Originally, this was a poster which featured a picture of both Obama and McCain in a debate. For a long time, it was my most popular deviation. Then, suddenly, I get a notice from DA telling me that it uses copyrighted images and I must either get permission, or remove them.

Odd, that, considering pretty much all of my demotivators feature copyrighted images. Why single out that one? Well, it is an election year and Obama is trying to run for president again.

Now, I don't blame DA specifically for this. If they get a notice, they have to pass it on, otherwise they can face major lawsuits. I don't, in fact, know who to blame for it, because they are apparently either not required or not allowed to disclose who made the copyright claim, which means I can't possibly get permission. Whatever the case is, I'm certain that this is about somebody who is pissed that I would dare criticize the Obama administration.

Well, fuck them and fuck the Obama administration. I was just going to let it pass, but some news I've come across recently, I have decided I'm not going to sit and be quiet anymore.

Beginning July 12th for certain, but possibly having already begun on the 1st, there will be total and continual internet surveillance by the five major ISPs of all computers connected to the internet. This deal was struck between them and the RIAA and MPAA as a means of "combating piracy." The agreement states that the ISPs will track all computers to watch for signs of "illegal download of copyright material" and will then choke the connection speed of said computers, restrict access to websites, force individuals to go to "education courses" if they continue to violate copyright laws and, if all that fails, continue the huge and grotesquely unfair lawsuits against individuals that they've been doing all along.
This, along with ACTA (which you'll notice are both underlined in the above poster, which I made entirely on my own) are both actions which the Obama administration has ENDORSED. You heard me right, the Obama administration supports a non-governmental agreement allowing non-government organizations to spy on EVERYONE, in clear and blatant violation of due process and the principle of Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Why? Well, obviously because the government intends to use the spying tools themselves.

This act criminalizes everyone. It makes the assumption that everyone who uses the internet is doing so for the purpose of violating copyright laws and treats them as though they must be watched at all times in order to prevent this crime.
But the truth of it is, and this is right from the mouth of a representative of the MPAA, this is not really about copyright. This is about control of the distribution methods. The music and movie industry fear the power of the internet. They fear it because it means that anyone can make a movie or a song and get it out there to the people. We no longer have to get their permission to express ourselves to wide audiences and that could conceivably cut into their profits. So, rather than adapt to the new technologies, they are trying to stamp down hard on the internet's usefulness as a tool of expression.

And the Obama Administration is catering to these criminals because they make substantial contributions to his campaign. I am fucking sick of it. Obama has been lying to us from the beginning. Even when his representatives said the quote listed in the poster above, he had already signed the ACTA treaty and already knew about the agreement between the RIAA/MPAA and the five big ISPs and endorsed their deal, because this has been in the works for a whole GODDAMNED YEAR. This deal, as well as ACTA, are not only illegal (since they both violate and circumvent our nation's governmental process) but unconstitutional.

And before you think I'm being unfairly critical of Obama (which you need to get over, because he's just another politician, who lies with a shit-eating grin on his face about the countless corporate lobbyists he's in bed with), I don't care for Romney either. His voting record exposes him as a jellyfish who talks about standing for something, but bends over as soon as an ill-wind blows in his direction and I have no reason to believe that he won't continue this trend should he be elected. No, this isn't about republicans or democrats, this is about a system that has become fatally flawed and is moving more and more toward a totalitarian state.

And then again, I'm reminded of a line from the comic V For Vendetta. "We've had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions - this is plain fact - but who elected them?"

The truth of the matter is, if you are looking for someone to blame for the crimes our government is committing, you need look no further than a mirror. It was we who handed our government over to those who seek to strip us of our most basic constitutional rights (so that we will buy more DVDs, in the case of the MPAA) by carrying on in a state of blissful ignorance, cheerfully buying into the lies and propaganda that our parties have used to polarize the nation, turn it against itself so that it would not be able to stand together against them as they turned our democracy into a dictatorship. It was we who looked for the easy answers which did not exist, wanting them to be real so much that we believed the whatever lies pandered to our personal beliefs and it was that which allowed the corrupt to come into power. We are responsible for this mess and it is only by our hands that this mess can be fixed.

It is time, my fellow citizens of the United States, to set aside our personal grudges, political agendas and subjective beliefs and take a stand to take back our government from the criminals who now control it. It is time to stop arguing whether a democrat or a republican is the best candidate for president and seek out someone who has ties to neither corrupt institution and who is interested in correcting the errors of the past.

Errors such as Citzens United v. Federal Election Committee, which gave corporations the right to make unlimited-sized donations to political candidates without needing to disclose how much they are giving or even that they are giving any at all. Errors such as many of the court cases following the passage of the amendment meant to give blacks the same rights as everyone else in the country, but which corporations have used to get themselves declared to have the same rights as individual citizens, thus giving them protections they were never meant to have and, with those protections, the power to use their vast wealth to exploit and abuse the American people and buy out our government.

If such candidates cannot be found, then it is time for us to stop whining and moaning, get off our lazy asses and become those candidates. It is time for us to start taking action against those who are threatening our freedom.

For starters, I call for a complete boycott of the MPAA and the RIAA. Until the government acknowledges that this agreement is both unconstitutional and illegal, forces the aforementioned corporations to face trial for their crimes, I will not buy a single DVD or CD, nor will I go to any movie in theaters, nor any musical concert. I will, however, make an exemption for Netflix and similar services, because the MPAA has been trying to wipe them out for the same reason they have passed this deal; it is a game changing service that breaks down their absolute control over media distribution.

The only way we can hurt these corporations which seek to destroy our freedom of expression for their own personal gain is to hurt their wallets. I therefore ask all American citizens who truly care about the good of this country and our basic freedoms to stand with me in boycotting the two major orginzations who have struck the biggest and most blatant blow to our basic constitutional rights. If you agree, reblog this image and its message as many times as you can.

It is time to take a stand, my fellow citizens. Not for our petty personal interests, or our own political beliefs, but for our basic right to be individuals.
If we do not stand together as one nation now, we will fall apart as scattered tribes not far down the road.

Stand with me!