Dreaming of a Blue Christmas

Note: This list will be continually updated until Christmas at Shopopolis.

What do you get if you buy your Christmas treats and decorations at Costco, shop for gift books at Barnes & Noble, get your fashion-conscious sister her gift from Anne Klein and the kids clothes from Ralph Lauren Childrenwear, send your Christmas cards from Blue Mountain Arts, toast the season with Cuervo at the Hard Rock Café, get your tickets on Expedia to fly home for the holidays on Jet Blue, take the kids to see "Shark Tale," then chill out and watch "Enterprise" on TV while rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers to make it to the Super Bowl?

A Blue Christmas, that's what.

According to the website "Choose the Blue" at www.choosetheblue.com, these companies gave most of their reported political donations to Democrats.

Choose the Blue lists companies by categories. Their lists appear slim, but they are using information in the public domain, including figures from another website, www.opensecrets.org. Depending on your assumptions, there may be some surprises here.

Even though their nickname is Big Blue, you might not figure IBM for a Blue company, but they are---with 70% of their donations going to Democrats. And Blue Mountain Arts is 100% blue. But even though they're in a blue state and they are called the Dodger Blue, the LA Dodgers are deep in the Red, to the tune of 98% for Republicans.

The site states its premise: "If each American who voted for John Kerry spends $100 in 2005 on a Blue company instead of a Red company, we can move $5 billion away from the Republican companies and add $5 billion to the income of companies who donate to Democrats. This will be noticed!"

But why wait until 2005? Start this holiday season! But buyer beware: this is just a summary, and a company not appearing doesn't mean they aren't Blue. The following information is based also on lists provided by freenortheast.com.

Where to shop Blue: Costco (98%), Barnes & Noble (98%), Borders (100%), Trader Joe's (100) the Gap (61%) and Nordstroms are among the top choices.

Blues give raspberries to: Wal-Mart, Sam's Club (81% Red), Saks (95% Red) and Target (72% Red.)

For the handyman on your list, choose Ace Hardware (87% blue) over Home Depot (93% Red.) Black and Decker tools are a solid blue choice (100%).

Blue Fashions: Anne Klein (100%), Ralph Lauren Childrenwear (100%), J. Crew (100%),Liz Claiborne (76%),the Estee Lauder companies (Donna Karan, Kate Spade, Tommy Hilfiger---all 91%), S Schwab (100%), Capital Mercury Apparel (98%).

Not Blue in any color: Fruit of the Loom (100% Red)Pendleton (91% Red), Guess (83% Red.)

Want Blue Feet? The Footlocker (100%) and Sketchers (100%). Nike is "weak blue."

For Blue Toys, it's Mattel, and for a blue night's sleep, Serta.

Blue electronics: This is a heavily Blue sector. IBM leads the pack at 71%, followed by Sun (69%), Hewlett Packard (61%) and Intel (53%).
Software companies are led by Real Networks (100%), Adobe Systems (100) and include Microsoft (61%) and Oracle (58%).

Wireless is another story: of those listed, only T-Mobile (at 52%) is in the Blue. The Reddest is Edge (100%). Your blue long distance provider is Working Assets (100%), but MCI is sorta blue, too.

Books: You can't judge a book by its cover, but the publisher might help. Notable among the Blues are Chronicle Books (100%), Random House (86%) and Simon and Schuster (78%).

Online and Catalog Blues: L.L. Bean (100%), Overstock.com and Sharper Image (93%),

Entertainment Blues: In movies, Dreamworks SKG (makers of "Shark Tale") is 92% Blue, the Walt Disney group (Walt Disney,Miramax , Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone) is 71% Blue. On the other hand, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and 20th Century Fox are slightly more Red (above 50%).

In television, Viacom (CBS, Showtime, MTV, BET, UPN, Spike TV, Nickelodeon,Comedy Channel, Movie Channel, Sundance Channel, etc.) is 78% Blue, Walt Disney TV (ABC, ESPN) is 71% Blue, while General Electric (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo) is 67% Red. No surprise that Fox is Red, but only at 57%, but Starz at 96% Red? And Univision (including Telefutura) is 100% Red.

TV station chains: The notorious Sinclair Group is 95% Red, and TDS Telecommunications is 62% Red. But Granite Broadcasting, with stations in Detroit, Fresno, Buffalo, San Francisco and elsewhere, is 60% Blue.

Satellite: DISH Network (Echostar) is 55% Blue, while Direct TV is a News Corp. outfit (parent of Fox) and is 57% Red.
Big Radio: Surprised that it's mostly Red? Led by Clear Channel at 70% Red. But Emmis Communications (Power 106 in LA, plus other radio and TV stations) is 92% Blue.

Ticketmaster (which owns Expedia.com) is 95% Blue. Netflix is 100% blue.

Martha Stewart Living is 100% Blue.

Shipping those Christmas gifts? No good Blue choices here at all---the major carriers are mostly Red. The U.S. Post Office is the default.

All that shopping may take some gas. You can fuel Blue at Shell Oil (57%) and that's about it, except for Costco customers where they sell gas. For car insurance, it's the aptly named Progressive (91% Blue). (But names can also be deceiving, when an outfit called Clean Energy Vehicle Natural Gas is 100% in the Red.)

For eating out at national chains, it's not easy being blue. Hard Rock Café is the top choice at 100% Blue, and sadly (or not) you want to avoid Olive Garden, Chilis and Hooters, all above 90% Red. Whatever else they may represent to you, Starbuck's is 100% Blue. So you latte liberals can stick it to the Reds.

In fast food, the top Blue is Arby's (100%), while McDonalds, KFC, Wendy's and A& W are all above 80% Red. Why not try a local restaurant?

Shopping for food is also a challenge, unless you can find a Whole Foods Market (100% blue.) But in your local and hopefully unionized grocery, you can buy Campbell soups (92%), Ben & Jerry's products (100), Green Mountain Coffee(100), and Tom's of Maine products with a Blue conscience.

Hoisting a cold one may mean a Guiness (which actually should be room temperature); Coors and Anheuser-Busch are mostly Red. You could just ask for a Blue (made by Labatt) which at least is Canadian. Or even a Red Bull, which is blue.

Your wine can be red as long as it's from Gallo (93% Blue). Diageo North America may not be a household name, but it is a Blue company (62%) that makes Cuervo, Johnnie Walker, J&B, Baileys, Smirnoff and Tanqueray brands, among others.

If you've got no other interest, the sports teams to root for are the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (100% Blue), MLB's Arizona Cardinals (56% Blue) and the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers (58% Blue.) Prepare to boo the New Orleans Saints (100% Red), LA Dodgers (98% Red), New York Jets (92% Red) and Phoenix Suns (97% Red).

Does travel make you Blue? Not much of it does. Jet Blue is Blue (by 88%), as is Aloha and Alaska Airlines. But with most airlines and car rental companies listed, you'll be seeing red.

The Blue Hotels: Loews (99% blue), Hyatt (87% B), and Diamond Resorts (90%).
But you won't find a Blue room at the inns of Mariott or Omni, with Ramada and Super 8 chains just over the 50% Red.

Some of this information appears not to be entirely up-to-date, and certainly there are a lot of companies not named in either Blue or Red. In many categories, remember, you have locally-owned or locally made choices. But it's something to consider. Happy Blue Christmas everyone!

Choose The Blue

Reality-Based Reality

The Rabid Right has successfully created political controversy over issues that have a reality-based consensus, even among GOP supporters. Global heating is becoming such an issue (with a significant number of corporations in the energy business very aware of the science and its implications), but probably the example of the greatest consensus that's the biggest secret is health care. For example, today's New York Times story which begins:

"IN Washington, the phrase "universal coverage" is rarely mentioned as the way to provide health insurance for the 45 million uninsured Americans. It evokes memories of the Clinton administration's sobering failure to forge a national health care plan. Yet among health care experts there is a surprising consensus that the United States must inevitably adopt some kind of universal coverage."

And ends...
"IT will take political will and some hard choices about what path to take, but the United States certainly has the means to provide health insurance to everyone, health experts say. Neelam Sekhri, a health policy and finance expert at the World Health Organization, illustrates it this way: American government spending on Medicare and Medicaid alone, which covers about 40 percent of the population, if spread across the nation's entire population, would equal on a per capita basis total spending by most European countries.
From a strictly financial standpoint, Ms. Sekhri said, "Given the amount of money that the United States spends on health, there is no reason why it should not be able to provide a very good system of universal health coverage.""

Part of the problem, besides widespread denial among GOPer voters who don't believe that Bushies positions could possibly be as extreme as they in fact are, involves companies and universities dealing in big bucks who don't want to make political waves.
The New York Times > Business > Business Special > The Disparate Consensus on Health Care for All

Evolution
by Theron Dash

It's in the news again---a high school south of Harrisburg, PA must teach "intelligent design" along with Darwinian evolution. Evolution texts in Georgia now carry a warning label. Polls are quoted showing that 45% (or is it 55%) of Americans believe God created man in his present form, no evolution needed, thank you very much, the Bible told me so.

As you know, Charles Darwin, a card-carrying secular humanist who speaks with an affected English accent, invented his "theory" of evolution in 1957, which was just before the 60s, and we all know what happened then.

It's a known fact that J. Edgar Hoover had exposed him as an atheistic Communist, but the Kennedys hid him in their compound until Hoover died. It was during the Clinton administration that his theory was forced into textbooks across America, as part of the scheme hatched at a meeting of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, held in Iran by Yassar Arafat.

Darwin, who lives in Hollywood now but is so afraid of the truth that he has refused to be a guest on Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly, says that humans descended from apes billions of years ago, and that the Divine Word of God is just a myth. Or maybe that last part was Joseph Campbell, in a meeting with Darwin on the Bill Moyers show.

When God created the world six thousand years ago, he showed forth his goodness and his devilish sense of humor, strike that, his godly sense of humor, by burying old bones and rocks that appeared to the ungodly to be millions and billions of years old, as if anybody could count that high. Same thing with this DNA, which is a liberal plot to spring killers from prison so they can start a race war.

Well, we've decided that even after they are born our children are worth some sort of attention, so we're going to see that they learn the facts as the Bible teaches and not the theories of some twisted foreigner, who secretly laughs at us and thinks we're ignorant because we don't speak with phony English accents.

Now everybody knows that once we are teaching God's word in biology class, no kid is going to pay much attention to those theories---what high school kid is going to pay attention to stuff he doesn't have to?

So our kids may never get the chance to be doctors or archeologists, anthropologists or geologists, biologists of any kind, or astronomers, historians or any of that stuff, which just suits us fine thank you very much, who needs kids who think they're better than you, looking down their noses at their own parents and church, who do they think they are? Besides, the Wal-Mart is always hiring.

John Kerry at the funeral of Lance Corporal Dimitrious Gavriel of Haverhill, MA yesterday George Bush has not attended a single funeral of an American soldier killed in Iraq.

Kerry On

After having dissed a post on Daily Kos earlier, we were surprised and moved when we found this one tonight. A diary that simply reproduced a photograph of John Kerry (and Ted Kennedy) attending the funeral of a Massachusetts soldier killed in Iraq, became a series of emotional tributes from people who expressed not only their admiration for Kerry's presence (whereas Bush hasn't attended a single funeral for a soldier killed in his Bushwar ), but admiration and affection for John Kerry himself.

It was surprising in light of the revisionism and understandable anguish that results in blaming after an apparently lost election. But a month later, there is still a lot of emotion, and a surprising amount of it expressed here indicates feelings that run contrary to the media portrayal of Kerry as a cold fish who people only voted for because they were voting against Bush. These comments strike us as both healing and resolute. This is one of the most remarkable threads we've ever seen on the Internet.

Daily Kos :: This is what John Kerry did today:

the Blue States bumper sticker 

To Die For

A Washington Post story describes a study by three British scientists based on two computer models that concludes with 90% certainty that human activity has at least doubled, and perhaps quadrupled the likelihood of summer heat waves such as the one that killed 35,000 in Europe in 2003. By the 2040s, half of Europe's summers are likely to be as hot as 2003.

Humans May Double the Risk of Heat Waves (washingtonpost.com)

New Scientist mentions this study in a story about the first court tests of whether a company can be successfully sued for contributing to global heating. It's still up in the air, so to speak.

What's working in Washington?

Over at kos, they're dissing John Kerry for contributing $200,000 to the recount in Washington for the governor's race, while Howard Dean went directly to the people with an appeal for funds. That's old politics v. new politics, apparently.

Well, according to this Seattle newspaper report, Kerry's $200,000 is all they've got so far, and they are stil 500 grand short. "John Kerry really came to our rescue," said the state Dem chair. Same can't yet be said for the new politics.


Kerry backs recount effort in governor's race

Ohio Update

The latest on the Ohio recount, and the GOPer state stonewalling:
Stolen Election 2004: Thursday update

This blog maintains that the recount has until the vote is validated in the U.S. Congress in early January to change the outcome. Kerry lawyers are on it. Another report says that so far, with provisional ballots counted, the outcome remains the same. The Ohio vote is to be reported officially on Monday, and then the official recount begins.

A Month Past Hope: One Last Long Rant and Let's Get Going
By Phineas Dash

It's been a month now since election day. As I turned over the calendar page on the first of December, I remembered turning the page to November with hope and excitement. Tonight I want to put together my current conclusions derived from the campaign and what we've learned in the past month about what may have happened. My purpose is to clear my own mental and emotional air, and maybe help you clear yours, with the main object being the next steps towards the future.

The future may well see the 2004 election, and because GW Bush was returned to office, even more the 2000 election, as the nation's last opportunities to avoid the disasters to come, or at least to mitigate the pain of them. When all is said and done, those disasters could be greater than any of the horrors of the 20th century.

The U.S. may never recover, nor western civilization, nor perhaps, by the end of this century, humanity itself, and life on this planet as we know it. By then, the most notable failures will likely be the failure to confront global heating in time, or to adapt energy and natural resources policy in a timely and intelligent way. But there could be plenty of suffering before then, from the falling dominoes of wars, to economic hardship, the spread of poverty, unnecessary pain and death from untreated diseases and injuries, to growing political oppression and ignorance. And of course, this election ensures that the U.S. will continue to deal out these fates in other nations this very year, this very moment.

But if historians exist in 50 years, they will probably judge 2000 as the more significant, and the failure of the Democratic candidacy as the greater. Al Gore was the vice-president to a popular two-term president who left the country at peace, in prosperity, with huge federal budget surpluses projected into the future. The odds were in Gore's favor. History will probably also know that Gore won the election, but not by much. Not by enough. GW Bush took office, which was the fatal moment.

Now for 2004.

By one point of view, John Kerry had everything going for him, so it's hard to imagine how he would lose. The left was united and energized against Bush in 04, as it had not been in 2000. Bush had approval ratings hovering near 50%, which in the past correlated with an incumbent's defeat. He had started a war that was increasingly unpopular, created massive federal deficits, and was subjected to months of attacks by highly placed renegades from within his administration, as well as from the opposition. In the midst of the campaign, the Iraqi prison abuse scandal broke. He was a draft avoider running against a war hero. The leaders of most American allies, and most of the world's people, loathed him. His vice-president was a polarizing figure, as were several members of his administration. The economy was sluggishly lurching away from a recession, with spots of high unemployment in battleground states. Nearly every important newspaper in the nation, in the world for that matter, was against his re-election.

But from another point of view, it is hard to imagine how anyone could defeat Bush. Bush was president during time of war---in a palpable way, of two wars: the war on terror, begun with the first successful attack on mainland America since the War of 1812; and the war in Iraq, where American soldiers were dying daily. Fear and patriotism don't encourage change. Though the economy wasn't strong, consumers were still spending. He had the support of the wealthiest corporations, and had proven to them that their support would yield direct benefits. He was the incumbent, with an administration set up from its first days to win the next election. His opponent would have to invent a campaign structure in a few weeks. He controlled the leadership of his party, the governments of key states, and his minions were virulent extremists who would stop at nothing to win.

Analyzed from outside, it seems the Kerry campaign developed a set of strategies designed to win a close election. Since Bush's greatest apparent strength in issues terms was on the war on terror, and as Commander in Chief, the first task was to convince Americans to see Kerry as a Commander in Chief and protector of America. That was the imagery through the Democratic convention. Then the argument could be made on Kerry's stronger issues, including Iraq but mostly on the economy, jobs, and especially on health care. Along the way, the environment and energy could be woven into the economic and social justice themes. And of course it all had to be adapted to events and circumstances.

The campaign was hurt by the flip-flop charge, and then again by the Swift Boat liars, both aided and abetted by poor media reporting. But such attacks were expected, and the strategy was to finish strong. Kerry did, winning all three of the debates with Bush (which Gore managed to lose). The polls indicated that he had neutralized the flip-flop and Swift Boat charges, he drew even in the horserace and got his numbers up on leadership and the other essentials. By election day Kerry seemed to have momentum, despite the Osama tape. The strategy almost worked, or perhaps it did work and the election was stolen.

All this is important to remember because even a month later, the distortions have started that will become the official history. Bush may go around saying that it was at some pancake breakfast in September that he knew he was going to win, but there was also a reports that, as of 3 in the afternoon of election day, he was told he was going to lose in a landslide. Nobody knew anything for certain, and arguments on the roads not taken are all theoretical. Karl Rove is now a genius, but a switch of seventy thousand votes in Ohio would have made him a has-been. And if the election is actually investigated, he may yet wind up in a suit with stripes wider than pins. G. Gordon Liddy didn't think it could happen to him, either.

The campaign didn't always work smoothly, but it was a work in progress, as are all campaigns by challengers. The arguments about strategy will probably center on the response to the Swift Boat attacks in August, and that's a legitimate question. Others argued at the time, and will argue again, that liberating the antiwar sentiment at the convention could have galvanized support. I personally believe that much more could have been made of the Iraqi prison scandals: their revelation coincided with the first bumps Kerry got and the beginning of Bush's slide in the poll questions. There will be tactical arguments, and debate over moments in which Kerry screwed up. Had he won, there would be many more moments highlighted in which he performed very well, including moments when he was inspirational, funny and trenchant.

But all that is hindsight. Choices had to be made at the time, and they were made honorably. They could have worked, and either they almost did or they did work, and we were cheated. The strategy wasn't dishonorable, and the goal was worth it. Getting rid of the Bush administration was worth it. Even beyond that, John Kerry could well have been a great president. There was a stealth revolutionary quality to some of his proposals. What he said about an alternative energy economy is revolutionary. And unfortunately, health care as a right is still a revolutionary position in this country. Whether any president could undo or quickly recover from what Bush has done is an open question. And four years from now may not be too late for the change in direction that America needs, and the world needs America to make. But I will not let my disappointment, even my moments of despair, force me into self-indulgent blame, especially in personal terms. John Kerry fought bravely and well. So did the rest of us.

from now to 2008

While sound analysis is helpful, I make no recriminations whatever. (I'm not really dissing Al Gore, either. He would have made a fine president, and we wouldn't be in Iraq or so hopelessly in debt now.) That doesn't imply that the 2004 campaign, meant to end an incumbent's ruinous rule, should be replicated for 2008, when there will be no incumbent running. We can learn lessons from this campaign for the future, but let's keep our eye on that future, not on blame and attacks just because they might distract us from our pain and fear.

Four years is a very long time now, and so much is likely to happen that meaningful talk about the next presidential election is impossible, and handicapping a candidate is just a game. I believe we need to be doing two things: first, act now. Second, think anew for future elections.

These can be done more or less simultaneously, and they will nourish and form each other. Act now means: a relentless peace and protest movement. Continual focus on this immoral war, as a moral issue as well as a political issue. And committed action on investigating the 04 election and reforming the election system. It means an environmental movement that gets some focus and some intent.

At least according to one report I heard, that famous 40% that voted on moral issues was largely made up of Democrats who voted for Kerry because they saw the war in Iraq as a moral issue. Whether or not that statistic is credible at all, if the other side wants to talk about morality, I say bring it on.

Let's ask what kind of a country do we really want to be. Does Guantanamo really represent us? Is trading American children exposed to Afghani heroin so a few Taliban are chased into Pakistan---is that our American values at work? If this election showed that Americans are much more afraid of change because of terrorism than we believed possible, then let's deal with that fear. Let's not pretend we all understand it, because once it's really exposed, it's not very credible.

We also need to do what many on the political blogs advocate, which is to rethink and re-feel what the Democratic party and the progressive movement should make their main concerns. Let's take a different look at our common dreams and our principles, and see how one applies to the other. Let's open the borders of our political thought. Let's look at not just typical issues, but at different scales that relate to how people live their lives. Instead of talking first about jobs, let's talk about work. What do Americans want from their work? What does work mean to them, and to their lives?

We have the tools to do this as never before, and this is one of them. The Internet links us, inside the Beltway to the outer limits. We'd better use it while we can, because it's something else we dare not take for granted with this administration in power.

The discussion can include those who know strategy, those who ask good questions, and those who begin to explore and form ideas. It doesn't seem especially helpful to spend time figuring out which political tradition or ideological label the party or movement should follow. Let's look at the needs, the realities of now, for people and the planet, with the core assumptions traditionally associated with Democratic Party through leaders like JFK and RFK: that there are appropriate roles for a private and a public sector; that the public sector promotes the general welfare, regulates the private sector to the ultimate benefit of all, protects the rights of all but especially the less powerful, and helps those in need that the private sector cannot or will not help, for the ultimate benefit of all.

And perhaps it is time for Democrats and progressives to recognize again that Americans look to the president for leadership that goes beyond the political. Our leaders can help state the common dreams, the barriers and the solutions, without necessarily offering a solution totally dependent on government. Fairness and compassion aren't just political slogans; they are basic elements of human society, and as inbred as any other, because they help us survive. They don't always dominate, but they are always present. The kind of society that survives is a decent society, that shares the wealth, rewards innovation and artistry, nurtures and educates the young, takes care of the sick and the old, protects the whole, considers the future in every major action, and believes in a mystery larger than humankind. The societies that have survived the longest lived this way, to a greater or lesser degree. And even they needed renewal from time to time.

There are deep differences in this country, perhaps deeper than we thought. The most extreme, those lost in their shadows, or captives of the rush of their illusory power, those with vested economic and psychological interests in the Rabid Right, those whose souls are bought, may be beyond persuasion. But some of those who will never agree on the name of God or the origin of species, and some of those who find shelter in denial, may find enough common ground to actually have a political life again, rather than phantom wars that one side wins, while a smaller number of the losers become paid insurgents, and the rest of us go off bewildered to hide as long as we can.

"Is the Wal-Mart Empire crumbling?" Check out Shopopolis.

Kerry Joins Ohio Recount Fight

John Kerry's campaign legal team filed papers in an Ohio court to join the Green and Libertarian demand for a statewide recount. This is apparently significant enough to be reported in the Washington Post. (Guess it's not the recount that "nobody wants" anymore.)

Kerry Team Seeks to Join Fight To Get Ohio County to Recount (washingtonpost.com)

Is this what Jesus wants? Radiation, napalm and torture

There is so much that's deeply immoral about the Iraqnam Bushwar that it's difficult to know where to start. Apart from the underlying outrage, the destruction of the country resulting in daily suffering only made worse by Bush's favorite profiteers and their venal incompetence at "reconstruction," the destruction specifically of medical facilities, and on and on... there are the weapons. The use of depleted uranium is documented, which is nothing less than stealth nuclear war, subjecting that land and its people to radiation essentially forever. Now charges are surfacing of the use of napalm, specifically in Fallujah. It's becoming a political issue in Great Britian, raised on the floor of the House of Commons.

Then there is the continuing story of torture and abuse as policy. The following is from today's New York Times, with a link to the full story. The "charge" referred to is of practices amounting to torture at Guantanamo. This is our Christian government's response:

A report in The New York Times on Tuesday said the International Committee of the Red Cross made the charges after a visit in June by a team of relief workers that included medical personnel. A memorandum based on the report and obtained by The Times said the Red Cross believed that doctors and other medical personnel at Guantánamo were assisting in the planning of interrogations in what was described as "a flagrant violation of medical ethics."

The Pentagon on Tuesday denied that its forces at Guantánamo engaged in torture and said the detainees there, who now number about 550, were treated humanely.

Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a news conference in Indianapolis on Tuesday, dismissed accusations that the tactics amounted to torture.

"We certainly don't think it's torture," General Myers said before delivering a speech to the Economic Club of Indianapolis, according to the Web site of The Indianapolis Star. "Let's not forget the kind of people we have down there," he said. "These are the people that don't know any moral values."

The New York Times > Washington > Red Cross President Plans Visit to Washington on Question of Detainees' Treatment

Investigate the Vote

We asked where moveon.org has been on the voting scandal---here is their online petition calling for Congress to investigate the integrity of the voting process in the 04 election.

MoveOn.org: Investigate the Vote

Two Conclusions, Election at Stake

The Democratic Underground blog has been home to several challenges, mostly on statistical grounds, to the 04 election. In this one, a Miami Herald "recount" of a few counties concluded the election returns were accurate in giving Bush the win. But the small deviations in the recounts in each case were always in favor of Kerry, and this is generally the national pattern in deviations from exit polls. Further, this poster concludes that these small numbers add up big statewide, and actually indicate that Kerry won Florida with an additional 600,000 votes.

This link is to the blog, which also links to the original story.

Democratic Underground Forums - Miami Herald article shows that Kerry may have won Florida!

Who is No One?

On Friday's PBS Conventional Wisdom Show, otherwise known as Washington Week in Review, an establishment reporter mentioned the pending Ohio vote recount "which no one wants."

Who is this no one? Not voters, apparently, who are behind these efforts. Here's one of the few press reports on recent events:
Skepticism spawns broad effort to push voting reform

If the electronic voting machines in East Timor or Bangladesh were all owned and their codes controlled by announced political partisans of one candidate, and most of the deviations from exit polls favored that candidate, and nearly all the other "irregularities" potentially did as well, what would they be saying on Washington Week?

But maybe that is the Beltway view. No one must mean the Democratic Party--sure it's officially leaderless, with the DNC chair gone, the Senate leader gone--but somebody is going to have to step up to the plate. John Kerry issued a strong statement, and one hopes things are going on behind the scenes, but again, it's going to have to go public soon. Where's move on. org? After this week or next week it may be too late.


As somebody on a blog discussing this noted, the outcome of 2000 was accepted in the belief that in 4 years the system would be reformed so every vote counts, and no non-votes do. It didn't happen. So it's crucial to turn up the heat now, not only for this election, but for any that might mean something in the future, if any.

Whatever Happened to Willie Horton?

While the experts and pundits are still sorting out how important the so-called cultural/moral issues were to the 2004 election outcome, there was one traditional issue of this ilk that was conspicuously missing.

There was abortion, homosexuals, gun control, but...not capital punishment. In fact, there was no "soft on crime" rhetoric, and apparently no penalty exacted on John Kerry for being an opponent of capital punishment.

From the early 1980s until this election, the conventional wisdom was that nobody could win the presidency, or even be nominated, who didn't support capital punishment. King George I and Lee Atwater's most successful smear on Michael Dukakis was "soft on crime," notably with the now-notorious Willie Horton ad. Even in 1992, Governor Bill Clinton had to run back from the primary trail to Arkansas to preside over the execution of an allegedly less than all-there condemned man, or kiss the nomination and election goodbye.

But this year, the subject of crime barely came up. You could say it was because terrorism trumped it as a domestic safety issue, and that's revealingly true, because these issues are more about fear than real risk. But when Kerry announced he was against the death penalty, it didn't seem to raise an eyebrow anywhere.

Could it be that after two decades of bloodthirsty rhetoric and increasingly harsh sentences, and a couple of years of people leaving death row when their innocence was proven, that this issue has run its course? Or is in the declining crime rates, predicted by those who looked at age demographics, and cities that are perceived to be much less dangerous than in the 1980s?

An interesting set of questions...

Good Morning, Iraqnam!

Fifteen political groups in Iraq calling for a six month postponement of January 30 elections (see this story for details:) The New York Times > International > Middle East > 15 Iraqi Political Groups Call for Delaying Elections joins other tragic happenings and portents, as reality rapidly catches up to the fundamental folly of Iraqnam.

Having turned Fallujah into the rubble of a vast charnel house, the U.S. military is reportedly about to request a few thousand more combat troops be sent to Iraqnam. Insurgencies continue to reap havoc in other cities, including Baghdad, and the country remains in chaos. The U.S. appears no closer to success in its Iraqification policy process.

Meanwhile, thanks to the Bushwar costs and the extravagant tax giveaway to the obscenely wealthy and the resulting titanic deficits, the U.S. dollar is falling, taking with it the Bush Empire, even before the Emperor is re-crowned.

Let the last word for now be given to someone who is there, the author of the blog Baghdad Burning, which remains an excellent, heart-breaking, direct source for what's happening there. Her November 4 post reads:
To the red states (and those who voted for Bush): You deserve no better- I couldn't wish worse on you if I tried. He represents you perfectly... and red really is your color. It's the color of the blood of thousands of Iraqis and by the time this four-year catastrophe in the White House is over, thousands of Americans, likely. To the blue states (and those who were thinking when they voted): Condolences. Good luck- you'll need it.

What if?

What if Osama had targeted CIA headquarters? He might have crippled American intelligence- gathering capability for years!

Turns out he didn't have to. Bush is doing it for him.

Two more of the most respected CIA officials have quit because of Bushie political meddling. It wasn't enough that the agency took the hit for the Bush administrations own reprehensible and fatal bumbling that left America unprepared for September 11. They have to continue to, so the Bushies can keep their PR presidency going. Just another attack on America brought to you by Fascism Lite.
Guardian Unlimited Special reports Two more top spies quit troubled CIA

Slipping Away

Commenting on the toothless statement issued by nations concerned with rampant Arctic melting, in deference to the Bushies superstitious belief that global heating isn't happening (more like deference to oil company contributors), Kevin Knobloch, president of Union of Concerned Scientists said, it is "irresponsible in the extreme for the United States not to commmit to an aggressive campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions" in light of the recent scientific findings and the prospect that American companies could reap profits by selling energy-efficient products in overseas markets," according to this Boston Globe story.
Boston.com / News / World / Europe / Arctic nations agree to fight glacial melting


What explains it except denial married to an apocalyptic death wish. Welcome to the moral administration, which will be responsible for the greatest moral crime in human history, the murder of the planet and life as we know it.

Investigate the Vote

At the request of several Democratic Members of Congress, the Government Office of Accounting will investigate the 2004 vote.

As the AP story below says, the GAO has no enforcement powers. But it's a start.

Yahoo! News - GAO to Investigate Voting Irregularies

However, a judge in Ohio has denied a recount before the totals there are official on December 6. Bush led unofficially by only 125,000 votes.

At the moment it looks as if any real efforts will drag on well past the time that would make any difference for the quite possibly stolen 2004 election. The powers that be are much more interested in investigating the Ukraine's election, since the outcome there was not to their liking.

News Cycle

How can we be surprised that the major media aren't covering the voting "irregularities" story? As Eric Alterman wrote in The Nation in late October, "I could not have imagined more irresponsible coverage than the 'Gore's a liar, Bush is a dope'-athon to which we were treated in 2000. But given that most of the mainstream media have been performing like trained seals in a Karl Rove-produced traveling circus, Sam and Cokie's giggling about an Al Gore grimace on This Week four years ago would be the equivalent of Pericles' funeral oration today."

I remember all the soul-searching after 2000 when big media stars mournfully admitted that they'd done an unaccountably poor job covering the 2000 campaign. That followed all the soul-searching after the Ken Starr frenzy, even as far back as the 1988 campaign when the press was flummoxed by the Willy Horton horror show.

"We need to do a better job" they said after 2000. And in 2004 they didn't. They did a worse job. They allowed themselves to be swallowed whole by the Swift Boat Liars and the Rabid Right inflation of the CBS gaffe. They were apparently unable to ask themselves a simple question: which is more important: that CBS was gullible, or that the entire Bush administration lied about Iraq, resulting in more than a hundred thousand deaths, some 400,000 Iraqi children suffering from malnutrition, and the world's tallest mountain of debt, which will likely mean more poverty for the elderly and higher taxes for the unborn?

The big news of 2004 in "the news business" was the rise of the blogs. Not that the media could even get this story right. Finding that they couldn't ignore it, they covered a few of its more prominent practitioners. That's the standard Act I: The Rising Star. We're getting intimations of Act II:The Star Falls in some dark hints that the blogs are overdoing the vote "irregularities" story and when it doesn't pan out, people will stop paying attention to the blogs. If that doesn't work, maybe pretty soon we'll be learning that Josh Marshall is a drug addicted paid agent of the French, and kos is really the Unabomber.

I ran into a local media guy today. Like all media people, he spent most of the conversation complaining about the media, especially management. TV reporters want you to know that it's not their fault they're superficial. I asked him about bloggers and he gave the standard answer about the Internet information: that there are no editors, no gatekeepers, like there are in "professional" media.

The beauty as well as the bane of the Internet is that anybody can say anything. But 2004 has shown that in the political blososphere at least, gatekeeping can be a group process. The bigger political blogs are the focal point for the self-editing of the blogosphere. But more to the point---and more embarrassing--- there's the remarkable phenomenon of bloggers as gatekeepers for the professional media.

There are plenty of weaknesses in the blogosphere. There will be lessons ahead on the perils of celebrity, the bandwagon effect, emotions overriding judgment, and the dangers of speed over substance. But the contrast with major media is striking. The blogs in 2004 were skeptical while the pros were cynical. The blogs were enthusiastic while the pros were gullible. But the blogs thought about what was important, while the pros thought about what would maintain their professional, personal and corporate power. The blogs judged stories by context, while the pros ignored context and cared only about not losing audience to the competition. Sure, the blogs have points of view, but they are liberated by advocacy to tell the facts before evaluating them.

In his next column, Alterman discussed the confessions of the Big Three network anchors that both in the newsroom but mostly in corporate offices, coverage was being affected by the blizzards of emails the Rabid Right sent them if they were displeased. The blogs tried to organize and prod a counter-response this year, which might help take the pressure off the newspeople who want to do the right thing. Those million dollar salaries notwithstanding, it's the lesser paid people who would suffer more from corporate wrath. Still, there's only so much room, or time, for sympathy. It's probably not coincidence that Rather is joining Brokaw in retiring.

But it was cable news rather than the networks that drove coverage in 2004. With a few exceptions,when it comes to professional media, cable news represents the dregs. Never have so many embarrassed themselves so openly in a frenzy to attract so few. They are all about celebrity and advertising. The paid advertising is negligible, so mostly they advertise themselves (or on MSNBC, the "parent" network.) Is that Tim Russert on the Brian Williams show, or Brian Williams on the Chris Matthews show? If you watch CNN for a few hours, you'll see the host of every show interviewing the host of every other show coming up. This is because the function of a news channel is to create celebrities, for as we all know, viewers will only watch celebrities.

Where are the gatekeepers on cable news? With few exceptions, there are none. The words that come out of Chris Matthews' mouth had no prior existence. He says the first thing that occurs to him.

CNN and MSNBC are dying for the audience of Fox News. Last year CNN tried to recapture its former glory by out gung-hoing Fox in Iraq. They sobered up a little this year, but let their Gallup Polls be their guide. MSNBC assembled an utterly laughable panel to comment on the presidential campaign. Apparently Fox and CNN had soaked up all the Rabid Right celebrity commentators, so Matthews had to scoop up lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who continued advocating for his client the Bush administration, and actor Ron Silver, apparently the only first, second or third-rate Hollywood celebrity he could find who was for Bush.

As for Fox, what is there to say? One paragraph from the aforementioned Alterman column says it all: "When the New York Times ran its May 26 admission that it gullibly swallowed the Bush Administration's deception about Iraq's nuclear weapons program," it was reported 38 times in US newspapers and wire reports, and 7 times on cable news in the next 48 hours---except for Fox, which totally ignored it. But Fox was all over the one phony document that CBS cited in its otherwise factual report on GW Bush's dishonorable National Guard non-service, including coverage on every single Fox News program in the 48 hours after CBS admitted its error. It was also reported 57 times on other cable news, and 167 times in print.

There's plenty to say about media that's controlled by a few corporations, and news celebrities who are more than a little cozy with the more powerful of the people they cover. There's plenty to be disappointed about in the sycophantic tendencies of overpaid and merely well-paid media celebrities, managers and reporters. But the worst of it is the aid and comfort it all gives to the enemies of not only the political opposition, but of the news profession.

The base standard of the news profession is fact. But the people they are pandering to now don't care about fact, let alone truth. For there are reporters literally risking their lives to report from the blistered cities of Iraq and the refugee camps of the Sudan. There are news professionals risking their careers on reporting stories they feel are worth that risk.

But what happens when one NBC camera documents a U.S. Marine shooting an unarmed, injured Iraqi? There are Rabid Right blogs that have literally called for the reporter-cameraman's death. A Republican member of the U.S. Congress suggests that this report is reason to stop the practice of embedding reporters in the war zone altogether.

This of course is in the context of a sensationally underreported war. The combination of tight government control, the nearly universal cutbacks in overseas reporting by U.S. media, and U.S. media timidity in reporting possible unpleasantness, has left the vast majority of Americans pretty clueless about what's going on there. They see lots of shooting and explosions, so they can work out for themselves that people must be getting blown up and shot. But they don't see bodies, especially of Iraqi civilians. The media don't even question their own lack of information about wounded Americans or Iraqi casualties.

If the Rabid Right are upset by seeing something that an NBC cameraman stumbled onto, they would really be apoplectic after a few minutes of reporting from Fallujah by the independent journalist featured on Democracy Now radio and TV. He spoke of the stench in the streets of Fallujah, of rotting bodies, of rotting childrens' bodies, left there for days.

There's a lot to work out about how to cover news when there is so much of it, pouring out of so many megaphones, all the time. But it's no use pretending this is the major problem. The sad conundrum of professional news is they're desperately anxious to please people who have nothing but contempt for what news professionals would like to believe they still do.

Maybe the wattage of too many smiles is a lot higher than of their brains. They just aren't equipped to do a better job. The skills of reporting and thinking are less important than of talking while somebody is talking to you in your earpiece. And maybe the pressure, or the opportunity, of gaining readers and power through celebrity is too tempting in print journalism as well.

Journalists like to think that they are essential for our democracy, and they are, but it only works if they have the integrity to do what they say they do: report the facts and exercise judgment. Maybe they think that because we just had an election, democracy is working. And maybe that's why they don't want to hear about people in power who may very well have taken an ax to the integrity of the vote.
---Theron Dash

The Moral Compass

RED STATES

Moral on: Sex, capitalism
Amoral about: politics
What's considered immoral: not being Christian and Republican (i.e. "not sharing our values.")

BLUE STATES

Moral on: equality, individual rights, political process
Amoral about: sex, religion
What's considered immoral: unjustified war, institutionalized prejudice, bad taste.

Why Count the Vote 2004

The various recount and other efforts underway, the efforts that might be mounted, and the calls for investigations into voting irregularities, don't need much justification. If fraud and suppression happened, and we have no doubt the GOPers engaged in both, these crimes against democracy must be exposed. That doesn't guarantee it won't happen again, but unless these efforts and techniques are exposed, they most certainly will be used again, starting with the next election.

But what about this 2004 election? Some argue that the votes that might be recovered won't be enough to change the outcome. But the above argument then pertains: do it for next time, show that people are serious about this.

Others argue that even if there are just enough votes to give Kerry a narrow electoral vote victory, Bush's popular vote majority would cripple a Kerry presidency so badly that it wouldn't be worth it to win.

But Bush's own 2000 selection as President belies that argument, even if you eliminate from consideration the 9-11 moment that transformed his presidency.

Suppose by some improbable series of events, enough votes appeared in Ohio to give Kerry a narrow electoral college victory before the election of Bush becomes official. Suppose nothing else changes, and President Kerry was inaugurated with both houses of Congress firmly GOPer, and Bush retaining a smaller popular vote plurality.

Of course there would be contention, and Kerry would face a hostile Congress and a divided electorate. But he would have one overwhelming advantage. He would be President of the United States. Congress would have to react to him. It would be up to Kerry to realistically push for the most important legislation, and to introduce and fight for legislation that at least would provoke a public political debate, even if it had little chance of being passed by this Congress. Another House and a third of the Senate is elected in two years.

Kerry would find the sources of his power in how he handled the presidency. Our European allies would embrace him and lend their support in the world, so he could reach out to countries in the Middle East. He would use his personal diplomatic knowledge and skills, with the power of the presidency supporting him, to change the calculus for Iraq and our other pressing international problems. With his support of science and technology and understanding of their economic role, he would change the international economic relationship of the U.S.

Kerry would appoint a new cabinet, which in itself would change government and its relationship to corporate special interests. Once Bobby Kennedy Jr. at EPA starts making headlines, the media and the political opposition will have to deal with those issues openly, with their feet kept firmly in the fire by the bloggers and hopefully by environmental organizations that have learned they can’t go to sleep when a Democrat is in office.

And even a politically handicapped President Kerry would be the one appointing Supreme Court justices. The fights would be ugly, and the best candidates might not get in, but neither would the kind of justices and judges we're apt to get from Bush in the next four years.

So we don't buy that the presidency isn't worth winning in this unusual way. It worked for Bush. The Rabid Right would probably be more ferocious and certainly more underhanded in its frenzy to cripple the Kerry presidency, than the opposition to Bush was, but it would still be worth it. It was always a reason that Kerry was the right candidate. He's taken fire before. He can handle it.

Then Kerry would have what we believe gave Bush his principal advantage: four years to make his case, and the power of incumbency in a time of danger. Kerry had a few months, maybe a few weeks of the national attention, which is not very thorough in the short run. And even so, Kerry was gaining in the last months, the last weeks, days and hours. That's one reason repeating the same message over and over works. Apart from giving the groupfeel faithful their talking points, it's a substitute for thought and careful attention for overburdened people trying to limit the time they devote to politics to scanning headlines. Once the electorate got to know President Kerry, and saw what he is about, they could render a better informed verdict in 2008.

We played by the rules in 2000, even if the GOPers cheated in Florida and manipulated the rules with unfair and borderline legal maneuvers in the courts, including the Supreme Court decision making Bush president rendered by Republican partisans with conflicts of interest up the wazoo.

Well, if enough votes exist in Ohio and/or elsewhere exist to make Kerry President, we say do it--- end the immoral war in Iraq as gracefully as possible, prevent the immoral war against Iran now being planned, get America respected in the world again, get a meaningful debate started on a new alternative energy industrial revolution, on global heating, on health care. Things that aren't going to happen with GW in the White House.

Count the Vote 2004

John Kerry' strongly worded support yesterday for efforts to count the votes in the 2004 election may have lacked specifics on what he and his lawyers are going to do, but he's one of the principals involved, so it means something.

This also means something: a statement by the most prestiguous and eldest nonpartisan organization associated with the U.S. electoral process, the League of Women Voters:

"The League of Women Voters is deeply concerned about voting irregularities in the 2004 election. The appropriate officials must fully investigate these concerns through open and public processes. Election officials should look into problems quickly and thoroughly and fix what proves to be wrong. Transparency and a willingness to look into potential problems will strengthen voter confidence and ultimately improve our electoral system.
"It is important to ensure that every properly cast ballot is counted and to make improvements for future elections. Attention must be given to inadequate polling place procedures, problematic voting machines, voter registration system failures, casting and counting of provisional ballots, and absentee voting issues. "

Suppress the Vote 2004

Ohio is turning out to be the Florida of 2004, or it would be, except that Florida is also the Florida of 2004. There are all kinds of irregularities at issue in both states as well as other states. In Ohio, it's wrongly counted or uncounted or wrongly discarded punch-card ballots, e-ballot chicanery, provisional ballots, and the list goes on. It includes suppression of votes by various means, many of which are detailed in testimony just taken in Ohio. These are the accounts of real voters describing what they experienced.

The Free Press -- Independent News Media - Campaign 2004

And let us give our own welcome to the blogosphere to our Canadian cousin Lemmuel, and his new blog:

let me be perfectly clear

Thanks to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo for saying hello to us on his prestiguous blog, which also has a lovely anecdote about the Bush twins in New York City:

skippy the bush kangaroo

The Kerry Message

Today John Kerry issued an email and video statement with three strong messages: first, count the votes in this election (indicating that until this is done, the outcome is still not known); second, stay strong and united in the fight against Bush conservative takeover and in support of values; third, on the first day of the next session of Congress, Senator John Kerry will introduce legislation to guarantee health care for all American children. He asks that the people become the cosponsors of this bill, and attaches a petition that will be part of the bill. The link to sign it is:
Protect Every Child

The timing is apt. Just as a trial balloon floats around indicating the Bushies plans to eliminate business deductions for employee health insurance, potentially more devastating than a huge new tax on working people, Kerry has chosen expanding health care as his issue. Though we at American Dash will not benefit directly, and we are among those millions of Americans who lost health insurance on Bush's watch, we fully support this effort, and have already signed up.

Just as heartening is the call to make certain that an honest vote is once again the most sacred element in the American political canon.

"Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all the votes are counted -- and they will be counted -- we will continue to challenge this administration. This is not a time for Democrats to retreat and accommodate extremists on critical principles -- it is a time to stand firm.

'I will fight for a national standard for federal elections that has both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It's unacceptable in the United States that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process. I ask you to join me in this cause.'

'And we must fight not only against George Bush's extreme policies -- we must also uphold our own values. This is why on the first day Congress is in session next year, I will introduce a bill to provide every child in America with health insurance. And, with your help, that legislation will be accompanied by the support of hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Jeb's Job

Gee, you think Jeb got a little rattled when he needed the help of daddy's Supreme Court Justices to deliver his state to his little brother last time? This time, evidence mounts that its more than crayfish smelling up the state of Florida. A Berkeley team says electronic voting discrepancies, all oddly favoring Bush, were very likely intentional. (That is, the chance they are accidental is less than 0.1%) They've called for investigation. I say, call for a damn recount.

Here's the skinny:

Berkeley Media Relations

Governator For Hire

Just as the "Amend for Arnold" movement gets started, to amend the U.S. Constitution so Arnold and other foreign-borns can become President, the San Francisco Chronicle reveals that the Governator, elected as Not a Politician who would sweep away special interest influence (accusing Gray Davis of paying more attention to raising money than to governing) , has been milking those interests for big bucks for his campaign war chest, while bravely supporting everything they want. It's a pretty damning set of opening paragraphs:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after campaigning as a reformer who would cast special interests out of the Capitol, smashed every fund-raising record in his first year in office with a $26.6 million haul that doubled the amount raised by former Gov. Gray Davis in his first year.

The vast majority of the money came from special interests deeply vested in the outcome of legislative and regulatory decisions in Sacramento, including financial companies, auto dealers and manufacturers and health care concerns. In some cases, the governor, who took office a year ago today, has taken positions that benefited his contributors.

For much of the year, Schwarzenegger used a legal loophole to raise sums greater than a state law's $21,200 limit. And in recent weeks, as a deadline approached to close that loophole, Schwarzenegger stepped up his acceptance of those donations, raking in individual contributions as high as $500,000. "

Here's the full story, by Christian Berthelsen:
Governor sets money-raising record / $26.6 million in his first year -- most of it from special interests

The Moral Hypocracy Continued

Thanks to the Blessed Bush's re-kinging, the Right Wing Reverend Tom DeLay enthused, "We're going to be able to lead this country in the direction we've been dreaming of for years. We're going to put God back in the public square."

Well, hallelujah. But on his way to the public square, God might want to stop at Congress and do a little smiting. Seems the House Republicans have hastily revised their rules so that their Leader can still serve even if he or she has been indicted for a crime (although, come on now, we are talking about a very specific he). Like for instance, numerous violations of several laws in connection with redistricting a swath of Texas to make sure that the GOPers held on to their majority in the 04 alleged elections, engineered by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for which indictments are rumored to be forthcoming, naming the Right Wing Reverend himself, Tom DeLay.

So the folks who benefit from DeLay's alleged crimes have voted to make sure there are no consequences for their benefactor. Gimme that old time religion!

And hey, Crusaders, besides total war with Democrats and any judges the GOPers don't control, let's get ready for Iran!

The PR Purge

The next member of the Bush cabinet to resign is rumored to be Tom Ridge, Viceroy of Homeland Security, and at the moment his replacement is expected to be even worse, if that's possible. Many see the trend of "moderate" and outsiders being replaced by Rabid Rightist Bush insiders as a consolidation of power. Sure is, but there's a particular intent to it. Loyalty over substance, Yes Sir over presenting unspun fact and alternatives, that's all part of it, but there is this additional effect of the end of massively bad PR generated by the likes of a Richard Clarke or Paul O'Neill.

So no more high profile books from inside the Bush administration that show him to be fixated on Iraq or essentially silly, wily but thin-skinned, devoid of anything approaching curiosity or a sincerely inquiring mind, and dumb as a Texas fence post. The Secretaries of the cabinet will be more like secretaries, taking dictation from the dictators in the White House, which are apt to be Dickhead Cheney and Darth Rove, while GW looks forward to a second term of more faith-based initiatives and more naps and vacations at the ranch.

They've still got a semi-loose cannon in Rumsfeld, but he's useful to draw fire from the White House, especially as Iraq becomes a definitively bloody nightmare. Besides, all these Bush guys got their start with Nixon or Reagan or Bush the First. It's time to start grooming the next generation of subverters of democracy. A stint in the dubya White House should be very helpful.

Recount in Ohio, Challenge in Florida

Word is that the Green and Libertarian candidates have raised the money necessary for an Ohio recount. The media discussions of voting fraud already ongoing will likely mushroom now, if they are ever going to. Meanwhile, the Black Box Voting inquiry into Florida has begun, and so far it isn't pretty. In fact, it's pretty scary. Here's a blow by blow account:
Democratic Underground Forums - Volusia County election records just got put on lockdown

Extreme... or Cautionary?

We call the Bush regime Fascism Lite, which could be defined as fascism with a smirk. Extreme? Bobby Kennedy Jr. doesn't think so, he's been talking about corporate-government fascism, even like on C-Span. And blogger Orcinus makes a careful case for pseudo-fascism.

This link below is the link to the blog; we don't know how to do site to site transport, but we can get you on the ship. The full argument is cataloged at the October 31, 2004 post. But more recent posts elaborate, telling us what we wearily knew would happen: the rabid right is more extreme than ever: arrogantly intolerant, power-mad and vicious, inspiring new waves of hate crimes.

Orcinus

party favors

We've avoided the usual TV and print pundits because of the inevitable trashing Kerry and his campaign would be taking. Who needs the noise. But it is a somewhat dangerous time for Democrats, and we see it in the ascension of Harry Reid to Senate leader. Reid is a conservative Mormon from Utah, and he's the guy who the Dems will depend on to lead the inevitable fight against Bush Supreme Court nominees. He's not pro-choice. He's a legislative technician and a party loyalist, and that seems to be his perceived value, apart from sheer seniority.

At the same time, John Kerry himself is surprising some observers by not moving to France, and not even taking a day off. He convened congressional "party leaders" for a strategy session. He has to keep the elected Democrats from falling into their usual stupor, quaking that if they don't support Bush they won't get reelected. Apart from the demonstrable fact that unless Tom DeLay happens to redistrict their states, incumbency rules for both parties, there is the matter of backbone and the reality that while soul-searching is always a good thing, and improvement in communicating values and positions and what's at stake would be nice, the task is to keep faith with the base and expand from there. People didn't follow Kerry at considerable cost to themselves because they liked his neckties.

Kerry is said to be backing Tom Vilsack of Iowa for DNC chair, while there is considerable support for Howard Dean. While we'd like to see Dean as a prominent Democratic voice in the next several years, the job would limit his political choices. We're not crazy about Vilsack, so somebody associated with Dean and his Internet campaign could be better. The DNC is mostly fundraising organization at this point, but maybe somebody with creative ideas and a public face can transform the job. That would be Dean most probably.

We're not insider enough to say---we don't really know much about Vilsack except that he seems dull---but a Dem swing to the right would be lethal. We aren't talking about politics as usual. There is way too much at stake. There may be nothing anyone can do but voice their opposition strongly, to halt America's slide into one disaster after another, taking the western world with it. But we've got to do at least that much.

Do it now

"The time is now for voters from all states that used electronic voting machines to request an audit of results and a manual recount of ballots if possible."

The Telegraph Online

Welcome to Fascism Lite, the New Brew From Bush

"With the will of the people at my back," GW Bush began his first press conference after the election (which must have been, what, his fourth or fifth press conferences as president?) Though he owes his apparent election to some hundred thousand possibly stolen votes in Ohio, he's got a mandate, and he's going to rub our noses in it. Why is it a mandate? Like every other "truth" of the Bush administration, because he says so. Repeatedly. Repeat it enough times, it becomes true. That in a nutshell is the Bush Doctrine.

So that's how we're reportedly getting Condi Rice, known incompetent and liar, as Secretary of State. That's how we're getting a politicized CIA, with non-political veteran public servants dropping like flies.

That's why more and more power is being given to Cheney and Darth Rove. (So much for those wimpy calls for Bush to recognize the need for 'unity' by including moderates and even Democrats. Ha ha ha, let's all sing Kumbaya, as the GOPers like to say when anything like working together comes up. )

That why when Iran and the UN announce a deal whereby Iran gives up its nuclear program---seemingly good news for the world---the Bushies are pissed. Now they're going to have to invent another excuse to invade Iran.

That's why they waited until after the election to accelerate the useless slaughter and devastation in Iraq. Where there is martial law until their "election."

It's why the purge is on in Washington, and why they're frantically trying to bury the CIA's independent report naming names for 9-11 mistakes.

Welcome to Fascism Lite, the new brew from Bush.

---Theron Dash

No Powell Wow

Secretary of State Colin Powell has resigned, finally, when it doesn't mean anything. If he's smart he'll lay low for the next three years, cultivate his children charities and stay completely away from foreign policy, lest he commit a slipup. Then he can see if the American public is as amnesiac on Iraq as it seems to be on most everything, and if there is any moderate GOP base left.

Right now it's fair to say that his once promising political career is in shambles. Here's a pretty balanced assessment of his tenure.
World Peace Herald

But we will always remember him as the one man who could have stopped the U.S. from invading Iraq, and he didn't. He continued to disgrace himself by supporting that war and its conduct, leaving him morally compromised, perhaps beyond repair.

Also in the news today, first reports on a man---reportedly Islamic---who set himself on fire in front of the White House. Less publicized was the suicide at Ground Zero in NYC by a man said to be in despair at Bush's apparent re-election. There were probably more such desperate acts that completely escaped national attention.

Among the many scandals involved in this immoral Iraq war is the dishonest reporting of casualities, and the complete blackout on even gathering information on Iraqi deaths and injuries. Again the moral degradation of this administration is matched only by the moral cowardice of the American media.

---Theron Dash

Entering Exit Polls


Those of us who were Kerry supporters and saw the early exit poll data on election day were elated. It confirmed observations and intuitions about the final week and weekend of the campaign. But then we were told we just didn't know how to read exit polls, that
they measured only early voting, and gave a false picture of the voting as a whole.

But now reports are growing that the exit polls were more consistent even later in the day, and that a lot of people were taking them seriously. Bush viceroy Karen Hughes reportedly told Bush that he was going to lose in a landslide. Bush supporter (and former Clinton supporter) politico Dick Morris is on record saying the only possible explanation for the large discrepancy between exit polls and votes registered is fraud on a massive scale.

Now comes this scholarly study that asserts the odds against the exit poll discrepancies with announced results in Ohio, Florida and PA being accidental ware 250 million to one.
t r u t h o u t - Steven F. Freeman | The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy

Many of those now trying to get recounts and start investigations are looking to make sure that if fraud like this occurred, it is stopped before the next election. But thanks in part to the Internet, things are moving so quickly that it is conceivable, though barely, that if massive fraud is found, this election could be overturned before the electoral college officially votes in December, certifying the reelection of GW Bush.

The Moral Hypocracy

There is growing interest in investigating varous forms of voter fraud in the 2004 election. Groups like blackboxvoting.org are starting their own probes (here's their site)
Black Box Voting - Bev Harris - one of the leading groups doing voting machine investigations. A nonpartisan, nonprofit, consumer protection group for elections.

while John Kerry's law team is reportedly looking into allegations, three Members of Congress have called for an investigation, and the Green Party candidate and Libertarian Party candidate have joined together to ask for a recount of Ohio.

Apparently one of the few media outfits following the story is Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. We'll send along links to stories as we come to them.

Morality in Politics

There are a number of interesting pieces on the web concerning morality, religion and national politics. Here is a decent overview from the LA Times; it includes the statistic that although Born Again Christians constitute 38% of the electorate, they made up over 50 percent of the apparent number of alleged voters in this election.

It is probably hard for many people to believe that Born Again Christians are such a large group. We have our doubts as well, and we'll keep our eyes open for skeptical analyses. Still, it's worth considering.

This article also includes figures that show a larger proportion of voters believe the war in Iraq is a moral issue (42%) than same-sex marriage (9%). Too bad they didn't vote that way, apparently.

But this and other pieces indicate that progressives have room to position poverty and greed, for example, as moral issues. That they are moral issues seems transparent, but some are saying that they need to be articulated more clearly and forcefully as moral issues in a coherent unified way.

This does hit on one subject the Dash brothers agreed should have been raised more forcefully in the campaign: the Iraq prison abuses. Not only was that a moral outrage, but it followed directly from this administration's policies and philosophies, and evidenced its general incompetence. It also speaks to the dangers of privatizing conduct of crucial government activity. That is another moral issue: blackening the name of America and of Americans by ceding government responsibilities to favored corporations. The moral issue is responsibility.

Moderates, Liberals Hear Call to Morality Debate

The immoral Bush war on Iraq continues with the demolishing of Fallujah. Among the military targets smashed to bits are hospitals and first aid stations, and a mosque. Washington Post reported that resistance fighters include women and children.
In the meantime, insurgents are taking over other cities. But we've gotten good at this: destroying a country in order to save it.


Poor Tony Blair. He has to endure a press conference question about whether he is Bush's poodle. He delivered his day-after statement on the election in a shaky voice, obviously rattled and dispiritied. He knew that Kerry's defeat meant the end of his political career. This Prime Minister is toast.

The essay on "Change" linked below is a bit moderate for me, but I guess it's worth a look.


BLUE VOICE

---Theron Dash

What if the exit polls were right?

TomPaine.com - Kerry Won. . .

Remember, these are the people who lied about why they went to war in Iraq, then lied about the lies, and then lied about lying about the lies. George Bush was lying in every campaign speech he gave in the final month. These guardians of American morals have shown time and again that they consider politics a morality-free zone, and so anything that is effective in keeping the righteous in power and increasing their ability to force their holy mission on the horrified world is justified. They heap praise on each other for successful character assassination. The support given to the Swift Boat Liars constitute the worst stain on public morality in a generation, and an offense of the worst kind against every VETERAN who ever bled in the belief they were defending their country. So would we really be surprised if it turns out they stole this election outright????

Either America is utterly schizoid---which is entirely possible--or this is more evidence that the election was stolen: a poll showing that by a wide margin Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction under Bush, and that support for Kerry's policies is high.

News Releases

The Stealing of Florida---and the USA---and the World

Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked

The Hispanic Ashcroft

Of Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, White House Counsel and longtime Bush loyalist, Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights says simply,``The road from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib was paved with the memos of Gonzales.''

One fascisistic lawyer replaces another, although this one may be worse because he's smart.

Reward for Hispanics supplying 44% of their vote to Bush, though further analysis will likely show it wasn't the Hispanic vote, it was the Catholic vote. I'm sure we'll see more Abu Ghraib moral values in the future.
---Theron Dash

A Week Later

...and it still stinks. Did we really lose the hearts and minds of the heartland? Are we destined to lose forever as the biggest minority group? Suppose for a minute you accept the numbers on the totals boards as reflecting an actual fair election. Even then, the picture might be different than the ones we've been seeing. For instance, there are different ways to draw that red v. blue map:
Election result maps

But let's not be so quick to accept the numbers. There's still a big smelly stink around here and it's called OHIO. Too few voting machines in Democratic urban areas, so people had to wait in line for 4, 6, 8 and yes, documented 10 hours, and even then they might not get to vote. How many went home. Whereas there were plenty of voting machines in the Republican burbs. And that's just for starters.

Remember, these were Diebold machines, made by the guy who guaranteed that Bush would win Ohio. GUARANTEED IT.

This election was taken from the voters in Ohio, Florida (Jeb Bush did it again) and Texas, where Tom DeLay, the ethically challenged GOP House leader who will be seeing the inside of a jail cell before the next election, engineered a redistricting that guaranteed 5 House seats would move from Democrat to Republican, and they did. They all violated laws, but they're all at least temporarily above the law. The best you can say is that it was successfully stolen, and when you throw in the lies, the stench is everywhere.

No wonder Bush is planning to ring his Inauguration with combat troops and as many cops as he can strip from other cities. Wonder if Karl Rove will teach them to goosestep in time for the parade.

---Theron Dash

Concession Stand

The Dash brothers concede that despite their efforts, the Bush brothers and their evil minion Darth Rove have retained their slimy grip on the Mirror Universe. So we return to our own universe for awhile, except for Gabriel, who has taken refuge in his own alternative universe where the Crosscurrents opened for the Beatles in Pittsburgh 1966, and a winning lottery ticket currently finances the reunion concert of the Basement Peacock Band; and Theron, who is addicted to outrage and so remains hidden somewhere nearby.

For those who insist on silver linings, Chris Bowers offers his politico analysis in "Our New Base" at the blog:

MyDD :: Due Diligence of Politics, Election Forecast & the World Today

We offer a further thought on how the Democrats can become a majority party again.

Once again, a Democratic presidential candidate with superior credentials, intellect, experience and temperament has crashed against a blind red wall. There will be recriminations and second guessing, all self-destructive nonsense. John Kerry was pretty much the best the Democrats have: a war hero, an anti-war hero, former prosecutor and defense attorney, a lieutenant governor and veteran Senator, with experience in foreign policy, a commitment to health, education and jobs for the middle class, and creative ideas on energy and the environment. Others may have different strengths, but they also have weaknesses Kerry doesn't, especially in terms of red states appeal. On balance, the usual suspects---from Howard Dean to John Edwards---aren't significantly better.

Liberal Democrat, New Democrat, progressive--- when it comes to even potential electoral impact, they seem distinctions without a difference. The change isn't going to come from progressive think tanks or liberal talk radio, or even the Internet and the blogosphere, as essential as all those may be to any transformation. To become the majority over the long term, the Democrats will have to rebuild by anticipating the coming American majority. The difference is not ideology or strategy. The Democrats must anticipate the end of the era of white male dominance. And the white men who are now the face of the party must eventually take a secondary role behind the scenes, becoming the mentors, the advisors, the elders. They must advance candidates of color, beginning now.

It's not that something is wrong with these white men, or with what we blithely categorize as white men in general (a category with its own problems to be sure, considering that it supposedly includes the powerful and powerless, gutless warmongers and courageous peacemakers, among other opposites.) Nor are we saying that white males aren't part of the future. They just aren't going to dominate it anymore.

It's become an instant truism that Barack Obama, whose easy election to the Senate from Illinois was virtually the only bright spot on the electoral map, represents the future of the Democratic party. But it's a broader representation than his own personal ascendancy. While that future in terms of running for president may be more than four years away, the party needs to commit to a transformation that makes Obama the template as well as the emerging star.

More people of color, especially reflecting the multiracial character of the emerging America, must be identified, mentored and backed with campaign funds. Party leaders must search the nonprofits and foundations as well as local communities and state governments. And while they prepare this new generation, they must prepare themselves to step aside.

We make this suggestion as more or less white, male Democrats of Kerry's generation. Of course we are far from being party leaders, so we have nothing to lose (or gain) by this suggestion. Still, it feels right that we should be the ones saying it. We believe that John Kerry was the best choice to be President this year. But if someone with his credentials could not defeat an incumbent with so many liabilities, then our generation needs to look to a different future. We may have another election to go (especially if "we" includes a white woman) but the conscious process needs to start now.

This doesn't confront the apparent ideological divide, or even struggle trying to define it. It simply anticipates the future, and thereby changes the game. The nation will soon follow California in having no majority race. Multiracial individuals like Obama and Tiger Woods are everywhere, in red states as well as blue. There are so many nationalities, so many combinations, that different points of view are inevitable, and the resulting mix of political ideas and strategies is unpredictable. But as Obama's speech to the convention this year illustrated, these individuals can find Democratic party values inspiring, and they can assimilate and adapt and express them so they will be attractive to new electorates, creating new coalitions.

If the Democrats aggressively become the voice of this future, they follow their traditional path to a majority party. The traditional Democratic values of equality, fairness, generosity and public service can be energized and redefined through values formed in urban and suburban Asian, African-American and Latino communities, in rural Native American communities, and in hybrids of all kinds everywhere, as well as through contact with the larger culture. There are inherent dangers of race-based politics, which is why the guidance of the most experienced leaders is needed. But the truth is that anyone getting ahead in America also moves laterally, and comes in contact with different people, cultures and communities. The individuals who emerge from this process necessarily have a different point of view that is alive to the times.

This is a natural evolution well underway. But for the sake of its survival as well as its soul, the Democratic party should commit to accelerating that process by recruiting and backing candidates of color for major offices, like the still overwhelmingly white U.S. Senate. Kerry's generation should lead that effort, and while they lead today, they should also be preparing to get out of the way.

Agonizing Reappraisals

It will take time to sort out just what happened. But there's not much that's encouraging. It does look like a record turnout, and it does look like a lot of young people and new voters voted. But the most prophetic book turns out to be "What's the Matter With Kansas?" which asked why so many middle Americans vote against their own interests. That's apparently what happened.

We don't want to believe that this election was lost when the first gay couples kissed and exchanged marriage vows on television. But that is indeed a possibility.

We've heard directly what we knew would be true: The disdain much of the world had for George Bush did not always extend to ordinary Americans or America in general. But now that Bush has apparently been re-elected with a popular vote majority, it will.

Do we say now, I'm from California, or I'm from Pennsylvania? In trying to illustrate the absurdity of European wars, H.G. Wells hypothesized the unthinkable situation of Kentucky going to war against Virginia, since those states are roughly the size of France and Germany. On some level, it is not so clearly absurd anymore.

For political professionals, actual or aspiring, the fight will go on. This election showed at least that there's the financial basis and interest to work for progressive political change. And there will be much work to do, at first in fierce opposition, as Bush moves quickly to enact his program. He may be appointing a Supreme Court justice by the end of the week.

But for those of us who made not a dime from politics or from writing about it, who invested much but got no return, it is a time of reassessment. That includes this future of this little blog. Life is short, and in the Dark Ages, it can be shorter still.

Extra Innings

Ohio has tightened up, perhaps enough that the provisional and disputed ballots will come into play. MsNBC has called Ohio for Bush, the other networks haven't. Kerry has not conceded Ohio or the election.

So what is the issue that dominates---is it Iraq? Is it the economy? Is it terrorism? Early in the evening, exit polls showed the economy and Iraq. But by now in the states going to Bush the prevailing issue was something called Moral Values.

Kerry is still leading in the other states he needs. Kerry is at 211 electoral votes and Bush at 249. 270 needed for the presidency. If Kerry does win these states, and Bush doesn't get to 270, then it is highly likely that Ohio will hinge on the provisional ballots, which will not be counted for 11 days.

Bush may declare victory tonight. But it's unlikely that Kerry will concede tonight, so this may be the last blog entry of the night.

Report now that some voters have stood in line for TEN hours. The last voter in one precinct may not vote until 3 am. Why? Two machines for a big turnout, an obvious attempt to limit voting. This could be contested state whichever way it goes.

Republicans have won enough seats to retain control of the Senate. Will retain control of the House.

Ninth inning

the Red Sox are down and almost out. But not quite. You can win a bunch in a row and take the prize.

Florida looks lost, and networks have given it to Bush. Everything hinges on Ohio. At the moment Kerry is ahead in the other states he needs to win, and the big Ohio Democrat urban vote is coming in. The Cleveland area. Slow vote count in Cinncinatti as well. Both sides are saying they're internal numbers favor them. This is where the election is going to be decided.

Personally I like blowouts. But so much is at stake.

The Moving Wire

Kerry has won Pennsylvania and California, so there are but 9 electoral votes separating the candidates. Florida and Ohio are still out, and they could still be out for days and perhaps a week.

CNN is reporting that the Kerry people believe they will probably lose Florida. The only hope is a last minute surge from South Florida that gets the vote to the point where the early voting and absentee votes will make the difference.

On the other hand, Ohio is still very much in play, but the GOPers are reportedly slowing things down with law suits.

In the blogger vs. cable scenarios for the election, it looks like the cable view is closer to what's happening. Josh Marshall has said flatly on his blog that the youth vote did not materialize. That's very bad news. But statistically there was a large surge of new voters.

The midwestern states are still out, and that's where the Kerry campaign has concentrated over the last weeks. Absent Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan are all crucial to Kerry.

Ten Eastern, Same Old

CNN projects Utah for Bush. Boy that's a tough one. He was only ahead in the polls there by about 45 points. No other states projected. Virtually no swing states have been projected yet.

At ten eastern, the exuberance of earlier in the evening is sinking a bit. But Kerry looks good in New Hampshire and PA, and exit polls still show him ahead in Ohio. The big mystery is Florida, where so far Kerry is running behind exit poll projections. But the big Democratic counties are just starting to report, and nobody is sure if early votes (which seemed to be largely Kerry) and absentees are yet in the vote count. Lots of suspicion that Florida is carefully fixed again this time.

Kerry needs PA and either Ohio or Florida. If he gets two of the three, he still needs most of the midwest. If he gets all three, as looked possible and still may be, he's on his way. Right now the GOPers are winning the spin, hoping to influence in western states where polls are still open. Kerry people haven't been seen for awhile.

The tantalizing element here has been that safe Bush states weren't called for hours, but when they were, they were still safe Bush states.

Carville is saying that Bush needs to win both Ohio and Florida. Kerry needs to win one of them.

Missouri is tighter than expected, which may be good for Kerry---if he unexpectedly picks it up. If he just gets close, not so good because they pulled ads out. Joe Lockhart is talking a good game but doesn't look confident. He sounds either worried or excited. But at least the Kerry case is being made. Democratic counties still not in, in Ohio and Florida. Some of the delay may well be because of the huge turnout. CNN just cut off Lockhart, while they showed Bush watching returns.

Florida: Absentee votes in Broward, Miami-Dade and other counties may not be counted until Thursday. GOPers are gaming the system in Florida and Ohio. But they may only be able to postpone the results. Maybe the idea is to give hope to the western GOPers, where Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico will be close probably.

At 9p

No projections in Midwest and western battleground states. Electoral vote tally is Bush 155, Kerry 112.

Florida not looking real good for Kerry in early count. So far the huge turnouts aren't affecting outcomes, and the Bushies are saying votes are better for them than exit polls suggest.

Update on PA: it's only one precinct in Pittsburgh staying open until 930, to file provisional ballots, according to CNN. It is near University of Pittsburgh---probably my niece Sarah's polling place.

The hope that this wouldn't be a long night is fading.

Breath-holding time

CNN has given Virginia to Bush. These longs waits for Virginia and North Carolina have been indicative, maybe, but we won't really know for awhile. Hopes for early indications from Florida and Ohio, and decision in PA, not coming through. Bush people are claiming that votes from Florida and other states are showing more Bush strength than indicated by exit polls.

But the long lines in Ohio and PA are hopeful. The next big indicator will be the midwest and west, where polls begin closing in a few minutes. But nets have established a pattern of caution so may not be many calls.

Ohio: in Cleveland, absentee ballots show big margin for Kerry but maybe not big enough.
Allegheny County in PA hours extended by hour and a half, contested by GOPer. Several other counties in PA have hours extended.

Litigation in Florida over Miami-Dade not counting absentee ballots.