Southorangetownvoice

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:13:06 GMT

While the republicans want to transport America back to the Stone Age, Unfiltered would like to take you back to May 22, 2003. That’s when Congressman Rush Holt of New Jersey introduced the “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.” The measure requires all voting systems to produce a paper proof for use in a recount.

Congressman Holt’s bill had a lot of support, but it was smashed by the Hammer, Tom Delay, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Contact your member of congress and tell him or her that it’s time for a clean and verifiable democracy. Find your Representative here.

DO YOU STILL WONDER WHY THE REPUBLICAN REGIME FOUGHT SO HARD AGAINST THE PAPER TRAIL?

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:08:30 GMT

Howard Dean is considering becoming chairman of the Democratic National Committee. There is hope.

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:04:59 GMT

What most of the world thinks about us.

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 14:43:31 GMT

We still need a sense of humor.

Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don’t approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out -- and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact, that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of surprise in 2008.

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 18:23:39 GMT

For everyone who can't shake the depression, this editorial in The Nation offers hope. Now, get out there and do something.

". . . we are angry about what the election of George W. Bush portends for the country. Bush's victory will tighten the grip of the Republican Party's virtual monopoly on the institutions of the federal government. The checks and balances on presidential power contemplated by the country's Founders are in tatters. Bush's election gives him the chance to shape the Supreme Court to his purposes: two branches of the government possibly lost in a single election. Roe v. Wade and a host of other protections of basic human rights are at risk. Bush is bound to try to assist the Christian right in its fantastical efforts to "Christianize" public institutions. Further inroads into the liberties of Americans are likely, through a "Patriot Act II" and other legislation as well as by executive fiat. In the near term, a terrible acceleration of the violence in Iraq may be in the offing. In the longer term, new aggressive wars may be launched. The transfer through regressive tax cuts of hundreds of billions more from the poor and the middle class to the rich and the super-rich has been announced.

Anger should lead to action. TV anchors and the candidates themselves call for a new civility and ask the public to "come together" as one people. Pay no attention. The progressive movement in this country has suffered a huge reversal. But the struggle for the country's future--and its very soul--was anything but settled. It will be renewed at a higher level of intensity, and for higher stakes. There must be a fierce, protracted resistance in defense of democracy."

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 18:10:21 GMT

It is not an exaggeration to say today that the most powerful nation on earth is in the grip of an ideological administration – backed by a vast network of right-wing think tanks, media outlets and attack groups – that can neutralize any political enemy with smears, such as the Swift boat ads against John Kerry’s war record, or convince large numbers of people that clearly false notions are true, like Saddam Hussein’s link to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The outcome of Election 2004 also highlights perhaps the greatest failure of the Democratic/liberal side in American politics: a refusal to invest in the development of a comparable system for distributing information that can counter the Right’s potent media infrastructure. Democrats and liberals have refused to learn from the lessons of the Republican/conservative success.

Click here to read more of the excellent article by Robert Parry. It's time to learn quickly and make serious changes.

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 17:08:43 GMT

Just a taste of what's coming:

USA Today is reporting that the CIA has assigned dozens of case officers and analysts to work with FBI agents throughout the USA in the most extensive deployment of intelligence officers on domestic soil in the spy agency's history. The CIA was created to gather foreign intelligence and is prohibited by law from participating in intelligence-gathering operations against U.S. citizens. It also has no law-enforcement powers. Intelligence and FBI officials say that the CIA officers are not involved in criminal investigations.

The Associated Press reports that a warning sticker in suburban Atlanta science textbooks that says evolution is "a theory, not a fact" was challenged in court Monday as an unlawful promotion of religion. The disclaimer was adopted by Cobb County school officials in 2002 after hundreds of parents signed a petition criticizing the textbooks for treating evolution as fact without discussing alternate theories, including creationism. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that creationism was a religious belief that could not be taught in public schools along with evolution.

Reuters reports that Global warming is heating the Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet in a thaw that threatens millions of livelihoods and could wipe out polar bears by 2100. The UN publishes a list of countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol--the US hasn't signed the agreement.

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 15:59:07 GMT

TODAY'S UNFILTERED TALKING POINT:

That nagging question…Was the election stolen? Just six days after the election, stories of electronic voting machines behaving badly crawl across the national press. Some democrats are ready to move on from the election and revitalize the party.

But most of us are not quite ready to throw in the towel.

So.. now do we proceed? First.. we need focus.. chances are we won’t make Thursday’s deadline to challenge the election.. so we’re in Watergate mode now. We need Deep Throats.. Whistleblowers.. Insiders.. and Information.

If you know anyone like that, contact the folks at BlackBoxVoting.Org. Make sure you don’t mix that up with blackboxvoting dot com.. they’re a fake site pretending to be the good guys.

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 15:22:42 GMT

Some hard core right wingers with whom I had been exchanging spirited emails before the election are outraged over my 11/4 posting about how Bush won the election and their responses were unsettling, to say the least. Anyone who doesn't identify with the direction our country took last Tuesday should be very uneasy and work hard to change it. America is being led on a very dangerous course by extremists.

Being part of the "majority" (by a few points, and that it still open to debate) doesn't mean you're right and it certainly doesn't mean you have a mandate.

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 15:14:35 GMT

Read today's Washington Post story detailing how the Republicans used evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics to win the election. According to surveys of voters leaving the polls, Bush won 79 percent of the 26.5 million evangelical votes and 52 percent of the 31 million Catholic votes. The Bush campaign is accused of leading churches to violate laws against partisan activities by tax-exempt organizations, and even some of the White House's closest religious allies said the campaign had gone too far.

Fri, 05 Nov 2004 17:15:17 GMT

Read Thomas Frank's editorial today in the New York Times.

Read Paul Krugman's editorial also.

Fri, 05 Nov 2004 16:43:32 GMT

Here's something else that was sent to me for posting (I'm still cringing):

This is an “open letter” to John Kerry and his family in support and appreciation!!

“THIS COUNTRY, AND THE WORLD, MISSED A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY”

I have the utmost respect for you and your family. You ran a great and honest campaign (unlike the GOP). You didn’t let us down, we let you down, at least 51% of us did. Please be not upset and continue to work for us; the American people need your help!!

I CRINGE at the thought of the next 4 years and what it will bring upon the American people. Fear mongering can do appalling things to people and so does ignorance; forgive us!!

We might have a President of the United States, but I will personally never consider him “my” President. I hope and pray you plan to run again in 2008, for we need you desperately! We need to know “help is on the way” in 2008. Please don’t give up on us. This election had to have been an aberration, or our country is truly LOST!!

Thanks, warmest regards and God’s blessings to you and your family,

Fri, 05 Nov 2004 16:40:16 GMT

Heres another point of view (obviously not mine):

Thomas Frank and so many like him are simply living in a fantasy world. George Bush won fair and square and most Americans know it. The fact is that there is nothing “wrong” with Kansas or the rest of “fly over” country as Mr. Frank would have us believe.

Where once the Democrat Party was the party of the average person, today it is, in the words of Zell Miller, “a national party no more” because it is controlled by elitists who can’t get past the need to scare and divide people in order to win power. When a party begins to owe its existence to dividing people, people eventually begin to notice.

Today, it is the Republican Party that appeals to the average person while the Democrat party has been set back a generation. Mr. Frank and his ilk would do well to begin looking inward. Unless and until Democrats can snap out of denial, stop the class warfare nonsense and end their black helicopter mindset, they will forever be lost in history.

Thu, 04 Nov 2004 18:59:22 GMT

Thu, 04 Nov 2004 17:08:26 GMT

Thomas Frank, the author of What's the Matter with Kansas, was interviewed on Air America Radio this morning and explained better than I could have done how Bush won the election. He is a one-time Republican and native Kansan who recognized the Karl Rove strategy very early.

Most of middle America can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, even though they are voting against their own interests. The Republican Party benefits the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. The 2000 election showed that the country was pretty much split 50-50. How could Bush tip the balance in his favor? The Republicans, knowing that Bush would not win on his abysmal record on everything, decided to focus on its conservative base. Karl Rove announced this policy at the Republican National Convention, but had actually been working on this strategy since 2000.

The Republican strategy to win another 4 years used dirty tricks, fear, lies and smear and fraud. A recent study by PIPA (Program on International Policy Attitudes) shows that many Americans still believe Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and don’t know Bush’s real positions on many issues—when asked if they agreed with a particular position without being told who held it, most people thought that they were agreeing with Bush while they actually were agreeing with Kerry. The main strategy, however, was playing up the emotional touchstones of social conservatism and spreading hysteria about a liberal agenda out to crush traditional values. Over 20% of voters said that they voted based on "moral issues", a code word for anti-abortion, anti-gay rights and other socially conservative causes. Moral values was never really discussed until some questions were brought up in the debates. Democrats did not realize that, behind the scenes, evangelicals and conservative Catholics were being told in targeted campaign literature/ads and from the pulpits that Kerry was pro-abortion, a President Kerry would ban the bible, Kerry endorsed gay marriage and other outright lies. Bush steered away from addressing moral values and publicly used the war on terror as his strength, but Rove and Associates were working the conservative Christians over with Bush's "morality". The proposed amendments against flag burning and gay marriage were just organized smokescreens to appeal to social conservatives and put Kerry in the uncomfortable position of either not defending the Constitution or looking like a pinko liberal—what a Sophie’s choice. Attack ads targeted for the battleground states and not seen in the metropolitan area appealed to the lowest base element, such as a vote for the democrat would mean an abortion mill in the local Wal-Mart or the democrat is in favor of partial birth abortions.

So, the pro-life blue collar worker who listens to Rush, Hannity and Fox News will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, job, economy and family. He doesn't understand that he is being used. Bush had 4 years of Republican control to make changes if he had really wanted to. All he really wanted was to get the far right conservatives to get out the vote for him. Now that he got it, he can go back to his real priorities--more greed and profit for the corporations and the wealthy. One of the best ways to do it is on the backs of the volunteer army (poor and/or minority soldiers and National Guard members who were forced from decent to well paying jobs) that were sent to Iraq for oil and corporate profiteering. Osama who?

What makes this election even more disturbing is the complicity of the media. Even now, we are told that continuing the battle would be bad for the country, to stop whining, it's just sour grapes from the losing side, Bush won fair and square. NO HE DIDN'T AND THE MEDIA DOESN'T GET IT.

Besides dirty tricks, lying to the public, intimidation and voter suppression in democratic areas, the Republicans were successful in getting electronic voting machines with no paper trail to be used in many states including Ohio and Florida. Ohio is home to Walden "Wally" O'Dell, the chairman of the board and chief executive of Diebold. As reported by Mother Jones in March 2004, O'Dell has given generously to Republican candidates for many years. Last September, he held a packed $1,000-per-head GOP fundraiser at his 10,800-square-foot mansion. He has been feted as a guest at President Bush's Texas ranch, joining a cadre of "Pioneers and Rangers" who have pledged to raise more than $100,000 for the Bush reelection campaign. Most memorably, O'Dell last fall penned a letter pledging his commitment "to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President." Omaha-based ES&S is the largest electronic voting machine company. Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel was Chairman of ES&S when he announced his candidacy for the Senate in 1996. Nebraska elections officials stated that machines made by Hagel's "former" company probably tallied 85 percent of the votes cast in the race. Hagel won again in 2002, and that vote is still angrily disputed by Hagel's Democratic opponent, whose request that state elections officials conduct a hand recount of the vote was rebuffed.

BlackBoxVoting.org is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is conducting the largest Freedom of Information action in history. At 8:30 p.m. Election Night, Black Box Voting blanketed the U.S. with the first in a series of public records requests, to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships. Networks called the election before anyone bothered to perform even the most rudimentary audit. An earlier FOIL by Black Box Voting following a primary election in Washington State uncovered an internal audit log containing a three-hour deletion on election night; “trouble slips” revealing suspicious modem activity; and profound problems with security, including accidental disclosure of critically sensitive remote access information to poll workers, office personnel, and even, in a shocking blunder, to Black Box Voting activists.

The mainstream media did not do its job is getting out the truth. It was left up to the progressive journalists, bloggers and Air America Radio. Unfortunately, more people watch CNN and Fox News. The media was a major factor in Bush's election victory.

How will the boy in the bubble who always had poppy or rich connections to fix his many screw-ups clean up his many new messes? How will we take back our country?

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:35:47 GMT

Four more years. . .
of pure hell.
The worst is yet to come.

Let the Bush supporters be the first ones to enlist for Iraq.
Half the country is either brain dead or brainwashed.
Repugnant as he is, Karl Rove is a master.
The mainstream media is one of the major causes of the right-wing and corporate take-over of our country.

I have never felt more sad or fearful for our country.

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 15:49:41 GMT

VOTE TODAY!

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 20:58:16 GMT

November 1, 2004

From the New York Times: What to Do on Election Day

ivics books make voting look like a breeze, but it can be hard work. Voter rolls are inaccurate, ID requirements vary and are erratically enforced, partisans try to disqualify likely supporters of their opponents, and lines at the polls can be excruciatingly long. In 2000, as many as six million presidential votes were lost for technical reasons, and this year the number could be even larger. Voters, particularly in battleground states, should head to the voting booth prepared to fight for their vote to be counted:

1. Know where to go. In many states, you will not be allowed to vote if you show up at the wrong polling place. Worse still, you may be given a provisional ballot to vote on that will later be thrown out. Your board of elections can tell you where to vote. If you can't reach the board, a nonpartisan hotline, 1-866-OURVOTE, has a polling place locator. So does the Web site www.mypollingplace.com.

2. Bring proper ID. The rules vary by state. If you have a photo ID, it's wise to bring it, just in case. Too often, poll workers demand ID when it is not required, or demand the wrong ID. If you do not know the law in your jurisdiction, you should check your local board of elections Web site.

3. Review the sample ballot before voting. Ballots are often confusing, and their designs can change considerably from election to election. And as the infamous "butterfly ballot" showed in 2000, a poorly designed ballot can trick voters into choosing a candidate they did not intend. If you have questions about how to vote on your ballot, ask a poll worker or poll monitor for help.

4. Check your ballot before finalizing your vote. As we saw in 2000, if punch card chads are not punched out precisely, votes may not be counted. On electronic machines, a brush of the hand can erase or change a vote. On paper ballots, stray or incomplete marks can disqualify a vote.

5. Know your rights concerning provisional ballots. No voter can be turned away in any state this year without being allowed to vote. If there is a question about your eligibility, you must be allowed to vote on a provisional ballot, the validity of which will be determined later. But if you are entitled to vote on a regular ballot, you should insist on doing so, since a provisional ballot may be disqualified later on a technicality.

6. Know where to turn for help. If you experience problems voting, or if you see anything improper at the polls, you may want to get help. There will be nonpartisan poll monitors at many polling places. (There may also be partisan poll watchers, and it's possible one of them may be the person objecting to your voting.) It is a good idea to bring a cellphone, and phone numbers of nonpartisan hotlines like the Election Protection program's 1-866-OURVOTE and Common Cause's 1-866-MYVOTE1.

7. Be prepared for long lines. In some precincts, the wait may stretch into hours. Try to get to your polling place very early in the morning, or between the before-work and after-work rushes. As long as you are in line before the polls close, you are legally entitled to vote. Do not let poll workers close the polls until you have voted.

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 19:14:17 GMT

Southorangetownnews (that name is a little too close for comfort!) wants me to get back to the school district because it's more important. While my focus has been the presidential election because I think it's the most important election in my lifetime and I'm sad that southorangetownnews doesn't share that opinion, I haven't stopped covering the school district. I've been posting info on all the school board meetings I attend. I'm no longer in the loop, so PLEASE email anything to me that you would like posted. I just don't have as much inside scoop as I used to have. Thanks.

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 18:20:37 GMT

The right wing, Moonie-owned Washington Times is reporting: "Lawlessness and corruption are hampering reconstruction efforts in Iraq", U.S. Inspector General Stuart Bowen said. In his latest quarterly report, Bowen said allegations have surfaced of large-scale embezzlement, robberies perpetrated by Iraqi police and even payoffs to U.S. military personnel who aided in theft, the Washington Post reports.

Bush doesn't think that Kerry has a plan?

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 18:17:29 GMT

I asked on Friday how many more October surprises could we handle. Lo and behold a new Osama video shows up. What a bizarre election.

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:59:06 GMT

As reported on the Randi Rhodes Show today, the media has remained largely silent on The Wall Street Journal's October 25, 2004 report that President George W. Bush's administration passed up several opportunities to attack and potentially kill terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before the start of the Iraq war, starting as early as June 2002. The Journal article expanded on a March 2, 2004 NBC Nightly News report by Jim Miklaszewski last March that has been ignored. It appeared on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw just after Zarqawi became known to most Americans. “People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey. Click here to read the report.

How many more October surprises can we handle? What more will it take to convince Americans to do the right thing on Tuesday?

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:31:55 GMT

NAACP, the taxman cometh. We've all made jokes at one time or another about the taxman paying visits to people who speak out against the government. But in the Bush administration, this actually happens. The IRS is investigating the NAACP -- the group Bush has declined to personally visit as president -- because chairman Julian Bond "condemned the administration policies of George W. Bush" during a speech this summer. [Salon.com]

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:30:49 GMT

About that al Qaqaa satellite imagery. Like magic, the Pentagon produced yesterday a satellite image of the al Qaqaa complex from March 2003, hoping to demonstrate that after the IAEA inspectors left and before Baghdad fell and U.S. soldiers moved into the area there was "activity" at al Qaqaa that could have been explosives being moved out of the facility. (Even though the Minneapolis TV station's video pretty well proves there were explosives there under IAEA seal nine days after the fall of Saddam Hussein.) [Salon.com]

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:17:27 GMT

The White House website (DO NOT GO TO DOT COM!) has "Ask the White House" -- an online interactive forum where you can submit questions to Administration officials and friends of the White House. This afternoon's chat that is still active right now is hosted by Harriet Miers, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House.

All of the questions have been typical suck up we-love-george ones, or neutral, boring and soft. The responses are pat and canned. I submitted the following question: "This is a real question--how can you or anyone else in the Bush Administration look at yourselves in the mirror?" It was ignored!

At least I didn't have to give my name, address, phone number, etc. like I did when I tried to submit a question to The Twins.

This is the transcipt of one of the questions/answers from a session hosted on 10/15/04 by Jim Towey, White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiative:

John, from Berwyn, IL. writes:
Mr. Towey, Can you share with us any personal prayers you say to help get you through your day? Especially ones dealing with the disconect between words and practices of this administration on issues of social justice, poverty, the death penalty and stewardship of the environment?

Many thanks,

John

Jim Towey
Well, John, I am not sure what disconnect you are referring to. Prayer is very important, and I know that the President prays a lot and depends on the prayers of the American people as he tries to do his job as best as he can.