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RECENT POSTS

In Surprise Move, Rush Limbaugh Named RNC Chair

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

With their party in rapid decline, the Republican National Committee voted in closed-door session in Washington D.C. today to forgo all five candidates who have been fiercely vying for the party chairmanship, and instead just hand over the reins of the party to talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, according to various tweets Twittering today.

Ken Blackwell, political gadfly and a long shot for the chairmanship, promptly accused ACORN of registering dead Republicans. He sought to throw out the votes of all black RNC members, which were none.

One RNC member who voted for Limbaugh confided, “Obama sat down with us like a gentleman and suggested that in order to make progress together, we shouldn’t listen to Rush Limbaugh — so it made natural sense.” Read More »

Posted in Blog, Huffington Post | Leave a comment

Ken Blackwell Redefines Racism

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Right now, The Republican National Committee is convening in Washington in desperate search for new leadership. The one thing they can agree on, according to The Washington Post, is that they are looking for a way to get away from Ex-Decider George W. Bush.

As I have previously pronounced in endorsing his bid for RNC Chair, Ken Blackwell is an embarrassingly bad politician. But when it comes to crippling elections with tenacious scheming through the courts, the media, and arcane state election law, Blackwell can be something of a mastermind. Ken Blackwell’s administration of elections in Ohio could be compared to Kafka, but even Franz Kafka helped bring about worker’s compensation. Read More »

Posted in Blog, Huffington Post | Leave a comment

Bush’s Personal Letter to Obama

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

We have obtained an exclusive copy of the personal letter former President Bush left for President Obama in the desk of the Oval Office.
Read More »

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That Old Blackwell ‘Magic’

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Ken Blackwell, my personal muse, ex-Facebook friend, and endorsement for RNC Chair, defended rival candidate Chip Saltsman for distributing “Barack the Magic Negro” on his holiday mix CD.

BLACKWELL: “Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-Elect Obama being the first African-American elected president. I don’t think any of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about any of the other candidates for RNC chairman should disqualify them. When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal. All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people.”

How offensive is “Barack the Magic Negro”? A year or so ago, a student of mine in my documentary class decided to make his film about that song, playing a recording of Rush Limbaugh’s show to other black people like himself, and capturing their reactions. While many interviewees were speechless, their faces can be best described in three letters: WTF? Read More »

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Top 10 Most Overhyped of 2008

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Everyone is a sucker for the year-end lists. Beyond re-hashing highlights of hoopla, I propose revisiting the topics herein with hindsight, rather than reflex. It is in the spirit of moving forward in 2009 with wisdom and renewed faith in other Americans that we (impatiently) approach this historic inauguration, and re-examine the issues we previously lost our shit over.
Read More »

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OMG! Rick Warren! BFD!

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

I told myself I would hold back on this one. But everyone from Harvey Fierstein to Frank Rich have flogged the Rick Warren Inaugural Invocation Horse so bad, it makes the decapitated horse head in the Godfather look humane.

Getting outraged over Rick Warren speaking at the inauguration is like throwing down over the typesetting on the invitations. Rick Warren? This is nothing. It is so small, in such a long day of pageantry, on the first day of some long years of the fight ahead. In terms of the fish-frying before us, Rick Warren is a scallop, and Moby Dick, the elusive wedding-white whale, is circling us. Read More »

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O Blackwell, Where Art Thou?

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Ken Blackwell is no longer my friend.

After my last column endorsing him for the RNC Chair, I was abruptly de-friend-ed/dumped from his Facebook profile — proof that he is in fact getting tech savvy. He also took down the embarrassingly lame YouTube videos from his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, which still only had a couple hundred views after all this time. His super-fast, Internet-like response to my endorsement might have been tipped off when I posted a Tinyurl link on his Facebook wall to my piece here on Huffington Post.
2008-12-21-BlackwellsWall.jpg

And there on his Facebook profile I happened to notice the only film Ken Blackwell had put down as his favorite: The Coen Brothers’O Brother, Where Art Thou? This struck me that: A) He shares one of my favorite films by my favorite filmmakers, and B) What did he like so much about it to list it as his only favorite? Read More »

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Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

It’s not often that you will see the same endorsement on Townhall.com as on the Huffington Post, so let’s savor this in the newfound era of post-partisanship.

J. Kenneth Blackwell, the former Secretary of State of Ohio whose administration of the 2004 election made Katherine Harris look like Mary Tyler Moore, is aggressively pushing to become the next chair of the Republican National Committee when its 168 members convene in 2009 to figure out how to pull their party out of the deep, dank hole they have dug themselves into. And I for one support his selection wholeheartedly.

I have spent a tremendous amount of time studying Ken Blackwell. I made a feature length documentary, FREE FOR ALL!, which examines his corrupt stewardship of Ohio elections. Just a few of Ken’s greatest hits:

-Purging a quarter of Cleveland’s register voters, one of the most Democratic counties in the country.

Read More »

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Bravo, Blago! A Primer in Pay to Play

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Bravo, Blagojevich! Amidst the awe-inspiring legacy of corruption you will leave behind (which takes a lot coming out of my hometown Chicago), you had the integrity and foresight to neatly distance “That One” from your middle-school mentality shakedowns.

President-Elect “Motherfucker,” as you so fondly referred to him on federal wires, stands clearly out of the loop of your own pompous power grab. Your “fuck him” disdain for this historical politician who ascended from your home state not only keeps Obama the good guy, but your drooling over the Senate seat he left behind makes you look far less the leader of the Land of Lincoln, and more like a spoiled rich kid who inherited a prestigious family heirloom and ran to put it on Craigslist. Read More »

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Democracy: Made in Thailand?

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

As my wife and I flew into Thailand, the Bangkok International Airport where we were scheduled to arrive had just been seized by thousands of anti-government protesters, shutting down all air travel. We were re-routed to Tupao, a Vietnam-era naval base 200 km outside of Bangkok, which was hastily set up with customs agents and buses handling the overflow of confused tourists.

For the next week, this modest third world country was paralyzed as hundreds of thousands of travelers and tons of cargo could not get in or out of Bangkok, costing this struggling economy over $85 million a day. Over 1 million Thais face losing their jobs because of this enduring blow to their thriving tourism industry.

The Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) was fully aware of how devastating the protests would be. Yet they steadfastly believed that the demand for the Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to resign was more urgent, and after staging protests outside the Parliament building since September, this was, as several banners read, the “Final Stand.” Read More »

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LIFESTREAM

  1. twitter (feed #4) @thehill: After strong jobs report, Obama tells Congress 'don't muck it up' http://t.co/oxiyLSfD #economy” Shoulda told them the opposite. [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  2. twitter (feed #4) @greenhousenyt: Komen Cancer Foundation Reverses Its Move to Cut Funding to Planned Parenthood http://t.co/d8Rv3eB2#calloffthedogs #win [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  3. twitter (feed #4) RT @robdelaney: "But they're DEATH PANEL jobs..." "Bin Laden is now a powerful ghost..." "Look! A pony!" - GOP strategists, right now [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  4. twitter (feed #4) Hearing the cuss free version on @935KDAY of NWAs "Straight Outta Compton" is like that disorienting sip of soda you don't yet know is diet. [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  5. twitter (feed #4) RT @GottaLaff: Miss this? Photo of the Day- Susan G Koman Site Hacked http://t.co/gUdszrRE #TPC [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  6. twitter (feed #4) @SpeakerBoehner: .@TransportGOP passes #AmericanEnergy & Infrastructure #Jobs Act backed by job creators http://t.co/OJeImH23#JobCremator [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  7. twitter (feed #4) RT @hardknoxfirst: RT @JohnFugelsang: John Boehner says "clear the housing market" because it sounds way better than "foreclose on more ... [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  8. twitter (feed #4) @scamboogah: @johnennis has under 1000 followers. That seems like a gross oversight. #FF” [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  9. twitter (feed #4) RT @hotcoffeeandpie: Romney: I'm not concerned about the very poor. They don't have photo ID and we're not going to let them vote. #NewJ ... [#] 2d ago via Twitter
  10. twitter (feed #4) @latimes: "Jack Sparrow" pepper-sprayed in Hollywood action figure brawl; Cat Woman, others fled scene http://t.co/ujkuwAs5#Hollyweird [#] 2d ago via Twitter
  11. twitter (feed #4) @samsteinhp: It has become impossible to trace the money coming into elections, even when disclosed. http://t.co/5jO3GWqZ” [#] February 2nd via Twitter
  12. twitter (feed #4) Now Playing at Trader Joe's: "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz #TJsPlaylist [#] February 2nd via Twitter
  13. twitter (feed #4) It seems that most things that begin with the announcement "You asked for it, America!" were not actually requested by the American people. [#] February 1st via Twitter
  14. twitter (feed #4) RT @thinkprogress: "Gasland" filmmaker arrested for trying to film fracking hearing http://t.co/6XyYozaL #icymi [#] February 1st via Twitter
  15. youtube (feed #2) Liked Up February 1st via YouTube
  16. twitter (feed #4) RT @Pay2PlayTV: Colbert Super PAC Secrets: "I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain't one!" ht ... [#] January 31st via Twitter
  17. twitter (feed #4) RT @HuffPostBlog: A #Sundance review of Ice-T's "Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap" http://t.co/Tcs0LWi2 via @johnennis [#] January 30th via Twitter
  18. twitter (feed #4) My review of Ice-T's #HipHop documentary is featured on the front page of Huff Post: http://t.co/Llyryhux [#] January 30th via Twitter
  19. generic (feed #3) Shared Sundance Doc Review: Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap January 30th via Huffington Post
  20. twitter (feed #4) RT @shanasspring: I saw Mr. Bossie just last night...around my house he is referred to as"The Destroyer of this Great Nation"@johnennis [#] January 28th via Twitter
  21. twitter (feed #4) Ice Cube: 'I consider my music street knowledge--for the streets to tell politicians what's up' from "Something from Nothing" @sundancefest [#] January 27th via Twitter
  22. twitter (feed #4) @SpeakerBoehner: #FF staff: @KG_Smith @DonSeymour @bryanta @BrittBramell @Heather_Reed @greeneforever @betsyandres” WHERE ARE THE JOBS? #p2 [#] January 27th via Twitter
  23. twitter (feed #4) RT @sundancefest: A few more days of this and I may start believing in Joseph Smith -@birbigs http://t.co/z1EizVTP #sundance [#] January 27th via Twitter
  24. twitter (feed #4) Amazing doc on American holocaust that is our War on Drugs THE HOUSE I LIVE IN by Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) @DrugWarMovie @sundancefest [#] January 26th via Twitter
  25. twitter (feed #4) Van Jones: "You can win the election but lose the debate." http://t.co/2Zu8dRrY [#] January 25th via Twitter
  26. twitter (feed #4) RT @uspirg: Elizabeth Warren on @TheDailyShow: 30 corporations pay more to lobby than they do in taxes, see the list! @uspirg - http://t ... [#] January 25th via Twitter
  27. twitter (feed #4) Clinton would call it "triangulation" “@realjeffreyross: Reality is over. @BarackObama just quoted Larry The Cable Guy. #SOTU” [#] January 24th via Twitter
  28. twitter (feed #4) RT @Eristophanes: Boehner can smile about spilled milk joke, but not equal pay for women?! Asshole. [#] January 24th via Twitter
  29. twitter (feed #4) Wait, there's an Attorney General? [#] January 24th via Twitter
  30. twitter (feed #4) Man Boehner looks like he belted a few to make it through this speech. #SOTU [#] January 24th via Twitter
  31. twitter (feed #4) RT @steveweinstein: GOP can't even applaud at more oil drilling in the USA if the black guy says it's OK. #sotu [#] January 24th via Twitter
  32. twitter (feed #4) RT @JamilSmith: I feel like I'll hear the words "by any means necessary" after some of these sentences. POTUS is feeling it. #SOTU [#] January 24th via Twitter
  33. twitter (feed #4) RT @jcstearns: With campaign finance layer? RT @rbole Can someone do a data viz of clappers vs non-clappers, standers vs. non-standers v ... [#] January 24th via Twitter
  34. twitter (feed #4) RT @TheBradBlog: In truth, Boehner's lack of even courtesy applause tonight is rather striking. Even for him. #SOTU [#] January 24th via Twitter
  35. twitter (feed #4) RT @billburton716: Poor, bitter John McCain -- can't even support his own policy of comprehensive immigration reform. [#] January 24th via Twitter
  36. twitter (feed #4) RT @CharlesBivona: "There's this amazing documentary on channel..." --what I wish #Obama would say-- #SOTU #CNN [#] January 24th via Twitter
  37. twitter (feed #4) Obama's "campaign pitch" in his State of the Union: I am just so sane. #SOTU [#] January 24th via Twitter
  38. twitter (feed #4) Wait let me guess... the State of our Union is...strong? [#] January 24th via Twitter
  39. twitter (feed #4) @HuffingtonPost: Americans disagree with Mitt Romney: Corporations AREN'T people http://t.co/GnVaW5TB” But did they ask any corporations?? [#] January 24th via Twitter
  40. twitter (feed #4) RT @Pay2PlayTV: #IWillBeDisappointedIfObamaDoesntSay "If you're a Supreme Court justice and didn't show up for this speech, you're fired ... [#] January 24th via Twitter
  41. twitter (feed #4) RT @Pay2PlayTV: Congratulations to @TheBradBlog on 8 years of being the gold standard of vigilance! We're indebted to your service & pa ... [#] January 24th via Twitter
  42. twitter (feed #4) Hanging out with a former CIA officer about to film an interview with him. #oopsnotsoclandestine [#] January 24th via Twitter
  43. twitter (feed #4) RT @VotingNews: Citizens United: How Did it Happen? | John Wellington Ennis/Huffington Post http://t.co/Y3LS51mH [#] January 23rd via Twitter
  44. twitter (feed #4) RT @Pay2PlayTV: “@DerekCressman: great documentary on Citizens United ruling http://t.co/WCiUB5hi” [#] January 23rd via Twitter
  45. twitter (feed #4) RT @allisonkilkenny: If you share a music file online, that's stealing. If #Monsanto steals a nation's indigenous crop, that's simply bu ... [#] January 23rd via Twitter

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