Miq2xu has an excellent post up at RD’s place, as per. We’re still working the Broun Prowl, and have added a new one. CONTACT THE FEC COMMISSIONERS TO DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION INTO OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS !!! Here are 4 of the 6 commissioner’s emails. CommissionerBauerly@fec.gov, CommissionerPetersen@fec.gov, CommissionerWalther@fec.gov, CommissionerHunter@fec.gov Thanks to texas tigress for the PROWL info.

To All Pumas Who Have Served. TODAY’S PROWL: A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship. Contact Congressman Broun Email form http://broun.house.gov/email.shtml Phone: (202) 225-4101 Fax: (202) 226-0776 Tell him “Thank you for fighting to protect our Liberties and Democracy” and add WBDs letter with other info on Obama’s plans to corrupt our Constitution. Be sure to mention that you’re a member of Puma PAC (www.pumapac.org). Also , forward WBDs link to our media quick list . it’s been on the AP so they will report on it . http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRxZox4GFoIweckPDP1oRhKBlHOwD94CCDU00 Credit to Texas Tigress and wontbackdown for this PROWL. Now, get PROWLING!

Madamab wrote a thoughtful and spot-on piece today about the opportunity we now have to grow our movement into a permanent, powerful voting bloc. How do we do that and what do we do as we’re doing it are the questions I’ve been obsessing about since last Tuesday. I’m happy today (alright, I’m ALMOST happy today) because I’m beginning to understand the importance of our current position. Yes, we are in the ashes of the Democratic Party. As Democracy in Suffrage pointed out today, it was DEMOCRATS who gave the win to Proposition Hate. It was DEMOCRATS who turned their back on public financing, AND women, and the working class. We were the avant-garde in this election. Pumas have known for a LONG time how broken our party is and how PERNICIOUS the media is. We weren’t a big enough bloc to change the outcome of the election, but now we have one precious asset: TIME. We have time to build and grow. Time to put our talents and skills to use for our movement. Time to listen, learn, and lead. As the Precious Presidency unravels (as I’m pretty sure it will), we will be building a media and political presence that will be a refuge and a resource to the increasingly huge number of citizens who are outraged and disillusioned by the Fraud. Texas Tigress pointed out to me today that there are still MILLIONS of Demcocrats who voted for Clinton and either tepidly supported or outright rejected The One. Let’s start with ourselves. We’re still here, and my guess is we’ll keep growing as more and more Democrats come back to the traditional values of our party. Shucks, there are probably enough Americans out there sickened today by the idea of Michelle Obama as the Mom In Chief (her new ROLE according to the NYT today. OMG, pass the airsick bag.) to triple our ranks. SO, Step One is to grow the Pumasphere. There are zillions of talented and committed Pumas reading these words who have something of value to contribute. I’ve updated the blogroll and will continue to do so. But there’s much more YOU can do. Sheri and I talked last night about the new Puma Coalition — similar to the Just Say No Deal coalition which formed after Clinton’s suspension. Please visit it at www.votepuma.com and add your site to the blogroll by sending Sheri an email. Here are the main areas we are going to focus on for the next year. 1. Media Critique. Chris CRACKLE Matthews says it’s the job of the SCFP to “help” obama. That’s a terrifying statement. Our job as Pumas is to wake people up to just how terrifying it is. We’re working on a Media Tatters website to serve as an alternative and a resource for those fleeing the CRACKLE. We need help. Will you help by reading, watching, and listening to the SCFP and alerting us to CRACKLE? The website is almost finished, but until then, please post links to CRACKLE in the CRACKLE Forum in the left sidebar. 2. President Precious Critique. The SCFP Love Fest will continue unabated. The Race Card WILL be played. The Puma Movement will be a constant thorn in the side of The Precious. And don’t accuse me of being a Hater. I’m not a hater. If obama becomes an effective, transformational, and inspiring president, well that’s great. I’m not holding my breath, and there needs to be someone and someplace where the Rose Colored Love Glasses are not worn. That’s us. 3. Democratic Party Reform. This is our most challenging job. Boy oh boy are we up against it in this department. The DONC is now firmly ensconced and the media is SWOONING, so it will take time to build leverage for this. The only entrenched power with the means and the motivation to help us is the Republican Party, and um, no thanks. SO, it’s up to us. This effort will build more slowly as the dust settles and we seek out and find allies. What kind of skills and contributions are needed? 1. Researching 2. Writing 3. Organizing 4. Fundraising The next weeks will be exciting ones as we start to pull our act together and get going. What can YOU help with? Let us know in comments. And in the short term, Puma PAC will be participating in the Proposition Hate protests scheduled for November 15th. Please provide any links you have to information about the protests in comments. And here’s a happy song to make you smile. I’ll be posting a Happy Song every day until I get a damn smile out of every last one of yous!

But finally we get to what this hate speech is really all about: Maybe next time around — because we all know this isn’t over — the gay community can demonstrate the capacity and willingness to change that America demonstrated when it went to the polls on Nov. 4. Black gays are depending on their white counterparts to finally “get it.”  This isn’t about civil rights, or gay rights, or the black church. This is about revenge.   Jasmyne is angry at gay people like me, correction  white gay people like me, who had the audacity to not vote for His Preciousness.  See, according to her, this election was about paying for the sins of the past, and how dare we not comply.  The price we pay is having our rights denied.  It doesn’t matter that the gay community did overwhelmingly support Obama, the fact that a good chunk saw that Obama was a homophobe and didn’t vote for him is enough to sentence us all to second class citizenship.

Read the rest of Gary’s righteousness HERE.

Riverdaughter introduces us to a person she calls the “second most powerful woman in the world” — Sheila Blair, current head of the FDIC. Ever heard of her? Me neither. RD brings up the possibility of Blair being considered for Treasury Secretary.

“She’s a very smart, very tough administrator who was right on top of the bank mergers of recent months. Democratic Cogresscritters like her. She’s also a Republican but one who is friendly to regulation.  Weird.  I guess such creatures aren’t mythical after all. So, here we have a well-respected, pro-regulation, Republican administrator who is also a woman. Will Obama go with Bair for Sec. of Treasury?  And what will it say about the transformative nature of Obama’s presidency if he defaults to Summers, a deregulator who thinks women aren’t smart enough to compete with men in math and science?”

We’ve found ourselves in very strange territory the last few weeks — defending the Republican vice-presidential candidate, working for an obama loss on November 4th (and if you think Pumas weren’t a force at the polls, you’re dreaming. But 2-3 million of us weren’t enought to hold back the new voter tsunami (click on this link if only for the cartoon)), and now regrouping to fight the media and investigate the fraud and corruption in obama’s campaign. And to be a skeptical, critical, and honest voice on the internet regarding the obama presidency. The So Called Free Press (SCFP) sure isn’t going to do that job. Crackle! has already told us flat out that his new job is to HELP the obadministration, and the rest of the SCFP is still swooning. So, what do you all think? Fighting the media is an ex-partisan job — that’s why we defended Sarah Palin with absolutely NO hesitation. So is being skeptical, critical, and honest about the administration. But following and contributing to investigations into the obadministration will necessarily involve encounters with Republicans, sometimes close encounters. Supporting a candidate like Sheila Blair for Treasury is not something a Democratic political activist group normally does. Thoughts?

• Foreign Policy FUMBLE! So which is it? Are we putting a missile defense system in Poland like their President claims (and for which reason Russia re-deployed short-range missiles to the Polish border) or are we NOT, Barack? Come on now, you don’t have much TIME! The whole world is watching! The deliberative, professorial style doesn’t work so well with peeps like Pooty-Poot and I’madinnerjacket. Yeah, stand back Vlad, or I’ll hit you with my NUANCE! Actually relativistic inclusiveness on the part of a rookie President Precious probably works EXTREMELY well. For them. (h/t to SM77)
• CHANGE! Well, no — not really. Larry Summers, sexist pig and inside-the-beltway uber-dude is on the Short and Special List to be treasury secretary. CHANGE! Well, no — not really. Do the Summers PROWL here.
• RIDICULOUS. I mean, come on. We had to live for 8 years with THIS. Can’t we for once have a gosh darn President who doesn’t need to constantly be showing off how big his britches are? I’m cringing in anticipation of this:

• Oh, and Christmas is CANCELLED. Time to break out the glue guns and crocheting needles — it’s gonna be a Home Made Holiday this year!

More? Read Prez-Elect Watch: Day 3

It tells me you’re a putz. “So, I think, while I would prefer to believe otherwise, I guess my experience with my two and a half year old twin daughters who were not given dolls and who were given trucks, and found themselves saying to each other, look, daddy truck is carrying the baby truck, tells me something.” — Larry Summers, in the address he gave at Harvard on the lack of women in the highest ranks of science and engineering. Summers was later forced to resign as president of Harvard in the resulting firestorm. He is now at the top of a very short list to become obama’s Treasury Secretary. The reason women don’t advance in competitive professional environments is because they’re just not willing to squelch their gooey desire to spend ALL THEIR TIME WITH THEIR CHILDREN. Which explains why Sarah Palin is a freak. And why Hillary Clinton is a cold bitch. Did you know that the intellectual inferiority of black people was considered scientifically beyond reproach until well into the 20th Century? Would obama appoint someone to his cabinet who claimed eugenics has a basis in scientific fact? SATURDAY PROWL

BE SURE TO INCLUDE OUR WEB ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENTS AND EMAILS. http://www.pumapac.org email vjarrett@barackobama.com with a cc to prowl@pumapac.org PROWL: 1. comment at the Globe article — tell them sexist junk scientists have no business in the cabinet. http://www.pumapac.org 2. email vjarrett@barackobama.com and tell her sexist junk scientists have no business in the cabinet. http://www.pumapac.org 3. cc your jarrett email to prowl@pumapac.org

Auto industry posts “staggering losses.” Joblessness soars. Colleges cutting back budgets by billions. Even Berkshire Hathaway is pinched — income  fell a whopping 77% in October for Warren Buffet’s legendary cash machine. And who did we elect? A rookie with no record and no promise. But he’s getting a PUPPY!! Yay! I guess we still are the country that elected George W. Bush. Twice.

Anyone else out there in the Reality Based Community scratching their heads over this picture?

UNEMPLOYMENT LEAPS! “Squeezed by tight credit and plunging spending power, the American economy is losing jobs at the fastest pace since 2001, and the losses could accelerate to levels not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s.” PALIN SMEAR IS A LIE. Thank you to Greta Van Sustern, winner of today’s Puma Free Press Award. Congratulations Greta! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We were remiss yesterday in not paying attention to the “news” from the So-Called Free Press (SCFP) about Prez Precious’ first and second days as the Anointed One, so let’s back up.

President-Elect Watch: Day 1 & 2

PARTISAN, TRIANGULATING ATTACK DOG NAMED CHIEF OF STAFF. Who is Rahm Emmanuel? Isn’t he that guy Teh BOIZ HATED with the passsion of 10,000 suns just a few short months ago? The WHIPLASH over at Teh BOIZ’ places is going to be pretty hilarious to watch in the coming weeks and months as Emmanuel, Pelosi, Reid, Matthews (formerly known as Tweety to them), and all the other Dems they loved to loathe suddenly become the Superest People Ever! OOps. Progressives should have listened to Joe Cannon. Welcome to Republican Lite Time, obamabots! TRASHING SARAH PALIN. No one in the obama movement or the DONC, or the Repubs for that matter, will stop. Beating up on women as a group is SO MUCH FUN! They will merely repeat lies like stones thrown at a huddling, soon to be dead 13 year old girl. Think that’s over the top? You’re on the wrong blog. BUT CHRIS MATTHEWS WANTS TO HELP. Thanks Chris. The nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Oh, and the Stock Market Tanked. And Russia Moved Missiles to the NATO Border. The OBAMA EFFECT!  Lovin it yet?

This is classic. What’s even more incredible than Matthews arguing that his role as a journalist is to “make [Obama's presidency] work successfully” is how long it took Scarborough to jump on it. Later in the clip Matthews says his job is to “debate the issues.” Hello? No it’s not! That’s the Republicans job, or the people’s job. Journalists and reporters are not supposed to be taking part in the debate — their job is to report and analyze, offering conflicting, confounding, and as much background information as possible so WE can debate and understand the facts. But Matthews would rather make sure that Obama’s tenure has CRACKLE! Holy smokes. It’s going to be a LONG four years.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, you know what? I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work, and I think that – JOE SCARBOROUGH: Is that your job? You just talked about being a journalist! MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country.

SCARBOROUGH: Your job is the make this presidency work? MATTHEWS: To make this work successfully. This country needs a successful presidency.

Some random facts to think about instead of watching TV.  

• If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
• The numbers ‘172? can be found on the back of the U.S. $5 dollar bill in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.
• President Kennedy was the fastest random speaker in the world with upwards of 350 words per minute.
• In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.
• Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.
• The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottles represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had.
• In the early days of the telephone, operators would pick up a call and use the phrase, “Well, are you there?”. It wasn’t until 1895 that someone suggested answering the phone with the phrase “number please?”
• The surface area of an average-sized brick is 79 cm squared.
• Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.
• The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
• It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 at the time the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.
• Karoke means “empty orchestra” in Japanese.
• The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
• The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.

“So, this enormous and unprecedented turnout for Obama was only unprecedented for a Democrat. It amounted to 4.5 million more votes than John Kerry, and only 1.5 million more than Bush. The PUMA factor is being estimated at between 2.7 million and 2.9 million, and we must not forget the role of the much-investigated ACORN in registering all those new voters, some as many as 72 times each. As usual, stories of election fraud will be suppressed by the corporate media, since their favored candidate has won once again; but I suspect that ACORN contributed greatly to those surprising numbers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. In any case, the PUMA numbers were very close to matching the “massive turnout” numbers for Obama.” Read the rest HERE. I’m tired of asking you to be wonderful to each other. Be fucking awful to each other. That’s an excellent plan.

On Tuesday a wave of Democratic voters in California helped do two things: elect Obama president AND outlaw gay marriage in their state. Many gay women and men, as well as their supporters in the straight community, worked intensely to elect Obama in California. Their feelings of regret and betrayal are just beginning to surface and it is painful to witness. At Puma PAC, we are not surprised. We KNEW obama and his followers would never stand up for the Bill of Rights, and we were right. From his courting of McLurkin and other evangelicals, to his own embarrassing fumbles in interviews with the gay press, Obama has shown himself to be a political opportunist of the most shallow and callous variety. The passage of Proposition 8 is a disgrace to the Democratic Party. That DEMOCRATS helped pass it is both unconscionable and completely at odds with their own supposed platform. According to exit polls, 87% of African American voters, the vast majority of them Democrats, voted in favor of the ban. Gay rights are CIVIL rights. They are the SAME rights that are enshrined in our BILL OF RIGHTS, precious to each and every American citizen. It does not matter if any individual person or any religious organization believes that gay marriage is immoral. That opinion is as irrelevant to our constitutional rights as the Islamic belief in the legal subjugation of women. People of the Muslim faith are free in this country to believe in Sharia law if they so choose, but they better not start trying to FIND that subjugation in MY bill of rights. Gay people are right. When ANY American citizen is denied the FULL benefits of the Bill of Rights then my own freedoms, and those of my family, are in jeopardy. Who is to say that in 50 years a Muslim majority in some states won’t be able to force my grand daughters to cover themselves in a sheet when they go outside? Who is to say that a Muslim majority of citizens won’t VOTE for a change in the constitutions of California or Michigan so that it aligns more closely with the Koran or Islamic values? The foundational document of Democracy in the United States is the CONSTITUTION. Not the Bible, not the Talmud, and not the Koran. So Christians may feel safe today because THEIR religious text happens to be the one the majority of Americans believe in, but I don’t think that’s wise. Other religions gain popularity and new adherents every year in this country. One hundred years ago the population of Catholics in the U.S. was 17 million. Today there are 65 million. Until 1940 the number of Muslims in the United States was too small to count. Today there are around 3 million (8 million according to less reliable sources within the Muslim community). Every time we open the door of Democracy to religious orthodoxy we close the circle tighter around Freedom.  And before we know it we will have choked Liberty to death. The Founding Fathers were radical thinkers. Many, if not most, of them were very close to what we would call atheists today. They believed in a Creator, but are very vague on the details, and they feared the Tyranny of Religion as much as the Tyranny of Kings. They codified in LAW the foundational PERMANENCE of freedom for citizens. They provided us a RADICAL mechanism for the continuous enlargement of a free Democratic society.  Hemming in the Bill of Rights is a dangerous step toward Tyranny and NO AMERICAN should support efforts to choke our freedoms. The Constitution is a RADICAL DOCUMENT, and those who defend it are Radicals. Like me. When I said that Puma PAC is a home for the homeless, I didn’t mean for the Sad, or the Meek, or the Sweet — although sad, sweet, and meek people are welcome. Puma PAC is a home for Defenders of the Constitution — radicals like Thomas Jefferson, Alice Paul, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The tragedy of today, exacerbated by the tragedy of Propostion 8, is that there are SO MANY homeless defenders of the Constitution in our beautiful country today.

We’ve always believed Obama was unready to lead the country. Even if he HADN’T cheated, lied, and depended on the corruption of the DONC and the media to hand him the presidency, he STILL would have been a lousy candidate. Sarah Palin has more true leadership in her pretty left pinkie than Obama has in his whole, whole, oh I don’t know what. His whole everything. I said I wouldn’t drink the koolaid, and I’m not going to start now. Obama faces enormous challenges with limited abilities. Chris Matthews can’t hold his hand when he negotiates with Congress or with foreign leaders. He can’t BUY his way to a successful presidency, and it’s difficult to imagine he will succeed. Most of his followers in the blogosphere are so addicted to hate that they’re not going to know what to do with themselves for the next four years. With both houses of Congress AND the White House in DONC hands I predict they’ll start attacking and cannibalizing their own leaders within the week. Tags says it’s already started over at the Democratic Underbelly (no link to Swamp Misogyny, sorry). As far as I’m concerned, Obama’s on his own. I don’t intend to waste my precious anger on a fraud and an empty suit for four years of my life. If he succeeds at becoming an effective leader and a transformational president, bully for him. But I’m not going to hold my breath. It may sound silly, but we have bigger fish to fry. Starting with this. Sarah Palin is being VICIOUSLY attacked from all sides, Democrats and Republicans AND the media, natch. With the notable and noble exception of our new hero Greta Van Sustern (my respect for her grows every day), the media is playing “Let’s Watch the Woman Get Beat!” And in comments this morning I learned from Taggles that Sarah Palin wants to take on the media. Here’s part of what she told a reporter on her way back to Alaska:

“I want to make sure that Americans do understand that there is a little bit of disappointment in my heart about the world of journalism today.

And I don’t want any individual journalist to take it personally but–I have such great respect for the role of the media in our democracy, it is a cornerstone, it allows the checks and balances. But only when there is fairness and objectivity in the reporting. And I want to make sure that Americans can have great faith in that aspect of our society, the media. So whatever I can do there to help and to be able to allow credence to be given to the media, I want to help in that respect. That’s where I would start. As a journalist, receiving a journalism degree, my foundation is again, with great respect for what the vocation is all about. I want to help restore some credibility there.”

Between Sarah Palin and Greta Van Sustern, we Pumas have TWO powerful women who believe, as we do, that the media, the UNFREE press, is at the heart of our problem. Read Riverdaughter today to see that she also agrees.

Our first post-election PROWL is to send a note of support and congratulations to Governor Palin, AND to continue to support Greta. Spend some time today blogging at Greta Wire. Invite like minded commenters over there to join us. Puma PAC is EX-PARTISAN now. Not post-partisan (post-partisan is a synonym for post-constitutional and post-democracy and we are NOT going there) and not bi-partisan (both major parties are majorly compromised today). We are EX-PARTISAN, which means we are working on issues OUTSIDE of party politics. We are working DIRECTLY on the public institutions that have abused and corrupted their power in order to keep the people divided and weak: the media, both parties, and Congress. Drop our web address in comments so other active citizens can learn what we’re doing and join us. ALL are welcome: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents (and anyone else, including members of the UFO Party). Any American who feels politically homeless today and shut out from the process should read THIS and join us.

PROWL: Send a fax to Governor Palin and call her office today. Lady Hawke tracked down the contact information. Tell her how proud we all are of her and how we are dismayed at the double standard and sexist onslaught that was unleashed on her. We want to help her with her mission of restoring credibility to the media, and we want her to help us. Be sure to mention that you are a member of Puma PAC, and invite her to visit us, maybe even join! Gov. Sarah Palin Alaska State Capitol Building Third Floor P.O. Box 110001 Juneau, AK 99811-0001 Phone (907) 465-3500 Fax (907) 465-3532

HOUSEKEEPING: I’ve added three discussion forums to the site and will be working to add to and improve them. You can enter the FORUMS through the tab at the top of the page or by clicking on the links in the left sidebar. Please check them out and let me know in comments what you think. ALSO, we continue to need funds if we want to grow. Thank you VERY much to the many Pumas who have answered the call for help in the last 2 days. Please help us grow by making a contribution today, every little bit helps. And don’t forget to JOIN Puma PAC if you haven’t yet. It’s fun, easy, and free.

Watching the crowds celebrating Tuesday night in New York and Chicago I couldn’t help but smile and feel happiness for their elation. They see their struggle in the face of Barack Obama. His election is a victory of historic proportion for black Americans and a struggle that is 300 years old. They were deeply joyous and I wanted to share their joy. I was moved by it — how could anyone not be? I wanted to share their joy. But I can’t. We didn’t have a candidate in this race and even if Obama had been defeated I wouldn’t have felt HAPPY. I would have been proud of the country for not falling prey to a cult of personality and a $600,000,000 dollar marketing campaign. I can’t congratulate Obama because he cheated and used fraud to win. I can’t congratulate that and I won’t endorse it. Watching the celebration I thought of Hillary and Sarah Palin and I realized the final glass ceiling is still firmly in place today. Unbudged, unbroken. Worse, a vision came to me of an alternate reality where Hillary had been allowed to be the nominee and had won the presidential election last night. Would there have been dancing in the streets? Would women have filled the parks and public squares to cry tears of relief and elation? Would the news commenters have reported in voices full of emotion and respectful homage to our great success? And the answer is no. Profoundly no. The celebrations would have been small and private.  We would have celebrated, of course, but we would have done it quietly. Our joy would have been hemmed on all sides by the implacable rejection of our presence in the public sphere, and the relentless undermining of our insistence on being as free and as powerful as men. And so we are homeless today. The Democratic Party is no longer our home and the Republican Party never was. But we are not alone. There really ARE millions of us. But we don’t have the habit of being free and acting together as a force. That must change. Puma PAC goes on. We are officially EX-PARTISAN now. Not Democrats and not Republicans.  There are millions of unhappy Republicans and Independents today of course. We’ve met many of them here in the last several weeks. As of today, ALL are welcome to be a part of Puma PAC. Our mission has not changed, except for one thing — we are no longer working to reform the Democratic Party. Our job is bigger than that, as we learned last night. We are working to reform the ENTIRE political landscape, including both of the major parties and all of our public institutions, especially the media. I invite every American to join us. If you believe in the fundamental preciousness of democracy and our constitution, you are a Puma. If you believe EVERY American deserves the chance to compete fairly and fully in whatever arena they choose, you are a Puma. If you believe our political process has been OVERRUN by dirty money and influence, you are a Puma. If you believe the media is fatally corrupted and America needs a free and functioning press, you are a Puma. If you believe political discussion in this country has become a frenzied hate-fest that divides the people and makes us weak, and you want to help change that, you are a Puma. Join us. The only way we will beat $600 million dollars is with 20 million people. People who are decent and brave and willing to fight and to work. People who believe in fair play, honesty, integrity, and honor. If Barack Obama had been a good and honorable man, if he had fairly won his election, I would have been dancing in the streets along with my black fellow and sister Americans. But he is not and he did not. And so I cannot. Our struggle is bigger today than we had hoped it might be. We now have a higher hill to climb. That’s okay with me. I’m a woman and I’m used to struggle. I’m part of one that is SIX THOUSAND YEARS OLD. I won’t give up. Our goal is to make democracy work again for every American, every time and in every place. So that the PEOPLE of our country once again ARE the government of our great nation. Join us.  

Watching the crowds celebrating last night in New York I couldn’t help but smile and feel happiness for their elation. They see their struggle in the face of Barack Obama. His election is a victory of historic proportion for black Americans and a struggle that is 300 years old. They were deeply joyous and I wanted to share their joy. I was moved by it — how could anyone not be? I wanted to share their joy. But I can’t. We didn’t have a candidate in this race and even if Obama had been defeated I wouldn’t have felt HAPPY. I would have been proud of the country for not falling prey to a cult of personality and a $600,000,000 dollar marketing campaign. I can’t congratulate Obama because he cheated and used fraud to win. I can’t congratulate that and I won’t endorse it. Watching the celebration I thought of Hillary and Sarah Palin and I realized the final glass ceiling is still firmly in place today. Unbudged, unbroken. Worse, a vision came to me of an alternate reality where Hillary had been allowed to be the nominee and had won the presidential election last night. Would there have been dancing in the streets? Would women have filled the parks and public squares to cry tears of relief and elation? Would the news commenters have reported in voices full of emotion and respectful homage to our great success? And the answer is no. Profoundly no. The celebrations would have been small and private.  We would have celebrated, of course, but we would have done it quietly. Our joy would have been hemmed on all sides by the implacable rejection of our presence in the public sphere, and the relentless undermining of our insistence on being as free and as powerful as men. And so we are homeless today. The Democratic Party is no longer our home and the Republican Party never was. But we are not alone. There really ARE millions of us. But we don’t have the habit of being free and acting together as a force. That must change. Puma PAC goes on. We are officially ex-partisan now. Not Democrats and not Republicans. We can be a third party, but only if we grow and stay united. There are millions of unhappy Republicans and Independents today of course. We’ve met many of them here in the last several weeks. As of today, ALL are welcome to be a part of Puma PAC. Our mission has not changed, except for one thing — we are no longer working to reform the Democratic Party. Our job is bigger than that, as we learned last night. We are working to reform the ENTIRE political landscape, including both of the major parties and all of our public institutions, especially the media. I invite every American to join us. If you believe in the fundamental preciousness of democracy and our constitution, you are a Puma. If you believe EVERY American deserves the chance to compete fairly and fully in whatever arena they choose, you are a Puma. If you believe our political process has been OVERRUN by dirty money and influence, you are a Puma. If you believe the media is fatally corrupted and America needs a free and functioning press, you are a Puma. If you believe political discussion in this country has become a frenzied hate-fest that divides the people and makes us weak, and you want to help change that, you are a Puma. Join us. The only way we will beat $600 million dollars is with 20 million people. People who are decent and brave and willing to fight and to work. People who believe in fair play, honesty, integrity, and honor. If Barack Obama had been a good and honorable man, if he had fairly won his election, I would have been dancing in the streets along with my black fellow and sister Americans. But he is not and he did not. And so I cannot. Our struggle is bigger today than we had hoped it might be. We now have a higher hill to climb. That’s okay with me. I’m a woman and I’m used to struggle. I’m part of one that is SIX THOUSAND YEARS OLD. I won’t give up. Our goal is to make democracy work again for every American, every time and in every place. So that the PEOPLE of our country once again ARE the government of our great nation. Join us.  

Listen, wontbackdown is right, we lost not because we are wrong but because we are too small. Too small to beat a $600 million dollar man and an enabling media. What we need is more people, more money, and time. I don’t want to spend the next four years angry; I want to spend them working. I don’t want to feel a jolt of pain or sadness every time I see That One’s face (and you KNOW we’re going to get A LOT of his face). I want to feel composed and determined. We formed the base of a grass-roots voting block of working class citizens who were left behind by the Democratic Party. If we shrivel up in bitterness and anger now that would be sad. Much better would be to relax and grow, to refocus our efforts and attract new members, so that we have an impact on the midterm elections. So that we can fight the Fairness Doctrine, and so we don’t have a November 5th like this again next time.

Mama is Watching

Today is the day to be Wonderful to Each Other

Today we prove the true courage of PUMAs