November 4, 2008
Girding To Battle
Girding To Battle
Essay by Howie Dughann
Dawn is still hours away as we rustle together the day. A smell seems to lie upon the air. Syrupy-sweet or almost rose petals. It smells like… Democracy!
Though we all voted the first day of early voting we still take the day off from work. Digital camera, sun block and a legal pad. Stop at the drug store to get one of those pens that hang around your neck. People are going to wonder which side you’re on.
Today you are on everyone’s side.
Break
Go to the polls and watch. How long is the line? Does the line move quickly or slow? You may greet people with a friendly wave and the words, ”Watch for vote flipping! Double check your entries!”
Your own neighborhood poll is a good place to go to watch polls. (www.voteforchange.com) For more excitement please call your local Democratic Party office and see if there is someplace they need watching. It might be all hell-and-gone in a hostile hood. Someplace named after a forest and filled with energy and banking types. Not at all as friendly to a pollwatcher as some place like the 3rd ward (New Orleans, Houston, Chicago)
You don’t even have to do the whole day. Being there first thing in the morning is the kind of thing that sets the tone for the day. Pack a lunch, anyway. Lots of fruit to keep you awake.
You might end up just standing there like Kalija the Cigar Indian. Most likely someone will wander up and ask you something. What do I do? How do I get started? Where are the bathrooms? If you want to advise people on how to vote you have to stand on the sidewalk. Stay a Watcher. Don’t get into stupid arguments with people who have already made up their minds. That’s just teaching a pig to sing. Everyone else may enjoy watching but you’ll look silly and it just annoys the pig. Plus you have to stand on the sidewalk.
Be proud of Watching. Cheerfully explain that you just want to be a civilian observer. Call up your local community radio station with updates.
If you start as late as I do and you can hang till 9pm then you may get to watch the count. If they don’t want to let you watch be sure to double-check the spelling of everyone’s name. You can send your observations, however dull, to Greg Palast and his web site. The Voting Integrity Project (votingintegrity.org) would be another good spot.
Will it help? It’ll make me feel better. It’ll make the people coming to vote feel better. Also, it will help. Every watcher makes it that much harder to steal stuff. If you’re just watching your own local poll then someone else doesn’t have to. There’s about a dozen states where it might make a real difference. Florida, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas will all have nice weather for standing around.
That’s gonna be my day. I have some steaks thawing and an invitation to the victory party down town. Plenty of evil still left in the Right to deal with Wednesday. Nobody cares what Fox Snooze thinks of anything tonight. I’m gonna quote Molly Ivins (http://thinkexist.com/quotes/molly_ivins/) and Patrick Henry till my Sweetie takes me home and feeds me homeopathic hangover cures. And coffee with maple syrup. That way it’ll smell like Democracy.
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November 3, 2008
E-day, D-day, Keep the Home-fires Burnin’ !
Election day, November 4th! It’s going to be D-day, deliverance day from the insane neo-con nightmare of the last eight years.
The moon is in Aquarius on election day, that’s gonna be some kind of revolution there for sure. I think we really have a chance to turf out the incumbents, and replace them with actual living ,breathing, and, most importantly, thinking beings. Right now it’s looking up to be a landslide for Obama, but the Rethug-dirty-trick-vote-suppressing-vote-flipping-central-counting-computer-techno-chad-fiasco-machine is still active, and waiting in the wings to take a stake in how it all shakes down. I must say, however, that it actually looks like we-the-people are on the move. Stay tuned, stay awake folks, and don’t go to sleep now. ALL HANDS ON DECK!
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November 2, 2008
Only You Can Prevent Election Fraud
from www.breadwithcircus.com#votefraud/
There are only a couple of days until the US Election, and I’ve become convinced of one thing: if the vote is fair, Barack Obama can not lose. Obama is way ahead both in polling and general public sentiment. Poll after poll in state after state shows him carrying enough of the electoral college to easily win Tuesday’s election. There’s just one thing. The election is not going to be fair. Republicans have stolen the last two elections and are actively working to steal this one too.
There have already been reports of voters (mostly in low-income or ethnic neighbourhoods) being “purged” from the voting list for no apparent reason. If you are one of these people, it means that you’ll show up at the polls, and the official will tell you that you’ve been removed from the voting list, and that in order to correct this, you should have sent paperwork away last week. This happened in Florida in 2000. If someone called John Smith committed a crime, and you are a John Smith in a predominantly black neighbourhood, you’ve been purged. Names with a certain ring about them were also taken off the list. If your name is Shaniqua, Jamal, or DeShawn, chances are good that there’s going to be an issue when you finally get to the front of that long line on Tuesday. I recommend going early if you can.
There have been reports of voting machines (why in the hell do you Americans still use those things?) “flipping votes.” It works sort of like this. I encourage people to watch Hacking Democracy to see how easy it is to tamper with the machines. (more…)
The Bill of Wrongs
What the Fox is wrong with Bill O’Reilly?
If Joseph Goebbels and Joseph McCarthy had a kid together, it would definitely be Bill O’Reilly.
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Undecided?
If you haven’t made up your mind yet then you are a moron. If you think McCain/Palin is the way to go then cast your vote for a trip back to the Dark Ages. If you have a brain then vote for Obama.
But don’t give me some bullshit that you are still “thinking” about it.
Really? Then you must take an hour to order in a restaurant. You must take forever to pick out clothes. You are a f-ing idiot.
Make up your tiny mind or kill yourself. I really don’t care which.
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BartCops most recent rants – Political Humor and Commentary
It’s been a long while since I posted a blog but recent events have inspired me to come forth. I would have voted for the McCain of 2000 had that same sane, relatively moderate McCain chosen an actual VP candidate, instead of a rabid-right whacko. Unfortunately, that McCain has “jumped the shark” and is long gone. He has sold his soul to the far-right, rabid fundies. No longer is he the “maverick” or even the honorable POW. He is a pathetic caricature of his old self. McCain’s campaign and Sarah Palin’s simplistic, moronic view of the world are the epitome of what is wrong with politics in this country. The McCain campaign has not focused on what they can do to fix the clusterfuck wrought by 8 years of Bush rule. Instead, their entire argument is based on the fictitious bullshit they are spewing in the hopes that the ignorant among us will believe such bile. The pathetic attacks against Obama for his “relationship” with Bill Ayers (who REPUBLICANS funded via the Annenberg Foundation) and Khaladi (who McCain funded via IRI) are so beneath contempt that any thinking American would dismiss the allegations in a heartbeat if not for the constant drumbeat of the corrupt, corporate media.
Barack Obama has shown that he is more than ready to lead this country. His calm, steady and straight-forward demeanor in the face of the economic crisis and in the face of rabid attacks from the McCain camp have shown he is ready to lead.
McCain has shown he is erratic, has POOR judgement (Palin? Really? What about Kay Bailey Hutchison, for instance? At least she is not a corrupt idiot) and is only interested in winning the election at all costs and doesn’t give a DAMN about the American people.
The republican party has crashed and burned. Why? Because they chose to pander to the far-right, fundie whackos. Palin may be governor of Alaska (700,00 people and god knows how many secessionists) but she has NO CLUE about the issues that affect the other 299,300,000 Americans. Do we really want this incurious, brain-dead barbie doll a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the WORLD?
The “undecideds” piss me off. Really? Are you STILL trying to figure it out? How f-ing stupid are you? It’s simple: If you think Bush is great then vote for McCain (and then do the rest of us a favor and blow your tiny brains out). If you actually care about AMERICA then do your damn due diligence.
The fate of the entire world is in our hands. We cannot afford to turn it over to a senile old asshole and a brainless barbie-doll.
Barack Obama is INTELLIGENT, COMPASSIONATE and cares about AMERICA.
The last intelligent president created 22 million jobs and a budget SURPLUS. The current shit-for-brains president, which McCain LOVES, emulates and votes with 90% of the time, created massive deficits, killed over 3000 people because of his stupidity and sent, so far, over 4200 soldiers to their deaths for no good reason.
McCain has proven he only cares about McCain and power.
Who do YOU want to lead the country?
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The Tattlesnake – Obama’s Not Black Anymore Edition
In my informal surveys of John and Jane Q. Public-Sixpack over the years (and usually conducted near a six-pack), I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon – the more well-known and admired a black person is, the less black they become in the mind of the average honky mo-fo.
Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, et al – their skin color faded to neutral as their popularity with whites increased. Oprah Winfrey’s audience is comprised mainly of white women – do they think of her as black? No, she’s just ‘Oprah,’ girlfriend. Caucasian-Americans have embraced Michael Jordan, William “The Refrigerator” Perry, and scores of black sports stars as one of their own without regard to skin shade – what white sports nut wouldn’t rather hang out with Jordan than some mediocre ofay B-Ball player? And the Super Bowl a couple of years ago between the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts was played by teams with black head coaches. No big whup.
In the music world, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, James Brown, B.B. King, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix and others have all transcended race and now have more white fans than black. The pop music of every generation since the beginning of the 20th century, true American music – blues, jazz, soul, rock, and even much of country – all originated with black musicians in the South. Generations of white children have been conceived to the colorless ballads of Barry White, Lionel Ritchie and Isaac Hayes.
Let me put it this way, Barack Obama has been part of the national public consciousness for about two years now and he’s generally perceived by white America as an affable, intelligent, calm, non-threatening man, and he’s world famous, so his color has become immaterial.
November 1, 2008
Ye Olde Scribe Presents: Just a Lil Bit O’ a Rewrite
You’ve been good boys, girls and world conquering gerbils this week, so spankings will cease. For now. YOS has decided to ghost where he has never ghost before… adding a post-Halloween twist to the week: two YOS postings. BOO!!!!!!!!!!
Links to Oblivion and Other Fun Places
“Surfing the net at the speed of Dracula sucking the blood out of a baby chipmunk.”
Have you been to Dickipedia yet? Here’s an extra chunky size Lorena Bobbit snippet from Lush Dimbulb’s bio…
Personal life
Rush Limbaugh is currently single, but has been married and divorced three times, to a radio station secretary, an usherette at the Royals Stadium Club, and an aerobics instructor, respectively, all of whose willingness to “nail the whale” apparently didn’t last more than a few years until fatty remorse set in. Want to know just what kind of a dick Rush Limbaugh is? His third marriage was performed by Clarence Thomas. At Thomas’ house.
It also turns out that Rush Limbaugh is a drug addict. In 2003, it came out that Limbaugh was illegally obtaining pain killers oxycodone and hydrocodone. Perhaps he was taking them to kill the pain of having such enormous junk food man-tits. Then in 2006, he was stopped by DEA agents at Palm Beach International Airport, returning from vacation in the Dominican Republic with someone else’s prescription Viagra. Ew.
Rush Limbaugh is also famous for smoking cigars. No non-dicks smoke cigars, at least ones that aren’t filled with indoe.
“Indoe???”
Sounds like a great funhouse. Scribe has applied to join in on the hilarious saneness. That’s the opposite of “madness.”
Ye Olde Scribe Presents: Just a Lil Bit O’ a Rewrite
The Tattlesnake – Electoral Enigmas and Other Wacky Weirdness Edition
Laugh-a-bull: McCain’s top pollster Bill McInturff appeared on MSNBC with Chuck “Not Related to Crazy Ashley” Todd on Halloween. To put it politely, McInturff was pissing up a rope trying to sell some bizarre notion that this election is somehow similar to 1984 and 1996 and is tightening up to the point that McPalin can pull off a win. Hell-o, Bill – both those years featured a popular incumbent peacetime president and an economy that wasn’t crashing to the ground and taking a devastated middle class with it. He also blabbered on inanely about armies of older, rural white voters crawling to the polls to catapult Wrinkles and the Winker into the Oval Office. This is big-box absurd – the majority of Americans, some 80 percent, live in or near a city – there aren’t enough rural voters, even if every single one voted for Mac and Cheesy, to elect him as president. Todd can be commended for keeping a straight face during McInturff’s lunatic raving, no doubt designed to buck up the flagging morale of the depressed Republican base. (Hey, Bill, poll this: Obama’s a point behind McCain in his home state of Arizona four days before the election.)
Laugh-a-bull Two: What if the polls showed Bush the Junior suddenly popular with independent and undecided voters? McCain would be rushing to the nearest microphone, “My friends, I’d like to remind you that I voted with President Bush 92 percent of the time and Governor Palin and I embrace all of his wonderful policies! Why, I’m just like him!” with the High-Heeled Sneaker nodding in agreement, “Oh, you betcha! President Bush is the original maverick all right!”
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The Tattlesnake – Final Election Prediction Edition
Note: The figure following the state name indicates its number of electoral votes.
First off, let’s stipulate that McCain-Palin should carry Idaho (4), Kansas (6), Nebraska (5), Oklahoma (7), South Carolina (8), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Utah (5), West Virginia (5) and Wyoming (3) for a total of 49 electoral votes.
Obama-Biden should win Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (21), Maine (4), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (12), New Jersey (15), New York (31), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Washington D.C. (3) for a total of 110 electoral votes.
Here’s a breakdown of the remaining states:
Alabama (9): McCain. In the tank for McPalin, but some Congressional districts could switch to the D column.
Alaska (3): McCain, barely. Palin’s stomping ground will probably tip to McCain, but GOP Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young will be on the outs.
Arizona (10): Obama by a fingertip. Amazingly, Obama is only one point behind on McCain’s home turf and surging. A quarter of the state’s population are people who have arrived since McCain last ran for office in 2004, and most aren’t voting Republican. I’m giving this one to Obama in the upset of the night.
Arkansas (6): McCain. It’s something in the water down there, which will soon be owned by billionaire T. Boone Pickens, if they aren’t careful.
California (55): Obama. Gov. Musclehead notwithstanding, this is a state as deep indigo as a new pair of blue jeans; the only question is if Obama wins by more than a 20-point margin. Look for some GOP congress-critters to bite the dust, including David Dreier, Mary Bono and Satan’s Apprentice Darrell Issa.
Colorado (9): Obama. The home of the USAF Academy and countless right-wing evangelical churches, also features a large contingent of retired celebrities, progressive libs, Rocky Mountain high guys, and Hispanics. The state’s been trending cerulean; this year it will go the whole route.
(more…)