2004 Political Autopsy revisited

Admit one: The Way-back Machine.

Well, not that far back. No one wants to see Nate's Vision Street regalia circa 1988. Let's just pull the flux-capacitated DeLorean off at the following exit-ramp:

November 4th, 2004 - "Victory with Strings"

Possibly due to "Values voters", Bush has just won his second term over John Kerry. The GOP now has control of 2/3 branches of government - with future conservative court appointments completing the monopoly.
(*see footnotes)

Facing this cadaver, I decided to sift through the entrails and do some political autopsy. Using the theory of the political bell-curve, one could conclude that George W Bush's victory was a poison pill - that it would create a split within his own party. By energizing the US Ayatollahs (who vote in big numbers), Bush might secure a victory over "the middle" (who don't vote as often), but this victory would come at a consequence: the alienation of economic conservatives (Guliani/Schwarzeneggers, George Wills, Milton Friedmans, etc) who represent a far larger piece of GOP pie.

In other words, here's why the GOP lost so big this year: Economic conservatives got jealous about Bush's Ayatollah footsy and either:
A.) Stayed home
B.) Voted democratic

But here's the punchline. All across the AM dial, wingnut blatherers are building a very odd heavy wax from their tears. The overwhelming content of this wax proclaims that tthe GOP took this "Thumpin" because the candidates "weren't conservative enough". Now economically, they might be right - A bigger group of Gubment-cheese porky-pigs I have never seen (see: "Old McDonald's Petting Zoo" recieving Homeland Security cash)

But Social conservatives? I sure hope they go on thinking this.
Rick Santorum - arch-conservative & terrible analogist - ran a far-right socially-conservative agenda and was fairly free of Abramoff scandal scum. Despite this, Santorum got his fundy-butt kicked in PA: Losing to Robert Casey, Jr by 18%. Note: When an incumbant in any state loses by that much, you call that a "grand thumpin".

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? I can't be the only one who loves watching another all-out charge against the Maschinengewehr 08

Sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes it feels real good.

* Footnotes:

Irony of all iron-knees, even after the 2004 conservative monopoly on everything, Herr Falafeloofa (Bill O'Reilly) invented yet another moral-majority martyr complex (ie pulled it out his ass), for yet another of his high-larious "War on Christmas" bits.

Note: And He's doing it again. Thanks to all you godless fags, we may not even have a Christmas this year.
Note 2: And here I was thinking it was proper to pospone all mythological holy wars until after Thanksgiving. Sheesh

Turner's response to Nov 2nd

"There would be only two cool things that would happen if Bush was to get re-elected; so without further ado, prepare yourself for the inevitable.

First, is that I will finally be able to get an AK-47 for as cheap as they ought to be.

And second, I guarantee you that ten years from now, on FOX (the only channel left), on Sunday nights at 9:00, probably after the umpteenth season of Malcolm in the Middle, you will be able to tune into The Running Man; but for real. And I have to admit, I will be watching.

Yup, the country is heading down the tubes but fast, so prepare yourself for shooting the first FED through the door in the face when he tries to take away your freedom. Maybe it's just me, but didn't my United States of America pay dearly with many of our sons in a little war called WWII to defeat the rise of fascism, and keep it from ever reaching our shores?

Oh well, the masses spoke, and they chose, and now they have to stew in the steaming pile that they've made for themselves. Fuck them, the swine. Hope you enjoy it you shit-heads."

Amen, Brother

Out of touch - MY ASS!

Another dubious chunk of untreated sewage has been floating around the conservative "think" tanks. Your average right-wing commentator will hold up a map like this one - showing the 2004 election results county-by-county (blue = Kerry, red = Bush):


His caption will be - "look at how out of touch these blue liberals are with the 'rest' of the nation." This looks good in theory, (and even has a neato visual aid - A+ simpletons!), but they are conveniently leaving out one crucial factor: FUCKING PEOPLE!

In other words, if scorpions, rattlesnakes, gophers, varmits, opossoms, twigs, berries, cactii, and bits of sod where someday, somehow given legal voting status, then this map might mean something! And yes, when that happens, we "Liberal Blues" would indeed be out of touch with all of the above earthly inhabitants

But until then, only people have the right to vote, and PEOPLE is the one thing that the blue areas have that the Red areas do not have!

Dont believe me? Heres another map shot from a satellite at night:


Interesting how the blue areas in the map above line-up with the illuminated areas with the map below, is it not?

One might say that we "blue area liberals" are more illuminating than the rest! One might also jest that the red areas are full of dim bulbs perhaps.

But I will say this: What is absolutely astounding is NOT that Bush won, but that Bush could only squeeze 52% out of all that Red!

Using the words of Bush Sr & Jr, we must now be a beacon of hope and a thousand points of light to all those still living in darkness

Senator Murray letter

Senator Murray,

I was born in raised in the Shoreline area, so I have seen and supported your career up close from the very beginning. I remember seeing you and Bill Clinton at the waterfront before his & your '92 election. I only wish times today were so good.

Your victory against George Nethercutt Nov 2nd was so important for so many reasons. Least of which is that you showed his playing the "terror-card" to be a cheap political tactic with no affect on a stellar senate record.

But most importantly, with the re-election of George W Bush, and his threat to go forward with a far-right agenda, we desperately need your hard work to protect so many of our most basic rights. And to this end, your use of the filibuster will be crucial. Congressional "Gridlock" is often given a negative connotation. But for one who studies politics, I fully understand that the use of a Senatorial filibuster serves your constituency just as much as sponsoring an important bill - and now more than ever.

A filibuster is simply our opposition voiced through you.

So please feel free to make liberal use of this in the long hard days to come. Feel free to talk-to-death a pork-filled military expenditure. Feel free to talk-to-death a permanent top 10% tax cut.

Most importantly, please filibuster any/all of George W Bush's Supreme court appointments "in the mold of Scalia and Thomas".

The future of a woman's right to choose, gay-rights, the environment, and freedom of expression in general, was at stake November 2nd. With George W Bush and his stated agenda in charge, these basic rights are now in your hands. Please do everything you can to protect them.

Playing the adversarial role in the Senate can often (unfairly) be portrayed negatively. Please understand that you have Washington's full support in playing this role.

Thank you again for your many years of service, and congratulations on your re-election.

Sincerely,
NG

PS, Might I suggest "Lord of the Rings" for filibuster reading material. You might even replace the characters "Dark Lord Sauron" and "Saruman" with George W and Karl Rove (or would it be the reverse?)

Victory with strings

The Republicans & Bush are now acting like it's "all them". And it is all them in a sense - both houses and the presidency under their control. But there are still big limits, and Bush's victory has consequences.

First off, Bush & Rove relied heavily on Religious conservatives acting on "values" - with 11 anti-gay ballot initiatives, they prodded their faithful en masse to the polls (something again, that we missed out on with the 18-34 crowd). But this victory may very well be a poison pill and an achilles' heel: the GOP is not made up of only the Religious value-based conservatives. There are economic conservatives (Schwartzenegger, Gulianni, etc) and Libertarians who go with lesser-of-two-evils but cannot stand the religious nuts. Added to this, under the umbrella of "religious conservatives" you have a RAINBOW of different value-systems, some of them diametrically opposed to one another: Protestants vs. Catholics, Baptists vs. Mormons, Pentacostal vs. Traditionalist, HELL - even Baptist vs. Baptist (southern v. ecumenical), and Methodist vs. Methodist (United v. Free v. Wesleyan). Appealling to one, will cause squabbling between them all. This happened before (see: the English civil war and the general European religious civil wars), and it can happen again! Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

These religious conservatives are going to see Bush's victory as a mandate, but if Bush runs with their agenda, he's gonna hit a brick wall, because the other GOP factions will split. A victory, but a poisoned victory.

Back to the drawing board

Hi all,

Looks like its time to lick the wounds. In this period, its important to note a few things: First off, the "red states" were not reciprocated here in WA, and we still have two great senators: Murray and Cantwell. Murray won a strong victory against Nethercutt despite Nethercutt's heavy use of the terror card. He lost. Also remember that here in Seattle, our man McDermott defeated his opponent (a far right, anti-choice christian conservative) with 80%... No, I did not get the decimal point wrong, thats EIGHTY PERCENT. That my friends, is a MANDATE! (duplicated by Barack Obama in Illinois - beat far-right nut bag Keyes with a 70% mandate).

I would encourage all you to send on this message: Take your angers, passions, & fears and put them into ink - Write to our Senators Murray and Cantwell. Tell them to make strong use of the filibuster, and dont let up. Bush tries to push through permanent Tax Breaks? Filibuster. GOP tries to stop it? They cant - they need 2/3rds majority and dont have that. Conservative Supreme Court Appointments? FILIBUSTER LIKE HELL! In my letter to Murray, I told her to filibuster reading "Lord of the Rings", and replace the Dark Lord Sauron with George W Bush, and Gollum with Karl Rove (or perhaps that should be the reverse).

In the meantime, whilst arming the heavy defences, we must pull over to the side of the road, take a pitstop, and tune the engine... This is a process, and the GOP has had their dry-spells too (see the entire 1930s and most of the 60s).

My suggestion? Build a movement similar to the Conservative church connection network. Meet with your Neighbors, friends, associates that are like-minded on a regular basis (weekly if you can). Remember that this is not just a political movement, but also a social, cultural, charity, and collective values movement. Your goal is to access the masses that dont vote, didnt vote, and have given up - primarily the 18-34 group (the youth were supposed to turn out en masse this year, and they did not - This is why we lost). This should not be limited to a "get out the vote" movement headed by P Diddy, where you register people and never have contact with them again . No mass email, telephone bank, or Political Action committee can compete with meeting face-to-face once a week for coffee. The Meet-up campaigns of Dean and Kerry must continue on and grow stronger. Add to this sense of community a continuous and persistant contact with our immediate leaders (starting with Murray, Cantwell, and McDermott), and you have a movement in the making

~Nate

PS, Just wanted to add that along with Murray, Obama, Cantwell, and McDermott, Seattle now has a liberal talk network - Air America Radio. But more importantly, 6 months ago Air America had 2 markets and were bleeding $$$... now they've expanded into 36 markets!

Under the Radar

This sure is interesting:

"Pollsters can't survey cell phone-only users"
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/15/polls.cellphones.ap/

Apparently, due to the high percentage of 18-24 year olds that use a cell-phone only, this group cannot be contacted for polling purposes - slightly scewing the polling results. Ordinarily, this would not make a difference - this age group notoriously sleeps-in on election day (ps, not me!).

But, this election might be different. With reports of unprecedented youth registration, this group may sneak under the polling radar, and swing this one! And with most of these voters going for Kerry, this must be giving Karl Rove some cold-sweats and night-terrors!

Go Youth, GO! (wish I could say I was still in this group... sniff sniff)

O'Reilly/Fox News in context

When writing about O'Reilly's exploits, I was also thinking about his tendency to twist information - and then claim to be the "No Spin Zone" (my ass). This got me thinking about how this "happens":

O'Reilly has always relied on what I call "Information Entropy". This theory basically shows that information itself - even strongly researched information - has a strong tendency to exponentially break-down over time, and comes close to being forgotten (though not completely). This is linked to the dillema that media stories (true & untrue) dissolve and are forgotten after a month. This is also linked to the American TV viewing audience having the attention span of a fucking tit-mouse.

When I look at media news sources, I often give huge bonus points for those sources that put events in historical context; Reminding us about the origins of events, and that these events dont happen in a vacuum. The New York Times - with all its faults - is simply the best at taking an event and following it back chronologically. NPR - despite claims of bias - is also good at this.

Fox News is always consistantly the worst. I really dont care where they stand ideologically - I would be pissed no matter where they stood. Fox News is constantly flashing events across the screen as if they were completely novel occurances that seemed to happen only because God wished them into being. No context. No background. No sources. Just BANG!: "Terrorist Attack", "<<Alert level: Orange>>", "Ten Commandments removed - commentary by Jerry Falwell", "Janet Jackson's titty - played in a loop all this week". This leads (and owes its growth to) this simpleton garbage redneck logic: Why do they hate us? Because we are free; Why do they fight us? Because they are evil. Why does Fox News do this? Because we bend over for it!

O'Reilly not only abuses this, but outright uses the viewing public's ADD to his advantage. Often O'Reilly will literally Re-write history: Claiming he is an independent, being confronted with information that he is a registered Republican, Screaming "character assassination", and then claiming that he never said he was an independent in the first place! THEN he lets the story die (& the information dissolve) and claims AGAIN later to be an independent!

Moral to this story: Remember that they can only re-write history if we are complacent enough to let them do so. So pay attention people! Dont bend over to pick up the soap! Keep your eye on the ball, and watch for the double-reverse!

PS, does it seem odd to you that the terrorism alert level, since its inception, has never dipped below "Elevated: significant risk of terrorist attacks"? We have not yet been at "Guarded" or "Low"... is this for real? Or is just to cover the gov's ass if one happens, and keep us scared shitless in the meantime.

Don't believe the hype: Part II

So with all the recent "scandal" involving Dan Rather and the forged documents, I wonder how people feel about CBS and Danny-boy now. Interesting:

http://gallup.com/poll/content/?ci=13222

Why did CBS News report this story?
56% Honest Mistake,
38% To make Bush look bad,
2% Did nothing wrong,
4% No opinion

Should CBS fire Dan Rather?
26% Yes,
64% No,
10% No opinion

I guess that means that all-in-all, the mud on the wall washed off well. Nice try Rove

Cheney Flip-Flop!

First he's against removing Saddam, and now he's for it! (ooops, sucks when the pot is black)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html

Who knows whats next! Perhaps Cheney will now pat a senator on the back and say "Good to see you" instead of "GO FUCK YOURSELF"
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html)

Hope springs eternal

Quote of the month - September

Think I might keep this one through November 2,

"Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

~Hermann Goering, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe SS

http://paulvictor.org/Assets/goering.jpg>

In Defense of John Kerry

The argument (straight out of Karl Rove's playbook) has been floating around for a month of Sundays. In total, it amounts to a good sound-bite: "John Kerry is a flip-flopper on Iraq". Dont get me wrong, sound-bites sell advertising (see: Janet Jackson's titty TV week on Fox), but theres always more to the story. So allow me to finally flush this floater for good.

The Kerry flip-flop argument is extremely flawed. Heres why:

1.) Ultimate Responsibility. This argument denies the accountability of George W Bush as the ultimate decision maker (commander in chief), and tries to throw the blame onto Congress - and John Kerry - for approving W's "use of force". John Kerry is not responsible for Bush's mishandling of the conflict. Only GEORGE WALKER BUSH is responsible for:

A.) Going into a full-blown invasion and occupation of a soveriegn country with a slapped-together weak coalition that wouldnt put a boot on the ground, a dime in the cophers, and would run at the first sign of trouble.

B.) Making damn sure that there was some sort of Exit Strategy (see: the Powell Doctrine ). In fact, Bush doesnt even have an Exit Strategy now!!! I think "staying the course" is all we've recieved so far.

C.) Convincing the Iraqis that they were being "liberated" and not "occupied", and not just convincing the Americans that the Iraqis were being "liberated" and not "occupied".

Face facts: after a while, the buck must stop at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

2.) "Use of force" misconception. Alluded to above, the idea that "use of force" is synonomous with "full-blown invasion and occupation of a soveriegn nation" is 100% pure SPIN. During the congressional debates over this, yours truly thought it would be a good idea (with John Kerry) to approve "use of force" power against Saddam. I saw it as a useful tool to push Saddam back into the bargaining table regarding inspections regime. When Colin Powell was flashing his fancy arial photos of WMD's in front of the UN, I even mentioned:

"Why the hell are these installations NOT in the crosshairs of a fucking cruise-missile at this very moment!" (which started me doubting the WMD claims from the very beginning)

In other words, "Use of force" could entail a whole laundry list of options and choices of how to deal with Saddam: Drone missile attacks of Terrorists & WMD installations (which we have since used in Yemen); cruise missile attacks of key Republican guard installations or WMDs; strategic bombing of key military installations - weakening them; support of rival factions to take out weakened installations... The list goes on, but it should be obvious that these all have one thing in common: they dont involve putting one single boot on the ground, but as we saw in Bosnia, they are still incredibly effective.

3.) Funding the War. First off, remember that the Constitution gives the President the right to enter into a military conflict BUT then gives CONGRESS the POWER OF THE PURSE. (go back a read your 101 civics books - or ask me for one). John Kerry & Congress gave Bush "use of force" against Iraq. John Kerry then said that he would use this Power of the purse to keep the President honest (you know, because in this country we have a President, not an Emperor). And sure enough, after Bush went forward with his complete walking miscarriage of a plan, John Kerry followed through, and used his power to vote against funding - knowing as I did that Bush's policy (again, full scale invasion and occupation of a foreign nation on the cheap with no allies or exit plan) was a failed-from-the-get-go money-pit. He sealed up the purse, and GOD BLESS him for it.

Additionally, much has been made about Kerry voting for the $87 billion before voting against it. Remember that Bush did JUST THE OPPOSITE: he said he would vote AGAINST funding, THEN he approved of the plan only after it was full of PORK.

Examples of "The Pork":

A.) B-52 bomber funding: completely outdated, non-targeted carpet-bombing completely useless for street-by-street keeping the peace in Iraq.

B.) Submarine technology: Very important... 40 YEARS AGO!!! (and when armed Iraqi militants get a submarine - but I'm not holding my breath)

C.) Bradley fighting Vehicles: Ask Mike Cadwallader (Bradley driver '90-99). A Bradley is a grenade housed in a tin-can on tracks, a rolling target, and made completely OBSOLETE by M-1 A-1 tanks and larger Armored Personel Carriers. The Bradley was actually featured in the anti-Kerry commercials! (for more on the Bradley boondoggle, see: "The Pentagon Wars")

D.) Re-vamped funding of Star wars missile defense. Even if these small militant groups gained access to ICBMs (again, breath held), preliminary tests of this plan proved incredibly unreliable even against ICBMs. (See: Center for Defense Information )

So here are 4 examples of complete PORK added into the $87 billion. George W Bush told congressional leaders he would vote against it if these were not added to the MOST important stuff - Body armor, supplies, Humvee armor, etc.

John Kerry defended our pocket-books (very conservative policy) and voted against this useless bureaucratic PORK in an overall walking miscarriage of a plan, which if you took time to look at Kerry's Senate record, he has always consistantly done. And GOD BLESS him for it.

(Note: there have been many such Pork broilers in the Senate and they all share the same characteristics: not much legislation in their name, often vote against bills they initially support (too full of pork), and lose-out on key positions. Kerry - as a former prosecuter - is one such hero)

So there you are. Obviously not a sound-bite, but proof-positive that sound-bites may sell advertizing, but they dont have to sell you. This also proof-positive that the valve is open, and that "flip-flop" has now been officially delivered to the sound-bite sewer, and the ash-heap of history!

KA - FLOOOOOOOOSH!!!

PS, despite Kerry's cost-saving vote against funding, Bush's 87 billion ball of PORK ended up passing... And how has it helped us in Iraq? (again, breath held)

PPS, I'm also nominating "Ka-Floosh" as the official sound-bite word for all of George W Bush's simpleton, horse-blinder ideas. As with any simple solution to complex problems, they are all turd tootsie-pops: Sweet on the outside, but full of shit. The question is then, ultimately, how many times will you lick?

1984 checklist

First we have this war between US and THEM (see: Oceania & Eurasia circa 1984):
"You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020430-5.html

Second, we are told this war will never end:
When asked: "Can we win the war on terror" Bush said, "I don't think you can win it"
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040830_1685.html

Third, we have Dick Cheney's fear-mongering comments about voting against them:
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040908_2160.html

Fourth, theres Bush's complete euphemistic rape of the English language:
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace. "
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020618-1.html

Now add 'em up:

Opposition is with the terrorists +
War that never ends +
Change of leadership declared dangerous +
Bush's Newspeak
-------------------------------------------------------------
=Orwell's Nightmare Scenario

Dont let it work, Vote against Fear! Vote Kerry in 2004!

Dont believe the hype...

So I've been seeing these polls (Times and Newsweek) showing Bush with an 11% lead (a convention bounce). Well lets see how that translates into Electoral college totals:

Election held today: Bush 231 electoral votes; Kerry 307
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-battleground04-frameset.html

Another count: Bush 222, Kerry 264
http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Now heres a qualifier - dont get your hopes up yet: Kerry's lead in 3 of these states is within the margin of error (statistical tie). But remember, you only need to win by one vote to win all the electoral votes in that state.

So Bush's overall popularity vs. Kerry did go up, but as Gore found out in 2000, the popular vote does not count. Also, an 11% lead can dry up in a WADC second. Ask Bush Sr... I've said this before and it bares repeating: Daddy Bush's 90% approval rating in June 1991 dried up to nothing in only 4 months, and he lost!

Keep fighting, Read the platforms, and dont believe the hype!

...live wrong and prosper

Cannot face the people...

He will help us through the war on terror (though he did say it was a war "we cannot win"), but he cannot deal with a DEBATE? And only on the basis that it will be "town meeting" style. What a gutless coward!

Bush Likely To Bow Out Of 1 Debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3586-2004Sep7.html

There he goes again...

I think I may have to create a seperate blog devoted exclusively to new Bushisms, but there are several extensive websites for these. However, here is the latest, and it needs to be archived. Bush decides to describe what OBGYN's do for women. If you can, find the audio for this one - hes got an excitement in his voice that makes the quote twice as nuts:

"Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many O-B-G-Y-N's aren't able to practice their, their love with women all across this country"

http://news.bostonherald.com/election/view.bg?articleid=43150

Avoiding the hangover

Hey folks,

Nate's getting a bit burned-out by the Big Volley 2004. Yes, thats right, Nate is getting tired of politics. Everything in moderation, I suppose.

For those of you in my boat, here is a tylenol and water technique to avoid this hangover:

1.) If you see a political AD, pretend its an commercial for a pair of light-up Nikes: You really dont need what their selling, Your only getting one side of the story (their side), The competitor's shoes will claim the same things, and despite the emotional thrill of light-up shoes, those pretty lights will burn-out after a week.

If you base your entire November 2nd decision on political adverts, Nate will offer you this garuantee: By November 2nd, your hatred, anger, and general disgust for both candidates will keep you smoldering away from that polling booth. (note: this is the chief strategy of Karl Rove and George W Bush)

2.) Turn off all pundits, talk-show hosts, and political interviews. This would be a great time to switch-on a Seinfeld/Simpsons/South Park re-run. This would also be a good time for: A nice walk, A trip to the gym, A nice dinner out... or a nice laundery day reading the party platforms (see #3)

3.) Most importantly, Read the Party Platforms. This is your homework before November 2nd.
First think carefully about your own beliefs on a range of issues. Secondly, Read the
GOP platform http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf , and the
DNC platform http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf.
Then think about which set of issues are closest to your own.

I know I know, this all takes a lot more work than sitting and watching tube (and political adverts), but I can promise that you will go into that booth November 2nd brimming with confidence. Say goodbye to "lesser of two evils" or flipping a coin. Go to the polls with the wind at your back!

Finally, remember that YOU are the boss, THEY are your potential employees. We are still a nation of, by, and for the people - not the Saudi Royal family.

Great Article

A few posts down, I discussed the importance of the campaign finance free market to Progressive, Green, and liberal causes - with regards to Fahrenheit 9/11. Here Terry M. Neal of the Washington Post, gives an very well-written detailed account of what is going on with unregulated "soft money".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61087-2004Aug12.html

His contention? Despite the recent offensive by "Swiftboat Vets for the 'Truth'", Liberal, Progressive, and Green causes still have an advantage in the campaign finance free market environment.

Subway "DeLay-ed"

Terrorism. Iraq in Chaos. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Unemployment. Out of control National Debt. Rising Inflation. Stagnant Economy. (And on Fox News, a whole week of Mary Kay Latourneau!)

Yet despite these crises on our plate, how fortunate we are to have dutiful representative - Majority Leader Tom Delay - decide that our new target of national ire should be Subway. ("OH THE HUMANITY!")

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5857591

Well, it is true. With Saddam out of the picture, we do need a new enemy. McDonalds is just too American. Jack in the Box - nope, Christian ownership. That leaves them goddamn healthy upstarts, Subway.

Thank God for you Tom. A man with a mission. Please put all matter of collective government priorities into "Subwaygate". Threat Level: FUCIA! In fact, I'll betcha sleuth-master Rumsfeld has some air-tight intelligence about lethal mustard-gas hidden inside a footlong Steak-n-cheese somewhere... Perhaps "in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad."

Its funny... as I sat here this April 15th paying Big Brother his share, I caught myself day-dreaming - fantasizing about all the magnificent anti-Subway campaigns that my tax dollars could fund. And now my dreams have come true.

I hate to use the words of Dick Cheney, but "Go fuck yourself" Tom. Heres to Tom Delay getting some "extra protein" in his next Cold Cut Combo.

Undecided? Take the quiz (s)

Found some good quizes for the undecided voter out there.

They sound cheezy, but they're actually really accurate (Took the test a # of different ways - Nate tested the test)... they are also really good because they are issue-based... not personality based. For those of you bummed on candidates personalities this year, this will help cut through all that.



http://www.presidentmatch.com/Main.jsp2?cp=main

Very updated for 2004. I like this one because it allows you to give weight to certain issues - social, economic, etc. This helps you get a closer match.

http://www.issues2000.org/Quiz.htm

This one has help if you're not quite sure where you "land" on an issue - definitions for everything. It also has exact issue positions of candidates - based on statements, interviews, and platforms. You can also take a similar quiz that plots where you land politically.

Again, this is for the many out there who dont have enough time to read through party platforms. For me, the best quiz is to go through the updated party platforms and rate each statement with a +10 and -10 scale (strongly agree, strongly disagree). Then go back through and put a star on really important issues.

The party platform the scores highest will be your best choice - regardless of candidate. Remember that 90% of the time, a president will vote based on this platform.

Also remember that for most people, no party platform will ever get a perfect score. Go with the best.

If your still in doubt. Ask me, I know what is best for you. hee hee