WatchingW

Do we still have to Watch W?

2009-01-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

And by the way, nice job Mr. Christie, on calling the '08 elections years in advance!

Barack Obollywood

2008-02-28T14:23:00.001-08:00

60% of Us Are Smart. 40% Aren't.

2007-11-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

Sixty percent of all Americans want the country to change direction.

Duh.

Quote of the Week

2007-09-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
- Charles De Gaulle

Bush Sucks

2007-09-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

The video.

Only sad that I wasn't able to wave my "Fire Gozo" poster at W tonight

2007-08-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

C-ya buddy! Won't miss ya one single bit...

I knew I liked that John Edwards guy...

2007-07-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011

George Bush is #1 (almost)

2007-07-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

I figured there hadn't been a post here in a while, and since nothing has changed (I mean, Bush still continues to chip away at our civil liberties, scandals in his administration continue to pop up like pimples on a teenager, etc) I thought I'd add something that relates to the last post we had wayyyyyy back in January.

From Slate Magazine... George Bush ties Nixon as the 2nd most unpopular President ever!

Well, Bush Continues to Suck, Harder Today Than Ever Before

2007-01-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

28% approval rating. Yikes!

http://editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003535538&imw=Y

Gary Hart Reviews Barack Obama's Book in NY Times

2006-12-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/books/review/Hart.t.html?_r=1&ref=review&oref=slogin

HURRAY!

2006-11-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rumsfeld_resigns_4

On This, the Anniversary of 9/11/01

2006-09-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

1) More Americans have died fighting in Iraq than died on 9/11/01.
2) The U.S. have been fighting in Iraq longer than they fought in WWII.

Bush, Take a Cue from Mr. Blair

2006-09-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060907/ts_nm/britain_blair_dc_18

Website That Sets the Record Straight

2006-08-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.factcheck.org/

President Bush as a Jedi

2006-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=526

Just how out of touch IS Tom DeLay?

2006-05-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

Yes the following is true. Tom DeLay's legal fund website, posted a full length video of Stephen Colbert interviewing the creator of "Outfoxed" Robert Greenwald about his upcoming Tom DeLay movie. They also sent out an email talking about how Greenwald "crashed and burned" under Colbert's tough questioning. Apparently Colbert's "O'Reilly-esqu" persona was so persuasive, that the DeLay people DID NOT GET THAT COLBERT IS A SATIRICIST and actually posted the video because they believed that when Colbert asked questions like "Who hates America more, you or Michael Moore?" that he was BEING SERIOUS and SUPPORTING THEIR SIDE. You would have thought the whole "Comedy Central" thing and the fact that Colbert recently publically called Bush on all his s**t at the White House Correspondants dinner MIGHT have clued them in. But it appears that they have no clue.

More at Thinkprogress.org

Just a little something to make you smile on a Tuesday after a three day weekend :-)

Even Republicans Thinks He Sucks

2006-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060403/ap_on_el_ge/republican_angst_2

Note to Self When Hunting with Dick Cheney: WEAR LOTS OF ORANGE

2006-02-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060213/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_hunting_accident

2008 Election 1000 Days Away. LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!

2006-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-08-2008-race_x.htm

2006-01-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

New Jib Jab

2006-01-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't know a new Jib Jab was out until my uncle informed me, so I thought I'd pass it along.George Bush Year in Review Thanks again Hayat for the party!

2005-12-30T15:27:00.000-08:00

Bush Time-Wasting Website!

2005-11-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.yeeguy.com/freefall/

Bush is a Lying Sack of Crap (3 in 4 dentists agree!)

2005-11-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll

But Who are the 28 percent?

2005-10-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

A new AP-Ipsos Poll found that Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in President Bush's political coalition are worried about the direction the nation is headed and disappointed with his performance. So I guess that now means officially everyone has woken up to see who Bush really is an what his administration is about.

The only thing I find troubling is that, while 66 percent of the pollsters say the country is "on the wrong track", 28 percent say it is "headed in the right direction." While I am glade the number of sane people continues to increase, I have to ask . . . "Who the hell are these people in the 28 percent?" More here Poll Results.

YEAH! Kanye West!!!

2005-09-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

In addition to being a hip-hop artist that promotes education, sings about his mother in a good way, and says homosexuality is ok AND is still is the top selling artist right now because he's good, he also departed from the teleprompted comments during a Katrina benefit concert and stated simply and bluntly, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." NBC of course edited this immediately and now right wing commentators are tearing him apart but I laugh because millions heard his comments live and they were absolutely true.
Kanye West's Torrent of Criticism, Live on NBC

Barbara Bush Is a Stupid Cow

2005-09-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080

And George Bush is just as stupid...

http://www.satiresearch.com/go.asp?sid=41332

Scarier Than George Bush? Yes, Pat Robertson Just May Be

2005-08-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

Televangelist calls for Chavez' death
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club."
"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Robertson, 75, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.
Electronic pages and a message to a Robertson spokeswoman were not immediately returned Monday evening.

Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 percent of Venezuela's total exports.
Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.

Robertson has made controversial statements in the past. In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Watchin' the Polls

2005-07-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, the news headlines today:

"Poll: Public views Bush as less trustworthy"

"Poll: Most Americans say Iraq war not worth it"

That's great and all "Most Americans", but WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU ALL DURING THE ELECTION?????

Bush Approval Rating Nearing Historic Low

2005-05-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/23/bush.poll/index.html

Hurray! We've Got a New Pope!

2005-04-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

From CNN:

In the Vatican, he has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on such issues as women's ordination.

More on our Republican friends

2005-04-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest on our friend Tom DeLay, R-TX, Majority Whip of the US House of Representatives.

Tom DeLay

MoveOn.org has a petition you can sign to request his firing.

Ignore the two entries below! No, George isn't coming over for dinner.....

2005-03-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

Food

2005-03-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

I thought I just published this.....but here it goes again: Matt and Sarah would you mind bringing bread? Randy and Mari possibly dessert? And Chris squared some salad? Anyone else can bring some drinks! Thanks! Pasta is on the menu if that helps!

Eric

Bring some food!

2005-03-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

Pasta is on the menu, so maybe Christie and Chrstian could bring some salad, maybe some bread (garlic perhaps?) from Matt and Sarah and some dessert from Randy and Mari? Then if the rest bring drinks we'll be just fine......don't feel bad if you can't make it - I listed the wrong date......Hope to see you all there tonight!

Eric

An Accident or a Policy?

2005-03-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

from the WP
- By Dan Froomkin

An Accident or a Policy?
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005; 12:33 PM

It is flatly un-American for people to be hauled out of a public event with the president of the United States because of, say, a political bumper sticker on their car.

But is it too much to ask the White House to say so?

Apparently.

The latest incident of audience screening at President Bush's public events is making quite a splash in the media today. Three people at a Bush event in Denver last week were told by a man dressed like a Secret Service agent that they were being ejected because someone spotted a "No Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on their car in the parking lot.

Press secretary Scott McClellan, in yesterday's press briefing, was asked about the incident.

But rather than express any condemnation -- or remorse -- McClellan chose to make an assertion that is not supported by the facts: "We welcome a diversity of views at the events," he said.

In reality, ticket distribution at Bush's Social Security events has been almost exclusively controlled by Republican officials, the audiences are sometimes stocked with supporters bused in by conservative groups, and I don't believe a single one of the carefully groomed panelists on stage has ever said anything remotely critical of the president or his deeply unpopular Social Security proposals.

Asked if he was concerned that the president is not hearing a lot of different viewpoints in these conversations, McClellan then made this bizarre assertion: "I think the President hears a lot of different viewpoints every day, when we follow the news. I mean, there's plenty of viewpoints being expressed on this issue."

But there's a difference between Bush ostensibly reading about dissent and hearing it himself -- not to mention responding to it in public -- not to mention banning people who don't agree with him from public events.

The White House calls these events "conversations." Typically, in conversations, the value comes from genuine back and forth. Certainly, the public would benefit from hearing Bush respond to criticism of his Social Security proposals.

But McClellan also made it clear that the true purpose of Bush's events is not to get a lot of backtalk. "Obviously, the conversations that the President is participating in are designed to educate the American people about the problems facing our Social Security system, the problems that are facing it for our children and grandchildren. And so it's part of an educational effort. I think that there's plenty of people out there talking about the other side of the issue, and you see those people talking about it on a daily basis."

Later, McClellan told The Washington Post that it was neither the Secret Service nor a White House aide, but a volunteer who asked the three to leave "out of concern they might try to disrupt the event." The White House also blamed a volunteer for a similar incident in North Dakota last month.

But the energetic screening of dissenters has become an established pattern for Bush events. It started during the campaign, when the events were private and paid for with campaign funds. And it continues to this day, even though the events are now paid for with taxpayer funds.

Will Bush truly welcome a diversity of views to his public events from now on?

Not with his aides, on his behalf, defending the status quo.

The Denver Three
Jim VandeHei writes in The Washington Post: "Three Denver residents yesterday charged that they were forcibly removed from one of President Bush's town meetings on Social Security because they displayed a bumper sticker on their car condemning the administration's Middle East policies."

Susan Greene writes in the Denver Post: "The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the complaints of three people who say they were ousted from President Bush's event in Denver last week because their bumper sticker criticized his foreign policy. . . .

"The three said they had passed through security and were preparing to take their seats in the crowd of Republican boosters when a man they thought was a Secret Service agent forced them to leave, citing a 'No More Blood for Oil' bumper sticker on the car they drove to the event. . . .

"The Secret Service said Tuesday that it wasn't one of its agents who kicked the three out of the event. Rather, agency spokesman Tom Mazur said, it was a 'staff person for the event sponsor.'

" 'At an event like this, people can be mistaken for Secret Service agents,' Mazur said. 'We'll be looking into this matter.' "

Ann Imse writes in the Rocky Mountain News: "White House spokesman Allen Abney said White House policy is: 'If they come to an event to disrupt an event, they will be asked to leave.'

"He declined to say what action would get a person removed from a presidential appearance. He said there are places outside for protesters, adding 'the president strongly believes in freedom of speech.'

" 'These people are trying to distract from the real issue here, the president trying to talk to the American people about Social Security,' Abney added."

Ron Hutcheson writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers: "In Fargo, N.D., last month, local Republicans developed a blacklist of more than three dozen residents, including a city commissioner, who were to be banned from Bush's visit.

"White House officials say they have nothing to do with the exclusions, which they blame on overzealous supporters. . . .

"Complaints about tight restrictions at Bush's events have become common. His presidential campaign used tight crowd-control screens last fall, and similar tactics now seem to be employed at official presidential stops, which unlike campaign events are paid for by taxpayers' dollars."

The Daily Kos blog published an e-mail from the three ousted audience members.

Denver Post columnist Jim Spencer today writes that he's been getting the runaround from the White House ever since he first wrote about the incident last week.

"In the past week, two White House spokesmen have told me they don't know the name of a Republican staff member who refused to let three people attend President Bush's March 21 Social Security 'town hall' meeting in Denver."

Spencer concludes: "The White House doesn't know who did this because the White House doesn't care to find out."

In his March 23 column, Spencer wrote: "If that's what it's come down to in America, if a bumper sticker allows the Republican Party to bully you out of seeing the president of the United States, then George Bush and his GOP henchmen are living a lie.

"The president constantly claims freedom as God's gift to everyone. . . .

"But societies that smother dissent are never free."

Bagdad Bushie

2005-03-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

There is so very much that I hate about Bush, I'm not sure why this in particular caught my eye, Once-beautiful Baghdad
descends to eyesore

"Baghdad, whose name means the “Garden of God,” has fallen from grace. Known for centuries as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, its landscape has been marred by concrete blast walls, barbed wire, steel barricades, sandbags and crumbling buildings pockmarked by bullet holes or gutted by explosions."

Bush About to Drill Us Again

2005-03-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

The public wants to save the pristine beauty of the Arctic? People want to save the environment?! Get real, people. The environment is for losers.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/216188_anwr16.html

No Child Left Behind? Yeah, Right.

2005-02-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/213387_educ24.html

Bush Submits $2.5 Trillion Budget to Congress

2005-02-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

President Bush is expected to send a $2.5 trillion budget to Congress later today. Bush is seeking a $19 billion increase in defense spending while proposing cutbacks in a wide range of domestic programs. Faced with a record deficit, Bush is calling for the elimination of some 150 governmental programs. One out of every three of the targeted programs concerns education. Public housing residents, Medicaid recipients and farmers will all suffer from cutbacks. In addition Bush is proposing to cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by $450 million; to cut $100 million from a Bureau of Indian Affairs program that helps build schools and to cut $200 million for home-heating aid for the poor. Meanwhile Bush is calling for the Pentagon's budget to increase by nearly 5 percent to $419 billion. However that total does not include the cost of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From Democracy Now!, today. I thought farmers were the one's W's Social Security rhetoric was making him out to save? And not only are we leaving more children behind, but making sure they don't get health care or heat in their homes this winter. The one up-side is the expanding military budget, and with our society becoming astronomically more militarist and oriented around production of weapons technology, that means job security! Whew!

-Christian

Our Military Leaders

2005-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

General counseled over 'fun to shoot' talk

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- A Marine Corps general with battle awards is being counseled to watch his words more carefully after publicly observing that "it's fun to shoot some people."

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer now in charge of developing ways to better train and equip Marines, also made fun of the manhood of Afghans during comments Tuesday while speaking at a forum in San Diego. On Thursday, Gen. Mike Hagee, the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, issued a statement of regret about Mattis' remarks, saying they reflected "the unfortunate and harsh realities of war."

According to an audio recording, Mattis had said, "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling."
He added, "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."His comments evoked laughter and applause from the audience. Mattis was speaking during a panel discussion hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, a spokeswoman for the general said.

Gen. Hagee's statement said, "Lt. Gen. Mattis often speaks with a great deal of candor. I have counseled him concerning his remarks and he agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully."

"While I understand that some people may take issue with the comments made by him, I also know he intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war," Hagee's statement added. Among Marines, Mattis is regarded as a fighting general and an expert in the art of warfare. Among his decorations are the Bronze Star with a combat distinguishing device and a combat action ribbon, awarded for close-quarters fighting.

He is currently the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., and deputy commandant for combat development. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was up to Mattis to address his own comments, but he added, "All of us who are leaders have a responsibility in our words and our actions to provide the right example all the time for those who look to us for leadership."

Pace spoke to a Pentagon press conference. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he had not read Mattis' words and deferred to Pace. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group, called on the Pentagon to discipline Mattis for the remarks.
"We do not need generals who treat the grim business of war as a sporting event," said the council's executive director, Nihad Awad. "These disturbing remarks are indicative of an apparent indifference to the value of human life."

This is SO disturbing!

2005-02-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

From the King5 Website
Student survey: First Amendment goes too far
09:20 AM PST on Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Associated Press

AP
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The way many high-school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.
It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high-school attitudes released yesterday.
The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly.
Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high-school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.
"These results are not only disturbing; they are dangerous," said Hodding Carter III of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the $1 million study's sponsor. "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."
The students are even more restrictive in their views than their elders, the study says. When asked whether people should be allowed to express unpopular views, 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of school principals said yes. Only 83 percent of students did.
The results reflected indifference, with nearly three in four students saying they took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it. It was also clear that many students do not understand what is protected by the Bill of Rights.
Three in four students said flag burning is illegal. It's not. About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent material on the Internet. It can't.
"Schools don't do enough to teach the First Amendment," Linda Puntney of the Journalism Education Association said in the report.
The University of Connecticut survey is billed as the largest of its kind. More than 100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators at 544 public and private high schools took part in early 2004. Meanwhile, a separate survey of college freshmen said more new college students are expecting to take on jobs, borrow at least $10,000 for their first year and receive that much from their families. UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute, which has been surveying freshmen annually for 39 years, also found a record number of students defining themselves as "far right" or "far left" politically and a record low calling themselves "middle of the road." Fewer than ever believe racial discrimination is a problem.
A record 47.2 percent of the 289,000 freshmen who started college last year said there is a good chance they will get a job to help pay for college, with 53.3 percent of women and 39.6 percent of men saying they would need to find work.
The 29.5 percent expecting more than $10,000 in family support was the highest figure since the question was first asked in 2001. The percentage expecting to borrow more than $10,000 their first year rose to 8.8 percent from 7.8 percent last year and 5.6 percent in 2001. However, only 13 percent reported "major" concerns about paying for college, compared to a record high of 19.1 percent in 1995.
The survey also found more students than ever viewing themselves as at political extremes, with 3.4 percent calling themselves "far left" and 2.2 percent "far right."
The percentage of students identifying themselves as liberal (26.1 percent) or conservative (21.9 percent) also rose from last year. The category "middle of the road" remained the most common at 46.4 percent, but declined 4 percentage points from a year ago to its lowest level in 30 years.
The survey also found a record 22.7 percent of freshmen believe racial discrimination is no longer a problem in America, but the number reporting they frequently socialized with members of other racial or ethnic groups in high school fell slightly, as it has since 2001, to 67.8 percent.

Dim Bulb

2005-01-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in alight bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Patriotic? Or Just Pathetic?

2004-12-30T01:33:00.000-08:00

This from a NY Times Opinion Peice that puts it in perspective:
"We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.

The American aid figure for the current disaster is now $35 million, and we applaud Mr. Bush's turnaround. But $35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket, and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the United States budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent."

Are We Stingy? Yes

I think the clear issue here is where it states what most Americans believe. Even $15 million sounds like an awful lot to most Americans . . . but put into context against other countries, etc, the truth about our unwillingness to share the wealth becomes pretty clear.

Help If You Can

2004-12-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

In his first remarks since the weekend disaster that so far has killed more than 76,000, Bush — like some in his administration previously — took umbrage at a U.N. official's suggestion that the world's richest nations were "stingy," and indicated much more is expected to be spent to help the victims.

http://www.networkforgood.org

20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA

2004-12-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

-By John Bray of D'Youville College and Paul Zarembka, UB
professor of economics.

80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.
There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight

of the U.S. voting machine industry.
The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.
The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer

and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio

deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He

became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush

family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the

Senate Ethics Committee.
Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's

vice-presidential candidates.
ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and

counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.
Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of

any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data

coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in

by voters.
Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines,

all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.
Diebold is based in Ohio.
Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as senior managers and

developers to help write the central compiler computer code that

counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.
Jeff Dean, Diebold's Senior Vice-President and senior programmer

on Diebold's central compiler code, was convicted of 23 counts of

felony theft in the first degree.
Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting

back doors in his software and using a "high degree of sophistication"

to evade detection over a period of 2 years.
None of the international election observers were allowed in the

polls in Ohio.
California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security

was so bad. Despite Diebold's claims that the audit logs could not be

hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it!
(See the movie here

blackboxvoting.org)
30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen

voting machines with no paper trail. 18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and

reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.
All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and

reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.
The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President's

brother. Does someone not know this?
Serious voting anomalies in Florida -- again always favoring Bush

-- have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending

further investigation.

Warning - new STD- It'll make you blue!

2004-12-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

This is serious, and not only for the single folks, either.

Play safe, and beware of STD's...

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of sexually transmitted disease. This disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim (pronounced "gonna re-elect him").

Many victims have contracted it after having been screwed for the past 4 years, in spite of having taken measures to protect themselves from this especially troublesome disease.

Cognitive sequellae of individuals infected with Gonorrhea Lectim include, but are not limited to: Anti-social personality disorder traits; delusions of grandeur with a distinct messianic flavor; chronic mangling of the English language; extreme cognitive dissonance; inability to incorporate new information; pronounced xenophobia; inability to accept responsibility for actions; exceptional cowardice masked by acts of misplaced bravado; uncontrolled facial smirking; ignorance of geography and history; tendencies toward creating evangelical theocracies; and a strong propensity for categorical, all-or nothing behavior.

The disease is sweeping Washington. Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed and baffled that this malignant disease originated only a few years ago in a Texas Bush.

U.S. Troop Numbers in Iraq to Hit Record 150,000

2004-12-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

George Bush: Awesome! Let's kill more stuff. I mean, who needs people, right? You want peace on earth and goodwill towards man? One word for you: Bite me.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-12-01-iraq-troops_x.htm

Bush to dramatically reduce areas protected for salmon

2004-12-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

George Bush: Awesome! Let's kill more stuff. I mean, who needs wildlife, right? You want to get back to nature? One word for you: Bite me.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002105390_salmon01m.html

I Miss Bill

2004-11-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

So I'm watching the Clinton Library Dedication, and I just have to say it. I REALLY miss Bill, warts and all. I know, I know, he was like Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man, but didn't you really want to believe Harold Hill ???

I truly liked Kerry and still think he would have been a fine president. Hell, I think Al Sharpton would have done a better job than Bush has done. Did you hear the latest? Congress took another loan for $800 billion! Why that's almost as much as it costs to gas up a Hummer! The tax cuts Bush promised to the middle class will never come to pass, because he won't touch the cuts already given to the top 2 %. I know I have to get over the fact that I think those who voted for Bush must be morons, but they must be...no? OR maybe this is the biggest Reality Show ever put over on the public...half of us just got voted off the island.

Here is a cute quote that a friend sent from Illinois (another blue state!) Take heart Democrats..and think of this.

Not to worry. With the Blue States in hand, the Democrats have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, over 90% of our pineapple and lettuce, 93% of the artichoke production, 95% of America's export quality wines, 90% of all cheese production, most of the US low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, CalTech and MIT. We can live simply but well.

The Red States, on the other hand, now have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care cost spike), 92% of all US mosquitoes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, 100% of all Televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. A high price to pay for controlling the presidency.

Barack Obama in 2008 !

2004-11-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

Is 2008 too early to consider Barack Obama for President?

I know . . .he hasn’t even been sworn in as Illinois’ senator yet, but already many people see him as the fastest rising star within the Democratic party. He has even said, “I don’t even know where the restrooms are in the Senate and don’t even know how to work the telephone system, at least give me a chance to do the job I was elected to do.” The other day on “Meet the Press” he was able to sound conciliatory on the one hand, but fiercely determined on the other, to make sure this Congress does it’s job for the betterment of the country as a whole, not just a few lucky ones. Naïve? I think not !

Will necessity mandate that he run for President in 2008? Will the Democrats be so desperate to find a candidate who can reach across the “cultural divide” that they will draft Obama earlier than his time? He just turned 43, and has been very humble about his place within the upcoming Congress as the 99th senator listed out of 100. By 2008 he will be 47 and will have served 11 years in state and federal legislative positions, more than George W. Bush ever did.

Let’s think “inside the box” for a moment about who might be likely from the Democratic party to end up running for the biggest office in the land. Three years out is a long time to project, but right now the Democrats have Howard Dean, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Al Sharpton, Dennis Kucinich, and all the others who joined the early fray in 2004. Some say Kerry will run again, but history has not been kind to losing candidates running for the Office of the President and Kerry will likely be more effective in the Senate now that he has name recognition and more importantly, a better idea of what it’s like outside the beltway.

Each one of the above candidates would have tremendous problems overcoming the “negatives” that have built up over the years regarding their political biographies. More importantly however, none of them have the ability to bridge the “cultural gap” that keeps popping up all over the place as they are too heavily tied into their own demographic. Bill Clinton’s success as a two term President had as much to do with his human relations skills as his intelligence. Of the above list, Hillary is by far the most intelligent and driven of the lot, but her negatives are so high, she would have no chance of winning the number of states she would need to declare victory. I’m sorry but the bubbas just aren’t going to join in on that one and many conservative women voters would also be put off by Hillary’s candidacy.

Let’s look “outside the box” for a minute. There is Barack Obama from Illinois, former Senator Bob Kerry from Nebraska, Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, and perhaps someone lesser known who emerges during the next session of Congress. While all three of these men are very capable of leading our country, Obama by far is the most electrifying and personable one of the lot. In '04 he went into many areas of downstate Illinois that have been Republican strongholds for years and met face to face and door to door with the voters themselves, and ended up “sharing” 1 million votes with Bush in that part of the state. As you probably remember he trounced the carpetbagging, trash talking, ultra right-winger Alan Keyes by an astounding majority. He is the only one of the bunch who could win back those voters that Clinton and Reagan won over to put them on top.

He has a very unique ability to talk to people as if he’s known them his whole life. His life experiences are very similar to most blue collar, middle class families; families who are struggling to put food on the table and provide health care for their children. He considers basic needs a “moral” issue. He was raised by his mother and had to be very self sufficient as a child, but never lost his positiveness to help others and to see the needs of society as a whole. He is the antithesis to the Bush regime. He calmly persuades and respectfully listens to other viewpoints, then makes his decisions after considering all sides of an issue. Once he decides, he is commited to an idea, but would have no trouble “tweaking” it if necessary to work with the realities of the situation, unlike Bush. He would truly be most happy if everyone was actually the recipient of the greater good, unlike the present group who is so exclusive of those unlike themselves. He has a high moral fiber, yet doesn’t use it in immoral ways to get what he wants. He appeals to the good and positive in people, he does not rely on fear to cajole or scare voters to “see things his way.”

My feeling with Obama is, the worry about voting irregularities would be lessened. He would win enough of a majority that everyone would in effect, be a “proxy pollwatcher” and if the dirty tricksters dared partake of more funny business, they would be appropriately exposed and humiliated. Plus, I think by 2008 many voting kinks will be worked out. Hey, how bout everyone votes absentee? Think about it. It could resolve a lot of problems.

Would there be those who would work against him? Of course, the bigoted, narrow-minded, small-brained contingent present during every election would try to do whatever damage they could to him, but it would be to no avail as his record would be too clean and his motives too high, his support too strong.

There will be many Republican candidates declaring themselves as candidates for the 2008 nomination, but all of them have the same problem as the Democrats (except for Obama) mentioned above. High negatives. For example, Rudy Guilani had the highest negatives of any mayor in New York history, then 9/11 came and he sprang into action (doing quite a remarkable job) and completely changed his public image. New Yorkers either forgot or forgave the obnoxious attitude that Guilani possessed before 9/11 with quite a few examples of publicly embarrassing episodes that often made the daily headlines in NYC, but he did a great job of making himself a jerk again during the 2004 campaign, joining in with the Bush crowd by lying, deceiving, and misrepresenting Democratic positions. He would self-destruct.

George Pataki, governor of New York State, may also be interested in running, but remember, Northeasterners don’t usually get elected President, even Republicans. The last Northeasterner to be President was JFK in 1960, winning the electoral vote, but losing the popular vote to Richard Nixon.

Other possible Republican candidates are John McCain, Jeb Bush, now governor of Florida (in spite of what he says he’d LOVE to run), Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition blah, blah, blah. No, Arnold will not run because the Constitution would have to be changed, and it won’t be for that. Bush is going to burn all his energy trying to get an anti gay marriage act constitutionalized. That will fail too by the way.

I would love to see the dirty tricksters find themselves up against Barack Obama. He would be able to cut through them like warm butter because there is no defense against a superior opponent, especially one who always takes the high road. Keep your ear to the track on this young, exciting upstart; he could just be our answer in 2008.

a couple of links about him are:
Barack 1

Barack 2

Bush Joke

2004-11-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

What's the difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War?

Bush had an exit strategy for the Vietnam War.

A Final Take on Election FraudFor Now!

2004-11-09T23:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok you might be rolling your eyes right now, thinking that I'm going a little overboard on this "stolen election" stuff. Maybe it's that I can't really believe my fellow Americans are really this stupid, or maybe it is just that I don't want to believe it.

Actually, I am not convinced, I follow more along the lines of this David Corn article in The Nation . . . I think in an election where a lot of things could go wrong, where so much was at stake, and exit polls so were so different from the results, that we are owed at least a look into what happened.

So two more people doing something about it are:

NY Rep Jerrold Nadler who is requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate voting irregularities. Which is basically all I ask.

And blogger Mark Crispin Miller has dedicated his blog to looking into these issues.

And now THIS blog has done it's part to track these issues. Much more, DIFFERENT issues to be discussed from now on, unless something really breaking on this first issue appears. And that's a promise!

Stolen Election Part 2?

2004-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

As a continuation of the earlier post, a poster on the Democraticunderground.com put it this way: "To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe: That the exit polls were wrong; that Zogby's 5pm election day calls for Kerry winning Ohio and Florida were wrong (he was exactly right in his 2000 final poll); that Harris' last-minute polling for Kerry was wrong (he was exactly right in his 2000 final poll); that incumbent rule #1 - undecideds break for the challenger - was wrong; That the 50% rule - an incumbent doesn't do better than his final polling - was wrong; That the approval rating rule - an incumbent with less than 50% approval will most likely lose the election - was wrong; that it was just a coincidence that the exit polls were correct where there was a paper trail and incorrect (+5% for Bush) where there was no paper trail; that the surge in new young voters had no positive effect for Kerry; that Kerry did worse than Gore against an opponent who lost the support of scores of Republican newspapers who were for Bush in 2000; that voting machines made by Republicans with no paper trail and with no software publication, which have been proven by thousands of computer scientists to be vulnerable in scores of ways, were not tampered with in this election."

Seems pretty fishy when put that way huh?

More info on this is also on Truthout.org.

And finally someone in the mainstream media had picked this up a little, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC stated "Thus the majority of the media has yet to touch the other stories of Ohio (the amazing Bush Times Ten voting machine in Gahanna) or the sagas of Ohio South: huge margins for Bush in Florida counties in which registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2-1, places where the optical scanning of precinct totals seems to have turned results from perfect matches for the pro-Kerry exit poll data, to Bush sweeps. " in his article "It's Not Over Yet . . ."

That's all for now on this . . . I'll keep ya posted.

I'm Not a Conspiracy Theorist . . . But Did He Really WIN?

2004-11-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

Now that things have calmed down, some new questions have begun to circulate about the legitimacy of this election. Let's think about this for a minute . . . the Right KNEW that last time the fact that W got put in office by a squeaker, which was later investigated and basically proved to be illegitimate, WHY would they allow even the taint of it being close again? With all of the buildup coverage of drawn out legal battles expected by the American public, the Right, one step ahead as always decides to go for a relatively big win.

I think almost all Democrats were stunned, especially since we had had so much to hope for from the exit polls earlier that day. I remember being shocked just because Bush vs. Gore had been SO close, and that was with Gore hardly trying and Bush not yet screwing up so royally . . . so I thought in 2004 with the increased turnout, unified Democratic party, less of a Nader factor, and new voters that it would pretty much have to be even closer. Having it be further in Bush's favor and attributed soley to the "Values Voters" seemed a little fishy . . . had I really "misunderestimate" how many of these people there are? Really? The discrepancy between the Exit Polling and the real votes was quickly written off as "the exit polls were wrong," but let's think about this a bit more here. Exit polls are real people telling other real people who they voted for. And voting is . . . well, it isn't always as reliable as it should be. The most damning thing I've come across is this Exit Polls vs. Machine and Electronic Votes Graphic which shows how close the Exit Polls were to the actual vote in the states where there was a paper ballot. It was fully in areas that used electronic voting where the Exit Polls didn't match up with the results of the vote. Kawinkydink?

Thankfully, Ralph Nader is finally getting back to what he does best, and challenging the Electronic Voting results . . . unfortunately, he is doing it in New Hampshire. Hopefully, he will move onto some of the other states.

As for the media looking into this, there are small issues that the news is actually covering, such as Machine glitch gave Bush extra Ohio votes but to cover this agressively gives the "Liberal" news media the bad juju of being "pathetic losers willing to cling to anything" to find out if we really were robbed, again.

So that leaves blogs and other alternative news sources to bring these questions up, so far. Here are some of these sources:

Kerry Won

Votergate Film About Electronic Voting

Blackboxvoting.org

Sour grapes? Maybe. Worth taking a critical look at anyway? Most definitely.

Welcome to WatchingW

2004-11-04T22:21:00.000-08:00

So, election 2004 was a bust. What can we do about it? Make sure we never forget why we wanted him out of office so badly. Things happen quickly in this media environment and even with the best of intentions you can forget things. So please, if you find an article, notice a trend, hear a true story of that reminds you why W and his cabinet are so bad, post it here. We'll start now and use it as ammo in 2008.