Do you have something to say about Dubya Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts Jr. as the replacement US Supreme Court Associate Justice? How about the Shrub's apparently giving the middle-finger to half the nation by not selecting a consensus candidate for the job? By all means, share your thoughts via comments. But there are some important people with whom you need to share your view: your lawmakers and everyone you know.

Here is a brand-new action alert from People for the American Way:

Roberts Nomination Raises Red Flags
Tell the Senate to Do Its Duty -- Don't Rubber Stamp!

This evening, Bush nominated John Roberts to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. The Radical Right has been chomping at the bit for weeks in anticipation of this announcement. The Senate must now stand up to the pressure to simply rubber-stamp the president's pick.

Tell your senators to fulfill their constitutional obligation to advise and consent. Tell them to withhold support for Roberts' nomination until they have all the facts about his troubling record.

Here are the facts: What we know about John Robert's record as Deputy Solicitor General and as a judge shows a disturbing lack of concern for the fundamental civil and constitutional rights of all Americans. We deserve a justice who will protect our rights and freedoms. Serious questions must be addressed before Roberts' nomination to the nation's highest court can be evaluated properly. Some alarming aspects of Roberts' record they must consider include:

• Reproductive and Privacy Rights: Roberts urged the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade while arguing before the Court as Deputy Solicitor General in a case that did not even directly concern that issue. His brief plainly states that "Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled."




• Separation of Church and State: Roberts argued against clear First Amendment protections for religious liberty and in favor of officially sponsored school prayer at graduation ceremonies before the Supreme Court, which rejected his argument.



• Environmental Protections: As a judge, Roberts suggested in a dissent that the Endangered Species Act was unconstitutional as applied to a California development case.



• Veteran Protections: Roberts argued American POWs tortured in Iraq during the Gulf War should not be able to utilize federal courts to pursue their claims.




• Excessive Arrest Procedures: Roberts ruled against a 12-year old girl who was handcuffed, arrested and taken away by police for eating a single French fry on the D.C. Metro, even though an adult would only have gotten a paper citation in that situation.

The next 24 hours are crucial. Unless you and thousands of other activists speak out right away, the Bush administration may lock up the support of dozens of members before the confirmation process truly gets under way and before the American people have a chance to learn where Roberts stands.

At this critical moment, we need you to do more than just call or write your lawmakers. We need you to do both, and to get your friends to do the same.

Your senators need to hear from you today--there must not be a rush to confirm John Roberts until all the facts are in! Call and write your senators to demand that they fulfill their constitutional obligations of advise and consent -- our rights hang in the balance!

Save the court!

Need more reasons to take action? Don't forget that GLBT equality under law -- which does not exist -- is a huge issue of contention within the US. The Human Rights Campaign has some thoughts you ought to consider when thinking about the possibility of having John Roberts Jr. on the nation's highest court:

Knowing he was on [Bush]'s "short list" of potential nominees, HRC has already conducted a preliminary review of his record. We have serious concerns about his judicial philosophy regarding the constitutional right to privacy and legal protections for GLBT Americans. And while he has no paper trail on GLBT issues that does not mean that he is supportive. His views on legal protections for our community must be examined in Senate hearings. Now that his nomination is official, we're digging more deeply to learn where Judge Roberts stands specifically on GLBT and other civil-rights issues.

George Bush has already made more than 200 appointments to the federal bench. It's highly unlikely that Judge Roberts will be the first with a record of support for GLBT rights or a woman's right to choose. For example, would he have voted with the majority to strike down anti-gay sodomy laws in America? Or to declare Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2 unconstitutional? Neither Clarence Thomas nor Antonin Scalia did -- and that's the kind of appointment Bush promised to make to the Supreme Court. As you know, there is no more important decision for protecting the rights and freedoms of every American than choosing a Supreme Court Justice. The Supreme Court will have the LAST WORD on the constitutionality of marriage for same-sex couples in America; the LAST WORD on the constitutionality of GLBT-inclusive hate crimes laws; the LAST WORD on whether GLBT Americans can serve openly in our military. Their decisions affect all Americans and all of us must stand together now to fight for a fair and balanced Supreme Court.

The stakes are enormously high -- and the fear is real and justified. Please, please take action now, and encourage those you know to do the same.

Click here to get senators' office phone numbers, snail-mail addresses, and e-mail addresses. Contact them by all three methods -- and do it now!

Yes, I am still waiting on NTodd's next move. He is claiming to be very busy with his supposedly slowed down lifestyle. Hopefully, Blogger's Chess will resume.

Oh, and one of these days, I might actually post something else here.

This Memorial Day, millions of US citizens will take a day off from work for a solemn day of watching parades, grilling dogs and burgers, risking melanoma on a beach, or checking out this season's wildest amusement-park roller coasters. The aim behind the moroseness and merriment: to remember soldiers who gave the "supreme sacrifice to protect and defend American freedom." The expectation is that all those who live on these shores will take part in the celebration and join in the collective "thank you."

Um, not this one. No, thanks.

Nothing against the soldiers, particularly the ones who served prior to the ending of the military draft: Those forced to go into service -- including my grandfather, who served in World War 2 -- had no choice if they didn't want to make another supreme sacrifice, going to jail for their beliefs. And the ones who made the choice to enlist in the armed services (a sad choice, in this writer's opinion) made the decision based on their individual situations. As a pacifist who believes in self-determination, I can't quibble with their choices, however repugnant I find them.

And, yes, I find the choice to enlist repugnant and unremittingly sad. There is no justification for killing, in my book. None. So you can imagine that the prospect of a day when practically all around me insist that I show gratitude to people hired to kill in my name and against my will causes me untold distress.

Are all Americans equal under law? Of course not. US law, as it stands, denies millions of law-abiding Americans the freedom to fully enjoy their inalienable, Creator-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The grand tradition of the armed forces, complete with images of bombs bursting in air and filled with stories of freedom fighters battling all manner of enemies in defense of the American way of life, is a slap in the faces of those who don't have equality. Sure, there are people who are heroes due to extraordinary actions they took to save, not take, lives in dangerous times. They deserve honors. But to honor death brigaders just because they died? I can't.

So how can an anti-military progressive pacifist mark this day? One could hide and pretend Memorial Day does not exist. Or one could face it head on and commit to keeping more of our young people out of harm's way and out of uniform.

Yep, an action alert is coming.

From Boston Craigslist:

The greyhound track in Plainfield, CT voted on April 26th that they would discontinue greyhound racing. Unfortunately - and heartbreakingly - they've also decided that rescuers have only two weeks to get the dogs out, and any dogs remaining at the track on May 14th will be euthanized. This is a monumental task because there are at least 500 dogs currently at the track. These are all young, healthy dogs, 2-4 years of age, who would make great family pets.

We've committed to saving as many dogs as we possibly can in the next two weeks.

How can you help?

My sisters and I all have left the Great State for school, but we still keep an eye on Texas politics. The older one sent this news story with the query "What's going on at home with the governor's race and internal squabbling?" Longtime senator Kay Bailey Hutchison apparently is going to challenge current governor Rick Perry in the next gubernatorial Republican primary, which someone thinks is a good sign for the Democrats.

My little sister replied, "Do you really think we have a chance at winning Texas? just because there's a challenge in the primaries doesn't mean the Republican won't still win... although it will be good if Kay Bailey doesn't run for senator again."

My two cents: I hope that Hutchison doesn't run for governor, though -- I think the reason she's looking at it is that Perry's weakened himself since his '02 election, with all the screwups of budgets and particularly school funding, so he'd be extremely vulnerable in a primary. But I'd much rather have a Dem to go up against a weak Perry than against Hutchison, who's got no black marks against her of which I know (other than the obvious one of being a Republican, which of course is not a negative in Texas).

But my favorite part of the whole article was the "You hugged Hillary Clinton!" "Oh yeah? well you praised her healthcare plan!" part.

As Hutchison has bolstered her staff, the back and forth between her and Perry has grown increasingly bitter. The most high-profile incident came late last month when Perry's camp released a videotape showing Hutchison hugging New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D), who praised her Texas colleague as a "partner on so many fronts."

Less than a week later, a letter written by Perry from the early 1990s lauding Clinton's health care plan was circulated. In the letter, Perry, who was then state agriculture commissioner, called Clinton's attempt to reform the health care system "commendable."

May 3, 2005

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is running an unorthodox primary challenge to Gov. Rick Perry, refusing to speculate publicly about her intentions even as she privately prepares for the possibility of a bruising intraparty battle.

Aides to Hutchison argue that she has truly not decided whether she will run for re-election in 2006 - a race in which she would likely cruise to victory - or challenge Perry in a contest that would set off a civil war within the party.

No, this has nothing to do with Iranian double-agents. Rook sorta throws NTodd a curve in the latest exciting installment of Bloggers Chess.

At least Stalin made the trains run on time.

The Bloggers Chess match continues its wild pace with my latest move!

A few days ago I made my latest move in Bloggers Chess, only a month late, and Rook has just responded. The pace quickens!

Why be heretical when you can be holy? Be the first in your neighborhood to join the fastest growing organization for the next generation: The Papal Youth! Learn all the latest tools of the lord: righteous anger, stoning, hypocritical judgment of others - these and many, many more. Become instantly favored by God - that's right, instantly favored by God. Don't question the lord, dial H-O-L-Y-G-O-D. That's H-O-L-Y-G-O-D. Now!

Why it will take a miracle for Tom DeLay to survive

Vigilantes? Yes. Tom DeLay? Not so much.

(This post can also be found at The People's Republic of Seabrook)

When Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) called for the resignation of Rep. Tom DeLay, conservatives turned on Shays as if he were the one going around verbally attacking federal judges and embroiled in ethics scandals. Shays's congressional colleague Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) claimed he was "totally out of touch" with mainstream conservatives and "disloyal to the party and to people as individuals." That personal attack wasn't enough for Rohrabacher who went on to call Shays a "jerk" who gained his notoriety off of his disloyalty. Rush Limbaugh addressed his comments to Shays himself and declared, "It's going to take a lot more than you, Chris Shays, to get rid of someone who's decent and good and moral and upstanding and a fighter, and that's Tom DeLay."

Now, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has postured that if Tom DeLay "chose to resign as majority leader until these matters are resolved, that's probably not the worst idea." This is the same congressman who served as the keynote speaker at the kickoff event for the Minuteman Project, calling the group "heroes." Well, you really have to wonder how DeLay feels knowing that a man ready and willing to defend armed "vigilantes" won't even jump to his defense. Or is Tancredo just another "disloyal" "jerk"?

That giggling you're hearing is the growing and increasingly unbridled mirth of Democrats, both in Washington and here in District 22. Far be it from us to revel in the suffering of another...ah, hell, of course we're going to revel in the suffering of another- especially when that other is Tom DeLay and the suffering is self-inflicted.

It's beginning to look as if all the weeping and gnashing of teeth emanating from the Democratic side of the aisle may be altogether unnecessary. Tom DeLay may not need any help in hanging himself. Perhaps we should all just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride as DeLay's political career begins circling the drain. Minimum effort, maximum results...ya gotta like those possibilities, eh??

One of DeLay's strengths has always been that he has recognized that his power and success comes from his ability and willingness to remain behind the scenes. DeLay is not what anyone could reasonably describe as telegenic. His mien is one of a sniveling little rat-faced git with the demeanor of a martinet. By flying underneath media radar, DeLay has effectively and brilliantly climbed the ladder of power in the House, to the point where he is now arguably the most powerful man in Washington. (Who else in the GOP could openly defy George W. Bush and Karl Rove and still have a career left to brag about?)

Continue reading "And it couldn't have happened to a nicer demagogue"

Posted at 08:24 AM | 1 Comment(s)

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Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder. Her crime was being disabled, voiceless, and at the disposal of our media.

I grow tired of those pundits who feel, that by dint of their moral superiority and vastly superior intellect, have the right to weigh in on the Terry Schiavo case. The latest to wade in where angels rightfully fear to tread is Nat Henthoff, who really should know better.

Normally, I don't try to dismantle someone's argument point by point, but Henthoff's sanctimonious pleadings are just too much to pass up. This ought to be fun....

Argument #1: Terri Schiavo is being executed.

*For all the world to see, a 41-year-old woman, who has committed no crime, will die of dehydration and starvation in the longest public execution in American history.

Uh, first of all, Mrs. Schiavo expressed to two different people that she would never wish to live in the manner so many would now condemn her to in their battle to "Respect Life". What is so wrong with respecting the expressed wishes of Mrs. Schiavo? Oh, right; that doesn't fit your narrow agenda, does it?

Argument #2: Terri Schiavo is responsive and lucid.

*She is not brain-dead or comatose, and breathes naturally on her own. Although brain-damaged, she is not in a persistent vegetative state, according to an increasing number of radiologists and neurologists.

Well, sure, if you believe the Schindler family and/or their spiritual adviser, you'd think that Terri Schiavo is sitting up in bed dictating memos to her supporters and reading the Racing Form so that she can place her bet on the fifth race at Pimlico.

The reality is that 15 years of medical evidence contradicts Henthoff's assertion. Hell, even the report by Mrs. Schiavo's guardian ad litem, Jay Wolfson debunks the various theories of people who really WANT to believe that Terri Schiavo is a lucid, responsive human being. The notion, as put forth by Schiavo's father, that Terri is "begging for our help" flies in the face of medical reality- and it's an insult to his daughter, who he is allowing to be used as a political chess piece. If there is a crime being committed here, it is by the Schindler family, who have willingly and actively participated in turning their daughter's tragic situation into a political travesty.

Rook *finally* makes his latest move in Bloggers Chess over in the Knowledge section. I think I have him spooked. Ninety percent of the game is half mental...

My latest move in Bloggers Chess has been posted.  Care to dance?

ntodd

Hey folks, I wanted to point out that my latest column for Blue and Red magazine is up: N. Todd Pritsky gets right into the swing of things and sets his sights on the Abortion divide.

And not just because I'm all whorin' the rag, I encourage you to tune in daily to the site. It's a nice change of pace from the partisanship you typically see in the blogosphere. Always a good exercise to try to bridge the political divide...

Guy's first move in Bloggers Chess has been published in the Knowledge section.  And we challenge readers to submit their own ideas for future moves--we'll be including an alternate version of the board with your suggestions!

ntodd

]Note: the veracity of this story is already being questioned by the right side of the blogsphere. The Funny Farm advises you to read it with a grain of salt until the details can be verified.]

Does anyone else remember all the Republic torque coming from Instacracker (no, we don't link to trashy blogs like that one around here) about how Ward Churchill was the voice of the left? Just a typical liberal saying typical liberal things. Never mind that his piece written shortly after 9-11 was briefly mentioned in progressive blogs, his viewpoints were noted (as opposed to the distortion of them by the Hordes of Instacracker) and thought to be a little on the radical side of the progressive spectrum, and the left moved on. No big deal - his point was made a little more, um, intensely than most progressives (even those here on the Funny Farm News Burro staff) would have handled it. But not the sort of thing to go ballistic on - at least from this side of the blogsphere. We remember Jerry Falwell making much more incendiary comments blaming just about everyone for 9-11 except those who blindly followed his interpretation of the Invisible Cloud Being's message to its' creation. We don't recall Mr. Falwell being held up as the voice of the right at that time, or any other for that matter.

Anyways,... we do seem to recall certain (coughpowerlinecough) blogs (coughpowerlinecough) who seem to consider themselves (coughpowerlinecough) the standard for all of the blogsphere ('cause liberals don't count, don'cha know, and they got Time's coveted this is the first blog we found Blog Of The Year award). We're reasonably sure (cough) that they don't speak on our behalf, but we're also confident that won't stop them from claiming to if it suits their purposes.

So it was with great interest that we saw a link to this blog post over at Daily Kos. Apparently a Minnesota blogger (Powerline is at least partially run by a lawyer in that state) emailed Powerline and asked them,

and received this lovely response:

[Warning: profanity has been altered but should be fairly obvious even to our younger viewers. Parental discretion is advised]

Now we gots to ask you: have you ever seen such an awesome command of the Englitch language? And from a lawyer, no less. Wouldn't you love to have this guy defending you in court? Although we have to believe that farging iceholes like this would prefer to torture defame and insult prosecute others instead of defending them. Possibly defend corpo-weasels, but that's another kettle of fish altogether (coughcoughlotsofcoldcashcoughcough). We have also been reliably informed that someone writing for the Powerline blog has called former President Jimmy Carter a traitor. So we have to ask the (largely rhetorical) question: does the right blogsphere have no shame? Will any of them denounce these clowns and say that they do not speak for the right blogsphere, or conservatives in general? Will Instacracker recant from his obviously inaccurate statement that Ward Churchill is the spokesman for the left? Will Glenn disavow the statements made by Powerline, and ask for a public retraction and/or apology? Will Hugh Hewiit even notice that conservatives have made statements of this nature, and will he denounce either of Powerline's obscene email or their remark that a former president is a traitor to the United States? Just like the MN Politics Guru, we won't be holding our breath here at the Funny Farm waiting for any conservative to admit that any other conservative could possibly have said anything wrong at all.

Faithful readers of Open Source Politics'd Knowledge section, Rook's Rant and/or Dohiyi Mir have probably forgotten that there used to be a very exciting game of Bloggers Chess going on between NTodd Pritsky and Guy Andrew Hall.  The game petered out (my bad), but we're reviving this time-honored tradition despite nobody asking us to.

But first, here's my play in one act called Mishima Tries Chess:

Yukio Mishima: I come out on the stage determined to make people weep. Instead, they burst out laughing.
 

[Tips over the black king]

Announcing Blue And Red:

Starting Monday, February 14th, Blue and Red Magazine is going live. Eight columns a week will be published between Monday and Friday to guarantee fresh daily content. Interviews with Senators, Governors, activists and bloggers will take a look at why America is divided and how we can bridge that divide. Our contributors are, mostly, not professional journalists and we aren't about soundbites. We are people, from the Left, Right and Center, coming together to foster honest, thought provoking dialogue in a time when the media is letting us down.
...
Blue and Red is a weekly online magazine dedicated to discussing and debating politics in an open minded and respectful manner. While cable news networks spin and the internet becomes an echo chamber, we at B&R seek something different: dialogue. We still believe, even in these divided times, that common ground exists in American society and that productive and thought-provoking conversations can be had by those with differing viewpoints. That is what Blue and Red is about.

It ain't a blog, and you should bookmark/blogroll it. More to come...

[Update: Blue and Red is now live!]

Medicare Benefit Estimated to Cost Taxpayers $720 Billion Over Its' First Ten Years. After they lied about the costs originally in order to get the bill passed, threatened to fire an expert on the costs of the program after he tried to tell the truth about the estimated costs at the time of the bill's debate, held a vote in the wee hours of the morning to pass the bill, and kept the vote open for over three hours until they could threaten cajole enough Republics to pass it. And now we find out that the estimates used in arriving at the $551 billion figure were not factoring in the increasing number of people who will be eligible for the program. The article further goes on to say that the gross cost of the bill is actually $1.2 trillion before including the savings realized from states being forced to pay more of the costs of medication, the increase in premiums paid by those using Medicare, and the savings created within the Medicare program itself.

Yet another example of the sterling morality of the junta currently running (what used to be) the greatest nation on earth into the ground. Thanks, Putsch!

Update: D'oh! As usual, one of the uberbloggers posts on the story before we can get our trite little commentary out into blogtopia (yadda yadda yadda y!sctw!) the Fashionable Left Bank of Blogistan^TM. Damn you, George Steinbrenner!

Hope has little hope for social security under the Bush administration:

I started reading Paul Krugman's book The Great Unraveling over Christmas. One of his points is that people don't accept that those in power are gunning for revolution until the revolution is already a done deal. He says the Bush administration is just such a revolutionary power: they're pretty clear about what they want to do but Americans just can't believe they would really upset the status quo that much.

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In her February 2nd post, Natalie points out the difference between inspirational and evangelical:

Someone is bound to point out that GWBush and other fanatics throughout history have believed the same thing. Well, I don't think it is the same thing. The Bushes of this world have an agenda they want to impose on others and they look for justification of that agenda in their religion and religious texts. But Hatshepsut - and others like her at different times and in different cultures - have the artist's view: they don't impose, they inspire and they are inspired to create something beyond self-expression by something, and more importantly for something, beyond themselves.

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Stentor Danielson adds his voice to the discussion about "chivalry" which originated at Hugo Schwyzer's blog. What I'm wondering is why no one called Hugo on this inflammatory comment:

As is usually the case with folks who begin this work, she was hyper-attuned to both real and perceived injustices. Misogyny lurked around every corner, and virtually all male-female interactions had to be filtered through the lens of feminist theory.

And, while he claims to not be making fun of the "Dara's of the world" what he's not understanding is that MOST women filter all interactions through the lens of not necessarily feminist THEORY, but certainly through the direct experience of being a woman.

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Ed Thibodeau brings up the dem's counter to The Death Tax.

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On that same theme, T. Rex responds to the State of the Union Address

Now, as we see a little gray in the mirror -- or a lot of gray -- and we watch our children moving into adulthood, we ask the question: What will be the state of their union? Members of Congress, the choices we make together will answer that question. Over the next several months, on issue after issue, let us do what Americans have always done, and build a better world for our children and our grandchildren.

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Patrick Taylor is on Secretary of Education watch.

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An Amazing post by Dale:

It seems odd that these is a correlation between those who oppose the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution, that depicts the origin and development of species as, in part, due to a struggle for existence bewteen individual organisms and their environment, on the one hand. And on the other hand, those who really do see society as a place where we are rightly subject to those same imperatives of the struggle for existence.

***

Surely there are more excellent posts out there by OSP members and former members...but that's all I have time for now.

I'm calling out Atrios and all other Philly and New England bloggers to bet on today's Big Game between the Iggles and the Pats.  Whattaya think? 

If our team loses, we will donate to your favorite charity, or post pictures of us with our heads shaved, or something.  Who's with me?  Lemme know in comments or via e-mail.

ntodd

PS--I predict that the Patriots will win 31-27.

[it's official:

If the Pats win, all us betting on the Eagles have to donate to the American Friends Service Committee (Ntodd's choice).

I'm going local.  If the Eagles win, all you New England losers have to donate your bet to Project Home.

Count
me in for $50. Pledge your bets in comments here or at Ntodd's place or
on your blog, if you have one. I'll throw up a link to everyone's blog
who's in (subject to my ability to keep up).

I'll match Atrios' bet, but you don't have to.  Bet what you want.  Takers?

BTW, as I noted over at Eschaton, AFSC is a Quakerly org, so Philly will win either way!]

I spent an hour watching Shrubbie on the tube. Who can blame me for being snarky?

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, fellow citizens:

[Comrade, Co-conspirator, Minions, and Dupes]

As a new Congress gathers, all of us in the elected branches of government share a great privilege: We have been placed in office by the votes of the people we serve. [Guffaw.] And tonight that is a privilege we share with newly elected leaders of Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, and a free and sovereign Iraq.

Two weeks ago, I stood on the steps of this Capitol and renewed the commitment of our nation to the guiding ideal of liberty for all. This evening I will set forth policies to advance that ideal at home and around the world.

Tonight, with a healthy, growing economy [for some], with more Americans going back to work [often at McJobs and at wages lower than required to maintain their standard of living -- or make ends meet], with our nation an active force for good in the world [so long as one defines "good" as what works for GwB], the state of our union is confident and strong [arrogant and divided]. Our generation has been blessed by the expansion of opportunity [for some], by advances in medicine [some of which we will fight like blazes so that you can't benefit from them], and by the security purchased by our parents' sacrifice [or beaten into people by US thugs inspired by Alberto Gonzales]. Now, as we see a little gray in the mirror or a lot of gray and we watch our children moving into adulthood, we ask the question: What will be the state of their union? [It won't be a civil one, if I have anything to say about it.]

Members of Congress, the choices we make together will answer that question. Over the next several months, on issue after issue, let us do what Americans have always done [or promised to do], and build a better world for our children and grandchildren [-- the peons' children and grandchildren can take care of themselves].

All of you: stand up when the Idiot Son Of An A$$hole walks into the room, then turn your backs on the Torturer in chief while he's spewing out another set of lies to the American people disseminating propaganda using tax dollars. Again. Hopefully those spine transplants can help out and allow you to stand straight long enough to make a point to the Chimperor.

It took a while for the Bush Administration to realize that it isn't smart to have columnists and commentators on the government dime.

After the early January discovery that conservative pundit Armstrong Williams was paid $241,000 by a public-relations firm at the behest of the US Department of Education to trumpet the Shrub's No Child Left Behind Act, the Bushies had little to say. But now that the world knows that right-wing commentator Maggie Gallagher received $41,500 to pimp the anti-GLBT Federal Marriage Amendment, even Dubya realized that something had to give.

At a press conference today, Bush laid down the law: "I expect my Cabinet secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence," he said. "All our Cabinet secretaries must realize that we will not be paying ... commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."

'Bout damn time. How is it that Shrubbie didn't come to that conclusion on Jan. 7? After the Williams story emerged, the writer came clean, admitting that he had been wrong to take the taxpayers' money without making a full disclosure. Whatever the reason for his initial inaction, it is good that Bush finally wised up.

As for Gallagher, she says now that she should have disclosed that she was on the gummint payroll, but according to CNN, it appears she doesn't grasp the enormity of her actions.

On Wednesday, Washington Post media critic and CNN host Howard Kurtz reported that in 2002 syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher "repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families," without mentioning she "had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal."

Gallagher said in a statement published Wednesday that she was hired by HHS because of her "lifelong experience in marriage research, public education and advocacy."

She was paid to prepare presentation on the benefits of marriage for HHS managers, to draft an essay on the topic for HHS Assistant Secretary Wade Horn and to prepare brochures on the topic, Gallagher wrote.

"I was not paid to promote marriage. I was paid to produce particular research and writing products ... which I produced," she wrote.

Gallagher, a frequent television guest and a former editor at the conservative National Review, is the author of three books on marriage and president of the new nonprofit organization, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, based in Washington.

And this differs from Williams' situation in what way? The whole thing makes me think of a funny story, likely apocryphal, I heard eons ago:

Oscar Wilde asked a society woman if she would consider having sex with someone for $10 million. The woman was taken aback by the question and thought about the prospect for a moment. Eventually, she answered, "Yes, yes I would."

Wilde had another question: "Would you do it for $10?"

"Absolutely not," she replied, feeling insulted. "Just what do you take me for?"

"My dear, we have already established that," Wilde said. "Now, we are merely haggling over the price."

Anyone with eyes can see what Gallagher is.

By the way: How typical for the Bushies to pay a woman less than a man for performing the same job.

Just an FYI that voting for the Perranoski Prizes is still going on over at The American Street. Please do support this adjunct to Wampum's Koufax. And I'm not just saying that because my blog is up for Best Art or Photoblog. Really, go check out all the nominees and take your first step into a larger world.

Spent a very cold day in the nation's capital protesting today's embarrassingly lavish Republican coronation. Don't that idiot Bush and his de la Renta-clad missus realize that there's a "war" on? Or that people are suffering in Asia, Africa, and Newark? Bad, bad show.

And how about this: On the day the country is supposed to celebrate its values and founding principles, we had law-enforcement types doing their level best to prevent people from exercising their inalienable rights. The amount of security was amazing -- the Man was inescapable. Security checkpoints prevented a lot of dissenters from being able to reach Pennsylvania Avenue, snipers were on rooftops, and thuggish-looking cops were everywhere. What is their goal?, I wondered. Are they trying to protect us all from terrorists, or are they trying to protect Shrubbie from his subjects?

For bringing increased levels of public debt by giving tax breaks to the elite of America;

For sending over 1300 young Americans to be killed for a few more oil dollars in his owner's pockets;

For setting up a nepotistic partisan hierarchy in the office of most government agencies;

For refusing to listen to anything except what he wants to hear;

For claiming that his coronation inauguration is being wholly paid for by corporate donations while stiffing Washington DC with a $12 Million dollar services bill;

And, for buying the media so that they will parrot whatever kimchee pours out of the Torturer in Chief's pie-hole;

The following corpo-weasels would like to shower tons of money on you so that we can tell you how to pay us off for all that scratch. Don't worry, Pinhead - we're sure they'll let you know just how you can help them.

pResident Drinky McDumbAss - proud to be whoring for corporations and the elite in Washington DC since 2000!

PINR:

Yushchenko assumes the Ukrainian presidency in a largely-polarized country with deep political, social and economic divisions. He faces an intransigent Russia that feels it has lost a major public relations battle; a number of former Soviet states that see Ukraine as a threat to their regimes; and a largely supportive West. Having emerged as a winner in the new, fast "Great Game" that just unfolded in Eastern Europe, Ukraine has to chart a careful course between its prior economic and political commitments and a new, democratic future. As one of the key states that separates the new West from the former Soviet space, Ukraine stands to benefit greatly if Yushchenko can capitalize on his democratic victory and avoid further dissent to the new government.

The New York Times: Free Speech, or Secrets From Apple?

"Bloggers are becoming a more and more critical source of news," said Kurt Opsahl, the lawyer representing the two sites and a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in California. "A lot of confidential tips first start out on the blogs before being picked up in the mainstream media."

It would appear that Blogs are becoming a source of legal action in ways some of us may not have anticipated.

Now, I do not see myself as a journalist. I did dabble a bit with a learn by mail journalist course, but never got past lesson 3. I just didn't have the motavation to stick with the course.

Yet, how many Bloggers in Blogstonia (sorry skippy, not going to use your utopian reference) are journalist plying their trade on blogs? For sure we know Josh over at TPM is doing just that. And the article also cites AppleInsider.com, PowerPage.org and Thinksecret.com.

I can think of all sorts of questions regarding this issues. Will only those Bloggers accredited as journalist get special consideration in court cases, or will Bloggers in general be considered journalist despite a lack of training?

Let's face it, I have my own blog with an incredibly small readership. Yet I have a readership. I comment on news, I even occassional supply an opinion. Does that make me a journalist?

Is journalism strictly about writing news?

I’m not the best at analysis. I can come up with the questions. Do any of you see answers? Especially any of you that are journalists?

This bit of hilarity came in from the inbox. Enjoy!

DEAR ABBY,

My husband has a long record of money problems. He runs up huge credit card bills. At the end of the month, if I try to pay them off, he shouts at me, saying I am stealing his money. He says pay the minimum and let our kids worry about the rest, but already we can hardly keep up with the interest.

Also he has been so arrogant and abusive toward our neighbors that most of them no longer speak to us. The few that do are an odd bunch, to whom he has been giving a lot of expensive gifts, running up our bills even more.

Also, he has gotten religious in a big way, although I don't quite understand it. One week he hangs out with Catholics and the next with people who say the Pope is the Anti-Christ. And now he has been going to the gym an awful lot and is into wearing uniforms and cowboy outfits, and I hate to think what that means.

Finally, the last straw. He's demanding that before anyone can be in the same room with him, they must sign a loyalty oath. It's just so horribly creepy!

Can you help?

Signed,
Lost in DC

DEAR LOST:

Stop whining, Laura. You can divorce the jerk any time you want. The rest of us are stuck with him for four more years!

Power and Interest News Report:

Over the last decade and a half, an unprecedented initiative has taken place in the Former Soviet Union (F.S.U.). In all 15 republics that made up the U.S.S.R., the introduction of Western-style liberal democracy and its principles became the dominant political modus operandi since 1991. Today, it is useful to assess the initial results of this important development, and draw conclusions in order to gauge the significance of such a profound change. The overall outcome of democracy's introduction has been very mixed, and although a few success stories exist, the rest of the process has quickly fallen prey to old habits that refuse to part with the past.

Kevin Hayden sez:

There’s some real beauty in this Rumsfeld statement: “You go to war with what you have.” There could be a thousand different things that follow - or precede - a line like that.

It has the reek of ’sensitive poetic expression’ to it, doncha think?

It has thus inspired The American Street’s first annual ‘Out With the Old” poetry contest.

I swear, on the name of all that is Good, Right, and Holy, that I WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER PURCHASE ANOTHER TIME MAGAZINE AS LONG AS I SHALL LIVE- and I plan on being ornery while I'm still drawing breath for a good, long time.

How sad is it when the face of the forces of hatred, ignorance, and oppression is celebrated by one of the (formerly, at least) most respected media outlets that this country has to offer. Are the maroons who make these decisions completely BLIND to the reality of the world that has been created by Bush and his neo-Conservative fellow travellers? Have we become so undemanding of our leaders that we are willing to lionize the inept, the venal, and the thoroughly corrupt who lead us? And then people wonder why some of us want to relocate to Canada....

I cannot believe that any thinking, rational, lucid human being could possibly think that our Prevaricator-in-Chief would be worthy of ANYTHING resembling this sort of recognition. Hmm...let's review his qualifications, shall we?

• He stole Florida, and with it the 2000 Presidential election right out from under the nose of Democrats. His minions (including his Daddy's friends on the US Supreme Court) used their power and influence to block the counting of legimately-cast votes from Dade County, among others.
• On 9.11, his deer-in-headlight reaction to the terrorist attacks typified his Daddy-what-do-I-do-now? leadership style. Leaders lead...they do not fly aimlessly around the country trying to find a safe rabbit hole while all hell breaks loose around them.
• He used 9.11 as a pretext for his long-desired war on Iraq. By fabricating intelligence on Iraq's alleged possession of WMDs, and by ignoring dissenting (and decidedly more reasoned and intelligent) voices in his own Administration, he is responsible for the deaths of 1300+ American soldiers...and for what? Good Morning, Vietnam....
• He has helped to create an atmosphere in which hatred is once again fashionable. Gays, Democrats, Muslims, France...we no longer lack for scapegoats. Besides, it certainly is easier than taking personal responsibility for our own siutation, eh??
• He has given life to Josef Goebbel's "Big Lie". Given that something like 70% of those who voted for Bush feel that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9.11 attacks, it hasn't been much of a challenge to indoctrinate the American voting public. Apparently, we are an exceedingly undemanding lot. Critical thinking? Nah, I'll take "Let me bend over and grab my ankles- you can drive" for 500, Alex. Americans will believe ANYTHING if it is fed to them often enough.

If I seem angry, it's because I am. I'm so tired of being surrounded by the ignorant, the undemanding, and the intellectually inflexible. By and large, Americans make up their minds based on an absolute minimum of information. You can almost hear minds slamming shut, steeling themselves against anything that might shake the certainty of their faith. I am baffled by the collective American refusal to face the reality of what they have voted into office.

• Have any of y'all bothered to pay attention to what is happening in Iraq? Do you realize that over 1300 American soldiers have died, and thousands more have been wounded?
• Can someone PLEASE explain to me how the war in Iraq is protecting our freedoms here at home? HOW in the world was Iraq a threat to the Homeland? And spare me the tired Republican chant about how you would rather fight the terrorists in the streets of Baghdad than the streets of New York. Before the invasion of Iraq, there WAS no insurgency. That is purely a result of George W. Bush's war.
• Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq, 1300 Americans have died in a pointless war of aggression, and yet he is being lionized as a hero? Bill Clinton lied about getting his helmet polished by an intern, and he was impeached...so who's the criminal now?

I am so tired of hearing Americans proudly saying "My Billy in is Iraq protecting our freedoms here at home!" Protecting us from what threat? The one that we created when we invaded Iraq? How, exactly, had Iraq threatened our freedom previously? Therein, perhaps, lies Bush's greatest crime. Instead of leading, he has told Americans exactly what they want to hear. He has become a hero by convincing Americans of what they were predisposed to believe to begin with.

Instead of leading, instead of being honest with the American people, George W. Bush and his minions have hammered on a consistent, if untrue, message that resonates with the electorate. Given that we are an exceedingly stupid and undemanded aggregate, it probably wasn't much of a challenge...not when you have timid media like TIME to do the heavy lifting for you.

TIME will never see another dime of my money...not that they will actually care or notice. I simply cannot in good conscience support the bottom line of a media organization that so willingly and easily glosses over the true record of George W. Bush.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

Michael Moore -- filmmaker, gadfly, newly shorn progressive propagandist -- offers a theory that merits some consideration.

Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the 'new' language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, "Why did they beat me?"

And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.

They will tell you: Every single day.

The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.

I am not saying that I agree with Moore's idea. Yet. But having been in an abusive relationship, I know the symptoms he describes all too well. They match the characteristics I exhibited once upon a time when the person who supposedly loved me most damaged me emotionally and spiritually. They certainly match the symptoms that plague me still when I note how the nation in which I was born treats me for the crime of being queer.

Be sure to read Mike's letter in its entirety; Moore's theory deserves some thought. And I certainly buy into the cure: Get up. Stand up. Refuse to be a victim. And don't give in to your abuser.

Go to Stand Up Democrats if you've got an idea on how to fix the Democratic party.

I missed this song by the Manic Street Preachers when it first was released in 1998, but have found it again via frequent play on Virgin Radio.

The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists

Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Will be next

Maureen Dowd, that is. I don't know how well Brooks dresses.

After ripping Brooks last week, I feel compelled to compliment his latest Times opinion, which sensibly sticks to a group of people whom he knows well: conservative pundits and policy wonks. In speaking about his kinfolks, Brooks can be witty and bull's-eye accurate:

As the first pseudo-event of the second term, this gabfest is meant to give President Bush a chance to show his more deliberative, bipartisan and intellectual side - to really let his inner Cornel West out for a spree. Your role as a symposiast is to give the president something to nod thoughtfully about.

Second, it's important to understand that this week's summit (unofficial title: Why President Bush Is Right About Everything) may not feature the widest possible range of views. This is true of all presidential policy summits. That's in part because the staff members who organize these things are rightfully terrified that something newsworthy might happen, and have taken precautions.

But it's also because policy johnnies are incapable of intelligent thought in the presence of all that power. Something hormonal happens to them, and they start slobbering, preening and jibbering like Vegas crazies in the presence of Engelbert Humperdinck. They're supposed to be talking payroll tax reform, but soon everybody's underwear is flying onstage in a desperate bid for alpha-male attention.

(Though as generalized responses to war, the Dixie Chicks, SheDaisy and John Michael Montgomery have produced decently. While I'm talking country music, is it a sign of the apocalpyse that Tim McGraw and Nelly have a duet?)

The New York Times magazine recently had an interesting piece about people who volunteer to promote products by spreading positive word of mouth to their acquaintances. Ironically, I read the article only because a friend IMed it to me and persuaded me to spend the time on it. He swears that he's not an agent in the New York Times network, though. (And I must say that this post will make more sense if you read the article first.)

I thought of Open Source Politics early in the article, when I read, "In finding thousands of takers, perfectly willing to use their own creativity and contacts to spread the good news about, for instance, Al Fresco sausage, it has turned commercial influence into an open-source project." It was at some later point, however, that I wondered whether there was a lesson for progressive politics -- or perhaps just politics generally -- in the phenomenon described.

Even if you aren't spending them with REK.

A Greek acquaintance who has not been in the U.S. for long just asked me to explain Kwanzaa to her. She had seen it mentioned in several places around the area but had not heard of it previously. I did my best, and recommended that she check for information on the internet.

She said, "I was confused because they seem to have candles like what there is from Israel..."
ME: "You mean the menorah?"
HER: "Is that what you call it?"

It occurred to me that this is one of those "only in America" moments. Here is a second generation Hindu American explaining to a Greek Orothodox visitor about secular African American and religious Jewish holidays.

I'm afraid that my family's version of Christmas pretty much requires materialism, but I can recommend a "Blue" alternative to the Buy Nothing Christmas: Buy Blue. Whether you'll find it truly preferable depends on your feelings about the Democratic Party and campaign finance.

Another source of information about corporations is the Human Rights Campaign's database on workplaces that provide domestic partner benefits and otherwise support the movement for civil rights regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

David Brooks never has been good at thinking outside his own little box. His political analyses and social observations consistently focus on those for whom he could pass in a police lineup or Census poll: middle and upper class whitefolks in the American cities and suburbs. Even in a narrowly focused book like Bobos in Paradise, which purports to examine the information age elite, Brooks neglected the experiences of people of color. It's quite an oversight, considering the large percentage of college graduates and especially tech workers who are non-white.

A symptom of Brooks's insular worldview is that when attempting to comprehend people different from himself, he finds seeing them as they truly are -- even as they declare themselves to be -- very difficult. Check out his latest opinion piece on "The New Red-Diaper Babies." Where lesser pundits have assessed the red (i.e. conservative, Republican-voting) areas of America as being religious, less-educated and/or biased against homosexuals, Brooks spots the real trend: "natalism."

Being in the Health rather than Politics section, this NYTimes article about possible hangover remedies focuses mainly on scientific questions about alcohol's effects on the body and how to counteract them. Still, one of the persistent tendencies in American policy thinking pops up: the "if you don't build it, maybe they won't come" fantasy.

In the Times piece, the fantasy takes the form of claims that if scientists study hangovers and look for ways to alleviate or eliminate them, people will drink more with the assumption that they can escape the consequences of over-consuming alcohol.

From the pen of Tom Toles:

Oppo candidate Victor Yushchenko speaks (WSJ, subscription only):

Official Kiev did not anticipate that hundreds of thousands of voters would take to the streets to defend their constitutional right to vote and peacefully protest against falsified election results. They couldn't, because since the March 2002 parliamentary election, Ukraine's leaders have turned a deaf ear to voter calls for real political and economic change.

They failed to recognize that two-thirds of Ukraine's citizens are dissatisfied with their leaders and their policies. They failed to recognize that no longer will people tolerate the gap between declared and real rights. They thought they could get away with staying in power by illegal means. They wanted the international community to remain silent.

Now, they are forced to recognize that citizens have taken matters into their own hands. The last vestiges of remaining public trust in official Kiev, both at home and abroad, were permanently severed when the corrupt and blind government unashamedly stole from its people the most fundamental of all rights--the right to choose one's destiny.

Ukraine's people have spoken, and I am confident that we will find a solution to the complex political crisis that has developed as a result of the regime's efforts to steal the election. The most logical way out of the crisis is for repeat voting to be held speedily within the next two weeks. Talks involving international mediators this week reaffirmed this.
...
Ukraine's democratic opposition movement stands for a peaceful resolution to the current political crisis. We oppose the use of force and will not allow anyone to smother our freedom by force. We are a genuine force, a wise one, which will lead our people to legitimate victory based on law.

This came from the inbox from writer Gene Messick. Definitely worth sharing, even though it is a bit too aggressive for my liking:

Now is the time for all True Blue Americans to give the GwB Economy the signal he needs: Buy 20 percent less this [holiday] season.

Red baiters of Wall Street are expecting a 4.5 percent increase in Xmas buying. Forty percent of consumer spending happens between Thanksgiving and Xmas. But already, Walmart suffered a loss on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. True Blue folks' refusal to shop at this GwB supporter were part of the reason why.

Why would any True Blue American shop with GwB's Red supporters? Why would you vote against Red America politically, then go out and support them financially? Let's start getting our priorities straight, while turning commercial Xmas back into a truly joyous Christmas. It's a total win / win situation.

CNN:

Ukraine's Supreme Court has canceled the country's disputed presidential runoff results and called for a repeat of the second round of voting, according to news reports.

The court said Friday that another election should be held within three weeks.

According to Interfax, the court also ruled that the decision of the Central Election Commission, which declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner of the runoff, was unlawful.

The ruling followed an appeal by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to annul the results of the November 21 runoff, claiming fraud in eight of Ukraine's 25 administrative districts.

ntodd

BlondeSense...

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal emigration.

Look, sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves to keep from crying. Now, go read and laugh.

Yes, we know it's been a while since we managed to get into the pages of OSP. There have been a number of things getting in the way, and not enough earth-shattering news to bring to you, dear reader. But get a load of this:

Isn't it nice that pRezNit Faith-Based Government is able to forgive debt on behalf of other nations? Maybe we can get one of our friends in Canada to forgive the debt owed by the Funny Farm to the mortgage company. Oh, that's right - we aren't letting the BFEE steal 8.8 Billion dollars in oil money from under our property like the Iraqis are*.

A tip of the hat goes out to Corrente for leading us to the story about the (lack of) accountability of the junta with regards to Iraqi finances.

This entry cross-posted at The Funny Farm.

Caring for Those Left Behind: Soldiers' survivors need real benefits more than yellow ribbons.

Historically, this country has always expected the most out of it's soldiers while compensating them at almost starvation rates. It's a good thing that those who defend our freedoms do so largely out of conviction, because no one with half a brain would make this career choice for the money.

This is especially true when you consider the following numbers. It's a comparison of the average compensation paid to the families of those who lost their lives on 9.11.01 and to the families of those soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq, defending those freedoms our government claims is at risk:

Average compensation paid to families of civilians killed on 9.11.01:

$3,100,000

Average compensation paid to families of firefighters killed on 9.11.01:

$4,200,000

One-time benefit paid to the family of a fallen American soldier:

$12,000

Of course, there are other sources of funds that may be available to the families of fallen soldiers, but none of them will begin to approach the sums paid to the families of civilians and firefighters. To call this an inequity would not begin to do justice to the families of those soldiers kill in the line of duty.

The surviving family may also qualify for the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), which is paid up to age 62 or until the spouse remarries. The SBP benefit amounts to 55 percent of the soldier's retirement pay, pay that is already so low it qualifies many military families for food stamps.

These "benefits" are contingent on fulfilling many petty regulations.... Several further benefits, such as the income-based Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), may pay out about $800 per month and $200 per child, depending on the case.

The clear message sent by this system is that the life of a stockbroker or a firefighter is worth significantly more than that of a soldier, a sailor, a Marine, or an airman- male or female. This is not to say that the families of those civilians, police, and fire personnel killed on 9.11 should not be compensated. Nonetheless, are we really so insensitive that we are blind to the inequity inherent in how we treat our servicemen and women vis-a-vis those who died on 9.11?

Yes, our service personnel are clearly cognizant of the risks they face in the service of their country, but does that make their families less deserving of compensation? The 9.11 families have received an astonishing (albeit unwanted) windfall, and most of them, with some solid financial planning, should be set for life. Are our men and women in uniform somehow less deserving of that sort of commitment?

Our soldiers are being killed on a daily basis, but most of us seem to feel little personal connection with them. If we did, their widows and families would be better compensated. Our idea of "supporting the troops" is to stick magnetic yellow ribbons on our cars. Those Americans who do not serve or do not have family serving are disconnected from our all-volunteer forces and their families....

Let's strip away our yellow-ribbon sentimentality for a moment and admit the truth: We treat our military like second-class citizens. I'm glad the Sept. 11 families were generously compensated, but it's time to ask why the family of someone who has done no more for his country than show up at a stock trading office on the wrong day should receive hundreds of times as much compensation as the family of a soldier who volunteered to leave his wife and child to defend the rest of us.

Most of the dead from our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are being buried in small towns and in the blue-collar or middle- and lower-middle-class sections of our cities. Our politicians seem better able to identify with the needs of stock traders' widows (not to mention the businesses and airlines that were also generously compensated) than with the needs of the families of our soldiers. This is a scandal.

Indeed it is. Until we can stop mouthing platitudes about how we honor those who serve, we will continue to be nothing but a nation of self-absorbed hypocrites. Our men and women in uniform deserve better than empty words and magnetic yellow ribbons slapped ostentatiously on SUVs. We are more than willing to extoll the virtues of those who defend our way of life and the freedoms that we enjoy, but is it fair to expect a soldier to sacrifice his or her life for the moral equivalent of minimum wage? Is it fair to condemn the family of that serviceperson to a life of virtual poverty?

The families of those who died on 9.11 were compensated in part with the use of a formula that calculated future earning power. Why can we not do the same for the families of our men and women in uniform? It's the least they should be able to expect from us.

AP:

Ukraine's parliament on Saturday declared invalid the disputed presidential election that triggered a week of growing street protests and legal maneuvers, raising the possibility that a new vote could be held in this former Soviet republic.

Great news.

Now think back to January, 2001, when Congress was finalizing the Electoral College votes. Imagine that one Democratic Senator had joined with the members of the House who were trying to challenge the Florida votes. Picture in your mind what the last 4 years might have been like...

My wife and dog are asleep, I'm still up drinking some cabernet, sitting by the fire, and I've been contemplating lots of stuff as I watch the snow swirl around outside. On my own blog and a few others we've been discussing faith vs. science, ID vs. evolution, etc, and that got me thinking about leaves of grass:

  A word of the faith that never balks,
  Here or henceforward it is all the same to me, I accept Time
     absolutely.

  It alone is without flaw, it alone rounds and completes all,
  That mystic baffling wonder alone completes all.

  I accept Reality and dare not question it,
  Materialism first and last imbuing.

  Hurrah for positive science! long live exact demonstration!
  Fetch stonecrop mixt with cedar and branches of lilac,
  This is the lexicographer, this the chemist, this made a grammar of
     the old cartouches,
  These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas.
  This is the geologist, this works with the scalper, and this is a
     mathematician.

  Gentlemen, to you the first honors always!
  Your facts are useful, and yet they are not my dwelling,
  I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling.

Okay, make that Leaves of Grass.

Regardless, I hope everybody--everybody--has/had a safe and warm day.

Being of Ukrainian descent, I'm certainly interested in the developments in the latest election over there. Apparently I'm not alone.

It ain't over 'til it's over:

The elections are over, but the winner will most likely be determined after the “third round” — a political and legal confrontation between the administrative and civic resources, between the administrative system, which is considerably weaker but still strong enough, and a figuratively as well as literally young civil society.

Last but not least. The presidential campaign has once again politically split Ukraine. This rift will occur, to a greater or lesser degree, during every presidential campaign, with the head of state having the current authority. It is during such elections that the winner takes it all, meaning that politicians and campaign architects are too strongly tempted to make the most of objective ethnic cultural and socioeconomic distinctions between separate Ukrainian regions to gain the coveted victory.

Time to reach conclusions. Only a transition to the parliamentary-presidential system will eliminate this problem and will encourage our politicians to seek compromises and come to terms when building parliamentary coalitions, rather than plunge into confrontations.

But Bush's grub'i brat, Vladimir Putin, has rushed to declare his ally victorious:

President Vladimir Putin and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko had scrambled Monday to be the first to congratulate Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and proclaim him Ukraine's next president.

As of Tuesday evening, they remained the only two state leaders to do so, and Putin sought to retract his congratulations as European Union members and the United States cranked up the pressure on outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, Yanukovych's patron, to order a vote recount or risk sanctions.
...
Both Putin and Lukashenko share an interest in Yanukovych becoming president. Putin has clearly taken to heart Yanukovych's campaign vows to forge a closer relationship with Russia, while Lukashenko is concerned that a victory by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko might inspire opposition forces in Belarus.

In addition, the Kremlin has given unprecedented support to Yanukovych's bid, so his loss would cast doubt on Russia's ability to influence affairs in what it considers to be its own backyard.

Never a dull moment in the xUSSR...

AP:

An exit poll and initial early returns from abroad Sunday showed opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko heading to a commanding victory in Ukraine’s presidential run-off, which pitted the Western-leaning reformer against the Kremlin-praised prime minister in a vote many feared would turn violent.

The exit poll, conducted under a program funded by several Western governments — including the United States, showed Yushchenko with 54 percent of the vote compared with 43 percent for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. A second exit poll, however, showed Yushchenko’s margin much smaller at 49.4 percent to 45.9.

I wonder if their exit polls are any better than ours were...

Kenneth Quinnell's email to OSP "contributors" just reminded me that I've been neglecting my civic duty. Like most people listed as co-authors of this site, I haven't posted anything in a long time. I wish I would have been all along, but better late than never, right? Let's start anew.

I'm a college student in Montana. I put my heart and soul into this election and I was let down. I've been moping for a few weeks, but I've come to a realization: This is a perfect time for a fresh start for Democrats, if only because it's been a really bad two weeks. Should we lose hope? No way. Should we keep fighting? Absolutely. What do we have to lose now?

If you aren't into the political alerts, here are a bunch of action alerts focused on saving the environment:

Okay everybody, let's get back to work. Enough crying and complaining about the election and the results, let's make sure that we stall the radical right-wing agenda as much as we can until elections come along to slow the Republican agenda. Here are today's action alerts:

Despite the fact that this article stole our name, it's a very interesting read and has quite a bit to do with blogging and the online revolution in politics.

So, George W. Bush got 51% of the popular vote in this year's election. There have been a number of attempts to explain why these 51% of the voters voted the way they did. Such explanations from those of us on the left have ranged from things like "they're all idiots" or "they're all bigots." Explanations on the right have included things like "the U.S. is a conservative country" or "most Americans agree with our values." As usually happens when people try to explain why things happen in politics, all of these answers are wrong. Generalizations like these not only make no sense, they are demonstrably false for a large portion of the voters who voted for Bush. Sure, there are some people who voted for Bush that are idiots, bigots, conservatives or who agree with Bush's values. But if you look around, you can find people who voted for Kerry that you can say the same things about. Hell, the general who introduced Kerry when I saw him in Tampa openly admitted he was a conservative who shares many of the professed values of George W. Bush. He was voting for Kerry because Bush was incompetent and didn't actually live up to conservative values. Even more importantly, it is incredibly easy to find people who voted for Bush who fit into none of these categories.

I know a pretty good number of people who voted for Bush and I can only think of one of those people that I would call an idiot or a bigot. One of those people I know clearly is, but none of the others are:

The Republicans are pushing their first unqualified nominee for a lifetime appointment to a federal judicial seat. This one is Thomas Griffith, who has a record of opposing equality for women and isn't even licensed to practice law in his home state. Tell your members of Congress to oppose his appointment.

http://www.capwiz.com/pfaw/issues/alert/?alertid=6653076 (PFAW)

A guy named Chad signed my guestbook with the following message:

i have mixed feelings on this war i cant decide whether to support it or not please convince me.

My guestbook is public, so his e-mail address is already publicly posted by his own choice. Send him a message at: waterboy010@aol.com and convince him.

by Michella Snowden

I did not elect a president last Tuesday. There was an enormous amount of hoopla ending with a frenzy of voting, yet my candidate lost. How can I reconcile the American ideals that I was raised with to this apparent collection of bigots? As I am studying the Constitution and other original documents from the framers a collective majority have rejected a true America. Instead, they have opted to accept the notion that democracy is a commodity that can be imposed, and that imposition is most needed in nations rich with the fossil fuel we covet.

In his letter of resignation, Ashcroft actually said:

"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."

These people really do live in a different world.

John Ashcroft is not returning.

From a DKos diary:

It's relatively unobjectionable for there to be significant numbers of voters who vote for some items on the ballot and not others (though some states make this as confusing as possible; e.g., my home state of NC counts votes for President separate from a straight-ticket vote, meaning voters must vote for both separately). The problem here is that Florida is reporting more votes for president than voters. Other ballot items were provided for reference.

Yahoo drops this one on us:

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites)'s 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct. Bush's total should have been recorded as 365.

Bush won the state by more than 136,000 votes, according to unofficial results, and Kerry conceded the election on Wednesday after saying that 155,000 provisional ballots yet to be counted in Ohio would not change the result.

Oh wait, you can't do that when it's an e-vote.

And concession is no excuse.

I don't have a degree in political science or world history. I've never served at the UN or any political body. Aside from email lists and a few donations over the last two years, I have no tangible connection to any political parties or PACs. I've never traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, or the "Middle East" (it's still a very Ameri/Euro-centric view to describe the region that way), but some of my family members have. In fact, my brother is serving in Iraq right now and my mother left for China yesterday.

The point of all of this is to say that I am no expert on national security or foreign relations. I am just a fairly intelligent American who tries to stay informed. From my position, it appears that we have 5 crucial things we must do to significantly improve our national security for the long run, some of which should also result in a net increase in security worldwide. Here, then, are the key steps I see to security:

Governor Scott Maddox.

2006.

Well, they've gone and chosen the anti-intellectual, reckless, mean, petty,petulant, un-Christian, simple-minded, fear-mongering, homophobic Republican Party.

Sure, dismiss my post as "bitterness," if that's what works for you. Call it "sour grapes" since that's what you do. Tell me how I'm acting haughty and superior to "good ol' fashioned 'Murkins" if that's the best you've got. But anyone who denies that Bush & Company ran on anything more nuanced than Fear the Gay & Brown Menace is flat-out ignorant.

We'll find a solution to this problem soon enough. we'll regroup, come back stronger, and cruise all over your asses. Hell, even Nixon got re-elected. But boy, what crimes arrogance wrought. This time, you're all on notice.

Young folks, if you voted for Bush (or failed to vote), I suggest you get into shape tout-suite. Because you're going to need to be fit when the draft comes. Or maybe you'll do what your heroes did: try to wriggle out of it. You may think that Daddy Bush is there to protect you, but tell me what happens when he sends you out to fight off this Brown Menace?

And to the folks in 11 states who voted against gay marriage, you tell me how moral and upstanding straight marriage has been and I'll serve you a nice fat truth: nearly two-thirds of marriages now end in divorce. And to those back-woods morons who worship Magical Ghosty Man in the Sky, tell me this: if Massachusetts is so bad and evangelicals are so good, then why is it that Mass. has the lowest divorce rate in the nationwhile the divorce rate is highest amongst evangelicals ? Hmmm?

51% of America apparently is a large mass of quivering bigots.

I'd rather be a "faggot" than a "pussy", you quivering bigots.

At this moment I am having great difficulty feeling a part of the mainstream society in the United States of America. I don't feel threatened; I don't see any issues arising that I'd be personally incapable of handling. But I've just seen the public ritual of voting handled in ways that put me off. You see, my personal values put me in direct opposition to the way the public debate operates.

I have a very objective standard of judging events and decisions: does it leave me in the strongest, most capable condition possible. And I need accurate information to make that judgment. Fortunately, in this connected age it isn't that difficult to get at the facts. And I've learned over the years one must be prepared for a little discomfort when the truth is your guide because none of us have a grip on the whole picture. Sooner or later we will make an error and build on it.

The last four years has NOT left the USofA in the strongest, most capable condition possible. and this last election has forced me acknowledge some things I knew yet found uncomfortable enough to disregard, like the fact that most humans are not the rational actors our theories require. That's my second biggest problem. The biggest problem is just how unimportant truth is in the public debate.

The press has lambasted itself over laxness during the run-up…and the follow up…to the Iraq invasion. Did they know they were lax at the time? They had to. It was too easy for too many of us to call them on it for them to be unaware of how sloppy they were.

The House of Representatives is even more firmly in Republican hands, so Democrats can expected to be even more firmly closed out of committees, bill writing and such. President Bush just minutes ago made the same promises to "reach out" that he made when first placed in office. Is there anyone who really believes this? The Republican Party is open to this degree: they will work with anyone who will support their platform uncritically. Gay Americans are welcome if they are against equal rights for gays. Black Americans are welcome if they willing to abandon a party that delivers less than it promises for one that promises to do nothing. Poor people are welcome if the support massive transfers of wealth to the already wealthy. Women are welcome as long as they give up any thought of an abortion for any reason at all. And the Democratic Party is already moving back to a DLC-type stance.

Soccar Moms, NASCAR Dads, the Evangelical vote, the Catholic vote, the Gay vote, the Youth vote, fiscal conservatives, cultural conservatives…we fragment more and more deeply behind the facade of calls for unity.

No matter how you look at it, there are scads of falsehoods involved. Ask George Bush if he supports overturning Roe v. Wade. Then ask the anti-abortion activists if George Bush supports overturning Roe v. Wade…and how they came to that conclusion. And you can get the same results by asking about every major contentious social issue.

The truth.

I don't need the truth about your feelings. Your actions…the only objective standard…will give me that.

But it seems most Americans don't need the truth at all. Or maybe they've just become accustomed to acting in its absence. Or, more likely, they need validation more than truth. Because the truth is only necessary when you want to change things. If you're comfortable with things as they stand all you really need is momentum, and someone to sweep the broke fragments of fact off the stage and out of your sight.

I'm disappointed.

Yes, I'm disappointed in the results of the election. But I'm more diappointed with the reaction of the left. I expected the media to spin this and I expected the righties to act like Bush got 100% of the vote, but I didn't expect so many on the left to accept the spin and interpret things wrongly. Here is the spin and what is really going on.

This is a historic victory for Republicans

No it isn't. It was a slight victory for Republicans. They got 51% of the vote in the presidency. They won a few Senate seats in the South that were going to turn into Republican seats sooner or later anyway. They won a few seats in the House, the bulk of which came from the Texas redistricting fiasco. Sure, it was a good night for Republicans, but overall it was a minor victory and things would've been a lot worse if it wasn't for all of our efforts

We failed

After being up at 4am and working a 14-hour day at our local polling place, I finally gave up and went to bed at 1130pm. I was exhausted, and it was clear that nothing was going to be decided anytime soon.

I woke up at 3am, staggered out to the kitchen to check my laptop and discovered that Florida Ohio was going to be the fly in this election's ointment. I went back to bed with a heavy heart, wondering if it could really be possible that we could be heading down the same path we did in 2000? Could George W. Bush really be stealing another election? Could President Lowest Common Denominator REALLY have duped a majority of Americans into believing that he is a better, more effective leader than John Kerry? Apparently so.

A few more hours of sleep, and it appears not much has changed. This time, it's Ohio that hold the fate of this election in the balance. While no one has yet raised the specter of the nightmare that was Florida in 2000, the precedent is such that no one can reasonably make a call.

I have to be honest in what it all looks like through my eyes: it appears that George W. Bush has won. With a lead of 136,000 votes in Ohio, and 3.5 million nationwide, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Kerry could overcome. Once all is said and done, my sense is that Bush will be awarded Ohio's electoral votes and thus the election as a whole. That is not the result I wanted, nor what I had believed in my heart would happen, but there it is. One can only bemoan reality for so long.

If nothing else, this election ought to renew the argument to do away with the electoral college. Nationwide, Bush enjoys a lead of 3,500,000 votes, and yet it is conceivable (though seemingly unlikely) that he could lose the electoral college. This is the second Presidential election in a row in which the electoral college could award the Presidency to the candidate with FEWER votes. Whether you call yourself a Liberal or a Conservative, that possibility ought to concern you greatly. While this is a conversation best left for another day, I do believe that the electoral college has proven itself to be an impediment to our democracy. If we believe in one man/one vote, the electoral college deserves to go the way of the buffalo.

I am aware that if the election were decided by the popular vote would have awarded the Presidency to Bush early on last night. Must we continue to be OK with a system in which a candidate with a 3.5 million vote advantage COULD STILL LOSE? If that is not a bastardization of the democratic process, I don't know what is.

I will not pretend to be happy; I am greatly disturbed that a majority of Americans seem to be perfectly happy with four more years of incompetence, ineptitude, lies, and a hopelessly misguided and deadly war in Iraq. Nonetheless, the people appear to have spoken. A wise man once said that Americans get exactly the quality of representation that they deserve. Apparently, our standards are far lower than anyone could have suspected. That so many Americans seem unable to honestly assess the dearth of principled leadership that has been the hallmark of George W. Bush's reign is something I find difficult to comprehend. At the risk of sounding arrogant and dismissive, it seems that the Bush-Cheney strategy of manipulating the fears of Americans and creating their own truth was successful. Somewhere, Niccolo Machiavelli and Josef Goebbels must be smiling.

Yes, it appears that George W. Bush has won. I'm not giving up yet, but I am also not about to pretend that things are not what they appear to be. I still cannot consider Bush to be a legitimate President. If he had not stolen the 2000 election, would he have been in a position to win this time around? Who knows? I'll leave that one to historians and intellects more nimble than my own. Regardless, my policy will continue. I will never, under any circumstance, use the words "President" and "George W. Bush" consecutively in the same sentence. Some might find that petty, but I do not believe Bush's reign was legitimate from the start. Winning an election subsequent to his theft of the 2000 election does NOT legitimize the manner in which he initially ascended to the throne.

What I do know is that if what appears to be the current reality holds up, I will continue my role as part of the Loyal Opposition. I am angry, and I am profoundly disturbed that fear and ignorance seems to have won the day. Nonetheless, it is what it is. I was hoping to be able to spend the next four years being less political. I've grown tired of "Fighting The Good Fight". Now, I have to spend four years listening to people like Rudy Giuliani talking about George W. Bush's "principled leadership". How can I not continue speaking out?

It's true, you will never go broke underestimating the taste and standards of Americans....

bye

I am holding my breath. Almost literally. Much of last evening and this morning was spent viewing or listening to election coverage -- CBS News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and Fox were my channels of choice. The latter network was chosen, naturally, for opposition research.

The balloting and vote count were fascinating to watch. After exit polls gave the impression that Kerry was winning handily, the truth finally emerged -- this was a horce race. At 3:05 Wednesday morning, the race was too close to call. Ohio was the focus: The Bushites insisted they'd won the Buckeye state; Democrats said the race was not yet over. As the world watched and waited, right-wing media took the Bush line as left-leaning journalists hoped against hope that sanity would win the day.

It didn't, of course. I awoke to the news that Kerry shortly will concede the election to the Shrub. I am still numb at this point -- hence, the inability to breathe consistently: The hell that was the last four years is about to get worse. Much worse. The smirking one now thinks -- erroneously -- he has a mandate.

A FOX analyst said chilling words very early this morning: "This is a Republican country." In other words, non-GOPsters are in for a world of hurt -- quite bluntly, it appears half the nation is screwed. And so is the US's electoral system.

I never would have thought this to be the case. I've been wrong before, of course, but I was trying to give Americans the benefit of the doubt.

I guess Americans really do want a a phony cowboy president with a strained relationship to the truth. Americans must want unprecedented secrecy in governmental operations, an administration that lies to Congress and companies that stand to profit setting governmental policy. Americans apparently don't mind rampant cronyism in government, either, or the insane culture of fear the Bush administration fosters among us.

Iowa has said they aren't going to come to a conclusion tonight and Ohio might not know either, so I'm going to crash. Things don't look that good, though, particularly in the Senate. There are a few victories in the night, but the losses so far are bigger. If Kerry can get Ohio back down to a manageable number tonight, he has a shot, but the numbers haven't been going in that direction. If that doesn't happen, we sure have a lot of work to do to help fight back against a second Bush administration. Check out Kos's conclusions.

Sorry, forgot to put it up:

Bush 249
Kerry 221

With Ohio looking highly questionable, we have to look at getting all the remaining states. The secretary of state of Ohio is on CNN, suggesting that the provisional and overseas ballots won't be counted until 11 days from now. Apparently state law doesn't allow it to start before then. That's a whole lot of time for something strange and/or illegal to happen. Anyway, if Kerry takes all the remaining states, that will give him 269. That would lead to a Bush victory, but a 269-269 tie might lessen the mandate a bit. Maybe.

Kerry gets the first state to switch, New Hampshire. If it weren't for the census and reappportionment of electoral votes, that would've been enough, but not this year. The numbers favor Bush in Ohio right now, but there are expected to be 200,000 provisional ballots in the state. Kerry has to hope to use the last 11% of precincts to narrow that to a significantly smaller difference than the current 120,000. In 2000, 90% of the provisional ballots were counted. The only other state that is open where Bush has a lead is Iowa.

Latest tally:

Bush 249
Kerry 216

It's down to Ohio and things are looking difficult. We haven't heard anything about the House make-up, which was a longshot, but what is it? Bush gets 269, he pretty much wins, unless there is a miracle in the House.

Goes to Bush.

Tally:
Bush 246
Kerry 206

MSNBC is calling Oregon for Kerry.
AP calling Florida for Bush.

New tally:
Bush 237
Kerry 206

Washington for Kerry
Idaho, Utah, Arizona for Bush

Current tally:
Bush 209
Kerry 199

If we hold Wisconsin and/or Oregon, then all it takes is Ohio, right?

Is that Kerry, so far, was unable to overcome the slime machine on the right and convince people that he could protect them from terrorism. That and he was unable to inspire young people to get up off their lazy asses and vote.

Bush gets Idaho
Kerry gets California

Bush 197
Kerry 188

Goes for Kerry. New tally:

Bush 193
Kerry 133

Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were on 11 state ballots this year, and so far, voters have endorsed nine of the ballot measures. When this election is over, it will be interesting to know whether the same-sex marriage issue helped to energise conservative voters.

Most of the lower level races don't look all that good and it looks now like the Republicans are going to keep control of both houses, so it's going to be up to Kerry to save us from bad, bad stuff.

Missouri goes to Bush, although it looked close for a while. New tally:

Bush 193
Kerry 112

Bush takes Arkansas, making the tally:

Bush 182
Kerry 112

The race between Mel Martinez and Betty Castor, one of the most dirty in the entire cycle, is down to 10,000 vote difference. It is also notable that there are 90,000 absentee ballots that have not been counted yet in Miami-Dade area alone. They will be counted by Thursday at the latest, which means that we may have no idea who is in control of the Senate, much less the White House. This seat is particularly important since it is an open seat that was held by Bob Graham.

Bush 176
Kerry 112

Still no Florida, Ohio or California, so the numbers don't give us much of a story at this point.

Overall, it looks like there are going to be very few surprises tonight and basically, if Kerry wins in either Florida or Ohio, then he wins unless something very strange happens.

On the local tip, the candidate I worked for won the county commission race he was ran for and the races I was most interested in at the local level split. The county I lived in split oddly, voting for Bush slightly and Betty Castor slightly. Florida looks kind of iffy at this point, but some of the most Democratic counties are still left.

Democrats have been winning electoral votes in New Jersey for a long time, but pollsters had been predicting that this year's vote would be tight. But with about a third of the votes reported, New Jersey once again appears to be in the Democratic column. Still, Bush supporters in the Garden State say that their man is doing better than expected here, winning just over 45 percent of the vote. Democrats attributed their success to an influx of young voters participating in the process for the first time, although news reports say that anti-war sentiment seems to be the major factor.

All of the exit polling flying around the web is showing WI 4-6% over Bush. I like.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was blogging the election all day.

As results come in, I'll post them. Nothing yet.

UPDATE 2: According to CNN's WI Exit Polls, it looks very good. The demographics going for Kerry are going heavily for Kerry, and the demos going for Bush are close around the 50% mark.
UPDATE 1: Many networks are already calling the WI Senate race for Feingold.

I'm off to an victory party for the next few hours, hopefully we'll have some other OSPers checking in from different states while I'm out. I'll be back around 10 pm Eastern time, hopefully, Kerry will already have won by then...

This would be a big pickup, with 50% of the vote in, Bunning trails Mongiardo by almost 7%. We need this one to make up for the Zell Miller loss.

No surprise.

Current tally:

Bush 39
Kerry 3

This is OSP's favorite (and only) Wisconsinite checking in for my first election-night LiveBlogging. I will be checking in here once polls close and posting results. I will go ahead and make three predictions, all of which I'm sure of:

1. Feingold will win his senate race, and win it by a larger margin than Kerry wins.
2. Every incumbent House member will win (though the 5th CD will be a little close for comfort for F. Jim Sensenbrenner), and Democrat Gwen Moore will win the open 4th CD seat (retiring Dem)
3. Democrats will not do well enough to take back either house in the state legislature, which really pisses me off

Some news of the day:

• Republicans had GOTV vehicles vandalized; there are a few other minor problems outlined in that article
• In the "be true to your school" department, my beloved Beloit College stands up for its students
• There have also been a few scattered reports of some flaking machines, but we all use optical scan, so there is a ballot for recount
• And speaking of recount, we're ready

See you all as the night progresses!

Guam and its 0 electoral votes go to George W. Bush.

(Hamster)

Bush 34 (Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky)
Kerry 3 (Vermont)

I was at the polls from 7 a.m. until just a few minutes ago. Turnout at the precinct I was at was well over 64 percent turnout between early voting and reported turnout from the day, at those numbers as of about 5 pm. This is probably a higher turnout than most other Florida counties and probably most in the country.

The results from our informal polling seemed to point to higher Democratic turnout despite the fact that the precinct was divided evenly in registration. Locally, it looks like many of the candidates I supported, including the one I worked for, have a pretty good shot.

All day, we were informed that none of the national networks were going to be projecting any states before the West post polls closed. But I'm watching CNN as we speak and CNN started projecting states before 7 pm. The polls in these states weren't even closed and CNN was already calling them and all of the states called so far -- Kentucky, Georgia and Indiana -- are all Bush states so far, which is no surprise.

We got 'em.

They're on teh run.

They're on the ropes.

We're gonna hurt 'em.

Mars, bitches.

Every manner of cliché will be thrown at you today:

"Vote as if your life depends on it."

"This is the most important election of this generation."

"Every vote counts." (Naive, that one.)

"Where will YOU be on election day?"

"It's your voice; it's your vote."

You've heard it all before, of course, but listen to the clichés: Cast your ballot.

I am off to do that very thing right now. My eight-year-old son is accompanying me -- he is very excited about the looming adventure. Even more exciting for him is that I went along with a suggestion of his.

A couple of days ago, my little boy asked if we could help transport people to the polls. I said OK -- do-gooding is something our family does. After a call to the Kerry office (this was David's idea, after all, and he is a Kerry supporter), we were matched up with a group of older Dems from a nearby senior-citizen apartment complex. I spoke with one of the women yesterday, and she sounded so pleased and grateful to have an opportunity to have a say in who will be the next president: "I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to vote," she said. "You tell that son of yours that he is a lifesaver and a very good boy."

Indeed, he is. Good citizen, too.

Afterward, David will get a treat: I am taking him to Kerry's Baltimore offices so that he can see the electoral day madness in person. This will be a surprise for my little Democrat, but I think he will get a kick out of it.

It crossed my mind that his interest in politics may indicate that he is drawn innately to public service. Frankly, I find that scary. But it makes me proud too. Funny, that.

Off to do our duty. If you haven't, read the clichés above and take them to heart. As David says, "Voting is the American thing to do. And it's cool."

Well, we voted this morning. The lines were a bit long (especially for 7 in the morning), the ballot was easy to figure out, and it appears that my vote was counted. Although we also cast (or rather tried to cast) the first spoiled ballot in the precinct (we accidentally filled in an arrow for one extra judge in a non-partisan section of the ballot). D'oh! The Repugnicant poll watcher was particularly interested in my activities during this time...

We received no calls about Kerry supporting gay marriage. However, we did hear Bo Schembechler exhorting us to vote Repugnicant, and one of the Levins asked us to vote Democratic. And we got a call late last night informing us that we may have received some Repugnicant dirty tricks calls over the last few days. And my lawn sign is still up (but will be going down as soon as the polls close). So all in all, expressing my opinion at the polls was an interesting experience.

I think that the overall shenanigans will be lower today than expected. Sure, the conservatives are trying to get away with more than they did in 2000, but liberals are more prepared this time around and are more motivated to go out and make sure that things work fairly. I think we will know tonight who wins the election and we won't see a repeat of the 2000 fiasco, although there will be widespread reports of problems with technology and voter intimidation. The appeals court ruling on Ohio is troubling as well.

I'm actually reporting to the polls at 7 am Florida time so that I can be one of those obnoxious sign-waving people. I'm doing it for a local campaign, though, so it might actually have some impact on name recognition for the county commission race. I agree with most of Chris's predictions, although I think both the popular vote in Florida and the country will be a little bit closer.

I'm reporting to the Tallahassee Progressive Center this morning at 4:30 (as per Michael Moore's instructions last night!) to get ready to drive people to the polls all day for the election. But I wanted to make sure I get this prediction in before the end of the day.

Also, everybody who will be in the Tallahassee area who wants to can show up to my Election Night Party. Email me for address information.

Anyway, my predictions:

I want to invite everyone to check in throughout the day for news and experiences from election day. This will pretty much be an all-day thing. I'll be out working on the campaign all day (as should most of you who favor Kerry), but other OSP members should be covering the daytime hours. Hopefully, everyone will talk about their experiences during the day and discuss important news and issues throughout the day and on into the evening. I'll be online sometime after 8 or 9 pm, but will stay blogging until a new president is declared or they do like last time and pretty much give up on determining the winner.

What will happen when he really wins:

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, taking U.S. crude below $50 on speculation that a U.S. election win for Senator John Kerry could ease the geopolitical friction that helped fuel this year's record-breaking rally.

I know that if Kerry wins, everything isn't going to be sunshine and roses, but if he does win, many things for most people, both in America and in other parts of the world, will get better.

The only difference between the Religious Right and Heaven's Gate folks is that the Religious Right don't have as much personal initiative.

Got this from Billmon:

"I want you to stand, raise your right hands," and recite "the Bush Pledge," said Florida state Sen. Ken Pruitt. The assembled mass of about 2,000 in this Treasure Coast town about an hour north of West Palm Beach dutifully rose, arms aloft, and repeated after Pruitt: "I care about freedom and liberty. I care about my family. I care about my country. Because I care, I promise to work hard to re-elect, re-elect George W. Bush as president of the United States."

-- Slate
One Nation Under Bush
October 29, 2004

All officers of the SS were required to take the loyalty oath. Raising their right hand and their left hand placed on their officers sword, the oath went as follows: "I swear to thee, Adolph Hitler as Fuhrer and chancellor of the German Reich, my Loyalty and Bravery. I vow to thee and the superiors whom those shall appoint, obedience until death, so help me God."

-- Jim Harris
World War II Stories: In Their Own Words

"Sure, only here they'll call it anti-fascism."

-- Huey Long
When asked if fascism could ever come to America

The unanimous declaration of all true citizens of the United States of America,

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political administration which has ruled over them, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the right to separate themselves from that administration and make themselves equal before the law that as is entitled to them, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all human beings are born equal, that they are endowed at birth with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, administrations are instituted among humans, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any administration becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new administration, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that administrations long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that humankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such an administration, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the American people; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to abolish their current administration. The history of the present ruler of the United States is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the United States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his party to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless such laws wholely benefit his campaign donors and he has utterly neglected everyone else.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right making up their own minds, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together secret bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of keeping information from the people.
He has dissolved the rights of the people repeatedly, and for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people, he has imprisoned or punished those who spoke out against him.
He has refused for a long time to appoint government officials who govern with the needs and wants of the people of the United States in mind.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these United States from travelling abroad, by making citizens of other countries disdainful and hateful toward Americans.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by appointing judges who ignore the rule of law and make decisions with nothing more than partisanship and ideology in mind.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harrass our people, and take away our rights.
He has manufactured reasons to engage in war with countries that were of no threat to the United States.
He has affected to render the military inable to complete the missions for which they have been sent forth.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; that of his interpretation of his god.
For attempting to turn citizens against each other.
For refusing to take responsibility for any of the actions of his administration, no matter how heinous.
For cutting off our trade with parts of the world and outsourcing our jobs to those other parts of the world.
For cutting taxes on the wealthiest citizens while increasing them indirectly on the rest.
For depriving us in some cases, of the benefits of trial by jury.
For transporting us beyond seas to be killed by terrorists and insurgents.
For attempting to establish absolute rule in these United States.
For damaging our environment, abolishing our most valuable environmental protections, and altering fundamentally the system we use to protect our natural resources.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He has transported large armies of mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, upon the free citizens of other countries.
He has conspired to make our fellow citizens taken captive mentally to bear figurative arms against their Country, and to betray their friends and brethren.
He has excited domestic disturbances amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the believers in terrorism, the merciless savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A president whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Republican brothers and sisters. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their party to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of the founding of our beloved country. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our mutual attempts to improve our country and our world. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our abolishment of their administration, and hold them, as we hold the rest of their kind, enemies in election day, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the true citizens of the United States of America, appealing to the supreme judge of the electorate for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these United States, solemnly publish and declare, that these United States are, and of right ought to be free and independent from the Bush administration; that we are absolved from all allegiance to the administration, and that all political connection between us and the Bush administration, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, we have full power to levy nonviolent war, conclude peace, contract alliances, re-establish our rights, and to do all other acts and things which remove Bush from office. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Constitution, we mutually pledge to each other our votes, our time and effort and our sacred honor.

Quick, what is president Bush's ideology? Well obviously you can knock out a few right of the bat, he's clearly not Communist, Socialist, Liberal or Facist. A quick examination would also show that he's not a Moderate. You can look at things he supports, such as his support for a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage, and tell that he's not a Libertarian. That leaves Conservative. But is Bush really a Conservative? Well, let's see. He's expanded the size of the government. He's run up the federal budget deficit. He's taken more and more power for the federal government. He's sought to expand rights for illegal immigrants. One of the issues he talks about the most is education. What kind of Conservative is this guy? It's hard to see that Bush has any ideology whatsoever. How can anybody vote for him?

The front page of Yahoo! currently has a Republican Party paid ad. Conveniently, they also have a ad feedback form that lets you tell them what you think of this ad.

Don't forget to e-mail the media outlets about the explosives issue Otherwise, here are the other alerts we have for you today...

The one thing officials were looking for amongst the television footage and photographs of al-Qaqaa to determine if the explosives photographed were teh same ones that have gone missing was an official IAEA seal on teh items.

Well, guess what?

I stood in line for over an hour.

I got in line at the Leon County Courthouse, at which was a long, long line when I drove by around 9:00 this morning. There were more than I saw the last tow days combined. The line was beginning to wrap around the building.

People want to vote, and that's absolutely terrific.

There were a couple of proud B/C voters (all white and more than a few folks dressed in oh, so fancy-pants Abercrombie gear), but the majority, from what I could discern, were voting Kerry. One fellow was passing out "I VOTED EARLY for Kerry Edwards" buttons (yes, I got one) and it seems he was passing them out as rapidly as people were showing up. As the line kept moving, the end of the line stayed put; those who finished voting were instantly replaced by more folks who wanted to vote.

It was good to see so many student-age folks, especially those of color. Standing in line in 87-degree sunshine didn't stop any of us. The poll workers were friendly, informative, and helpful. OUr method of voting, as per usual in Leon County, was the ultra-reliable optical-scan machines. I only wish every precinct in America could take these tips from our Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho.

Vote! And send those emails to the networks .

As Chris noted below, there is actual video footage of the missing explosives taken on April 18, nine days after our troops took control of Al Qaqaa, directly contradicting what the president (and most of our conservative friends) have said. Check out the story, direct from the embedded reporters who captured it on film. Note that they are waiting on final verification of the items in the pictures, but this seems to be pretty damning evidence.

We need to make sure that the mainstream media jumps on this story. We need to make sure that further investigation is made into this before the election. Bush and the conservatives have been pretty adamant about this stuff not being there, and if this story is accurate, which it appears to be, then Bush and friends are not only liars, they are also dangerously incompetent. If this story is accurate and these are the same explosives that the insurgents have been using against our troops, then Bush's incompetence has led to the direct deaths of these soldiers (not to mention the civilians and Iraqis who have also been killed in explosive deaths). This is not a failure or a criticism of the troops on the ground, this is a failure from Washington and a criticism of the White House administration. These people need to go. Contact the following media outlets (via Counterspin Central) and push this story until we get some actual journalism going. These accusations should be investigated and verified or debunked ASAP.

E-mail this link to the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC.

Dana Milbank at the Post: whitehouse@washpost.com

News Dept. at the Times: nytnews@nytimes.com

NBC News/MSNBC: World@MSNBC.com,

UPDATE: Thanks to Jeff for spotting this and posting it all over God's creation. Now, everybody send an e-mail to these outlets with the KTSP link, ASAP!!

This is where all our blogging efforts come to fruition, folks. YOU have the power to drive this story, and take Bush down.

If this is the big story of the day and through the weekend, Bush is a goner.

And you will all have a small but important role in making it happen!

Bush is officially pwn3d!

Hesiod has the lowdown, but it's true and it's confirmed. The US military was aware of and saw the explosive material at al-Qaqaa. There's no spinning that will work. And you thought the Red Sox winning the Series was an October Surprise.

It's over.

Holy shit.

I just heard Bush say this on CNN (may not be an exact quote, but it's close):

A person who jumps to conclusions without knowing all the facts is not someone you want as commander in chief.

Can we say "cooked intelligence"? "Aluminum tubes"? "Mushroom cloud"? "Uranium from Africa"?

This was Bush's first remark on the missing explosives. His excuse amounts to we don't know what happened and maybe the explosives were gone before the invasion, and Senator Kerry is being mean and criticizing our noble troops for losing the explosives.

"We would be a lot safer if we hadn't gone to war."

-- Peter W. Galbraith

That's the one message I wish Bush supporters could get through their thick skulls.

Here's the context, from an op ed in today's Boston Globe

I supported President Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. At Wolfowitz's request, I helped advance the case for war, drawing on my work in previous years in documenting Saddam's atrocities, including the use of chemical weapons on the Kurds. In spite of the chaos that followed the war, I am sure that Iraq is better off without Saddam Hussein.

It is my own country that is worse off -- 1,100 dead soldiers, billions added to the deficit, and the enmity of much of the world. Someone out there has nuclear bomb-making equipment, and they may not be well disposed toward the United States. Much of this could have been avoided with a competent postwar strategy. But without having planned or provided enough troops, we would be a lot safer if we hadn't gone to war.

Don't just sit there, do something! There is only one week left! And there are other important issues other than the election! What are you waiting for!

My eight-year-old son recently voted in an election at his elementary school that mirrored the vote American adults will make one week from today. And my David couldn't be more excited about it. I am less-than-excited about the results of this national Weekly Reader youth vote -- Dubya Bush garnered 65 percent of the vote. The comfort is that older kids -- meaning, more knowledgeable youngsters -- voted against Bush. Younger kids, it seems, tend to vote for the incumbent as a reflex -- his is the only name they recognize.

Not my son, who is often praised by his teachers for his strong commitment to and passion for social justice.

"Guess who I voted for, Mommy," he said, while tugging on my sleeve.

"Who, sweetie?" I asked.

"John Kerry and Sen. Barbara Mikulski!"

Neither would be my choice, but I put a smile on my face as I replied. "Oh, really? How come?"

"They're against Bush."

"Well, you need a better reason that that," I said.

David's face and tone grew serious as he gave his explanation: "They are Democrats. Democrats help poor people. Bush only helps the rich."

"If that is what you believe, it is a good reason for supporting them," I said. "Good for you. Are you a Democrat?"

"You bet! I would never, never, never be a Republican!"

"Me neither. But I'm not a Democrat either. I am an Independent."

"But you're liberal, right? I know you care about people," he said.

"Yes, that's true. I'm what they call a progressive Independent. That means I am against war and that I am for helping the poor and helping people in trouble."

"That's good, then," he said. "Mommy? I know you're not a Democrat, but is it OK if we put a Kerry bumper sticker on our car?"

This made me pause momentarily. After all, I do not support Kerry or Mikulski. It is on the public record that I am no fan of either candidate for very important reasons. Next week, I will vote for Green Party candidates for president and senator. Still, the family car is the family car -- not my car. Spousal Unit supports Kerry, as do both of our kids.

"You know what?," I said with a shrug. "That would be fine."

"Cool!" the jubilant third-grader exclaimed as he scampered off to find his sticker. I couldn't help but smile to see my son -- an independent thinker in his own right -- so happy. Why shouldn't he be able to express his views on the back of his family's car?

So, if you see this Independent out and about in a green Olds with a Kerry sticker on its tail, don't give me grief. My opinion has not changed. But majority rules. That's the very basis of democracy.

Keep this in mind, first and foremost: I don't like Eminem. I don't really care for him. I'm a hip-hop fan since 1982, mind you, but I still don't care for the guy.

But, DAMN, this is a pretty powerful piece of work. If that doesn't make the kids want to Get Out and Vote, then I don't know what will.

"Mosh," streaming Quicktime
"Mosh," non-streaming Quicktime

According to an email accidentally sent to people at a Bush parody web-site (they meant to send it to GeorgeWBush.com, but instead it went to .org!), the Republicans are willfully breaking election laws in multiple counties in a systematic effort to tamper with the voting process.

> >I took the information you gave me regarding usage of County Party
> >assets
> >(e.g. newsletters, phone banks) for federal candidates to my County
> >Central
> >Committee and asked for direction as to accepting ads from campaigns or
> >individuals. I explained the information you had provided. Steve
> >VanDenover, Mason County Chair, asked me to check with other counties as
> >to
> >how they are handling national candidates, such as Nethercutt, Bush and
> >Congressional Candidates. I called a few counties and discussed this
> >issue
> >in detail with the State Committeewoman and Editor of the Skagit County
> >Republican newsletter, Ann Marie Humphreys. She was unaware of the
> >prohibiitions that you had outlined to me for newsletters. IN fact she
> >had
> >an ad for George Bush in her latest Newsletter. I told her what you had
> >
> >explained to me about newsletter prohibitions.
> >
> >May I request that you or someone on your staff send directions
> >regarding
> >what Counties can and cannot do as it pertains to newsletters and phone
> >banks usage for federal candidates.

There is a great deal of ignorance
> >out
> >here and many counties are violating the campaign law as I understood it
> >
> >from you. God help us if the Democrats find out.

The full text is here at a Daily Kos diary. Originating link here. Spread the word.

I just drove past the Leon County Courthouse (Tallahassee, Florida) so I could see if anyone was voting. I was pleasantly surprised to see a line out into the sidewalk (which is a considerable distance from the building). At 9:10 AM!

On the way home I also noticed that the Kerry bumper tickers outnumber the Bush stickers by a margin of at least 8 to 1. Granted, this is a heavily Democratic county, but I didn't see anything like that for any other candidate since Clinton in 1992.

My heart soared. We're owning the process, folks.

God bless America!

Hi, everyone. I've been away for a while, and I've been spending much of that time working on a project with relevance to this election season. Now that we're rolling it out, I wanted to give all of you a look at what we're up to. Visit http://vote-usa.org, enter in your street address and you'll see a custom sample ballot showing you the races you'll be voting on in the coming election: presidential, Senatorial, Congressional, and statewide. (In some states, we also have state assembly and local races.) Click on the names of the candidates, and you'll see some basic information. Click on the office title, and you'll be able to compare candidates head-to-head on a wide variety of important issues. All our information is provided by the candidates themselves.

I invite everyone to take a look and see what you think, and if you like what you see, spread the word!

Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, and various other sites are already on top of the New York Times article about 350 tons of RDX and HMX explosives disappearing from Iraq's Al Qa Qaa bunker and weapons complex. This is a huge story folks.

There is also a Washington Times article about Kerry possible lying that he met with "all" the UN Security Counsel Ambassadors. No link, it's nothing more then a smoke screen in an attempt to take focus in the bigger story from the NY Times.

Quick rundown: the Al Qa Qaa bunker held explosives that are meant to cause the nuclear chain reaction that is the A-bomb explosion. It was tagged by the IAEA, and had been untouched for years. Then, right after the invasion, it seems to have dissappeared. In fact, it seems we failed to adequately guard the bunker.

So, there is now 350 TONS of extremely dangerous explosives in the hands of either:

• insurgents
• terrorists
• Iran
• all of the above

So, what we are looking at is tons of dangerous explosives in the hands of our enemies. We also are looking at unguarded ports and borders here in the United States.

So, how exactly are we suppose to see George W. Bush as competent to keep us safe and secure?

Update: In a further post, Joshua at TPM notes that the NY Times article does little to connect the missing explosives and the car bombs and other explosions in Iraq. Guess we will just have to use our imagination.

A whole bunch of stuff for you today, mostly based on winning the election, but you can also work to save the environment, gay rights, and, potentially, the lives of American soldiers who refused to commit suicide under command.

Oh, ya..... NTodd reminded me that I am suppose to make the next move in our slower then molasses in winter First Ever Bloggers' Chess Match.

Ok, so I have a confession: I made the move over a month ago and then promptly forgot all about it. Hey! What can I say? Some brain damage never goes away.

Anyway let me leave you with this link, which I posted about on my site......

I'll get back to you about that move.......

Not my joke, but I thought I'd pass it on:

Q: What's the difference between Iraq and Vietnam?

A: Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam!

Finally, the future seems brighter for the Kyoto Protocol, which will allow nations to address climate-change issues: Russia's lower house of Parliament has given its approval to the pact. The global treaty must be ratified now by the upper house of the Duma and be signed by President Vladimir Putin. Both are expected within the next fortnight. Ninety days after the ratification is accepted by the United Nations -- also expected -- the controversial accord will have met the requirement of being ratified by 55 nations responsible for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions in 1990.

Russia's move flies in the face of the Bush administration's refusal to sign on to the Protocol, which seeks to cut the amount of pollution that exacerbates the looming global-warming crisis. The US alone accounted for 36 percent of carbon-dioxide emissions, making it a primary source of the problem -- and, in this observer's opinion, making Bush's refusal to approve the treaty particularly heinous. (The US, in fairness, is not completely alone in its recalcitrance: Australia also refuses to ratify Kyoto.)

Russia's move "is great news for the climate," David Wallace, vice president of the UK’s Royal Society, told New Scientist's news service. "President Putin has listened to the international scientific consensus that clearly points us towards the urgent need to tackle this global threat. In doing so he has withstood the dissenting voices from within his own government that preach inaction."

The FCC is spending money to encourage Americans to buy digital televisions.

If you believe the government should not be spending money to market consumer products, join Commercial Alert in asking members of Congress to eliminate funding for the FCC's "DTV: Get It!" campaign.

The possible military draft will affect you or someone you know.

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about a draft. But no matter how Bush and his cronies spin it, there's going to be one if he is re-elected. The local Selective Service boards are already being restaffed for the first time in DECADES. And the requirements for being drafted?:

* Men and women ages 18 to 34
* Special preference for those with language, computer, and medical skills
* Those with medical experience up to age 44

Don't believe me? Think Bush would stand by his promise to not have a draft? Then why are the local selective service boards being staffed (1)? And how is it that the draft could include women and those up to age 34 (2)? And how do I know about medical professionals up to age 44 would be picked (3)?

1. "Last year the Bush administration started filling vacancies on local draft boards for the first time in 20 years. When word got around that they were doing this, the Pentagon quickly removed a job notice for those boards from its Web site (New York Times, July 3, 2004). A copy of that notice is still available online here."

2. "The chief of the U.S. Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services. The proposal, which the agency's acting director Lewis Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to extend the age of draft registration to 34, up from 25." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 1, 2004

3. "The agency already has a special system to register and draft health care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if necessary in a crisis." - Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 13, 2004. 
Also see "US Has Contingency Plans for a Draft of Medical Workers," New York Times, October 19, 2004.

Shocked? Me, too. That's why you've been contacted. You're my friends, I care about you, and I care about me, too! So, for the love of Pete, spread the word.

For more information go to http://www.enjoythedraft.com/

We have a whole bunch of action alerts again today, with options for you to help out in the election, keep the pressure on Sinclair, help save the environment, call for the release of the CIA 9/11 report, call for a fix for our broken vaccine system, help out poorly-equipped soldiers in Iraq, oppose anti-immigrant legislation and combat the Patriot Act II. After that, go have yourself a nice cold beer (or other beverage of your choice), you've earned it!

The following are a series of comments taken from unofficial surveys of students living in Florida. The area they come from is relatively rural and therefore not fully representative of the state, but most of the students are college students who are eligible voters in an important swing state. (The list is long but make sure to read to the bottom, since some of the comments are very interesting, humorous, racist or idiotic comments throughout).

It pains me to say this as a native Floridian, but we are only a few hours into the early voting and we've already got problems in familiar places:

With memories of 2000 and the state's bitter fight over ballots still fresh, Floridians began casting votes Monday and within an hour problems cropped up.

In Palm Beach County, the center of the madness during the recount four years ago, a Democratic state legislator said she wasn't given a complete absentee ballot when she asked to opt for paper instead of the electronic touch-screen machines. And in Orange County, the touch-screen system briefly crashed, paralyzing voting in Orlando and its immediate suburbs.

Let's counteract such foul-ups by getting out the vote in any legal and ethical way we can!

Voting for the election has begun today. Several states allow early voting beginning today, including: Florida, Texas, Colorado and Arkansas. Apparently, other states have already allowed early voting to begin, including: Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Oregon. So if you live in one of the states and haven't already voted, what the hell are you waiting for. This is the biggest action alert of the year -- get Bush out of office! And once you have voted, make sure to get all your friends and relatives (even strangers) to get to the polls and vote as well. Every vote counts, particularly in some of the states that are now voting, so go vote and help others to vote as well.

Vote Kids, a group hoping to spotlight children's issues this campaign season, is targeting the 17th Congressional District in Texas. Vote Kids wants your help to educate voters in this district about the anti-child record of one of the candidates.

Republican Arlene Wohlgemuth, currently a Texas State Representative, is challenging Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards in a district that was drawn by Texas Republicans to ensure Edwards' retirement from Congress. Vote Kids is trying to spread the word about Wohlgemuth's sorry record on children's issues. According to Vote Kids:

* Wohlgemuth wrote legislation that will remove as many as 270,000 Texas children from the Child Health Insurance Program - which also will prevent Texas from receiving hundreds of millions in federal funds. So far, 163,000 children have lost health insurance coverage so far. More than 45,000 have been cut from the Maternal and Child Health program.

* Wohlgemuth wrote legislation sharply cutting back on efforts to educate low-income families with uninsured children on how to enroll in the Texas Child Health Insurance Program. This contrasts sharply with the federal government's efforts to expand outreach to get as many as 2.6 million more children insured.

* In 2003, Wohlgemuth proposed ending the Texas Child Health Insurance Program entirely.

* Wohlgemuth voted to eliminate Healthy Texas Families - a child abuse prevention program which targets families at risk for abuse, neglect and other problems and trains young parents in breast feeding, immunization, and child development. So far, 1,768 families have lost these vital services and another 997 have been cut from the Family Outreach Program.

* Wohlgemuth proposed cutting the staff of [Texas] Child Protective Services, the group that investigates child abuse and neglect and works to get children into safe homes.

* Wohlgemuth voted to cut a [state] community youth development program meant to keep kids out of jail. This has prevented middle- and high school-age youths in some of the state's poorest areas from participating in athletic leagues and receiving help with homework. So far, more than 5,000 children have been cut from this program.

Wohlgemuth is on the ultra-conservative religious wing of the Republican party. Sending her to Congress will mean another vote for their radical social agenda. If you believe this agenda is bad for America, if you are appalled at her record - then please donate to the Vote Kids 17th Congressional District campaign.

Here's a district profile provided as part of the "Texas Tuesdays" effort by Texas Democratic/liberal bloggers to spotlight and raise money for Texas Democratic candidates. Chet Edwards has a shot at this seat. FYI, this district is centered in Waco, Texas - President Bush's backyard. His ranch is in Crawford, only a short drive to Waco.

We have a lot of action alerts for you today. We udnerstand that you can't do all of them, but do the ones you can. If you have money, give where it's needed. If you don't, send letters or volunteer. Do whatever you can, as every little bit helps. Today's targets: Tom DeLay, the corrupt elections process, President Bush and conservative judges.

Starting October 15 and continuing every day for the next month, I will be observing a fast from all food and drink from dawn to sunset. This is Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The fast of Ramadan is one of the "five pillars," the five obligatory worship practices that all Muslims observe.

For the person observing the fast, Ramadan is a time for thinking about those who are so poor and needy they never have enough to eat, a time for learning to do without and for learning to put other things before our own desires. It is a time to increase our awareness of God, to remember that we must act in the best manner at all times because He is always watching us. And it is also a time of family and of community, of knowing that our brothers and sisters in faith around the world are sharing our experiences. Perhaps nothing could be further from war and violence and hatred than a month of self-denial.

Wouldn't you like to learn more about this side of Islam? I invite and encourage you to take some time this upcoming Ramadan to increase your knowledge about Islam. Read about it in books or on the web. If you have a Muslim neighbor, co-worker, friend or relative, talk to him or her this month. See how ordinary Muslims think and feel and why they have chosen Islam as their path to God.

For more information: Ramadan FAQ

So now faux US vice-president Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne are upset because their daughter Mary, who is a lesbian and not closeted, was mentioned in public? This makes absolutely no sense.

In Wednesday's Democrat/Republican debate, Sen. John Kerry, in answering the question of whether homosexuality is a choice, noted the well-known fact that Mary Cheney, the daughter of his opponent's running mate, is gay. Today, Lynne Cheney came out swinging, insisting in a stump speech that the Democrat's statement was a "cheap and tawdry political trick."

Figures that Republicans would label telling the truth as "cheap and tawdry." Perhaps that is why they are so accepting of government leaders telling lies. Well, so long as the lies have nothing to do with blow jobs.

Paul Ginsberg of the Center for Studying Health System Change has an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on controlling health costs. He notes that neither Bush nor Kerry plan to do anything much about controlling health costs, preferring instead to expand coverage and increase affordability. Both candidates, in different ways, rely on shifting health costs away from consumers onto the government, rather than comprehensively addressing the reasons behind rising health costs.

Are you worried that women are going to face a much tougher time in the new Iraq? Sure, the administration tells us that everybody is more free without Saddam Hussein, but that certainly doesn't seem to be the case for women. Here are some resources for finding out the real story:

The Bush campaign has sent me another link for a live chat with a big Bush supporter, this time with judge and longtime presidential advisor Alberto Gonzalez. Let's get in there and ask him the hard questions. You have to pre-register to get in on the chat, which is Friday 3-4 p.m.

www.GeorgeWBush.com/Chat

Since someone signed me up for GOP mailouts, I'll do what I can to use them against Bush. Today's mailing concerns the debate, and here are the talking points you are likely to hear over and over again:

President Bush won a clear victory on substance, style and credibility in the final debate tonight - showing that he's the candidate who "finishes strong." The President spoke with clarity, conviction and compassion about the most important issues facing our country.

On issue after issue, he showed Americans that he shares their values and priorities. He revealed just how far out of the mainstream Kerry's record lies on abortion, gay marriage, immigration, taxes, health care and fiscal discipline.

John Kerry showed how far he's willing to go to deceive the American people about this record when he said "I've actually passed 56 individual bills that I've personally written." The fact is that he has only been the lead sponsor of 5 bills and 4 resolutions that have become law.

The most revealing moments:

* Kerry believes education is unrelated to the economy - this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how individuals achieve the American Dream.
* President Bush believes that no child should be left behind when it comes to the quality of education she or he can get.
* A good education is the foundation for opportunity, prosperity and success.
* On immigration, John Kerry said, "we need an earned legalization program for people who have been here a long time." This amnesty proposal stands in contrast to the President's temporary worker program.

President Bush revealed John Kerry's tendency to confuse a litany of complaints with a plan. John Kerry demonstrated that he didn't have a plan and he resorted to foreign policy attacks, because he does not have an agenda for America.

Let's do what we can to fight the outright lies and distortions that the wingers are certain to start using.

As always, you can read our entire debate thread by going here and following the arrows to the right.