In my final blog post for Journalism 201 I want to raise the controversial topic of Michael Moore.
Moore is a controversial figure with his radically left political views and is labeled as the devil by the right. This sort of rhetoric is simply unacceptable when it comes to Moore. The funny thing however is that the biggest supporter of his opponents is Moore himself. In fact he sent a check to the man who made a smear blog about him to help with his wife’s medical expenses. Moore believes in the First Amendment that he even supports his opponents.
I wish to bring up this topic because this weekend I finally wanted to see what the big fuss about Moore’s radically left beliefs was. So I saw two of his documentaries, “Sicko”, and “Capitalism: A Love Story”. I was amazed by his documentaries and how much he got it right. It amazes me how much the right hates him but then it hit me. It was all about fear, their fear of Moore so they slam him constantly. “Sicko” was an amazing documentary about America’s Health Care system. It showed how horrible it truly it is. He visited every Country in the West with a single payer health care system and showed how much better off they are then we are. They live longer and have lower infant mortality rates then us. This is even the case in Cuba. Therefore he brought 9/11 responders to Cuba to get health care because they were denied coverage by the corporate greed of the wealthy in the health care system. That is why a single payer system is the only true moral and just way to run health care and there is proof all around us just look at Canada! His documentary on capitalism tied into the corporate greed of the wealthy and how the rich are richer then ever in America and pointing out why that’s not a good thing. If you think Regan was actually good person I wouldn’t watch this movie because the truth about that slime ball is finally truly depicted in this documentary.
It kills me to see a hero like Moore slammed like he is constantly. He needs to be revered not humiliated. The left needs to keep this hero going.

Currently the sports season of 2010-2011 looks like it has the capability to be one of the most successful seasons for any sports city in recent history.
All four major sports teams in Boston have a legitimate shot at making a run in the playoffs of their respective sports and make a run at a championship.
First off is the New England Patriots. Right now there is no one better then the Patriots in the NFL with an 11-2 record and already clinching a playoff spot in the AFC playoffs. They have looked impressive the past two weeks beating the Jets 45-3 and the Bears 36-7. This is starting to look like the Patriot offense of 2007 simply unstoppable. Now I do not mean to jinx it by saying 2007 which is a season we are all trying to forget because overall its not the same team. That’s because especially on defense they are getting it done with newcomers or veterans no one else wanted which is more like the Super Bowl Winning seasons of the decade. This mixture spells for an unstoppable rest of the year from the Patriots.
The next thing to look forward too is the two teams playing at the TD Garden this winter. The Bruins and Celtics are looking impressive early in their respective seasons. Led by unstoppable goaltending from Tim Thomas the Bruins look prime for a run at the Stanley Cup this year. And of course despite all the media saying the Heat would dominate the Eastern Conference of the NBA it is in fact the Celtics on top. They will hit their dry spells due to their age and possible injuries but once this team gets to the playoffs beware because I can smell Banner 18!
But the sport we all have the most to look forward to this year is baseball once again. The Red Sox have made themselves relevant yet again in the MLB with their offseason signings of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. These two signings have made Red Sox Nation more excited for opening day then any other in recent history. Boston cares most about their Red Sox and once again Boston has a great team. They still need bullpen help but there is no doubt that they will get help there.
Is it possible? 4 Championships? Probably not but some hardware can be expected from this miracle season at the least.

Was anyone else mesmerized by the over eight-hour filibuster that Independent Bernie Sanders undertook Friday? I know I was! I was amazed to see someone in Washington actually stand up for the people and not the rich. Of course it only took a Socialist to do it.
Senator Sanders in an Independent from the State of Vermont. He calls himself a Socialist Democrat and caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. Friday Mr. Sanders stood up for these socialist ideals and finally there was an example of someone standing up for their beliefs in Washington.
Mr. Sanders stood up there for Eight straight hours with only one quick break and hammered the Republicans for their handling of this situation and for holding the Middle Class hostage. He strongly believes in tax cuts only for those making under $250,000 and he made that well known. His stance is backed up by a majority of Americans in all political parties. With all this power all the Democrats had to do was use the bully pulpit of the Presidency, public opinion, and their majorities in Congress to pass their tax cut plan. Of course the good old spineless Democrats did nothing of the sort and have put themselves in a horrible situation. Mr. Sanders is not about to cave on these ideals and he made this aware to all including his Democratic colleagues. Only time will tell if Mr. Sanders had any affect on Congress but he sure did on the American people. Twitter was flooded with statuses about the amazing filibuster taking place and people backing Mr. sanders. The people of twitter unfortunately don’t have the power good old Congress does. Therefore don’t expect anything good to come out of this.

As I am sure you have heard the talk of Washington is what to do with the expiring Bush tax cuts. As of now the Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of December and tax rates would summit to the rates of the Clinton administration. This is one possible outcome that no one wants while we are in the midst of a terrible economy. It is accepted by all that the taxes for the bottom 98% cannot be raised because these people simply do not have the ability to undertake a tax raise at the moment. They do not have the money to pay them. Like I said this is not a debated issue and is wanted by all. The question is what the heck we do with the other 2%!
Currently the Democrats want to keep tax cuts at the same rate for everyone up to $250,000 and then for the top 2% the rates would raise. This plan means that everyone would get a tax cut even Millionaires up to the first $250,000 of their income. This plan seems reasonable and just but there is a couple of problems: Democrats have shown no spine in passing this bill, the Democrats only have 58 votes in the senate, and the Republicans refuse to vote on any bill that does not extend all Bush tax cuts. In fact the Republicans refuse to pass any bill until all Bush tax cuts are passed and they have the power to do this because of how our Senate is set up where you need 60 votes to pass something (which mean little if anything gets done in the Senate). Therefore President Obama came to a deal with Republicans to extend all Bush tax cuts for 2 years and also pass unemployment benefits for 13 months. This bill also includes many taxes meant to help the middle class. The President was unfortunately put in this position because of failures by both him and Democratic leadership in Congress to get their tax bill passed when they had the votes to pass it. In fact Speaker to be John Boehner said if he faced no other choice he would vote for the Democrats plan. The problem of course is that the Democrats gave them another choice.
Therefore Democrats have two choices pass this bill so they can get other bills such as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Start, the Dream Act, and Health Care for 9/11 responders passed or stick to their principles. If they stick to their principles that would likely mean no compromise would be made and the tax rates would all increase to Clinton era rates and none of their other legislative promises would pass either. The Democrats have put themselves in a loose-loose situation. What would you do cause frankly I am glad I am not the one who has to vote on this!

Media as we know it is constantly evolving. Media is no longer simply just the newspaper or T.V news; it now includes blogs and more interactive websites. One of my favorite interactive websites that I go on constantly is CNN.com. Do not get me wrong I am just as bored by CNN T.V. news, but in terms of web pages it is by far the best in the business. CNN is an unbiased news organization that just presents facts which makes for a much better and informative web page.
In terms of the web page itself it offers videos side by side with the hardcopy of the news story so both forms of media can be utilized. Also there are many opinion blogs on such things as politics and lifestyles. The web page is simple to follow and offers many alternative links. It is great to use for any paper a student needs to write and is need of unbiased news.
My favorite part of the website was its coverage of the 2010 Mid-Term Elections. There were interactive maps of the Senate, House and Governor races in the elections showing up to the minute election results and the states themselves were shaded the color of the party that led in the state. It was a very effective tool to use and it was so easy and in depth. It gave me insight into the election that I never had experienced before.
CNN.com is the crème of the crop when it comes to interactive new media in this day in age.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20101104/US.Bipartisan.Challenge/

With Tuesday’s elections America went exactly as we expected, towards the right yet again.
The Republicans won back the House of Representatives much like the Republican surge of 1994. In fact, the number of gains was actually higher this year then back in 94′. The downside for Republicans and a big sigh of relief for us liberals, were some major victories for Democrats in the Senate. The Democrats thankfully were able to keep the majority in the Senate including a huge victory in Nevada for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over far right “tea-party” (lol) candidate Sharon Angle. The Democrats will keep a majority with help from two Independents who caucus with Democrats by the count 53-47.
As for my beautifully liberal state that I call home, Massachusetts, it was a clean sweep for the Democrats. All ten House of Representative seats stayed blue including the hotly contested 10th Congressional Seat on the South Shore where newcomer Bill Keating won, taking over for the retiring Bill Delahunt. This was a huge victory for Massachusetts because all seats in the House will remain in Democratic power. Also incumbent Governor Deval Patrick beat out the Big Dig funder Charlie Baker, keeping the Governor’s House in Democratic control.
Tuesday turned out to be a huge day for the Democratic Establishment in Massachusetts, the Republicans in the House, and the Democrats in the Senate.
What does this mean? If you are pissed off at politicians now imagine where you will be in two years! With Congress being controlled by two different parties nothing in the Legislative branch will get done. Unfortunately in the political climate we live in there is no such thing as compromise. The House will pass conservative plans and they will stop dead in their tracks once they hit the Senate. It is a shame with things like Health Care Reform that we could not pass it with bipartisan efforts. It was an issue we all believed needs fixing but nothing could get done with bipartisan efforts. What should have happened? The Democrats should have got a public option and Republicans get tort reform and everyone is happy and we put differences aside and actually put the people first, the ones in danger of death due to the Health Care System that is currently controlled by corporate greed. Unfortunately that would have not been enough for Republicans who once again put their precious pennies before the struggling families that make up the middle class. Of course this goes both ways. The Democrats are now in the position of the Republicans in which they can do nothing and blame it all on the other party and get reelected!
This is how Washington works people. Our Founding Fathers made it impossible for anything to get done in America and they have succeeded. Nothing can get done in Washington unless if someone has the majority and the same will continue in this political climate of pure partisan politics.
If you are pissed now, the 2012 elections might really bring about the end of the world as we know it! Maybe the movie 2012 was on to something?!