The US began a major attack on Fallujah today, starting with aerial bombing. Major troop movements in the next few days, with battles in the streets of Fallujah.
Oh, gosh, do we have an election on Tuesday?
It is a cynical, manipulative tactic for Bush to launch a major offensive just days before the election. Yet again, he abuses the lives of our soldiers for his political gain. Here, we have the Election Offensive -- an offensive attack timed to coincide with the presidential election, with the cynical intent of shoring up Bush's support.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
President John Edwards
This NYTimes OpEddescribes a not-that-far-fetched electoral scenario --- with only a single flyer.
If the electoral college deadlocks 269-269, the Senate elects the Vice President while the President is elected in the House. It is not far-fetched that the Dems take the Senate (Edwards is elected VP there), while the Republicans retain the house. In the House, however, the voting is one vote per state, and Minnesota and Wisconsin are evenly divided Dem/Republican (deadlocked votes, meaning no votes). If there is just *one* more deadlocked state, then the House election would be tied.
And the Constitution stipulates that, in the event that a President is unable to take the oath of office come late January, the Vice President acts as President until such time that a President is qualified.
If the electoral college deadlocks 269-269, the Senate elects the Vice President while the President is elected in the House. It is not far-fetched that the Dems take the Senate (Edwards is elected VP there), while the Republicans retain the house. In the House, however, the voting is one vote per state, and Minnesota and Wisconsin are evenly divided Dem/Republican (deadlocked votes, meaning no votes). If there is just *one* more deadlocked state, then the House election would be tied.
And the Constitution stipulates that, in the event that a President is unable to take the oath of office come late January, the Vice President acts as President until such time that a President is qualified.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
BushWired: Best foot forward
Salon has a short piece up on the latest BushWired development: A NASA/JPL physicist has performed a science-level analysis of images of Bush's back from the first debate. Conclusion? It is not a wrinkled shirt. It is not Bush's shoulder blades. There is definitely something there, but it also does not look much like a box. This is a relief in a way, since all of the audio techs agree that "between the shoulder blades" is a strange place to put a wireless transceiver unit.
What the processed images definitely reveal is some sort of arrangement of wires snaking up and down Bush's back, between the shoulder blades. Recall, now, that the best-technology in-ear units use magnetic induction to power the in-ear speaker; this requires a wire loop to be laid around the subject's head.
I had thought the case was closed; instead, Dr. Robert Nelson has just blown it wide open. Don't forget: (1) Bush team insisted on no video from behind (and have never explained that request); (2) Bush demanded "Let me finish!" 15 seconds into a 60-second response during this debate.
What the processed images definitely reveal is some sort of arrangement of wires snaking up and down Bush's back, between the shoulder blades. Recall, now, that the best-technology in-ear units use magnetic induction to power the in-ear speaker; this requires a wire loop to be laid around the subject's head.
I had thought the case was closed; instead, Dr. Robert Nelson has just blown it wide open. Don't forget: (1) Bush team insisted on no video from behind (and have never explained that request); (2) Bush demanded "Let me finish!" 15 seconds into a 60-second response during this debate.
A Shred of Proof: The Missing Explosives on Video
Bush, Limbaugh, and other right-wing blowhards have been screeching the Kerry doesn't have any proof that the 370 tons of munitions were stolen before, or after the US invasion of Iraq. Never mind that a munition stolen before the invasion kills American soldiers just as well as ones stolen after -- they're all focussed on whether Bush is to Blame.
Turns out, Bush is to blame. A EXCLUSIVE:
San Francisco Bay Area news station had an embedded reporter, who videotaped the munitions that have now turned up missing.
ANOTHER example of Bush's lack of planning making Iraq a more dangerous place, and putting our troops in harm's way.
Turns out, Bush is to blame. A EXCLUSIVE:
San Francisco Bay Area news station had an embedded reporter, who videotaped the munitions that have now turned up missing.
ANOTHER example of Bush's lack of planning making Iraq a more dangerous place, and putting our troops in harm's way.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Hawaii as Future Swing State
Robin asked me to comment today on the latest polls which show the Presidential race approaching too close to call in... Hawaii (4 electoral votes). Which went for Dukakis in '88. By 9 points. And had Gore over Dubyah by 19 points a mere four years ago. It's a pretty stunning development if true, but is it true, and if so what does it mean?
Well, I don't honestly think the suggestion can be taken at face value. Hawaii will go for Kerry in '04, have no fear. The fact that some organizations are coming close to suggesting otherwise is - to that degree - merely an indication of their own biases (Gallup, I'm looking at you here).
However, I do believe we will come to look back on the 2004 election in Hawaii as the end of an era. The Democrats have had their way with Hawaii ever since Statehood. We finally got a Republican governor in '02 (go Linda!), and she has been able to turn things around locally. She has made the health of the State's economy - above and beyond the usual soaking of tourists (11.5% hotel room tax) - a priority. In addition, she and my Dad have been working hard to improve public schools via devolution of power to local districts. This surprises people from the mainland, but in Hawaii it has been the Republicans (and my Dad) fighting for fair (=progressive) taxation, and against Democratic proposals to raise the sales tax (which applies to gasoline and food). No, I'm not kidding. The Democrats over the years became too invested in the bureaucracy and programs of the State government, such that they were willing to tax anything and everything in sight to keep the budget in balance.
It was only natural that the people of the State would eventually tire of these shenanigans (Remember how great that 90's boom was? Not in Hawaii!) and give the Republicans a chance. For the last few years, though, they have remained strongly on the Democratic side in national politics.
And yet, nothing lasts forever. Here as in America's traditional South, there is a religious majority that can be won over with a morality-based appeal. Intriguingly, the religion in question is not strictly evangelical Christian, but includes a large admixture of Buddhist and associated East Asian beliefs. None of these faiths much cottons to homosexuality, though - hence the resounding passage of our State Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage in 1998 (first in the US!). That referendum was a real surprise to me, who had been out of state since the start of the controversy, and while away had been caught up in the post-AIDS surge towards full and unremarkable equal rights for gays. How was this happening in my Hawaii? Who were these people?
I'm still not completely sure, but whoever they are, they ceased being down-the-line Democrats (in the national sense) with that vote six years ago. And it does not surprise me that, in the years that have passed since then, they have been pulling the state closer to the center of our national politics, as well.
Who knows? In 2008 we may even get a couple of Presidential campaign photo-ops.
Well, I don't honestly think the suggestion can be taken at face value. Hawaii will go for Kerry in '04, have no fear. The fact that some organizations are coming close to suggesting otherwise is - to that degree - merely an indication of their own biases (Gallup, I'm looking at you here).
However, I do believe we will come to look back on the 2004 election in Hawaii as the end of an era. The Democrats have had their way with Hawaii ever since Statehood. We finally got a Republican governor in '02 (go Linda!), and she has been able to turn things around locally. She has made the health of the State's economy - above and beyond the usual soaking of tourists (11.5% hotel room tax) - a priority. In addition, she and my Dad have been working hard to improve public schools via devolution of power to local districts. This surprises people from the mainland, but in Hawaii it has been the Republicans (and my Dad) fighting for fair (=progressive) taxation, and against Democratic proposals to raise the sales tax (which applies to gasoline and food). No, I'm not kidding. The Democrats over the years became too invested in the bureaucracy and programs of the State government, such that they were willing to tax anything and everything in sight to keep the budget in balance.
It was only natural that the people of the State would eventually tire of these shenanigans (Remember how great that 90's boom was? Not in Hawaii!) and give the Republicans a chance. For the last few years, though, they have remained strongly on the Democratic side in national politics.
And yet, nothing lasts forever. Here as in America's traditional South, there is a religious majority that can be won over with a morality-based appeal. Intriguingly, the religion in question is not strictly evangelical Christian, but includes a large admixture of Buddhist and associated East Asian beliefs. None of these faiths much cottons to homosexuality, though - hence the resounding passage of our State Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage in 1998 (first in the US!). That referendum was a real surprise to me, who had been out of state since the start of the controversy, and while away had been caught up in the post-AIDS surge towards full and unremarkable equal rights for gays. How was this happening in my Hawaii? Who were these people?
I'm still not completely sure, but whoever they are, they ceased being down-the-line Democrats (in the national sense) with that vote six years ago. And it does not surprise me that, in the years that have passed since then, they have been pulling the state closer to the center of our national politics, as well.
Who knows? In 2008 we may even get a couple of Presidential campaign photo-ops.
13 Dickinson St: 1000 Posts Old.
Folks, we just passed the 1000 posts mark.
And the Sox won the world series on a night with a lunar eclipse.
Happy Anniversary.
And the Sox won the world series on a night with a lunar eclipse.
Happy Anniversary.
Kos raising money for terrorists?
Tom Delay sez:
"LaRouche is a con felon and all I can tell you is that Mr. Morrison has supported and campaigned with LaRouche followers and Mr. Morrison also has taken money and is working with the Daily Kos, which is an organization that raises money for fighters against the U.S. in Iraq,"
Wow. Now DeLay can add defamation to the list of charges against him.
"LaRouche is a con felon and all I can tell you is that Mr. Morrison has supported and campaigned with LaRouche followers and Mr. Morrison also has taken money and is working with the Daily Kos, which is an organization that raises money for fighters against the U.S. in Iraq,"
Wow. Now DeLay can add defamation to the list of charges against him.
October Surprise: American Officers Report Falluja Rapidly Slipping into Chaos
"The city is chaotic" says a leader of a local tribe paid off by Allawi. "There's no presence of the Allawi government."
Looks like we're gonna have to invade, big time, with big bombs, lots of shock and awe. All that chaos, need for shock and awe.
Surprised?
Looks like we're gonna have to invade, big time, with big bombs, lots of shock and awe. All that chaos, need for shock and awe.
Surprised?
The Sox Overcome The Curse, During a Total Lunar Eclipse?
Game 4 of the world series starts in 25 min and with the Sox up 3-0, and with heavy momentum, there's a strong chance they'll whup the Cards tonight. If so, they'll do it during a lunar eclipse -- totality begins about 10:30, peaks at 11:00pm, and ends at 11:45pm EDT.
Get out there and stand those eggs on end!
Get out there and stand those eggs on end!
Election Fatigue
Everybody who's got election fatigue, and just want the thing over with (as long as Bush is out of office).
RAISE YOUR HANDS!
RAISE YOUR HANDS!
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Bush: the anti-business president
I heard on AirAmerica radio this morning that in a poll of foreign consumers, 20% are now actively avoiding American products.
Of course, that could just be slightly up from the usual 18%.
It also may have been skewed because the poll was done entirely in France.
Who knows?
Besides, who doesn't avoid Starbucks and McDonalds when they can help it?
Of course, that could just be slightly up from the usual 18%.
It also may have been skewed because the poll was done entirely in France.
Who knows?
Besides, who doesn't avoid Starbucks and McDonalds when they can help it?
Monday, October 25, 2004
About I Heart Huckabees
If you're in the mood for something apolitical (election? what election?), I humbly recommend this entry at Meimei & Dale's bomad.com, in which I identify some of the sources of inspiration for David O. Russell's latest venture, I Heart Huckabees, which Erica and I saw on Friday.
(Some modest spoilers, if you read all the way through.)
(Some modest spoilers, if you read all the way through.)
He forgot Poland!
8 days before the election and this is what Republicans are pinning their hopes on.
Bush:
Bush:
- WMD not there, then there, then lost again.
- Condi not told about it for 18 months. Maybe she should get back behind her desk and stop stumping.
- Human rights/Geneva conventions violations.
- Cheney still up for indictment in France.
- May not have met with the entire security council.
- "Outs" Mary Cheney to a number of people in the US equal to the number in the world population that don't know that a product as delicious as Coke exists.
- He forgot Poland.
Colorodo's Amendment 36: CO as Florida 2004?
[Slate]. Colorodo's Amendment 36, on the ballot Nov 2, will divide the state's electoral college votes in proportion to the popular vote, making it the first state to abandon the "all or nothing" rubric which insures presidential largess, pork, and a lot of focussed attention. If it passes, it applies retroactively to *this* year's vote. And, if the final tally is within the margin of this division (likely, the difference between each candidate getting 4-5 votes, or the full 9), then ConLaw lawyers stand at the ready to challenge the Amendment's constitutionality.
Thi could hold up the results of the 2004 election, for weeks.
Thi could hold up the results of the 2004 election, for weeks.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Cheney Orders Skipping Over Rice and Powell
Seems that when the Administration crafted its military justice guidlines, it was Dick Cheney who ordered the group who crafted the policy to skip passing it by the Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
This was in Nov 2001, when newspapers were all agog at how Rice seemed to be the President's advisor in-general.
Rather than the President's advisor "out-of-the-loop".
This was in Nov 2001, when newspapers were all agog at how Rice seemed to be the President's advisor in-general.
Rather than the President's advisor "out-of-the-loop".
This Week: Remind Your Bush-Supporting Friends
"Those who would trade liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin.
Bush threw into the trash can our right of not being arrested and held indefinitely without charge by the government, while offering the illusion of safety. This is repugnant to all who believe in the American constitution. Those who are comfortable with it will find brothers in the ashes of history, in 1930s Germany and 1940s Soviet Russia.
Bush threw into the trash can our right of not being arrested and held indefinitely without charge by the government, while offering the illusion of safety. This is repugnant to all who believe in the American constitution. Those who are comfortable with it will find brothers in the ashes of history, in 1930s Germany and 1940s Soviet Russia.
"Says what he believes, does what he says": The Hope for an American Dictator
How many times have you heard this as the primary virtue of President Bush? Usually, it is said not by his financial backers, but by normal folks, who would otherwise be natural Democrats.
This statement, as a reason to vote for someone, should scare the freaking bejeezus out of us all. It reveals more about the voter, and where they would let our country be led, than it does about the candidate.
A voter to whom veracity is a primary virtue is someone who is mired in uncertainty and chaos -- whose life is so disrupted by unpredictables, misrepresentations, and resulting confusion that they want only a leader who will give them stable ground. This is a voter so jostled in life they want only someone to stop the jostling -- they don't have the time or luxury of thinking through the issues, extrapolating from past polices into future debacles, working out where they will take us. They want only: certainty, certainty, certainty.
This is exactly how democratic dictators are elected -- a population beset by crippling financial uncertainties and national psychological setbacks screams for a strong leader to put them on firm ground. The reason those elected become dictators is not only because they are inclined that way --- and yes, here, I'm implying that Bush is inclined to democratic dictatorship -- but because those who elect him to power are willing to sacrafice their rights (habeous corpus, for example) to someone who they think can restore certainty to their world.
This voter should scare the bejeezus out of us all, because they are asking for an American Dictator.
This statement, as a reason to vote for someone, should scare the freaking bejeezus out of us all. It reveals more about the voter, and where they would let our country be led, than it does about the candidate.
A voter to whom veracity is a primary virtue is someone who is mired in uncertainty and chaos -- whose life is so disrupted by unpredictables, misrepresentations, and resulting confusion that they want only a leader who will give them stable ground. This is a voter so jostled in life they want only someone to stop the jostling -- they don't have the time or luxury of thinking through the issues, extrapolating from past polices into future debacles, working out where they will take us. They want only: certainty, certainty, certainty.
This is exactly how democratic dictators are elected -- a population beset by crippling financial uncertainties and national psychological setbacks screams for a strong leader to put them on firm ground. The reason those elected become dictators is not only because they are inclined that way --- and yes, here, I'm implying that Bush is inclined to democratic dictatorship -- but because those who elect him to power are willing to sacrafice their rights (habeous corpus, for example) to someone who they think can restore certainty to their world.
This voter should scare the bejeezus out of us all, because they are asking for an American Dictator.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Cheney Jumps the Shark
Dick Cheney suggested today that, if Kerry had been President in the 1980s instead of Ronald Reagan, that the Soviets would still be around.
When the lies get dumb enough, who will believes anything he says?
When the lies get dumb enough, who will believes anything he says?
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in the Spin Room after the AZ Debate
Triumph makes fun of the spinners after the debate. My favorite moment: he asks Greta "Hey, can I get Bill O'Relly's cell phone number? I'll bring the vibrator."
He takes on Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii -- and she's about the only one who does not come off horribly, although Triumph wishes her "A safe trip back to Stepford".
A good laugh.
He takes on Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii -- and she's about the only one who does not come off horribly, although Triumph wishes her "A safe trip back to Stepford".
A good laugh.
This Election Day, Let's All Think
I still don't like David Brooks for his typical apologist stance toward the Bush administration -- but here, he manages to say something original and interesting.
He states that the fundamental divide between Republicans and Democrats today is not policy based, it is based on different conceptions of the leader. Republicans want someone to lead with their soul -- morally above the executive branch ("you can't imagine Reagan as a cabinet secretary") not narcissitically introspective, and resolute in a crisis with a broad vision. Democrats want a thoughtful leader with whip-smart knowledge of the working of Government (though I take exception that it's easy to see Clinton or Kerry as cabinet secretaries -- but, sure, Carter or Mondale).
This reflects two types of people in the US -- thinkers and feelers. As the saying goes, most of life's miseries are caused by feeling when you should think, and thinking when you should feel.
This election day, let's all think.
He states that the fundamental divide between Republicans and Democrats today is not policy based, it is based on different conceptions of the leader. Republicans want someone to lead with their soul -- morally above the executive branch ("you can't imagine Reagan as a cabinet secretary") not narcissitically introspective, and resolute in a crisis with a broad vision. Democrats want a thoughtful leader with whip-smart knowledge of the working of Government (though I take exception that it's easy to see Clinton or Kerry as cabinet secretaries -- but, sure, Carter or Mondale).
This reflects two types of people in the US -- thinkers and feelers. As the saying goes, most of life's miseries are caused by feeling when you should think, and thinking when you should feel.
This election day, let's all think.
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