s face the facts, Firefly was axed in 2002 and I’m very late to that party.

When I was growing up, movies, music and television content was delivered at a specific time. If you wanted to see a movie or watch an episode on TV, then you lined up and viewed that feed right along with everyone else in the nation. We had a Shared Experience that could be analyzed obsessively near the coffee pot, or the flag pole, the next morning.

Now, with the explosion of cable television, the internet, satellite radio, On Demand movies, Netflix, the DVR, video games and the iPhone, there is more selection than ever and content is increasingly delivered at the whim of the consumer. The Shared Experience has nearly died due to the fragmentation of media and the method of delivery. While I was watching Firefly on DVD, others were listening to classic Led Zeppelin songs on their iPod, or playing Halo online, or streaming Tom Baker’s Dr. Who episodes on Netflix, or a myriad of other available options. What we have now is what Wired Magazine Editor in Chief calls “The Long Tail,” which is offering the most obscure content, right next to the most popular. Amazon.com is the poster boy for The Long Tail.

I want to point out that I love the new options, in fact, I want much more! Some movies have already opened concurrently in the theaters, online and on DVD, and there will continue to be a push in that direction. Big network television is in a freefall and will do anything to hold on to precious viewers, including offering their episodes online, on demand, and quickly through DVDs and Blueray. The music war has already been waged and Apple iTunes is the winner. I’m not sure if the consumer won the music war however. I don’t like any one entity in charge of large tracts of the media landscape.

Recently while the world stopped and everyone mourned the passing of Michael Jackson, the world also mourned the death of the Shared Experience. In the early 80’s Jackson’s rise was largely due to an upstart cable channel called Music Television and the Shared Experience of watching Thriller every hour on the hour along with everyone else in the world. Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk on the Motown 25th Anniversary Special was seen at the same time by the vast majority of the television audience. That experience could not be duplicated today. Take your biggest young star right now, say Kanye West, and recognize that Michael Jackson sold 35 times more copies of Thriller than Kanye West’s last release. That’s the difference between the Shared Experience and the fractured media we have today.

The end result of all of these changes is that we’re going to have the entire world’s media content, in the format we choose, and at any moment we wish. That’s a great thing, and something well worth fighting for. However, we have to realize that as we achieve individual media nirvana, we sacrifice the opportunity to feel the connection with our fellow man through Shared Experiences, and the last thing we need right now is another reason to feel alone in this world.

Anyone want to talk about Firefly?

Dig it!
- The Beefboy