November 2004 Archives

Be you back home in Illinois, holding the line in Iraq, popping in from the small readerships in Oklahoma, Canada, and Germany, I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving day. Take the time to appreciate all the good things in life that help us counter the bad we see day in and day out.

No ranting, no nitpicking, no finger pointing today. Even adversaries are due a moment of rest as long as they are willing to extend the same courtesy. Here's one story of a man trying to make a difference on this day. Enjoy.

After being hounded by emails trumpeting the "moral values" of Bush, I haven't seen a one in days. Where are you people now? What silenced your smug bravado? I've read a lot mocking this moral claim, as it should be for the farce it is, but the flag waving seems past.

Could it be the appointment of the architect of Iraqi prisoner torture to the Attorney General's slot, making some almost pine for Ashcroft to stay? Maybe it is breaking ethics rules to keep a corrupt Tom DeLay in power despite repeated censures in the House and litigation in the public forum? Perhaps it was the deal with the Devil Arlen Specter had to make to keep what was once a sure committee appointment. Unless of course, you see public servants swearing allegiance to a president and an agenda over the Constitution as a good thing; then you are probably giddy.

Then again, maybe it is the hypocrisy of those who rail about "activist judges" backing Falwell's activist judge factory. Of course, maybe it's the reactionary school board in Spring, Texas who plans to taint public education across the U.S. Or are you looking at the rise in hate crimes during the Bush years? How about Republicans still working to restrict recounts in close elections? Or the new CIA Director forcing his employees to avoid politics on one hand as he orders Bush dissenters to support the president with the other fork of his tongue? This, even as Bush moves to take powers away from the CIA. Did you ever think you'd be rooting for the CIA over a sitting president? Me neither.

Maybe it's you fiscal conservatives cringeing as the debt ceiling is raised (thanks to Kevin for this story) and China is screaming for us to stabilize the dollar. Seriously, who's next? Russia telling us how to run a capitalist economy? Cuba is looking smarter than ever for cutting the dollar out of their economy a few month's back.

Meanwhile, the social fight goes on as scare tactics and ignorance are used to browbeat kids and the music they choose to play. I think I mentioned this story previously. Ignoring poverty. Republicans fight over whether or not to reform our intelligence agencies. You mean, people still think they're working fine? Though some smart(!) conservatives are asking whether we should be banning gay marriage when we still have rednecks divorcing and cheating and otherwise trashing marriage more than anyone else ever could. They still hate gays though. Speaking of gay bashers, the Boy Scouts get a little support from the House, even as the Pentagon moves to distance themselves from the organization for their strict belief system. Plus, anti-abortion forces try to cram their fascist crap into a mandatory spending bill. So much for reaching out and working for all Americans.

Apparently the president is too busy kissing his work wife and others to worry about our petty concerns. More on the Bush re-alignment that, rather than appealing to a larger cross-section of America, is more fanatical than before. And issues for Rice at State.

Why the hell did you vote for him? Apparently voters are worried about the Bush agenda. Really? Where were you on November 2nd, morons?

More fun from The Onion. Bonus fun on whether you live in a Red or Blue state. Plus, Thanksgiving meals are actually healthy.

I have been fortunate enough to be assigned for the week on the west coast. Specifically, I have a nice wireless connection in a hotel on the beach just north of the California state line in Brookings, Oregon. Granted, my share of work load this week was slightly heavy, but I was able to take the time to update the long-unattended articles page on the Galva Guard section. Just a reminder that I haven't seen a lot of traffic for Tom and Lucas' photos I uploaded awhile back. And if you are truly bored, start something up on the message board.

I'll be back home tomorrow where I don't fall asleep to a cool breeze brought in by soothing crashing waves with a patio door open to an ocean view. Yeah, I'm rubbing it in. I'm also going to miss it.

Reference courtesy of The Little Rascals. Various state rulings are making it a legally protected right for women-hating pharmacists to deny filling prescriptions for birth control pills. Major cases in Wisconsin (more) and Texas (more) - where else? - are already ongoing. The argument here is that a care giver's morals are more important than the health of their patient. Which has got to be the biggest load of crap ever attempted sold when you are talking about a person's health and well-being. If you can't perform the damn job, don't do it.

And the restrictions don't stop there. POE takes a look into the future, where care giver's willy-nilly approach to providing services may cost lives. They present it humorously, but it's probably not a joke should this trend continue. Apparently the backlash to the "if-it-feels-good-it-is-good" '60s is the 21st century's "if-it-offends-me-i'll-take-your-rights-away" courtesy of the local GOP. Unless of course, said action degrades women, belittle minorities, disenfranchises non-fundamentalist Christians, etc....then they'll let it happen whether or not they agree with it.

News from the resistance. Alberto Gonzales, the scum picked to replace Ashcroft, raises flags even in this cream puff editorial from Indiana. Then again, people who advocate torture should probably be given a second look. Ashcroft, heading for the door, is calling judges who say parts of the PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional are basically siding with terrorists. Speaking of people who like to label anyone who questions their judge terrorists, Rod Paige is talking about stepping down as Education Secretary. The nation's teachers take a moment to raise a finger and get back to work. The AARP is against Bush's plan to bankrupt - erm, "privative" - Social Security. Just not getting a grasp on my NewSpeak yet. Canada reminds us that they are not our drugstore.

News from our returning vets. Some vets return to find health care non-existant. Female vets have other issues beyond that.

How's that economic recovery working for ya? Tennessee is cutting it's Medicare program and Kansas is seeing a rise in food bank lines. Bet you're glad you voted for Bush now, right?

Who are these damn neoconservatives who took over our country anyway? And, God forbid, are you one? I apparently rate as a "realist," which may come as a surprise to many of you.

In humor, 75 reasons to actually be glad Bush won. The Onion tells it like it is.

A special thank you to all those veterans out there who put in their tours. I know this country is divided on a lot of things, but honoring those who put on the uniform should not be one of those. And for those vets-in-the-making in Iraq, good hunting and get home safe and sound as soon as you can.

Well, it is already starting. The Bush junta is preparing to violate state's rights and tell Oregon what it can do with it's voter approved euthanasia law. And so much for Bush's hollow words to work for all Americans. Not that any Democrat bought that crap. He's moving to bankrupt - at the least endanger - Social Security (given, of course, his plan tied with his economic shortcomings), re-introduce an un-Constitutional gay marriage ban and start kicking civil rights in the teeth, pack the Supreme Court with ultra-conservatives, and probably reinstitute lynching if he thinks it will help him in the mid-term elections.

More on the conservative agenda and the harm it will bring to the average American. Helen Thomas on the Iraq war and recent discoveries, many just plain disturbing. Conservative radio goons are already throwing racism out into the airwaves. I bet Michael Powell has no plan to silence them for obscenities; which I imagine sounds as weird to you as it does to me.

And then there's that frightening incident with the F-16 shooting up a schoolhouse. Hopefully they get to the bottom of that.

Slate covers why terrorism, not values, was the driver for this election. If that is true, then bear with me a moment. Some exit polls (I know, we'll get to that too) said 19% of voters thought terrorism was the most important concern to them. Of that group, 86% voted for Bush. Now, where were these voters? Not in any place affected by 9/11, that's where.

Going by actual votes (found here but go wherever makes you feel good), Washington D.C. voted for Kerry at 90%. Arlington County, VA (where the Pentagon is) went for Kerry/Edwards at 68% to 31% for Bush. New York state went for Kerry at 58%, 40% for Bush. More distinctly, when you look at the New York City boroughs, they went for Kerry at anywhere from 71-84%, the higher end including Manhattan at 82%. The closest Bush got was Pennsylvania at 48% with 51% going to Kerry. Look, the places Bush has been pimping to scare America into voting for him did not want him in office. Is any of this making sense to you people?

Then again, most Bush voters (up to 3/4ths of them) still believe Saddam was tied to 9/11 and al-Qaeda. They are probably best symbolized by this idiot, who probably would string me up the nearest tree for not being white enough for his tastes. That, and I don't listen to country music. To contrast that hate, I give you F*** the South. Yes, it's as offensive as you can imagine. But beyond words come the Republican tire slashers. Beyond that may come the hateful attacks similar to those now rising in the Netherlands.

More from devout Christians sickened with the way their religion has been stolen. And news flash for ya, Massachusetts leads the nation in actual family values (aka less divorce, better education/income/jobs/quality of life, higher marriage age, and lower birthrates than, say, the entire South).

I'm probably as tired of this red state/blue state crap as you are, but let's delve into it some more. There's a lot of chatter about secession amongst liberal minded folks, and aside from this waste of genetic wonder who thinks the GOP all-white party will be just fine, there's data suggesting that us more progressive minded types are actually subsidizing the hate and hijacked Christianity of these fear sheep. That, and apparently the dumbest of Americans voted for Bush. Yeah, like THAT surprised you.

All said, some Americans are ready to go live abroad. Some of the remaining Democratic lawmakers and others have decided to keep fighting. As for the secession crowd, there's the Cascadia folks in the Northwest and I suspect a Bizarro World version of the Hartford Convention can't be too far off. Slate checks to see whether any of this is legal. To be honest, for the first time in my life, I could see the grand experiment failing if Hate Boy keeps pushing things too far.

While damn near the entire planet wanted Kerry to win, it appears that maybe not as much of the US wanted Bush as we have been told. Now, I know this stinks of conspiracy theories but when it comes to electronic voting, not everything adds up, to the point where even Pravda wonders what happened. Now, how proud does that make you? That goes for exit polls (even Dick Morris agrees something smells wrong), to irregularities in Ohio, New Mexico (more), Florida, North Carolina, with rundown summaries here, here, and here of other states too. Read into that all you will I suppose; we're still stuck with Gomer in charge.

But not all is bad news. Ashcroft resigned and Arafat is about to find out how pissed Allah gets when you blow up children in his name. Let that be a warning to some of you warmongers.

Kerry saw the popular vote not going his way and instead of getting into a situation where non-elected curmudgeons decided an election again, he choose to conceed the race. Both he and Edwards gracefully and with dignity ended the race, stepping out of the way so the nation could throw itself in front of a bus without impedence. I don't have to like the results of the race, but I can approve of the class acts these two have been.

If you were planning of hightailing out of the Theocracy of America, Canada doesn't want us.

What's more, there is a lot of call for reform in the Democratic Party. Which, given the election results, couldn't hurt. I'd start with the text of John Edward's lead-in speech today and the still-relevant parts of James Carville's "Had Enough?". And, strange though it may seem, Howard Dean of all people sent his supporters the small-but-accurate silver lining in this whole debacle.

Basically, I've gotten mail from Republicans gloating and one choice piece of crap wishing my brother dead in Iraq to "set me straight" for not backing Bush. And I've already told you of how these hateful types scared my mother into a choice she wasn't willing to make. Compassionate conservatives my butt.

Granted, there are Republicans who aren't racists, suppressors of civil liberties, cowards, and doctors who sterilize women against their will (OK's new senator). Some are concerned about their hunting rifles, environmental conservation, and fiscal responsibilty with restrictions on how far the government's reach should go. You know what? It's time for them to take their party back too. There's a lot of talk on how the administration is going to reach out to those who voted against it. I haven't seen that for four years, I doubt I'll be holding my breath waiting for it now. If you voted for Bush, make sure he keeps his word to you. If you voted for Kerry or someone else, do what you can to keep your chin up and work to not just stand by and let things get worse. Hope you guys don't live to regret your smug grins.

On the lighter side, two views from The Onion, a satirical one about the election and one "shades of the future" one courtesy of Leslie.

Apparently this country likes fear and loathing. Aside from apparently electing Bush (barring Ohio's votes of course), the Senate now has Republican women sterilizers, gay bashers, people who don't want unmarried pregnant women as teachers, and other miscreants. The cheaters in the House from Texas have increased their hold of that house of Congress. Welcome to a new world of hate and fear. I'm just so utterly disgusted and sincerely hope none of you who voted for these guys live to regret it. I'm going to take a few days to collect my thoughts and hope the Democratic party can get it's act together and present a coherent platform for the near future.

It's a sad day when I have to hear my own mother browbeaten by my sister and bludgeoned by her church to say "Thank you" to George Bush for putting her youngest child in Iraq based on lies, equipped with bad weapons and not enough military comrades on the ground with him. She was basically jingo'ed into a) voting against Kerry and b) some weird logic that voting for Bush was a curse against him. It really pisses me off as she feels like she shouldn't have voted at all. In her words, "I think I did a bad thing." Shame on all of you for scaring my mother into voting for a liar and deceptor who waves a hateful flag of a distorted form of Christianity. Seriously, I give you a moment to run and vomit the bile that consumes you.

Case in point. An email from Worldview Weekend, a group on the far right of the far right. Their latest email is quite frightening:

I believe anyone that does not vote on Tuesday is sinning and anyone that votes for Kerry is committing an even greater sin! We not only need President Bush but we need members of the U.S. House and Senate that will support those he will appoint to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court.

This election is a worldview battle, a battle between good and evil....it is a spiritual battle. This is it folks.....if Kerry wins and he appoints Judges to the U.S. Supreme Court; America is lost.

If you do not vote on Tuesday and Kerry wins, don't complain about the increase in persecution that will surely follow. If you think we are not already experiencing persecution in America to some degree by the humanistic liberals and ACLU judges, then read the book by David Limbaugh entitled, Persecution. What will occur under the judges Kerry appoints and a Kerry Administration will be unimaginable.

So...voting for Kerry is a sin? I don't think so. I voted against Bush, who is backed by racists, women haters and sterilizers, smug military hawks who never served a day in combat, destroyers of God's earth, liars and secretive destroyers of the Constitution. I will, on any day, choose freedom over hate, and that's all the GOP is selling. Hate and fear.

Once again, just a total sense of disgust.

I see a lot of hope amongst those I speak to. I spent the day in a car full of Republicans who either voted for Kerry or not at all. Why? They can't trust Bush with our nation's future. That, and they fear another four years of his rule will threaten the rights of women and non-Christians. All valid points. So they are hoping for a better tomorrow, one with Bush permanently back at the ranch.

Results from the GlobalVote project. Quick results: Kerry 77.1%, Bush 9.0%. If only....

EvilNed chimes in with one last political link (offensive language warning) that you should probably read. Links to the quoted Eminem video and lyrics which I think that, regardless of your outlook on rap music, you should take a look at.

Latinos polling very, very high for Kerry, proving that mangling Spanish and English is a bad strategy. Kerry might also mean cheaper oil prices (sweet irony there). 100 facts and 1 opinion not to vote for Bush. Republicans see voter fraud everywhere, usually because they are actively behind it. Problems reported in Florida, Michigan and Ohio (no links for all, just flipping through the news for the most part) as the GOP fights against the momentum of those fed up with their crap. While FOXNews attempts to slander Kerry some more, a report on Republicans who rightfully fear Bush. And one last story concerning how the administration sent our troops to Iraq ill-prepared and ill-supplied.

Go vote.

It offends me that this lying, smug, dishonest and hateful little twit may just actually get elected president by fiat instead of by appointment as he was last time. To see half this country in polls approves of the things he does and want more of it sickens me. I have not seen one genuine, heartfelt speech, post, story or diatribe from someone that doesn't contain some jingoist BS as to why Bush is good for America. Seriously, I just have not come across even one.

It offends me that a gang of men who either refused to serve or did so in carefully planned units that would never go into combat are so ready to commit troops to a conflict based on bad intel and nothing more than some need to avenge a man who never wanted to invade Iraq in the first place. As of late they cast blame on the troops for this exercise in futility being poorly planned, equipped and coordinated.

It offends me that we have been led to believe that teaching kids to a standardized test is more effective than actually teaching them how to learn, and then refuse to pay for said testing mandates. Or that this guy wants women to lose access to birth control and that we are supposed to believe racism doesn't exist because ol' Boy can't see it from the porch of his ranch in Crawford.

It offends me that, when finally forced to, Bush created a Department of Homeland Security that, instead of trying to protect the country, it works to treat us all like terrorists. The same concept is encoded in law in the PATRIOT Act. Such a shameful abuse of power and civil rights would have never made the books if not for our trust and faith that our nation's leader would do what is right for America, not set the plan for a restrictive police state.

It offends me that Christianity's poster boy is this hateful, spiteful, un-recovered substance abuser that is part of some extremist fringe element that tells us to raze the Earth's resources because the Rapture is coming any day now. Whatever happened to caring, loving Christians? I know there are many in my family and I see them in churches across the country. Why aren't they revolting against this portrayal of their religion as one of hate, as Muslims across the world are waking up to realize their fundamentalists have done to Islam? Our environment is being savaged based on this line of irrationality that we might as well kill the planet because the end is near. We are tying religion to the government because of these people, and paying predominantly Protestant groups with federal funds with a token synagoue or two mixed in to make it look good. We are removing civil rights because they can't stand to hate differences. Today the target is abortion and gay relationships. Tomorrow it could be the right to be Catholic or to marry a person of another race. These are the extremists behind George Bush.

These are the people whose policies you endorse when you vote for him. Many of these feelings he believes himself. When you choose Bush you choose hate and deceit and contempt for the majority of Americans. If you want to be in step with the KKK, a government that crushes dissent and uses the IRS to punish those who would complain that policies do not work in the nation's best interests (more here on the latter story), doctors who sterilize women against their will, and those who work to take away people's civil rights, up to and including voting, then go ahead and vote Bush. Otherwise wake up, quit shouting slogans, think for a change, and realize what policies you are endorsing.

Make sure your vote counts. Go here and make sure you have the right polling place if you are not sure. I really wish you will vote for Kerry; but if you do not, don't be surprised at the world of diminished rights and increased danger you have helped create. Either help us all get America back on track or approve the pseudo-Christian version of Al Qaeda punish women, minorities, atheists, non-Christians and any other non-WASPs at home; while deceiving, ill-preparing, ill-supplying, and sacrificing our nation's armed forces in conflicts brought about by our hate-filled leader. You can either be a proud American or an attempted murderer, lyncher, and zealot for those who worship a god I was never taught to believe in at church. That's all I've got. You know what to do.