WEEK IN REVIEW II (Aug. 12-18, 2007)

The biggest story of the week was the election of Demopublic as the new leader of the U4Prez Independent Party. In my experience with her, she was a vocal member of the first incarnation of the Women's League, and my desire was to make her a co-chair of what is now the Women's Society. She declined for her own reasons, which I thoroughly respected, but her absence from the Society left a gaping hole no one adequately filled. She is energetic, intelligent, and will no doubt bring the Independent Party to a new level of prosperity, doing it her own way. I strongly encourage all Independents to assist her in any way they can, and to continue to be as active as they possibly can be in the discussions and movements within U4Prez. You have a winner at the helm, if everyone gives it everything they have, the sky is the limit.

With this, the biggest mess of the upheaval of my departure is now tidied up. That's one less piece of Olivia at U4Prez. And while I truly admired the tribute TheWiz put together in my behalf, this is now your baby, guys. I'm still part of the U4Prez world, apparently able to exert a great deal of influence from where I am, but you have the hard part of rebuilding the Independent Party.

For that, I deeply apologize. The party should not have had to pick up my mess, and it did not deserve to suffer from my own dramas. I departed angrily, quickly, and without consideration as to what would happen after I left. I re-ignited this blog and went to work badgering those I felt were ruining U4Prez the most, including its creator. I left a gaping hole for you all to attend to. From my position, and from what virtually every Independent was telling me, my leadership was appreciated, even loved by some, and my style of leaving my own to be free to campaign without hindrance, of putting promotion before platforming, and of being a lightning rod for controversy and attack, for its time, worked. In my way, I felt I knew what it was to be an Independent, and by promoting without condition on one hand, and taking the heat off of everyone else by letting it heap on me on the other, I hoped other Independents could achieve a degree of success completely on their own merit. Even in my departure, I continue to pull for the Independents, not just because the leadership role was my baby, but because I truly believe in what I always say, that voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil, and it's time the good guys got a break. I just hope I was able to help a few of them get that break and make the most of it. Aside from that, I owe you all an apology. I am sorry for leaving as I did, and I am even more sorry for leaving such a mess for you to clean up.

In the move from candidate to pundit, I continue to be that lightning rod for controversy, and this blog continues to be one of the hottest topics, if not THE most talked-about item, at U4Prez. My name is still on the tip of everyone's tongue, and I resigned ten days ago. The Hard Right goons continue to tell you all they don't read this blog--by the tone of their talk shows, their videos, and the comments they leave here, trust me, they read every single fucking day. Other candidates chime in with a note for me, and I might start a Mailbag section of this blog in the future.

I am very surprised by the continuing success of this blog. I truly thought it would burn itself out after the first two tumultuous days, when Eric Gurr was being demoted from god to janitor. Holy Hell was raised by THIS BLOG. I am flattered to take some credit in this, but truly, there had been a deep undercurrent of dissatisfaction at U4Prez. If my departure and Eric's scolding makes U4Prez stronger, if the infrastructure is truly refurbished, if the vote count is transparent, then maybe it was worth it. I get to be Queen Bitch, Eric still has his lottery ticket but can't wipe his ass with it anymore, and those who benefitted the most from the favoritism are knocked down a few pegs. With the exception of the few unhappy campers who no longer have Eric to back them up--generally the ones I describe in detail in this blog--I think it's a win-win for almost everyone.

I do consider Kiss & Tell a source for "news and opinion", and when news breaks at U4Prez, I try to be the first source with the scoop. So, when Elected_Al leaves a comment on my MySpace telling me he quit, I check out his profile, sure enough, he resigned, and it's on this blog within minutes! Before it becomes a topic of conversation, it becomes a topic on Kiss & Tell. I am truly upset that there was not more notice of Al's departure. He was one of the most positive candidates here, someone who fought for decency and clean campaigning. He was also upset that it seemed more prudent to some to sully opponents than merely leave them be, and he watched with a keen eye what these Hard Right hooligans were doing. I kept telling him, he has that clean image, it's not worth getting it tainted by mixing it up with the Liberty Crips. Ultimately, he chose to keep his soul instead of selling it to get back at those who brutalize innocents. He deserves far more respect than he is getting, and I do hope I'm not the only candidate who continues to chat with him. If so, then he grossly overestimated the alliances he built here. Much more than I do, Al deserved more from U4Prez than no one noticing his absence.

The typical Iron Lady response would be WAAAAAAAH. Mduminiak, it's Al's fault completely he wouldn't get down in the mud and sling it out with him and his fellow swine; he chose to give his pearls elsewhere, and leave them to stew in their own filth. Hawk would just say Al was "typical liberal crap" and walk away with a smirk. At least I know where these heathen stand where Al's resignation is concerned, as pernicious as their stands are. Truly, he must have touched more of you than you let on. I would have loved to have seen more of it.

I did get responses for my comments on the departures of dk08 and Atticus, including from dk08 and Atticus themselves. Congratulations, warmongers, the antiwar sentiment at U4Prez is officially dead, for the three most vocal proponents of the PNV--these two and myself--are gone. I left, and everyone knows where I went. dk08 is brokenhearted. Atticus is re-upping, not because he believes the war is worthy of anything or because he is promoting democracy, but for the only reason that should matter to any father--his children. Whether he ends up in Iraq or Afghanistan or Darfur or Kosovo or wherever he is ordered to go, the children of those countries have a true hero to turn to. Atticus got it, and he would give it to you good if you tried to give him the usual patriotic bullshit your American sensibilities would tell you to give. He sees in his children what every father sees in his children around the world, and he is willing to die for THEM, not you, chickenhawks, and not me, and not some ethereal thing called democracy or America. For THEM.

Trust me, were Atticus to die, I would not glom onto his death and gain brownie points for it. If I hear from him, I will definitely write something, so those of you who love him as well can stay in the loop, and I do hope, if any of you hear from him, you talk it up. But trust me, Atticus will not be thinking of me in his moment of worldly demise, he is not going to think, please, Olivia, keep fighting the good fight. I will miss him and hope he returns safely, and if he doesn't, I will grieve in my own way. But trust me, I am no keeper of the Atticus flame, nor would he want anyone to be. This is HIS thing, and he hates people who try to glom onto such events. He knows fakes when he sees them, and he called a few of you out for being just that. A letter from Atticus from, say, the Sudan, is news at U4Prez, and whether he writes to me or anyone else, there's plenty of us who would like to be kept in the know.

I'll do what I can if you do what you can.

Next week I will continue to fight the good fight, try a few new things. If these poll things ever work correctly, I might try a new poll question. A bunch of us are wondering who the poster "Your a Whore" is, and we're all taking guesses on the subject. I still maintain it's Mduminiak, even though he says it isn't him. He also said he doesn't read this blog, yet he leaves messages here? The man has THIRTEEN VIDEOS out on me, and he has the nerve to talk about someone else being a stalker? I have always put my faith in the candidates of U4Prez, and he has always thought you all are stupid. Yesterday's video is evidence of this. He expects you to forget all the videos he's made concerning Olivia, all the time he's spent on his radio show talking about me, all the time browbeating me at U4Prez simply because we're there at the same time, and yet, somehow, it's ME who is obsessed? I've never lied to you before--embellished, maybe sensationalized, but never lied. I listened to Mike's show one day for about ten seconds, in his archives, and I moved on, because he was just another conservative on the radio. That's just what Western Civilization needs, ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE WITH A RADIO SHOW! Nothing to distance itself from any other such show. If I want to know what Mike thinks, I can just listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. If I want to know his opinion, I'll ask the people who do the thinking for him, thank you very much.

I am of the opinion that U4Prez is a perfect place to put your theories of politics to practice. You can say whatever you like in your platform, but in your conduct, in the way you campaign, and in the way you build alliances, you say more about what you really stand for than all the spindoctoring you will ever do. Take Mike, for example, Caped Conservative Crusader. Now, from what I know about the right, conservatives are supposed to loathe bureaucracy, right? After he smears his face all over the Republican leadership profile, what does he do? He creates a bureaucracy! The Steering Committee is the GOP's nanny state, where the poor Republican peasants are supposed to go to know what they are supposed to say and think and do. Conservatives allegedly loathe centralization of power, right? Here's Mduminiak, not only ruling the GOP as a tyrant, he gets his fellow goons from the LC and a few new asskissers to join this committee, people he knows will rubberstamp whatever he wants to do. Evidence of this was the loud outcry from others over what was to go into their platform. Typical tyranny, instead of providing a forum for all candidates to have a say--which they eventually had to do under pressure from within the GOP, much to the chagrin of the privileged SC members--Mike and his Politburo dictated to others what the platform would be, kiss his ass if you don't agree. Mduminiak can paint as rosy a picture he wants about conservatism, but when given a chance to put it into practice in his platform and leadership roles, he chooses tyranny. Again, it's typical, how many real-life candidates out there claim to be conservative, only to get to Washington, sign onto pork barrel spending and all their pet projects, and ignore what they promised in the first place? Such politicians use conservatism as a bumper sticker and nothing else, and when they get elected, it's wadded up and thrown away. Mike is no different, ladies and gentlemen. When given a chance to apply conservative ideals to his campaign, you know what, fuck conservatism, he'll do what he wants. Talk is cheap, and listening to the ten seconds of his show, it's VERY cheap in the Breach. Conservatism gets a vote or two, but when given a chance to use it in his campaign, it's ignored. And whoever voted for him for Leader is hosed.

Then again, according to Mike, if you get hosed because a candidate uses conservatism as a bumper sticker, then tosses it easily aside after he gains power, IT'S YOUR FAULT.

I wish Demopublic nothing but success, and if there's anything in this blog she can use or learn from, I would be deeply honored to continue to keep writing these articles, telling these stories, and posting these opinions. Be it my own experiences and mistakes, or the experiences and mistakes of others, I will most undoubtedly continue to serve the U4Prez community, whether it's to hold the moderators' feet to the fire, call a spade a spade, go toe to toe with the goons, pull the mask off of imposters, or deliver news as it happens, I'm not going anywhere.

Love, Olivia. XXX