The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Religion: Group of Bishops Using Influence to Oppose Kerry

Not sure what to say here, but it wouldn't be nice.

Secret Agent Man

So what was all that stuff from Bush about Dred Scott in the debate? Turns out it was a code word for the abortion debate. This from the Paperwight's Fair Shot blog:

October 09, 2004
Dred Scott = Roe v. Wade

Some people seem to be a bit boggled by Bush's Dred Scott remark last night. It wasn't about racism or slavery, or just Bush's natural incoherence. Here's what Bush actually said:

If elected to another term, I promise that I will nominate Supreme Court Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade.

Bush couldn't say that in plain language, because it would freak out every moderate swing voter in the country, but he can say it in code, to make sure that his base will turn out for him. Anti-choice advocates have been comparing Roe v. Wade with Dred Scott v. Sandford for some time now. There is a constant drumbeat on the religious right to compare the contemporary culture war over abortion with the 19th century fight over slavery, with the anti-choicers cast in the role of the abolitionists.

[...]

To me, no matter how one comes down on the issue of abortion, this is a CLEAR indication of Bush and company's inability to be forthright and honest with THE PEOPLE. By Jove man, if you take a tough stand, SAY IT. Don't hide behind code words you STINKING COWARD!

US's Snow-Jobs likely to rebound after hurricanes

Someone had fun with this headline. These numbers are snow-jobs. An honest headline for a change. "That darn hurricane was to blame!"

How you can break Murphy's Law (October 8, 2004)

Do the math. It's just math. It's all math.

Is Bush Wired?: Earwig and the Angry Bush

I don't know what it is. But there is something there.
Only Bush and the GOP could change the subject on that one: Hey, look! There's Osama!

The troops do NOT support the war.

For Marines, a Frustrating Fight (washingtonpost.com)
Who DOES support the war? You? Well, suit up, there's an opening for you.

The Bush Informercial

Newspapers label advertising as such. TV does not.
None of the so called public appearences of Bush have been public: they are all private, they are all by approval only.
It's an infomercial, and they should say so.

Authorization for War

The authorization for war had this clause.

(b) Presidential Determination.--In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that--

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either
(A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or
(B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq

Thus Kerry did not vote FOR the Iraq War but for the Iraq War pursuant to clause B. Now, with what we know, clause B would have prevented the war. That clasue B was not respected is Bush's responsibility.

More on the Bubble President

Salon.com reports that Bush had a radio receiver taped to his back during the first debate so he could receive messages via a tiny hearing-aid-like device in his ear. They back this up with a photo. I have no way of verifying the story, but the Commission on Presidential Debates has verified that one of the rules of engagement the Bush campaign insisted on was no camera shots of the candidates from behind (which one of the pool cameras did anyway). This story is either investigative journalism at its best or wishful thinking. If you are not a Salon.com subscriber, you have to sign up for a free day pass to read the full story. [http://www.electoral-vote.com/]

Could it be?

Mayhem in Gaza

Why not ask the UN to occupy Gaza. Is Arafat really any better than Saddam? He hides among his people, kills Israelis, and draws fire which get his people killed.

Ten Ways to Beat George W. Bush -- Main Story Archive - Nader for President 2004 - www.votenader.org

Thank you, Ralph Nader. Better late than never. Better. And still way not enough. Maybe after the election you'll support Kerry?

HERE is how its done!

On this page you can actually see and hear the speeches that Ralph Nader has given.
You CANNOT see this kind of simple presentation of Kerry, of Edwards, of Dean, of any of the once were candidates and now are.
THIS is how it is done.

How nuts is that?

Bush leads Kerry. I mean, even if you really really didn't like Kerry, can you really vote for Bush? Could this be, ummm, Christian? BTW, you can google for real estate in Canada really easy. And lots of other places. Who needs this?

Non-headline of the Year

Here's my vote

Conspiracy Theories Flourish on the Internet

The New York Times > International > Middle East > Rebuilding: Japan's Troops Proceed in Iraq Without Shot Fired

Here's how the allies do it!
I don't see how Bush has the balls to show up at the Friday debates.
Oh, yeah: he doesn't read the papers.

DICK CHENEY IS A BIG FAT LIAR. I said it.

John Edwards and Dick Cheney at the Feb 1, 2001 National Prayer Breakfast.

He is kind of silly too. Factcheck.com, mentioned by Cheney during the debate,
actually links to http://www.georgesoros.com and the headline "Why we must not re-elect president Bush"

The Global Economy

Trade, money, jobs, disease, snakeheads...
Sometimes what you need is a fence, a door, something.
Copyright: Snakehead Global Trading, LLC.

The Great Success of Afghan Democracy!

Except for the possibility of voter fraud.

On 17 August, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the Security Council that the high rate of voter registration - more than 9.9m already enrolled - showed the political isolation of groups responsible for violence.

Men registering for Afghan elections

A disproportionate number of men have registered in some areas
What he did not mention was that the number registered already exceeds the estimated total of eligible voters for the whole country.

Dick Cheney is not a Nazi

Even though the Nazis were known for their lies and deceits, even though they were known for their use of fear to gain and hold power, I must still insist that I have never once said or even suggested the Cheney was evil incarnate nor have I said that this administration from Bush and Cheney on down is neo-Nazi.

Cheney Quotes:

In invading Iraq we had "struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
Meet The Press Sep. 14, 2003

"I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11."
Vice Presidential Debate Oct. 5, 2004

Report Discounts Iraqi Arms Threat (washingtonpost.com)

"Saddam had desire, lots and lots of desire. You can't let people go around with that kind of desire. You know where I stand. It's hard work," said Bush. "If I knew new then what I know now I would still do it. I don't go by polls and I don't buy into this information and details thing: you know where I stand, and I do too, and I'll do what I think is right, every time, and there is no way that I could be swayed from that purpose."
"Saddam had desire. That's good enough for me. I have to protect this country, that's my job, to protect Americans. Against evil, against WMD and all sorts of desire to do evil. If you are a terrorist, or you harbor them or you have that kind of desire, it's the same thing."

Economist.com | Lexington

"The Republicans are becoming the party of committed Christians, the Democrats that of committed secularists."

Like I was saying, this is what has become of our two party system: Theocracy vs. Democracy. Blind faith seems to be the only explanation for how someone like George Bush could ever be considered for high office.

Dear Mike, Iraq sucks

Civilian contractors are fleecing taxpayers; US troops don't have proper equipment; and supposedly liberated Iraqis hate them. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore received a flood of letters and emails from disillusioned and angry American soldiers serving in Iraq. Here, in an exclusive extract from his new book, we print a selection

Endorsement from Bush's hometown newspaper

"Kerry Will Restore American Dignity"

George W. Bush, Faith In the White House

This is good news? I wonder what they think Bush is in the Muslim world. Maybe an American version of a grand mullah? (Can you say MOOO-LA?) How about a "Radical Cleric"?

Bush is leading a pack of lies...

"details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign had been heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi."
From the When you are willing to win your way at all costs, there is a very very very big bill waiting dept.

Heeeeere's the coalition!

While the invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $144 billion, the rest of the world has provided a disappointing $1.3 billion for Iraq's reconstruction (more than half of that coming from just two countries - Britain and Japan).
From the Hey Bush! I got your coalition right here! dept.

Despotism in New London (washingtonpost.com)

Eminent domain exercised for government desired private use is state capitalism, also known as fascism. By Karl Marx, it was identified as international capitalism.
Coming to a place near you. Oops: already here.
Will asks, can we do it? Answ: absolutely yes, IF you lean toward fascism.
Note well, that fascism is a lot more than war and burning Jews: it is a moral philosophy of purity, beliefs and behaviour, a belief that safety comes from the strength and power of the state and its military strength.
Sounding a little more familiar now? It is a temptation hard to resist if you are white, Christian, reasonably well off, and
reasonably healthy: clearly, you are the last in line for any ill that will befall the others. Not that they don't deserve it, right?
(Heads-up on this article courtesy of Kaisa Johnson)

FBI Backlogged in Translation of Counterterrorism Wiretaps (washingtonpost.com)

Listening to every single word? Doesn't that sort of step on God's territory?

Falwell says evangelical Christians now in control of Republican Party.

We knew this already, but I can't stand the way they brag about it. They seriously love and see nothing wrong with the idea of their church controlling our government! I respect the Christian faith, but these people are a pain in the ass. Keep your religious beliefs out of government already!

Who has a plan to rid ourselves of these anti-American lunatics?

Change the Iraq Conversation

"The reason so many still support our present action in Iraq may be as simple as this: There's no other anti-terrorist activity in play. This leads to a sort of willful illogic: We must support what's happening in Iraq, even though we believe it isn't helping and may even be making us more vulnerable to terrorist attack, because otherwise we'd be doing nothing about terrorism."
Hmmmm.

Flash mobs! A new threat :-)

See, if you can't deal with people, if PEOPLE are your problem, well, yeah, you're in trouble.
And "Good. Very, very good!" sez I!
Yeah for the people!

The housing bubble

Yep. It has happened before, it will happen again, it is happening now: new buyers simply cannot get into the market, and the housing market, like the stock market, consists of a smaller and smaller base bidding up their own wealth among each other.
At some point, the people at the top slow down or stop, and the ponzi game is over.
Stocks get properly valued, and so must houses. To paraphrase Tiny Tim, "and so must we all be properly valued, every one of us."
Australia has the dubious distinction of being the leader, with a 13% annualized decline in housing prices.

Al Qaeda wants Kerry

GMB opinion:
Makes sense to me. Any defeat of one's adversary is a win. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend, that sort of stuff)
How could Kerry change that?

Well he could say:
The war on terror is going MUCH too slowly!
Iraq MUST come on line immeidiately: we call on ALL the middle eastern nations to help their brothers
We NEED the international forces immediately,
We must be prepared for an outbreak of attacks internationally,
We must launch a very agressive plan to establish a new and lasting peace with the Muslim nations.
We will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!

Elections are a MUST happen: I am committed to holding elections in Iraq: they will be imperfect, but there is much to be learned. We will begin in January. And we set additional dates and meet each one.

As to nuclear weapons, we must convince our neighbors throughout the world that there is no need for such weapons: that all nations are safe. There are far far too many such weapons. Far far too much secrecy about their existence.

As an American citizen, I want George Bush out of there! He is misleading and misrepresenting my country.
As a candidate for the presidency, I wish nothing more than to serve my country, for the honor and the priviledge: there is so very much I owe my country.

Will Kerry say that? I dunno. Maybe he could get Dean to write it for him.

Deja Vu (all over again)

DEJA VU (ALL OVER AGAIN)

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you try to read the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

Day by day I hear the voices rising
Started with a whisper like it did before
Day by day we count the dead and dying
Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Could your eyes believe the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

One by one I see the old ghosts rising
Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy
Where the light gets dim
Day after day another Momma's crying
She's lost her precious child
To a war that has no end

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall
Did that voice inside you say
I've seen this all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again
It's like Deja Vu all over again

John Fogerty
©2004 Cody River Music / ASCAP

Things being a little more complicated

"In Washington, Allawi gave Congress an upbeat assessment Thursday, but the situation in Iraq is more complicated,"

"Large swaths of Iraq remain outside the control of the interim government, major highways are fraught with attackers, and interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi -- along with the U.S. Embassy and much of the international community -- must conduct business in fortified compounds guarded by tanks, blast walls and barbed wire. . . .

Yes, I'd say that having to have one's government behind "fortified compounds guarded by tanks, blast walls and barbed wire" might be an indication that things in Iraq are a little bit "more complicated" than Bush and Allawi are willing to let on. I do believe that what we see in Iraq is exactly the sort of government that Bush and Co. want for America. A government beholden to no one (except the "ruling class"), behind fortified compounds. The question is do we let them build such a government?

Q: Why did Bush invade Iraq instead of Egypt?

A: Because he's already the King of Denial.

More from BushFan.com

Homeland security

Kerry has been whining for a while that we are not doing enough to protect our chemical & nuclear plants and shipping ports. Also, he would like to increase funding for local police departments, fire departments, and first responders. This is a typical liberal solution: throw money at the problem.

President Bush’s solution is far more sophisticated. By not inspecting 95% of the cargo that arrives to our shores, and leaving our chemical & nuclear plants vulnerable, Bush is creating an atmosphere that will give terrorists the false impression that our country is unprotected. When they finally do attack us, their plan will be exposed, and we will be able to retaliate against the people that we suspect collaborated with them.

Kerry also complains about the nuclear stockpiles of former Soviet nations that are unaccounted for, and wants to spend up to $10 billion of American taxpayer’s money to buy those nuclear weapons so that they won’t “fall into the hands of terrorists”.

Rather than spending all this money, Bush prefers to keep these dangerous weapons away from our shores. After all, the main worry is that these nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists which will then smuggle them into the US. Why do half of the work for them by buying them and storing them here ourselves?

Who are these terrorists in Iraq?

"'If we stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they would be free to plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations. To retreat now would betray our mission, our word and our friends.' "
George Bush 9/24/04

Maybe someone can help me understand who he is referring to. I've heard the people we're fighting in Iraq called "Insurgents" and "Terrorists", but mostly it looks like we're fighting angry Iraqi people. If GW decided to invade Canada next week, would we call the angry Canadians shooting at us "Terrorists"?

Here is a picture of some of the "terrorist insurgents" in Iraq:

Blogosphere Finds

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan, asks in his Informed Comment blog:

If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?

Also from Cole's blog this sobering fact:

The war is costing about $1 billion a week.

Are we winning the "war on terror" That's the question asked at the "Terror Debate" blog.

I recently listened to an interview with Steven Flynn on Fresh Air [..] He made the very interesting point that we are spending more every 3 days in Iraq then we have spent in the past 3 years for security at American ports, even though the government has said this is one of the most likely ways for Al Qaeda to attack us with WMD.

Non-political blogs of note:


Here is a blog that I've just fallen in love with. This, I think, is one of the great things about blogs. You get the insight of people that society does not usually allow you to interact with, like in this case an African American woman in L.A.

so, i have a personality disorder.

A tinge of bi-polar Mania...

friday night i went on a date with CRAZYCHRIS and he wasn't the one acting crazy. It was me. I turned into some crazy psycho woman right before my own eyes. i've never felt or sensed those feeling from myself before...i should seek advice from a qualified specialist.

Bush Conspiracy & Truth Center

From bushfan.com

The Truth Center was created to debunk some of the vicious rumors and wacky conspiracy theories regarding the Bush family.

Desperate liberals and other loony Bush haters have resorted to inventing malicious and baseless fantasies about the Bush family being linked to Hitler, Osama bin Laden, John Hinckley Jr., Enron, Halliburton, Savings & Loan and anybody or anything that may tarnish the legacy of the Bush family.

Our team of researches explores these wacky conspiracies and separates fiction from reality!

To boldly cave-in as no one but Bush can.

U.S. says won't bow to kidnappers

With time running out to save a British hostage in Iraq, U.S. officials say they are not about to free female Iraqi prisoners as demanded by an al Qaeda ally whose group has already beheaded two Americans.


Iraqi Officials Say Female Inmate Is to Be Released

Two Iraqi officials said today that the government is planning to release one of two female scientists being held for working on Saddam Hussein's chemical arms program.

Peace Plane

What is the point of the "No Fly" list? Is it to punish people or prevent another suicide hijacking? Because if it is the latter then I don't think that Cat Stevens really poses a risk. If it is the former then we should get rid of it. We shouldn't be punishing people who have not been convicted of anything with restricted movement.

I'm no fan of Yusuf Islam, the new name that Cat Stevens now uses. I do not like religious extremists and he sure is one. He came out in favor of the death threat from the Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie. But this administration's restricting travel by diktat is unethical (though, not surprising) and un-American.

I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet

Could you feel it? The shift, in just the last day. The Kerry comeback has come back. The post GOP hate fest blip is popped; the fetid stink of Bush and Co’s lies beginning to see the purifying light of day. Here are some snippets:

The bible banned
GOP shows desperation in the south.

Oops
"A year from now I'd be surprised if there's not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush."
Richard Perle
September 22, 2003

Poll: 69% of US Jews will vote for John Kerry

The finding represents a remarkable 23 percent drop in American Jewish support for President Bush since last December.

Put Away Your Hankies...a message from Michael Moore


U.S. Troops in Iraq Gather to Watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11'; Anti-Bush sentiment growing

"Nobody I know wants Bush," says an enlisted soldier in Najaf, adding, "This whole war was based on lies." Like several others interviewed, his animosity centered on a belief that the war lacked a clear purpose even as it took a tremendous toll on US troops, many of whom are in Iraq involuntarily under "stop loss" orders that keep them in the service for months beyond their scheduled exit in order to keep units together during deployments.

from http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/
# Kerry has any lead in 20 states with 270 electoral votes.
# Bush has any lead in 29 states with 253 electoral votes.

Iraq: The best we can hope for

Krugman

Now Mr. Bush hopes that by pretending that Mr. Allawi is a real leader of a real government, he can conceal the fact that he has led America into a major strategic defeat.

I Want You

Al-Qaida would back Bush, says UK envoy

AMB. IVOR ROBERTS, BRITAIN'S AMBASSADOR TO ITALY, thought he was off the record when he uttered a controversial truth -- and described George Bush as "the best recruiting sergeant ever for al-Qaida".



Uncle oSAMa Says:
I Want YOU To Invade Iraq

Go ahead. Send me a new generation of recruits. Your bombs will fuel their hatred of America and their desire for revenge. Americans won’t be safe anywhere. Please, attack Iraq. Distract yourself from fighting Al Qaeda. Divide the international community. Go ahead. Destabilize the region. Maybe Pakistan will fall -- we want its nuclear weapons. Give Saddam a reason to strike first. He might draw Israel into a fight. Perfect! So please -- invade Iraq. Make my day.

loud angry agitator

From the article:

Dirk Adams, a protester in Boston who plans to catch a ride with a friend or buy an inexpensive bus ticket, designed a button using the smiling Statue of Liberty from the city's buttons, replacing "peaceful political activist'' with "loud angry agitator."


Dirk's confession:

Friends and family,
I missed this when it originally came out. Some of
you know, I was contacted by journalist Michael Brick
after putting my name on a rideboard associated with
United for Peace and Justice. (I am still waiting for
the FBI to call). Anyhow, he mentioned me and my
response to the "Peaceful Protestor" buttons the city
of New York claimed to be distributing during the RNC.

Here's the text of his article. If anyone has a hard
copy, it would look good in my summer vaction
scrapbook.

Love and peace,
Dirk
__________________________

Blog update: Lack of feature work-around

Matt has added email forwarding. Thanks Matt!

I've made a work around for a feature that Blogger is missing. Comment follow-up. If you join the Yahoo! group that the header for this post is linked to you can have all the comments forwarded to your email box. When you get the email just click on the link and the bottom of the comment and it will take you to the post.

Liberals Will Ban Bibles!!!!!!!!!

Or so says a GOP mailing in W. Va. Well, it could be true!

Doonesbury

Kerry/Edwards Supporters Assault 3-Year-Old Girl (UPDATE: Scam??)

Well a day after having removed Captains Quarters Blog from the list due to comment restrictions I go back to see that they have exposed a staged incident between a "Kerry supporter" and a three year old girl. This is worth reading and kudos to the conservative site for exposing the fraud.

Loyalty Oaths

The Bush/Cheney Oath of Loyalty, 2004
"I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States...In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."

The Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler, 2 August 1934
"I swear by God this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath."

Support Our Troops II

GIs decry recruiting tactics

Carson soldiers say they're being strong-armed to re-enlist

By Erin Emery
Denver Post Staff Writer

Colorado Springs - Soldiers from Fort Carson say they are being strong- armed into re-enlisting and are being told that if they don't, they'll be sent to Iraq or Korea, or to another unit headed for Iraq.

Caption Contest # 5 (follow link for story)

Yahoo! News - Bike Lock Can Be Picked With a Pen

DOH!

CPD: CPD Announces Formats for 2004 Debates

This will be a television event to remember. I hope the whole world is watching. Osama will likely be captured on Sept 30th.

First presidential debate:

Thursday, September, 30, 2004
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

Vice presidential debate:

Tuesday, October 5, 2004
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

Second presidential debate:

Friday, October 8, 2004
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO

Third presidential debate:

Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ

New Links on site

Just a note to let y'all know that I've added some new links (and got rid of another) from our "links" section. I trashed "Captains Quarters" not because they are a "conservative site" but because they started restricting posting of comments. I've added some of my favorite political blogs that I've mentioned here TalkingPointsMemo, and the Washington Note as well as a WashPost.com pseudo-blog called White House Briefing. I also added a link to a fun site with some political content as well called BurstTransmission.

Name the October Surprise

I heard about this on Randi Rhoades' Air America radio program yesterday...

I invite readers to submit entries to the "Name the October Surprise" contest by answering this question: "What do you think is a possible October Surprise that Bush will announce in order to try to win a close election?"

Kerry: Bush Presiding Over an 'Excuse Presidency'

Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush on Wednesday of presiding over an "excuse presidency," challenging Bush's credibility on jobs, the record national deficit and the war in Iraq.

"This president has created more excuses than jobs," Kerry told the Detroit Economic Club. "His is the excuse presidency -- never wrong, never responsible, never to blame. President Bush's desk isn't where the buck stops -- it's where the blame begins."

A Black Eye for CBS News

Ah, they should've been watching Fox.
But, ummm, what about all the other news from CBS??? I guess if they don't get it handed to them in a briefing, well, you just can't be sure.

Racial Profiling

Racial profiling makes very good sense: NOT profiling is stupid.
However, being rude and rough before you know WTF you are doing and to whom? Really stupid! (On the other hand, that WILL guarantee you more hits in future :-)

We Are Not Alone: Pertinent Music

"Patriot" by Steve Van Zandt Done by Eddie Vedder (many dates).

Probing Social Rules

or how to become ill without being sick.

Thirty years ago, they were wide-eyed, first-year graduate students, ordered by their iconoclastic professor, Dr. Stanley Milgram, to venture into the New York City subway to conduct an unusual experiment.

Their assignment: to board a crowded train and ask someone for a seat. Then do it again. And again.

"As a Bronxite, I knew, you don't do this," said Dr. Jacqueline Williams, now an assistant dean at Brooklyn College. Students jokingly asked their professor if he wanted to get them killed.

Support Our Troops

As long as they vote Republican.

Members of the military will be allowed to vote this year by faxing or e-mailing their ballots - after waiving their right to a secret ballot. Beyond this fundamentally undemocratic requirement, the Electronic Transmission Service, as it's known, has far too many problems to make it reliable, starting with the political partisanship of the contractor running it. The Defense Department is making matters worse by withholding basic information about the service, and should suspend it immediately.

Caption Contest #4

George Bush, He's not on our side

At Stake

"At stake is nothing less than our nation's soul"

Jimmy Carter

Electronic voting is,literally, a joke.

Dave Barry dumps on it. So I guess he's comedian first, Republican second.

Jesus Christ- Wrong for America

"I'm George Bush and I approve this message."

FREE Pepper Keeper Download - Pepper Computer

Ah: a nice easy to use GUI. And it will run a really nice and cheap hardware. (I was, alas, holding up its creation: the world was waiting until I bought a notebook and a wireless pocket PC, which this thing will replace very nicely.)

An Unofficial Thomas Sowell Fan Page

Affirmative action around the world, by T. Sowell.
He argues that everyone loves in in principle, but no one measures the results which he says ALWAYS make things worse.
It was nice to hear a calm discussion about affirmative actions. He presented a nice case, and I suspect that there might have been some serious shouting if there was anyone questioning his conclusions.
And the polite interviewer was not so bold as to show the man where he was simply wrong in his conclusions.
Because in fact the results WERE measured, and Sowell was measuring them and he chose what he wanted to measure: game, set, match.
And yet, it IS something that should be discussed, and there should NOT be name calling and shouting, nor should their be dispassionate disregard for the repressed, inadvertent or deliberate.
We have concluded that separate is perforce not equal, and in that we may be very very wrong. Unless one insists on giving all the Amish a TV and a mini van.

Sniff the chicken.

GeorgeWBush.com :: Official Blog

* A lady at a butcher shop took up a chicken and sniffed it under the wings, under the tail, pretty much all over.
"I don't like this chicken so much" she said to the butcher.
"Lady'", said the butcher," could you pass such a test?"

So maybe you couldn't. No problem. But here's the chicken: would you buy it? Does it smell bad?

These are not the droids you are looking for.

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States"

Dick Cheney 9/7/2004


"I did not say if Kerry is elected, we will be hit by a terrorist attack"

Dick Cheney 9/10/2004


This isn't a flip-flop, this is re-writing history.

Bush vs. Jesus

Want a Silver Bullet?

Well this aint it...

Documents unearthed by CBS News that raise doubts about whether President Bush fulfilled his obligations to the Texas Air National Guard include several features suggesting that they were generated by a computer or word processor rather than a Vietnam War-era typewriter, experts said yesterday.

Experts consulted by a range of news organizations pointed out typographical and formatting questions about four documents as they considered the possibility that they were forged. The widow of the National Guard officer whose signature is on the bottom of the documents also disputed their authenticity.

Flash the Court

Darfur

Here is the halocaust exhibit in Boston.
These glass towers with the numbers etched on the glass right up to the top, each a person, each a body, and words from a few of the survivors at the bottom of each of the 4 or 5 columns, and I wondered about the labor of etching each number, one at a time, but then, each number was a life.
And not a word on Darfur.
The sculptor got paid, the artisans got paid, people visit and are moved and while the tourist gazes, Israel and the Jews and the world is silent: they are killing the people in Darfur!
I didn't realize I needed a spray can until I was a few hours out of Boston: my shame that I didn't turn around and get the job done.

Die Bold

This was news to me, yet I didn't get it from the "mainstream press". Why not?

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The state of California has decided to sue Diebold, the nation's largest manufacturer of electronic (touch screen) voting machines because the company lied about the machines' security. The machines have a special feature that creates fake vote totals when a secret 2-digit code is typed in.

from: http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Smell the Stink

The question is, does anybody care?

Your vote does NOT count.

We are treated to examples of very very close elections where a very few votes made the difference, sometimes just one: that is NOT an indication that your vote counts. Quite the opposite, your vote is more like a lottery.
Consider, in a contest where the outcome is 4000 to 4001: the ONLY vote that counted, if any counted at all? Just the one. The other 8000 were like packing peanuts in a Fed Ex box.
When the result reflects your vote, when there is some proportionality, THEN your vote counts. When it's just another bean in the jar? Nah.
Such closely contested elections are anathema to democracy, a simple two party winner take all. The signs indicate the real need for a third or fourth party to reflect the wide variations in opinion, being dumbed down to two parties heading towards a one party system.
We see that the assault weapons ban has NO supporters in congress: Mr. Daschle who dearly wants his job is nowhere to be seen. Scattered about are the remnants of something like a Shriners convention, except, it was the NRA, and they didn't wear funny hats.

A Man of His Words: George Lakoff, Or how dumb is a Democrat

"Elephants are large, have floppy ears and a trunk, are associated with circuses, and so on. The word is defined relative to that frame. When we negate a frame, we evoke the frame."

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What's AMAZING is that somehow people don't read this shit and just KNOW it! Damn. gmb
The GOP has totally framed the issues, spun the web. To fly into the web, then struggle against it... ah, just doesn't look noble. But see them, see Kerry, fly into the sticky strands.... I mean, it's not like its a secret! It's in a book, it's in the bookstores for heaven's sake!

Gleanings for Sep. 8th 2004

(CBS) Wed., Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
Correspondent Dan Rather talks exclusively to former Texas House Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, about the role Barnes says he played in getting President George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard -- and why he now regrets it.

Missing in Action

President Bush claims that in the fall of 1972, he fulfilled his Air National Guard duties at a base in Alabama. But Bob Mintz was there - and he is sure Mr. Bush wasn't.

"I'm sure I would have seen him," Mr. Mintz said yesterday. "It's a small unit, and you couldn't go in or out without being seen. It was too close a space." There were only 25 to 30 pilots there, and Mr. Bush - a U.N. ambassador's son who had dated Tricia Nixon - would have been particularly memorable.

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Talking Points Memo

Where would we be without Alan Keyes?

According to this new report, Keyes now says that Barack Obama is a "socialist" and a "liar". He accuses Obama of using anti-black racist code words. And he claims that if Jesus were still walking the earth today in the flesh and eligible to vote in the Illinois Senate election, that he would definitely not vote for Barack Obama.

So much for secret ballots!
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Some snippets from the text of a letter former President Carter sent to Zell Miller over the weekend

Great Georgia Democrats who served in the past, including Walter George, Richard Russell, Herman Talmadge, and Sam Nunn disagreed strongly with the policies of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and me, but they remained loyal to the party in which they gained their public office. Other Democrats, because of philosophical differences or the race issue, like Bo Callaway and Strom Thurmond, at least had the decency to become Republicans.

Perhaps more troublesome of all is seeing you adopt an established and very effective Republican campaign technique of destroying the character of opponents by wild and false allegations.

The full text of the letter is here.
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Coincidences are the strangest things ...

AP: 'U.S. death toll in Iraq passes 1,000 mark' ... 4:27 PM, Sept. 7th, 2004

AP: 'Ridge: Terrorists hope to disrupt election' ... 4:40 PM, Sept. 7th, 2004

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The stink of deceit and lies is also being uncovered by the FBI in its investigation of Bush Administration appointees giving away classified information.

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And a good site for the conspiracy minded...

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FEAR FEAR FEAR

Cheney: Kerry Victory Will Bring Devastating Terrorist Attack.

Ridge: Terrorists hope to disrupt election

"Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt," Benjamin Franklin

"Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt," Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanac. Well, in recent years, American consumers, businesses and governments have been hitting the sack with their stomachs bloated and their charge cards maxed out. From 1988 to 2000, the ratio of nonfinancial debt to gross domestic product held steady at about 1.8 to 1. But recently, consumer, business and government credit has bulged like the belly of a contestant at a hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island.

From the beginning of 2001 to the end of 2003, the economy added $1.317 trillion in gross domestic product and $4.2 trillion in debt.

That means that each new dollar of economic output was accompanied by $3.19 in new debt. So now, for the first time, the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio stands at more than two to one.

When in Rome..?

Texans for Truth

Rags to Riches

How many times have you heard “you can be what you want to be if only you
work for it ”? The American dream has brought millions to our shores, legally
or surreptitiously, in search of upward economic mobility. And, over the
decades, millions of children of immigrants or of working-class Americans have
prospered and advanced in our competitive economy.
But how easy is it for the children of poor parents to become prosperous? Recent
evidence shows that there is much less mobility in the United States than most
people assume. Horatio Alger notwithstanding, rags to rags and riches to riches are
now the norm in this country to a greater degree than in many other developed
nations. Our current education system, antidiscrimination laws, and other public
policy tools that aim to give the children of poor parents a fair shot at a high
income are not getting the job done. We may all believe in the American Dream, but
we have a lot of work to do if we are to make that dream a reality.

Greater Democracy: Democracy for a connected world.

Plain speech about Kerry, and about George Bush giving us the full Disney on his National Guard service.
(By the way, it's time to panic: without some serious work, Bush will win. The next generation will wonder, from the rubble of what was the US, what the hell were we thinking?)

Who Cares About Darfur? (washingtonpost.com)

Rin ring ring... Yes, hello, this is the US of Bush. What? you say you're black, no oil and no weapons of mass destruction? Can we get back to you on this?
Thanks.

Be afraid, be very very afraid.

Feel the Hate
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 3, 2004

"I don't know where George Soros gets his money," one man said. "I don't know where - if it comes from overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from." George Soros, another declared, "wants to spend $75 million defeating George W. Bush because Soros wants to legalize heroin." After all, a third said, Mr. Soros "is a self-admitted atheist; he was a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust."

my name is Dennis Hastert, and I approved this ad...

More Joshua Marshall

Remember how President Bush has said, any country that looks at me the wrong way, that's a country I'm going to wipe from the face of the earth? And do you remember how he said that if he didn't read the August 6 PDB that that wasn't his problem and people should stop complaining about it?

I admit that I probably can't point to a direct citation for those things the president says. But then I don't know if George Pataki or the others can point to where John Kerry said he would only attack terrorists after they attacked us first.

Bush Country

Free of Speech does not equal Freedom of Speech

Bikes Against Bush

Arrest video

The Washington Note

However, you heard it here first -- I think John McCain will succeed Dick Cheney as Vice President mid-term if Bush/Cheney wins.

Inventing The "Clinton Recession"

No one should be surprised when economic or budget forecasts coming out of Washington are influenced by politics, especially during an election year. But when economic history is rewritten -- with political consequences -- that's going too far. President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, chaired by Harvard economist N. Gregory Mankiw, is trying to get away with exactly such revisionist history. The CEA's Economic Report of the President, released Feb. 9, unilaterally changed the start date of the last recession to benefit Bush's reelection bid. Instead of using the accepted start date of March, 2001, the CEA announced that the recession really started in the fourth quarter of 2000 -- a shift that would make it much more credible for the Bush Administration to term it the "Clinton Recession." In a subsequent press conference, Mankiw said that the CEA had looked at the available data and "made the call."

Sigh, more...

Leonard Pitts: Injustice is injustice – even if it's not personal

Read this. Really.

ed: better link established

From US News and World Report

This from US News and World Report sounds like a kinder gentler version of some of the stuff we read on Capitol Hill Blue some three months ago...

For his part, Bush is starting to show signs of wear. His hair is graying rapidly, and a recent knee injury sustained while he was jogging made the 58-year-old commander in chief feel his age. . . . Aides say he seems a bit more prickly these days and gets angry when he loses a vote on Capitol Hill, when his adversaries target him with what he considers cheap shots, and when there are setbacks in Iraq. Bush vents at a number of his senior advisers, but Rove is most often on the receiving end -- White House aides call it 'chewing on Karl.'

Consider... the Implications

Cheney favors freedom for gays: "'Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with,' Cheney told an audience that included his daughter. 'With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."
Sworn to uphold the law, represent the country, he holds quite the different postion on a totally personal basis. This cuts both ways.
This is a governement of men, not of law.
Note too: Cheney says it's up to the states. Sharpton knows, and so should we all: slavery was permitted under states rights.

economic girlie men!

From a conservative blog: http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/

And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ... and faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the RNC Tuesday night

The Flop Flips: The Reason

President Bush on why he changed his position on the winability of the war on terror three times in two days.

I should have made my point more clear about what I meant. What I meant was that this is not a conventional war. It is a different kind of war. We're fighting people who have got a dark ideology who use terrorists, terrorism, as a tool. They're trying to shake our conscience. They're trying to shake our will, and so in the short run the strategy has got to be to find them where they lurk. I tell people all the time, "We will find them on the offense. We will bring them to justice on foreign lands so we don't have to face them here at home," and that's because you cannot negotiate with these people. And in a conventional war there would be a peace treaty or there would be a moment where somebody would sit on the side and say we quit. That's not the kind of war we're in, and that's what I was saying. The kind of war we're in requires, you know, steadfast resolve, and I will continue to be resolved to bring them to justice, but as well as to spread liberty ... There's no doubt in my mind, so long as this country stays resolved and strong and determined, and by winning, I just would remind your listeners that Pakistan is now an ally in the war on terror.

I guess there was some nuance there.

Bowing down before the Golden Calf

Progress Report, 8/31/04 - American Progress Action Fund
Q: How can you tell when Greenspan spouts crap?
A: His lips move.
Follow the link to the Greenspan record of contradictions and nonsense.

Then there is Kissinger.
These old men have achieve lofty positions on the American seen: personally, I'd prefer Sigmund and Roy.

Old Lawyers Trick

When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law. And when both the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and call the other side names.

Spamusement!

And now for something completely different. (check out "freedom!")