The Key Difference

As best I can tell the absolute difference between Democrats and Republicans in this election is voting--Democrats seem to believe it to be something that should happen. Republicans less convinced.

See: "Bush administration lawyers argued in three closely contested states last week that only the Justice Department, and not voters themselves, may sue to enforce the voting rights set out in the Help America Vote Act, which was passed in the aftermath of the disputed 2000 election." To recap the only person who is allowed to protect Americans' right to vote is John Ashcroft. Sweet. Because you know his defense of our other freedoms and rights has been so stellar thus far.

But it's not just that Democrats might whine. Nope, they're more dastardly than that--they actually try to vote--and in so doing slow down Patriotic Bush voters.

Again: "Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie said supporters of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry are clogging voting locations and attempting to dissuade backers of President Bush."

To recap, how dare Democrats try to vote, and to express a preference for their elected leader. It's bad enough that they want to vote for Kerry, but to talk about wanting to vote for Kerry--that's over the line.

But it's nothing compared to this:


or this:

When Catherine Herold received mail from the Ohio Republican Party earlier this year, she refused it. The longtime Barberton Democrat wanted no part of the mailing and figured that by refusing it, the GOP would have to pay the return postage.What she didn't count on was the returned mail being used to challenge the validity of her voter registration.Herold,who is assistant to the senior vice president and provost at the University of Akron,was one of 976 Summit County voters whose registrations were challenged last week by local Republicans on behalf of the state party.
...
The challengers, all older longtime Republicans -- Barbara Miller, Howard Calhoun, Madge Doerler and Louis Wray -- were subpoenaed by the elections board and were present at the hearings. Akron attorney Jack Morrison, a Republican, volunteered to represent the four.

Democratic board member Russ Pry suggested that the four could be subject to criminal prosecution for essentially making false claims on the challenge forms. The form states that making a false claim is subject to prosecution as a fifth-degree felony.

...The angry voters had the Republicans on the defensive.

``Why'd you do it?'' one challenged voter shouted out at Calhoun. ``Who the hell are you?'' the man asked.

``What the hell do you care?'' replied Calhoun, an attorney.

Stolen from Atrios

Well said.

Yup.

It's been 2 years

It's been 2 years since Paul and Sheil, Marcia, Will, Mary, and Tom died (Richard and Michael as well). I've teared up a few times today. But mostly I've been thinking of just how fortunate I feel. I've spent the day reconnecting with my political friends. Brothers and sisters in arms. I love the people I've met, I love that I have been paid to work with brilliant people towards powerful ends. Shared stories, and incredible memories, heartache and pure elation--it's not a 401K but those moments have nourished me in the interveening years.

www.wellstone.org

I miss Paul. I miss the sense of purpose and clarity I feel and felt when working on a campaign. I miss the fatigue that came with the knowledge that I'd worked for someone else--an unnamed person--not the candidate.

To those of you still working on campaigns, I am proud of you. I miss you and wish you strength. It's 7 days and a wake up. go forth and do good. Call me at any hour, day or night if you need to bitch these next few days.

Metaphors Be With You.

The ongoing story out of Kentucky regarding Jim Bunning's health gets stranger everyday. According to Bunning he is qualified because he can still "walk, talk and chew gum at the same time." No joke. We've really lowered the bar. Bunning may be suffering from a medical condition that reduces his mental acuity. Mitch McConnell is just a fucker. This is how McConnell defends his colleague.

"Absurd," says Bunning's Kentucky colleague, Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell. "To suggest that the tall right-hander is somehow not up to a full nine innings or is losing his stuff, well, I'm here to tell you that the last thing you want to do would be to turn this job over to some lefty who's been playing in the minor leagues over in Frankfort."

McConnell later shook off the sign from his third base coach to hit a sacrifice fly--stating: "During a war you cannot ask the wealthiest to make a sacrifice." He then grabbed his jock (his Louisville slugger...he's from Kentucky afterall), spit out some tobacco (homegrown, of course) and playfully smacked the ass of the nearest lobbyist. Then he spiked a woman trying to guard her plate of food at a Louisville homeless shelter, while shouting: "you cannot block the plate." See baseball metaphors are fun.

How About That!

Watched the Sox game last night. A team for which I cheered won and important game. Still feeling strange--expecting the Yanks to get John Elway and have him pitch the 8th and deciding game. As I've said before, either personally or on this blog, I stopped really following baseball when I was younger (I'd pitched and caught and been into sports as a child) but at some point it all seemed silly to me. A, I know better cynicism or something like it (not unlike my disengagement during 2000 for the election). Well I've since beaten my very very brief battle (3 months) with political cynicism, and this year I've returned to watching and liking sports. I watched the NBA playoffs (Timberwolves...oh how you make me smile). I've watched some football: OSU, Seattle, Browns!, etc. And since June, yes, about the time I started dating Jen, I've been following the Red Sox. And you know what, I left work early to watch a baseball game on Monday and again last night. Work. Honest to god, I left early to watch men play a game I loved dearly when I was 12. So it's fun to be back to enjoying sports. I still think they can be silly, though I'd deny that during the middle of a capped downwind point in frisbee (maybe two of my readers know what that means). Looking at the very sad Yankees fans, I turned to Jen and said, you know hundreds of kids are going to be born into poverty tomorrow. It was good to get that perspective. AND YET!!

Holy fucking shit. They won. Between the 6 million dollar man, ("we can rebuild him, stronger, faster than before") and 1987s entire rejected pledge class to Delta Kappa Epsilon they somehow won. The entire team looks like they are auditioning for a role in a TBS movie about the hardships of a Yukon mining expedition, and yet--last night they got shit-faced drunk with glee and not self-loathing. Here's to the Hangover of Justice. The stumble down inebriation of triumph.

And lest we forget the National League...oh wait...we have

From King Kaufman:

I just hate to join the chattering and typing classes in relegating the NLCS to oh-by-the-way status, but these teams need a better booking agent. They're doing streetcorner improv across town from a Beatles reunion. It's great stuff, but it's like, "Yoo-hoo! Over here!"

Amused Musings

Watched the Red Sox games the past two nights. It feels so familiar that it's painful. Or rather the pain is so familiar. It IS the same as watching the Browns when I was 8. Hoping, wishing, willing them to win, only to realize that it was beyond reach because #7 Horsey McComeback was there or in this case I fear Derek Jeter or any number of Yankees all-stars. Watching last night was like when I would play Mark in Madden football. I'd get the Madden All-time team and he'd play with the Giants. And somehow he'd win.

Mark and I called eachother during last two games:
My observations:

Miguel Cairo (the non-allstar on the team) must feel like a regular man in a porn star locker room---inadequate.

When the Sox brought in Tim Wakefield: Oh good, it's captain season-over.

After watching Ortiz steal second (replays show he was safe): Watching David Ortiz steal a base is like watching platetechtonics come-to-life.

After Sheffield reached on a dropped third strike. Apparently the Sox steal second and are out, and the Yanks are out and steal first.

Tonight I have frisbee...thus I'll tape the game. Schilling has his magical shoe made by Reebok. I'm pleased to see that the childworkers of Taiwan also dislike the Yankees. I'm guessing (and I'm always always wrong) that it'll be a blowout. Not sure which way. Either the Sox jump all over Lieber and put up a 3 or 4 run inning early and run away. Or Schilling is just not cutting it and the Matsui's and A-Rod's etc just pound him, a few 2 run doubles and it's over.

I, of course and hoping for the first scenario. Because then you get to game 7 where no one is ready to pitch. The Yanks bring in Bernie because he pitched once when he was 11. And Pokey Reese comes to catch Wakefield because he dated a woman who was a softball catcher in 11th grade. And they dig up Ted Williams severed head to pinch run for Millar. I love the games where pitchers pitch on no rest, and it's just gutty.

The best part about all of this is watching the faces of the players when they win. It's pure and true joy. It's not the joy from being really wealthy or even really good at something. It's the joy that you feel when you're 11 and you win. When the Sox ran out on the field to greet Ortiz two nights ago they skipped and twirled. They were overwhelmed. And if the Yanks win you'll see that from them. But I hope not--at least not tonight.

Divorced from politics and filled with platitudes

So in the previous post I mentioned the line from Bush's 2000 speech that I'd liked so much. I went back and read the 2nd half of his acceptance speech in 2000. It's just incredible. The imagery and word choice is so powerful, poetic and beautiful. It's wholly divorced from policy and only about values (which isn't all bad for a closing, in my mind), and sadly disconnected from the reality of his leadership.

For me, gaining this office is not the ambition of a lifetime, but it is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I will make the most of it.
...
I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it. I believe in a God who calls us not to judge our neighbors but to love them. I believe in grace because I've seen it, and peace because I've felt it, and forgiveness because I've needed it.
...
I will not attack a part of this country because I want to lead the whole of it.
...
My fellow citizens, we can begin again. After all of the shouting and all of the scandal, after all the bitterness and broken faith, we can begin again. The wait has been long, but it won't be long now. A prosperous nation is ready to renew its purpose and unite behind great goals, and it won't be long now. Our nation must renew the hopes of that boy I talked with in jail and so many like him, and it won't be long now. Our country is ready for high standards and new leaders, and it won't be long now. An era of tarnished ideals is giving way to a responsibility era, and it won't be long now. I know how serious the task is before me. I know the presidency is an office that turns pride into prayer. But I am eager to start on the work ahead, and I believe America is ready for a new beginning. My friend, the artist Tom Lea of El Paso, Texas, captured the way I feel about our great land, a land I love. He and his wife, he said, ''Live on the east side of the mountain. It's the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that has gone.''

Imagine if those ideals were the actions eminating from that office. It's a speech that could have been given by Obama or Harkin. I love the sentiment, and marvel at the craft--but I have to admit feeling even more betrayed than before. Those words and ideas mean something, and it's not this. People say you can say anything with stats...apparently you can mean anything with a speech.

Aaron Leavy--attrocious prognosticator

Well, shit.

I predicted a question on the death penalty, got all worked up about it, thought about it, reasoned it out--and nothing. Shows what little I know.

Thoughts:

I was not amazed that Bush avoided any talk of unemployement. I was amazed by his choice of tactics---blame outsourced workers for not being able to read at grade level. A 45 year old worker laid off because of foreign subsidized steel probably doesn't need or want a lecture on what he or she should have learned in 4th grade. Yes, of course education is the key to job creation. But it's not retroactive. You cannot improve the system today and thereby make everyone in the country smarter.

Kerry was pretty good on religion. I for one like religious imagery and talk of values. I think it's a unifying commonality in American rhetoric. But, a straight question on faith seemed like overkill. I'd rather a question on the environment, stem cells, energy policy/renewables/gas prices, a straight up question about education, hell I personally would love a question on the arts--but I'm guessing I'm nearly alone on that one.

Bush lied, or at least misspoke about Osama Bin Laden. There are plenty of other blogs with this link...but you can go here and see Bush explain that he's not too concerned with OBL.

Lots of talk about Kerry commenting on Cheney's daughter's sexuality. I thought it was a bit crass. Just seemed a little much. But I also think that Republicans crying about "outing" Mary Cheney are preposterous--how many times did they say or imply that Hillary Clinton was a lesbian (so as to "damn" her). I guess if you think that being gay is evil, then it's a harsher comment to point out that Mary Cheney is gay. But it's hard to play both sides against the middle, and I think that's their ploy.

Oh, and I really like the Bush description of that painting. But it sounded familiar (something about the imagery was familiar and really beautiful) ... That's because it is.

BUSH 2000 CONVENTION:

My friend, the artist Tom Lea of El Paso, Texas, captured the way I feel about our great land, a land I love. He and his wife, he said, "Live on the east side of the mountain. It's the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that has gone."

BUSH LAST NIGHT

BUSH: In the Oval Office, there's a painting by a friend of Laura and mine named -- by Tom Lea. And it's a West Texas painting, a painting of a mountain scene. And he said this about it. He said, "Sara and I live on the east side of the mountain. It's the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It's the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone."

Still a great image, but certainly one that has been around the block a bit.

UPDATE....umm...stealing from Wonkette
"No child left behind is really a jobs act," says Bush. Of course. And Social Security is really a missile defense program. And Federal Highways funding? Actually a part of the Metric Conversion Office. And clean coal legislation helps you make soup."

Voter Fraud, and Where's Waldo for Facts

So already it's been reported and commented upon by far better writers than myself--but there is a scandal (hopefully) brewing regarding voter fraud. Dkos has it here. What I wonder is the accused company is named as "Voters Outreach of America" and is also cited "AKA America Votes." I thought America Votes was a group of liberal do-gooders. For instance their site...

What we do:
America Votes is a non-partisan political organization formed in July 2003 for the purpose of increasing voter registration, education and participation in electoral politics. Founded by the largest grassroots organizations in the country, representing more than 20 million Americans, America Votes will utilize the strategic abilities and large membership bases of the partnering groups to break new ground in electoral politics.

So what gives. Is this a different America Votes...is this slander, wtf?

Oh, and then a little on tonight's debate.
Jen and I were talking about it. She figured it'd be like Where's Waldo for the Truth. I'm guessing Bush will make at least 3 true statements or characterizations...he will correctly pronounce and identify Senator/Sen./John/Kerry. (note this is a change from when he called his opponent Senator Kennedy) He will refer accurately to himself as the President of the United States/USA/US/America. He will thank the people of Arizona State University/ASU/this fine university/this here school for hosting. As for the lies, misstatements...well let's just say most other things will fall in this category. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get the moderator's name right.

I'm guessing as far as themes---LIBERAL will be mentioned a few times, government take over of health care. It's the golden oldies.

My wildcard question of the night.... Kerry gets asked the Kitty Dukakis question. Namely something aggressive on the death penalty. The story would be so easy to write for too many journalists. Especially since the Supreme Court is going to be discussing that today. In fact the more I think about this the more certain I am of this question. The story is just too easy to write. It's a clear comparison, it has historical references, Kerry's changed his position, it's topical, and it's juicy. But if I've thought it so have many smarter people including Bob Shrum, Joe Lockhart, et al. But I still have concern for that question. Oh, and another thing, if that comes up, why doesn't Bush have to worry about alienating Catholics. Grrr.

My guess...

So I'm guessing the line of the night will be from bush and will revolve around trying to make a joke about "hard work."

My opponent has had 2 or 3 positions on every issue and that's hard work, even for a liberal from Massachussets. Or some such bullshit. My hope is that Kerry's response is, "Mr. President with all due respect hard work is working for a living, fighting for your country and dying for principles..." something like that. I don't know....sounded good in my head.

We'll see. Bush will have 3 or 4 canned joke lines, and we'll see if they come off decently or not.

Bush wins the second debate either in reality or in the wonderful world of spin.

Never separate the lives you lead from the words you speak

Where my mind is, right now.....here

It's why I cannot hear Forever Young without tearing up.

"Politics is not about power, politics is not about money, politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. It's about the improvement of people's lives...politics is about doing well for people."

Tim Ryan for Senate and Blackwell makes my wanna cry

So I just saw a clip of Tim Ryan speaking about the draft and the dissembling ways of this administration. Got me all riled up. Had a little Wellstone in it. Miss that. A friend said, it's too bad this won't get press coverage. I said, "this wouldn't get press coverage if it was done inside CNN. It wouldn't be mentioned if it were the opening act for the resurrected and reunited Beatles."

here you go.

Oh in other Ohio news. Ken Blackwell is a fucking moron. Granted that's not news. Yup. All the Ohio ballots have been printed, and each features the name of a certain inelligible candidate Ralph Nader. He's not allowed to garner votes. Maybe next time we should add Ronald Reagan, he has the same legal standing to appear on the Ohio ballot. Screw it, we should just have a word search. Candidates names may appear horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Or maybe you can take a physical challenge and get two votes. That'd be great. Because you know, at base, democracy is really only a guidline, we should improve on basic rights by adding cool things like diversions and illegal candidates.


So help me god, I need a shotgun or a stiff drink.

No WMDs, and this just in Santa Claus is your father.

I've been thinking a little (not much, really) about the newest report confirming that really there aren't any WMDs there. Here's the thing for me. It's not like this was the Daschle report, the President picked this guy. Do you think if Bush went to the doctor and was repeatedly told he didn't have cancer that he'd still insist that the doctor take out his right testicle. Put another way, I'm sure Bush believed in Santa Claus as a child, but when you see your father putting on the suit you want to be smart enough to realize that you were wrong. That you have to change your understanding of the world. Cognitive dissonance is painful because it challenges what you think is true. Apparently for this administration it's irrelevant because you cannot provide enough evidence to dissuade someone for whom evidence is immaterial. Grr.

Jerk Store

Talent Show has a great post about Bush's "major policy address" this morning. It's classic Bush to try and rewrite the results of the debate by choosing a forum where he's in complete control. It's like Scott Norwood trying to get cameras to film him kicking field goals in practice.

The post references The Jerk Store episode of Seinfeld, great reference.

Business of America is Business

A group of prominent business and economics professors from around the country have penned a caustic letter to the President regarding the economy and his role in fucking it up:

"If your economic advisers are telling you that these deficits can be defeated through further reductions in tax rates, then you need new advisers."
...
"Sensible and farsighted economic management requires true discipline, compassion, and courage – not just slogans. Given the tenuous state of the American economy, we believe that the time for an honest assessment of the problem and for genuine corrective action is now. Ignoring the fiscal crisis that has taken hold during your presidency may seem politically appealing in the short run, but we fear it could ultimately prove disastrous. From a policy standpoint, the clear message is that more of the same won’t work. The warning signs are already visible, and it is incumbent upon all of us to pay attention."

DNC....good idea.....

The DNC has quick cut a vignette of Bush's split screen reactions. Makes him look testy, confused bored. Like a little kid waiting for his mom to finish shopping.
So how about that the DNC does something smart, quick and aggressive. Hot dam. Click here to see...Faces of frustration.