Democrats Abroad New Zealand
11.28.2004
Hastert Launches a Partisan Policy (WashingtonPost.com)
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 27, 2004; Page A01
In scuttling major intelligence legislation that he, the president and most lawmakers supported, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert last week enunciated a policy in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them, regardless of how many Democrats favor them.
Hastert's position, which is drawing fire from Democrats and some outside groups, is the latest step in a decade-long process of limiting Democrats' influence and running the House virtually as a one-party institution. Republicans earlier barred House Democrats from helping to draft major bills such as the 2003 Medicare revision and this year's intelligence package. Hastert (R-Ill.) now says such bills will reach the House floor, after negotiations with the Senate, only if "the majority of the majority" supports them.
Senators from both parties, leaders of the Sept. 11 commission and others have sharply criticized the policy. The long-debated intelligence bill would now be law, they say, if Hastert and his lieutenants had been humble enough to let a high-profile measure pass with most votes coming from the minority party.
(More ... Hastert Launches a Partisan Policy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:14 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 27, 2004; Page A01
In scuttling major intelligence legislation that he, the president and most lawmakers supported, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert last week enunciated a policy in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them, regardless of how many Democrats favor them.
Hastert's position, which is drawing fire from Democrats and some outside groups, is the latest step in a decade-long process of limiting Democrats' influence and running the House virtually as a one-party institution. Republicans earlier barred House Democrats from helping to draft major bills such as the 2003 Medicare revision and this year's intelligence package. Hastert (R-Ill.) now says such bills will reach the House floor, after negotiations with the Senate, only if "the majority of the majority" supports them.
Senators from both parties, leaders of the Sept. 11 commission and others have sharply criticized the policy. The long-debated intelligence bill would now be law, they say, if Hastert and his lieutenants had been humble enough to let a high-profile measure pass with most votes coming from the minority party.
(More ... Hastert Launches a Partisan Policy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:14 0 comments
GAO to Investigate Election Complaints (CNN.com)
Published: 23 Nov 2004
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Government Accountability Office plans to investigate complaints of several systemic problems with this month's elections, a group of Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday.
The investigation comes in response to two letters written by lawmakers to the GAO which address numerous media reports of irregularities in the 2004 vote and call for those to be reviewed.
The GAO said it will not investigate every charge listed by the Democrats, but will examine "the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines and counting of provisional ballots."
(More ... CNN.com - GAO to investigate election complaints - Nov 24, 2004 ¶ 19:10 0 comments
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Government Accountability Office plans to investigate complaints of several systemic problems with this month's elections, a group of Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday.
The investigation comes in response to two letters written by lawmakers to the GAO which address numerous media reports of irregularities in the 2004 vote and call for those to be reviewed.
The GAO said it will not investigate every charge listed by the Democrats, but will examine "the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines and counting of provisional ballots."
(More ... CNN.com - GAO to investigate election complaints - Nov 24, 2004 ¶ 19:10 0 comments
Vast Borrowing Seen in Altering Social Security (NYTimes.com)
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: November 28, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance President Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to administration officials, members of Congress and independent analysts.
The White House says it has made no decisions about how to pay for establishing the accounts, and among Republicans on Capitol Hill there are divergent opinions about how much borrowing would be prudent at a time when the government is running large budget deficits. Many Democrats say that the costs associated with setting up personal accounts just make Social Security's financial problems worse, and that the United States can scarcely afford to add to its rapidly growing national debt.
But proponents of Mr. Bush's effort to make investment accounts the centerpiece of an overhaul of the retirement system said there were no realistic alternatives to some increases in borrowing, a requirement the White House is beginning to acknowledge.
"The administration hasn't settled on any particular Social Security reform plan," Joshua B. Bolten, the director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, said in an e-mail message in response to questions about overhauling the system.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Vast Borrowing Seen in Altering Social Security) ¶ 19:01 0 comments
Published: November 28, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance President Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to administration officials, members of Congress and independent analysts.
The White House says it has made no decisions about how to pay for establishing the accounts, and among Republicans on Capitol Hill there are divergent opinions about how much borrowing would be prudent at a time when the government is running large budget deficits. Many Democrats say that the costs associated with setting up personal accounts just make Social Security's financial problems worse, and that the United States can scarcely afford to add to its rapidly growing national debt.
But proponents of Mr. Bush's effort to make investment accounts the centerpiece of an overhaul of the retirement system said there were no realistic alternatives to some increases in borrowing, a requirement the White House is beginning to acknowledge.
"The administration hasn't settled on any particular Social Security reform plan," Joshua B. Bolten, the director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, said in an e-mail message in response to questions about overhauling the system.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Vast Borrowing Seen in Altering Social Security) ¶ 19:01 0 comments
'04 Voting: Realignment -- Or a Tilt? (WashingtonPost.com)
Political Parties Look for Answers
By John F. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 28, 2004; Page A01
By any measure, President Bush and his fellow Republicans had a good night on Nov. 2. The question now is whether the election results set the GOP up for a good decade -- or more.
As some partisan operatives and political scientists see it, Bush's reelection victory and simultaneous Republican gains in the House and Senate suggest that an era of divided government and approximate parity between the major parties is giving way to an era of GOP dominance. By this light, the Republican advantage on the most important issues of the day -- the fight against terrorism, most of all -- and the party's uncontested control of the federal government leave it in a position to win long-term loyalty among key voter blocs and craft an enduring majority.
If so, 2004 would qualify as what academics call a "realignment election."
(More ... '04 Voting: Realignment -- Or a Tilt? (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:55 0 comments
By John F. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 28, 2004; Page A01
By any measure, President Bush and his fellow Republicans had a good night on Nov. 2. The question now is whether the election results set the GOP up for a good decade -- or more.
As some partisan operatives and political scientists see it, Bush's reelection victory and simultaneous Republican gains in the House and Senate suggest that an era of divided government and approximate parity between the major parties is giving way to an era of GOP dominance. By this light, the Republican advantage on the most important issues of the day -- the fight against terrorism, most of all -- and the party's uncontested control of the federal government leave it in a position to win long-term loyalty among key voter blocs and craft an enduring majority.
If so, 2004 would qualify as what academics call a "realignment election."
(More ... '04 Voting: Realignment -- Or a Tilt? (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:55 0 comments
11.27.2004
Apathy, Arrogance or Fear - We Must Face All Three (Scoop.co.nz)
By Jim Kirwin
We are still being told to ''come together and allow the nation to heal.'' No surgeon worth the name would dream of sewing up a patient with all those bullets still inside. Yet that is exactly what we are being told to do. Forget all the attempts to utterly destroy the established order, forget all the blatant theft involved in stealing the last three elections, forget the inbred hatred of everything this nation theoretically once stood for: Just shove all that off the table, forget the hemorrhaging from every open orifice, and just sew up the patient and get back to theft and corruption as usual. NO! We are no longer a nation, so long as we do not demand that this attempted murder be dealt with – in open court, with the whole world watching.
Our behavior in Iraq is an abomination before the eyes of the entire planet, and yet only we, will not see what we are doing. Why? Because we choose not to see what we have done and what we continue to do, under a false flag of "defending this nation." Some say that this is because the population is apathetic, others say, that this is because we cannot afford to recognize what we are doing because we couldn't live with that. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
If the film footage from Iraq involved more than watching a line of Americans machine-gunning distant buildings, more questions would arise.
(More ... Scoop: Apathy, Arrogance or Fear - We Must Face All Three) ¶ 08:49 0 comments
We are still being told to ''come together and allow the nation to heal.'' No surgeon worth the name would dream of sewing up a patient with all those bullets still inside. Yet that is exactly what we are being told to do. Forget all the attempts to utterly destroy the established order, forget all the blatant theft involved in stealing the last three elections, forget the inbred hatred of everything this nation theoretically once stood for: Just shove all that off the table, forget the hemorrhaging from every open orifice, and just sew up the patient and get back to theft and corruption as usual. NO! We are no longer a nation, so long as we do not demand that this attempted murder be dealt with – in open court, with the whole world watching.
Our behavior in Iraq is an abomination before the eyes of the entire planet, and yet only we, will not see what we are doing. Why? Because we choose not to see what we have done and what we continue to do, under a false flag of "defending this nation." Some say that this is because the population is apathetic, others say, that this is because we cannot afford to recognize what we are doing because we couldn't live with that. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
If the film footage from Iraq involved more than watching a line of Americans machine-gunning distant buildings, more questions would arise.
(More ... Scoop: Apathy, Arrogance or Fear - We Must Face All Three) ¶ 08:49 0 comments
No More Excuses: Understanding the Americans (Scoop.co.nz)
An Expat American Gives Up On Explaining His Homeland
By Jeff Memler
For the last three and a half years I have been making excuses for Americans. You see, I was born in the US and therefore I am continually asked by non-Americans, to explain the mysterious ways of my former countrymen.
Although, I came to New Zealand over twelve years ago primarily because of my distaste for things American, I still have felt a degree of compassion for most Americans. I have been asked, "How is it possible that such an obviously unintelligent, incompetent and grotesquely offensive politician like GW Bush is the leader of such a powerful and influential country? Why do so many Americans support him?"
I usually began to answer these very relevant questions by pointing out that in fact, many Americans had not supported Bush. In the 2000 election Bush's main opponent, Democrat Al Gore, received over a half a million more votes than Bush. (To understand how one can lose the popular vote but still "win" an election requires a difficult explanation of the confusing American electoral system.)
And that is also not counting the hundreds of thousands of citizens whose votes were never counted nor the tens of thousand of Americans who were denied the right to vote (an estimated 57-94 thousand alleged ex-felons were removed illegally from the voting registers in Florida). The vast majority of these disenfranchised Americans were minorities who traditionally vote Democrat.
(More ... Scoop: No More Excuses: Understanding the Americans) ¶ 08:46 0 comments
By Jeff Memler
For the last three and a half years I have been making excuses for Americans. You see, I was born in the US and therefore I am continually asked by non-Americans, to explain the mysterious ways of my former countrymen.
Although, I came to New Zealand over twelve years ago primarily because of my distaste for things American, I still have felt a degree of compassion for most Americans. I have been asked, "How is it possible that such an obviously unintelligent, incompetent and grotesquely offensive politician like GW Bush is the leader of such a powerful and influential country? Why do so many Americans support him?"
I usually began to answer these very relevant questions by pointing out that in fact, many Americans had not supported Bush. In the 2000 election Bush's main opponent, Democrat Al Gore, received over a half a million more votes than Bush. (To understand how one can lose the popular vote but still "win" an election requires a difficult explanation of the confusing American electoral system.)
And that is also not counting the hundreds of thousands of citizens whose votes were never counted nor the tens of thousand of Americans who were denied the right to vote (an estimated 57-94 thousand alleged ex-felons were removed illegally from the voting registers in Florida). The vast majority of these disenfranchised Americans were minorities who traditionally vote Democrat.
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11.26.2004
Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches (NYTimes.com)
NZDems: Tell us about the special touches you added to make your Kiwi Thanksgiving special ... (Click on Comment, below)
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: November 25, 2004
PATERSON, N.J. - For all those struggling to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table, consider the plight of Yaser Baker, a restaurateur in this city's Arabic shopping district.
First Mr. Baker had to find a turkey that was slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law, a challenge because some local halal butchers decided not to sell turkeys this year. Then he had to adapt the traditional American recipe to Arabic tastes, which meant bathing it in lemon and olive oil and stuffing it with rice, beef and pine nuts.
Finally he had to brace for reaction from his Muslim neighbors, some of whom are either too devout or too upset about the war in Iraq even to acknowledge Thanksgiving.
But for Mr. Baker, Thanksgiving is all about the bird.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches) ¶ 08:04 0 comments
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: November 25, 2004
PATERSON, N.J. - For all those struggling to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table, consider the plight of Yaser Baker, a restaurateur in this city's Arabic shopping district.
First Mr. Baker had to find a turkey that was slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law, a challenge because some local halal butchers decided not to sell turkeys this year. Then he had to adapt the traditional American recipe to Arabic tastes, which meant bathing it in lemon and olive oil and stuffing it with rice, beef and pine nuts.
Finally he had to brace for reaction from his Muslim neighbors, some of whom are either too devout or too upset about the war in Iraq even to acknowledge Thanksgiving.
But for Mr. Baker, Thanksgiving is all about the bird.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches) ¶ 08:04 0 comments
11.25.2004
Nukes, Neo-Cons, and the Bush Who Cried Wolf Again (Truthout.org)
Part I: Four More Wars
By Steve Weissman
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 25 November 2004
Somewhere in the Middle East, an exile group fights to overthrow a ruthless dictatorship, one that has long feuded with the United States and encouraged terrorists, especially against the Israelis. The exiles have also used terror, but are now selling themselves as small "d" democrats.
Of greater interest to some, their country sits on an ocean of oil. Their people are Muslims, mainly Shiite. Their chief patrons are American Neo-Conservatives in and around the Bush Administration. And their latest song and dance is to warn the world that the hated regime they seek to topple is now building atomic bombs.
Where did we hear that before?
(More ... t r u t h o u t - Steve Weissman | Nukes, Neo-Cons, and the Bush Who Cried Wolf Again) ¶ 17:45 0 comments
By Steve Weissman
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 25 November 2004
Somewhere in the Middle East, an exile group fights to overthrow a ruthless dictatorship, one that has long feuded with the United States and encouraged terrorists, especially against the Israelis. The exiles have also used terror, but are now selling themselves as small "d" democrats.
Of greater interest to some, their country sits on an ocean of oil. Their people are Muslims, mainly Shiite. Their chief patrons are American Neo-Conservatives in and around the Bush Administration. And their latest song and dance is to warn the world that the hated regime they seek to topple is now building atomic bombs.
Where did we hear that before?
(More ... t r u t h o u t - Steve Weissman | Nukes, Neo-Cons, and the Bush Who Cried Wolf Again) ¶ 17:45 0 comments
11.24.2004
Election '04: Smooth Or Shameful (Scoop.co.nz)
Electile Dysfunction?
An examination of news reports around the country on problems with election tabulation has produced the following overview. We hope this will help underline the extent of the malfunctions in the 2004 U.S. election. See our election problem log, with links, here:
http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp
Ellen Theisen
www.votersunite.org
(See graphics ... Scoop: VotersUnite.Org � Election '04: Smooth Or Shameful) ¶ 23:15 0 comments
An examination of news reports around the country on problems with election tabulation has produced the following overview. We hope this will help underline the extent of the malfunctions in the 2004 U.S. election. See our election problem log, with links, here:
http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp
Ellen Theisen
www.votersunite.org
(See graphics ... Scoop: VotersUnite.Org � Election '04: Smooth Or Shameful) ¶ 23:15 0 comments
11.23.2004
Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda (NYTimes.com)
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JANET ELDER
Published: November 23, 2004
After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reservations about central elements of the second-term agenda he presented in defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
At a time when the White House has portrayed Mr. Bush's 3.5-million-vote victory as a mandate, the poll found that Americans are at best ambivalent about Mr. Bush's plans to reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place.
While Democrats, not surprisingly, were the staunchest opponents of many elements of Mr. Bush's second-term agenda, the concerns extended across party lines in some cases. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents - including 51 percent of Republicans - said it was more important to reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Mr. Bush's economic agenda.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda) ¶ 20:23 0 comments
Published: November 23, 2004
After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reservations about central elements of the second-term agenda he presented in defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
At a time when the White House has portrayed Mr. Bush's 3.5-million-vote victory as a mandate, the poll found that Americans are at best ambivalent about Mr. Bush's plans to reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place.
While Democrats, not surprisingly, were the staunchest opponents of many elements of Mr. Bush's second-term agenda, the concerns extended across party lines in some cases. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents - including 51 percent of Republicans - said it was more important to reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Mr. Bush's economic agenda.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda) ¶ 20:23 0 comments
Republicans Finding Ways To Account For Overhaul (WashingtonPost.com)
NZDems: A reckless privatisation programme and Enron-style accounting tricks?!
Social Security Change Expensive in Short Term
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page E01
Republican budget writers say they may have found a way to cut the federal deficit even if they borrow hundreds of billions more to overhaul the Social Security system: Don't count all that new borrowing.
As they lay the groundwork for what will probably be a controversial fight over Social Security, Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration are examining a number of accounting strategies that would allow the expensive transition to a partially privatized Social Security system without -- at least on paper -- expanding the country's record annual budget deficits. The strategies include, for example, moving the costs of Social Security reform "off-budget" so they are not counted against the government's yearly shortfall.
White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton stressed that no final decisions have been made about how the cost of changing Social Security will be handled. The administration has not decided whether it will even embrace a specific Social Security overhaul, beyond advocating the creation of personal investment accounts that would be financed by diverting some portion of Social Security taxes from the current system.
(More ... Republicans Finding Ways To Account For Overhaul (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:20 0 comments
Social Security Change Expensive in Short Term
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page E01
Republican budget writers say they may have found a way to cut the federal deficit even if they borrow hundreds of billions more to overhaul the Social Security system: Don't count all that new borrowing.
As they lay the groundwork for what will probably be a controversial fight over Social Security, Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration are examining a number of accounting strategies that would allow the expensive transition to a partially privatized Social Security system without -- at least on paper -- expanding the country's record annual budget deficits. The strategies include, for example, moving the costs of Social Security reform "off-budget" so they are not counted against the government's yearly shortfall.
White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton stressed that no final decisions have been made about how the cost of changing Social Security will be handled. The administration has not decided whether it will even embrace a specific Social Security overhaul, beyond advocating the creation of personal investment accounts that would be financed by diverting some portion of Social Security taxes from the current system.
(More ... Republicans Finding Ways To Account For Overhaul (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:20 0 comments
Funds for Atomic Bomb Research Cut From Spending Bill (WashingtonPost.com)
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page A06
Congress has eliminated the financing of research supported by President Bush into a new generation of nuclear weapons, including investigations into low-yield atomic bombs and an earth-penetrating warhead that could destroy weapons bunkers deep underground.
The Bush administration called in 2002 for exploring new nuclear weapons that could deter a wide range of threats, including possible development of a warhead that could go after hardened, deeply buried targets, or lower-power bombs that could be used to destroy chemical or biological stockpiles without contaminating a wide area.
But research on those programs was dropped from the $388 billion government-wide spending bill adopted Saturday, a rare instance in which the Republican-controlled Congress has gone against the president. The move slowly came to light over the weekend as details of the extensive measure became clear.
(More ... Funds for Atomic Bomb Research Cut From Spending Bill (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:56 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page A06
Congress has eliminated the financing of research supported by President Bush into a new generation of nuclear weapons, including investigations into low-yield atomic bombs and an earth-penetrating warhead that could destroy weapons bunkers deep underground.
The Bush administration called in 2002 for exploring new nuclear weapons that could deter a wide range of threats, including possible development of a warhead that could go after hardened, deeply buried targets, or lower-power bombs that could be used to destroy chemical or biological stockpiles without contaminating a wide area.
But research on those programs was dropped from the $388 billion government-wide spending bill adopted Saturday, a rare instance in which the Republican-controlled Congress has gone against the president. The move slowly came to light over the weekend as details of the extensive measure became clear.
(More ... Funds for Atomic Bomb Research Cut From Spending Bill (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:56 0 comments
11.22.2004
A Message from John Kerry (Scoop.co.nz)
Monday, 22 November 2004, 11:22 am
Press Release: Presidential candidate John Kerry
A Message from John Kerry - 19 November 2004
Friday 19 November 2004
I want to thank you personally for what you did in the election - you rewrote the book on grassroots politics, taking control of campaigns away from big donors. No campaign will ever be the same.
You moved voters, helped hold George Bush accountable, and countered the attacks from big news organizations such as Fox, Sinclair Broadcasting, and conservative talk radio.
And your efforts count now more than ever. Despite the words of cooperation and moderate sounding promises, this administration is planning a right wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply. Healthy debate and diverse opinion are being eliminated from the State Department and CIA, and the cabinet is being remade to rubber stamp policies that will undermine Social Security, balloon the deficit, avoid real reforms in health care and education, weaken homeland security, and walk away from critical allies around the world.
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.
(More ... Scoop: A Message from John Kerry - 19 November 2004) ¶ 17:48 0 comments
Press Release: Presidential candidate John Kerry
A Message from John Kerry - 19 November 2004
Friday 19 November 2004
I want to thank you personally for what you did in the election - you rewrote the book on grassroots politics, taking control of campaigns away from big donors. No campaign will ever be the same.
You moved voters, helped hold George Bush accountable, and countered the attacks from big news organizations such as Fox, Sinclair Broadcasting, and conservative talk radio.
And your efforts count now more than ever. Despite the words of cooperation and moderate sounding promises, this administration is planning a right wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply. Healthy debate and diverse opinion are being eliminated from the State Department and CIA, and the cabinet is being remade to rubber stamp policies that will undermine Social Security, balloon the deficit, avoid real reforms in health care and education, weaken homeland security, and walk away from critical allies around the world.
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.
(More ... Scoop: A Message from John Kerry - 19 November 2004) ¶ 17:48 0 comments
White House Letter: In the New Bush Cabinet, Loyalty Trumps Celebrity (NYTimes.com)
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: November 22, 2004
WASHINGTON
President Bush appears to have picked his new cabinet with the view that he has plenty of friends and doesn't need to make new ones. Put another way, he is now the re-elected president of the United States and he is free to get rid of the political celebrities and surround himself with the people he wants.
And so he has. As anyone who watched the job-hopping last week in Washington knows, the president promoted not just men and women he knows and likes. He elevated the most loyal of loyalists, staff members he has worked with for decades, most reaching far back to Texas.
So Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the international star who had deep misgivings about the war in Iraq, is out. Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser who was Mr. Bush's foreign policy tutor in the 2000 campaign and begins sentences to reporters with "The president firmly believes," is in.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > White House Letter: In the New Bush Cabinet, Loyalty Trumps Celebrity) ¶ 17:43 0 comments
Published: November 22, 2004
WASHINGTON
President Bush appears to have picked his new cabinet with the view that he has plenty of friends and doesn't need to make new ones. Put another way, he is now the re-elected president of the United States and he is free to get rid of the political celebrities and surround himself with the people he wants.
And so he has. As anyone who watched the job-hopping last week in Washington knows, the president promoted not just men and women he knows and likes. He elevated the most loyal of loyalists, staff members he has worked with for decades, most reaching far back to Texas.
So Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the international star who had deep misgivings about the war in Iraq, is out. Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser who was Mr. Bush's foreign policy tutor in the 2000 campaign and begins sentences to reporters with "The president firmly believes," is in.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > White House Letter: In the New Bush Cabinet, Loyalty Trumps Celebrity) ¶ 17:43 0 comments
Televangelical Tentacles (Guardian.co.uk)
TV evangelist Pat Robertson is threatening to mobilise millions of his Christian viewers and "de-liberalise" the US judiciary, writes Philip James.
Friday November 19, 2004
There is a defining moment in the life of every news organisation that marks a coming of age. In the case of CNN it was the opening bombardment of the first Gulf war. The upstart cable channel went live to Peter Arnett in Baghdad, while the traditional broadcast networks could only watch from their New York studios in shock and awe.
In the case of the Manchester Guardian, it was the day in 1959 when the paper reached beyond its Mancunian roots to become a national newspaper. And in the case of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson's daily evangelical news broadcast, it was November 3 2004. The day it became clear that George Bush had won a second term.
This day formally marked the transformation of The 700 Club. No longer could it be viewed as an outlet of relevance only to the loony Christian right. Not only did it join the ranks of the mainstream media. In many ways it supplanted them. Suddenly, if you seriously wanted to take the pulse of America, you had to tune your TV to the news division of televangelism.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Televangelical tentacles) ¶ 17:38 0 comments
Friday November 19, 2004
There is a defining moment in the life of every news organisation that marks a coming of age. In the case of CNN it was the opening bombardment of the first Gulf war. The upstart cable channel went live to Peter Arnett in Baghdad, while the traditional broadcast networks could only watch from their New York studios in shock and awe.
In the case of the Manchester Guardian, it was the day in 1959 when the paper reached beyond its Mancunian roots to become a national newspaper. And in the case of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson's daily evangelical news broadcast, it was November 3 2004. The day it became clear that George Bush had won a second term.
This day formally marked the transformation of The 700 Club. No longer could it be viewed as an outlet of relevance only to the loony Christian right. Not only did it join the ranks of the mainstream media. In many ways it supplanted them. Suddenly, if you seriously wanted to take the pulse of America, you had to tune your TV to the news division of televangelism.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Televangelical tentacles) ¶ 17:38 0 comments
American Blues (Guardian.co.uk)
Our liberal cousins are in despair. Defenders of the Enlightenment unite!
Timothy Garton Ash in San Francisco
Thursday November 18, 2004
The Guardian
I'm getting seriously worried about anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism in America, that is. Here are just a few of the things that I've heard travelling through blue, ie liberal, America over the two weeks since George Bush won the election. "The truth is, they just are stupid." (A New Yorker, of people in the red, ie conservative, states.) "The snakes." "Fascism." "Christian fascism." "I wanted to make a film about a time when young Americans fought against fascism and not for it." (A producer, explaining why he commissioned a film about the Spanish civil war.)
For some days after John Kerry conceded, Democrats were telling me that the vote may have been rigged. The Diebold automatic counting machines were manufactured by a Republican crony; perhaps they were programmed to undercount Democratic votes. The Democrats' own exit polling showed them well ahead in counties they then lost. And so on.
Some felt impelled to apologise to the rest of us. If you go to the website sorryeverybody.com, you can see a young American holding up a hand-written sign saying "Sorry World (we tried) - Half of America." Others, despairing, talked of emigration. A liberal radio host told me he had started looking at homes in New Zealand. "Oh yes," said another journalist, "a lot of my friends are talking about New Zealand." Visits to the Canadian immigration website soared - giving a new meaning to the cartoon map that showed the blue states of the west and north-east coasts joined with their northern neighbour in the "United States of Canada", and separated from "Jesusland" in the south. There's also jocular talk of the blue north seceding from the southern states of the Confederacy, thus reversing the story of the American civil war.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | American blues) ¶ 17:35 0 comments
Timothy Garton Ash in San Francisco
Thursday November 18, 2004
The Guardian
I'm getting seriously worried about anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism in America, that is. Here are just a few of the things that I've heard travelling through blue, ie liberal, America over the two weeks since George Bush won the election. "The truth is, they just are stupid." (A New Yorker, of people in the red, ie conservative, states.) "The snakes." "Fascism." "Christian fascism." "I wanted to make a film about a time when young Americans fought against fascism and not for it." (A producer, explaining why he commissioned a film about the Spanish civil war.)
For some days after John Kerry conceded, Democrats were telling me that the vote may have been rigged. The Diebold automatic counting machines were manufactured by a Republican crony; perhaps they were programmed to undercount Democratic votes. The Democrats' own exit polling showed them well ahead in counties they then lost. And so on.
Some felt impelled to apologise to the rest of us. If you go to the website sorryeverybody.com, you can see a young American holding up a hand-written sign saying "Sorry World (we tried) - Half of America." Others, despairing, talked of emigration. A liberal radio host told me he had started looking at homes in New Zealand. "Oh yes," said another journalist, "a lot of my friends are talking about New Zealand." Visits to the Canadian immigration website soared - giving a new meaning to the cartoon map that showed the blue states of the west and north-east coasts joined with their northern neighbour in the "United States of Canada", and separated from "Jesusland" in the south. There's also jocular talk of the blue north seceding from the southern states of the Confederacy, thus reversing the story of the American civil war.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | American blues) ¶ 17:35 0 comments
Crying Reform, Not Wolf (TomPaine.com)
David Moon and Rob Richie
November 19, 2004
The wildfire popularity of recent articles alleging fraud in the 2004 election may not prove that Kerry was "robbed" of a victory. But they do prove one thing beyond a doubt—many Americans feel a deep mistrust toward the U.S. electoral system that erodes the integrity of our democracy. Voting experts Richie and Moon blame this lack of faith on the inept response by elected officials to the 2000 election debacle. They argue the real crime this year was that so many problems identified years ago have yet to be fixed.
Make no mistake about it, this year’s elections were rigged against fair elections—we saw it unfolding before our very eyes. Before any ballots were cast or counted, thousands upon thousands of voters were disenfranchised throughout our nation. But the true culprits were not shadowy political operatives stuffing ballot boxes or rigging voting machines. Instead, our archaic electoral rules and structures themselves disenfranchised eligible voters—albeit too often with the aid of unscrupulous partisans. These partisan operatives, though, are merely faceless constants in our flawed electoral machinery. The true culprit in the 2004 elections was our electoral system itself.
But that reality has less dramatic appeal than charges of a stolen election. You’ve probably seen the e-mails headlined “Kerry Won” or “Florida Vote Totals Don’t Add Up.” They’re almost as constant and as sensational as the “Get Rich Quick” or “Miracle Weight Loss” ads that flood our inboxes. The allegations grow at a furious pace—some based on valid concerns, many not.
Rob Richie is executive director of FairVote—The Center for Voting and Democracy. David Moon is FairVote's program director. For information, write to info@fairvote.org
(More ... TomPaine.com - Crying Reform, Not Wolf) ¶ 17:29 0 comments
November 19, 2004
The wildfire popularity of recent articles alleging fraud in the 2004 election may not prove that Kerry was "robbed" of a victory. But they do prove one thing beyond a doubt—many Americans feel a deep mistrust toward the U.S. electoral system that erodes the integrity of our democracy. Voting experts Richie and Moon blame this lack of faith on the inept response by elected officials to the 2000 election debacle. They argue the real crime this year was that so many problems identified years ago have yet to be fixed.
Make no mistake about it, this year’s elections were rigged against fair elections—we saw it unfolding before our very eyes. Before any ballots were cast or counted, thousands upon thousands of voters were disenfranchised throughout our nation. But the true culprits were not shadowy political operatives stuffing ballot boxes or rigging voting machines. Instead, our archaic electoral rules and structures themselves disenfranchised eligible voters—albeit too often with the aid of unscrupulous partisans. These partisan operatives, though, are merely faceless constants in our flawed electoral machinery. The true culprit in the 2004 elections was our electoral system itself.
But that reality has less dramatic appeal than charges of a stolen election. You’ve probably seen the e-mails headlined “Kerry Won” or “Florida Vote Totals Don’t Add Up.” They’re almost as constant and as sensational as the “Get Rich Quick” or “Miracle Weight Loss” ads that flood our inboxes. The allegations grow at a furious pace—some based on valid concerns, many not.
Rob Richie is executive director of FairVote—The Center for Voting and Democracy. David Moon is FairVote's program director. For information, write to info@fairvote.org
(More ... TomPaine.com - Crying Reform, Not Wolf) ¶ 17:29 0 comments
Bush Seeks to Rule The Bureaucracy (WashingtonPost.com)
Appointments Aim at White House Control
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 22, 2004; Page A04
President Bush has ousted Saddam Hussein, toppled the Taliban and defeated the Democrats, but last week he took aim at a more enduring foe: the federal bureaucracy.
In a flurry of actions in recent days, he and his top lieutenants have taken steps to quell dissent at two fractious agencies -- the CIA and the State Department -- and to increase White House control over others, including the Justice and Education departments.
The White House moves, and similar changes anticipated at other departments, are likely to quiet some of the already infrequent dissent that has leaked from agencies during Bush's first term. They may also put a more conservative stamp on the bureaucracy's administration of the laws and making of rules on everything from the environment to business to health care.
But political scientists and others who follow the Cabinet agencies say the Bush efforts, like those of several other presidents, are unlikely to cause fundamental changes in how the federal government is run.
(More ... Bush Seeks to Rule The Bureaucracy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 17:23 0 comments
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 22, 2004; Page A04
President Bush has ousted Saddam Hussein, toppled the Taliban and defeated the Democrats, but last week he took aim at a more enduring foe: the federal bureaucracy.
In a flurry of actions in recent days, he and his top lieutenants have taken steps to quell dissent at two fractious agencies -- the CIA and the State Department -- and to increase White House control over others, including the Justice and Education departments.
The White House moves, and similar changes anticipated at other departments, are likely to quiet some of the already infrequent dissent that has leaked from agencies during Bush's first term. They may also put a more conservative stamp on the bureaucracy's administration of the laws and making of rules on everything from the environment to business to health care.
But political scientists and others who follow the Cabinet agencies say the Bush efforts, like those of several other presidents, are unlikely to cause fundamental changes in how the federal government is run.
(More ... Bush Seeks to Rule The Bureaucracy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 17:23 0 comments
Republican Defiance on Intelligence Bill Is Surprising. Or Is It? (NYTimes.com)
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: November 22, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 - In the afterglow of his re-election, President Bush declared that he had ''earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it." But the capital that he put on the line was not enough this weekend, when recalcitrant House conservatives refused to back an intelligence bill for which he had personally lobbied.
The compromise bill unraveled when two influential Republican House committee chairmen, Representatives Duncan Hunter of California and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin, would not support it. At a time when Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, the outcome raises questions about how much power the president has on Capitol Hill and how he intends to exert it in a second term.
Did Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who called both chairmen in an attempt to turn them around, press as hard for the measure as they led the public to believe? Or are Mr. Hunter and Mr. Sensenbrenner so powerful that they can embarrass Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois - who negotiated the bill, then declined to bring it up for a vote when the chairmen balked - and thwart the will of the president?
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Republican Defiance on Intelligence Bill Is Surprising. Or Is It?) ¶ 17:16 0 comments
Published: November 22, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 - In the afterglow of his re-election, President Bush declared that he had ''earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it." But the capital that he put on the line was not enough this weekend, when recalcitrant House conservatives refused to back an intelligence bill for which he had personally lobbied.
The compromise bill unraveled when two influential Republican House committee chairmen, Representatives Duncan Hunter of California and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin, would not support it. At a time when Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, the outcome raises questions about how much power the president has on Capitol Hill and how he intends to exert it in a second term.
Did Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who called both chairmen in an attempt to turn them around, press as hard for the measure as they led the public to believe? Or are Mr. Hunter and Mr. Sensenbrenner so powerful that they can embarrass Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois - who negotiated the bill, then declined to bring it up for a vote when the chairmen balked - and thwart the will of the president?
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Republican Defiance on Intelligence Bill Is Surprising. Or Is It?) ¶ 17:16 0 comments
11.21.2004
Filibuster Under Fire: Henry Clay Hated It. So Does Bill Frist (NYTimes.com)
FILIBUSTER UNDER FIRE
Henry Clay Hated It. So Does Bill Frist.
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: November 21, 2004
WASHINGTON — "Half of official Washington is here to see democracy's finest show, the filibuster. The right to talk your head off! The American privilege of free speech in its most dramatic form!" - A reporter in the climactic scene of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
In the long, colorful history of the filibuster, an extra-constitutional accident of Senate history that has become an institution, perhaps no performance exceeded that of the populist Democratic senator, Huey P. Long, of Louisiana.
Hoping to stave off a bill that would have given his political enemies at home lucrative New Deal jobs, Mr. Long took the floor on June 12, 1935. He read the Constitution and the plays of Shakespeare. He offered up a recipe for fried oysters and a formula for Roquefort dressing. He asked his exhausted colleagues to suggest topics for his monologue. When they wouldn't oblige, he invited reporters in the press gallery to pass down suggestions.
Only at 4 a.m. did the urgent call of nature put an end to Mr. Long's 15-hour soliloquy. Yet this is not the Senate record. That dubious honor belongs to Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who held up the 1957 civil rights bill for a brain-numbing 24 hours and 18 minutes.
(More ... The New York Times > Week in Review > Filibuster Under Fire: Henry Clay Hated It. So Does Bill Frist.) ¶ 13:13 0 comments
Henry Clay Hated It. So Does Bill Frist.
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: November 21, 2004
WASHINGTON — "Half of official Washington is here to see democracy's finest show, the filibuster. The right to talk your head off! The American privilege of free speech in its most dramatic form!" - A reporter in the climactic scene of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
In the long, colorful history of the filibuster, an extra-constitutional accident of Senate history that has become an institution, perhaps no performance exceeded that of the populist Democratic senator, Huey P. Long, of Louisiana.
Hoping to stave off a bill that would have given his political enemies at home lucrative New Deal jobs, Mr. Long took the floor on June 12, 1935. He read the Constitution and the plays of Shakespeare. He offered up a recipe for fried oysters and a formula for Roquefort dressing. He asked his exhausted colleagues to suggest topics for his monologue. When they wouldn't oblige, he invited reporters in the press gallery to pass down suggestions.
Only at 4 a.m. did the urgent call of nature put an end to Mr. Long's 15-hour soliloquy. Yet this is not the Senate record. That dubious honor belongs to Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who held up the 1957 civil rights bill for a brain-numbing 24 hours and 18 minutes.
(More ... The New York Times > Week in Review > Filibuster Under Fire: Henry Clay Hated It. So Does Bill Frist.) ¶ 13:13 0 comments
Kerry Urges Democrats To Fight Values 'Assault' (WashingtonPost.com)
E-Mail to Supporters Renews Battle Against Bush
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 20, 2004; Page A02
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) signaled a return to partisan warfare with President Bush yesterday in an e-mail to supporters in which he accused the administration of preparing a "right-wing assault on values and ideals" and called on Democrats to fight back against what he labeled Bush's extreme agenda.
Two weeks after delivering a generous concession speech that called for a lessening of the bitter partisanship that had marked the contest with Bush, Kerry picked up where the campaign left off and demonstrated his determination to be the leader of the opposition, in spite of his defeat.
"Despite the words of cooperation and moderate-sounding promises, this administration is planning a right-wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply," Kerry said in the message that was sent to about 3 million supporters who had signed up on the Kerry Web site during the campaign.
(More ... Kerry Urges Democrats To Fight Values 'Assault' (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 12:56 0 comments
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 20, 2004; Page A02
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) signaled a return to partisan warfare with President Bush yesterday in an e-mail to supporters in which he accused the administration of preparing a "right-wing assault on values and ideals" and called on Democrats to fight back against what he labeled Bush's extreme agenda.
Two weeks after delivering a generous concession speech that called for a lessening of the bitter partisanship that had marked the contest with Bush, Kerry picked up where the campaign left off and demonstrated his determination to be the leader of the opposition, in spite of his defeat.
"Despite the words of cooperation and moderate-sounding promises, this administration is planning a right-wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply," Kerry said in the message that was sent to about 3 million supporters who had signed up on the Kerry Web site during the campaign.
(More ... Kerry Urges Democrats To Fight Values 'Assault' (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 12:56 0 comments
In Farewell, Daschle Puts Emphasis on Cooperation (WashingtonPost.com)
By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 20, 2004; Page A04
With few Republicans in attendance, Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle bade an emotional farewell to the Senate yesterday, urging his colleagues of the past 18 years to find a new "common ground" for cooperation.
The South Dakota Democrat was greeted by a long standing ovation at the end of his speech, including applause from galleries filled by his family and staff. He also was hugged by most of his Democratic colleagues in an outpouring of personal feelings rarely seen on the Senate floor.
Only two Republicans -- Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Peter Fitzgerald (Ill.) -- were in their seats for most of Daschle's speech, although they were later joined by several others, including Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (Ky.). Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) presided over the Senate during Daschle's speech.
(More ... In Farewell, Daschle Puts Emphasis on Cooperation (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 12:55 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 20, 2004; Page A04
With few Republicans in attendance, Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle bade an emotional farewell to the Senate yesterday, urging his colleagues of the past 18 years to find a new "common ground" for cooperation.
The South Dakota Democrat was greeted by a long standing ovation at the end of his speech, including applause from galleries filled by his family and staff. He also was hugged by most of his Democratic colleagues in an outpouring of personal feelings rarely seen on the Senate floor.
Only two Republicans -- Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Peter Fitzgerald (Ill.) -- were in their seats for most of Daschle's speech, although they were later joined by several others, including Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (Ky.). Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) presided over the Senate during Daschle's speech.
(More ... In Farewell, Daschle Puts Emphasis on Cooperation (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 12:55 0 comments
11.20.2004
Aides: Kerry to Donate Cash (WashingtonPost.com)
By Ron Fournier
Associated Press
Friday, November 19, 2004; Page A04
John F. Kerry is likely to donate a substantial portion of his excess presidential campaign cash to help elect Democratic candidates, advisers said yesterday.
Party leaders, including some of Kerry's top campaign aides, said this week that they were surprised and angry to learn that he had more than $15 million left in accounts from the Democratic primaries. They demanded to know why it was not spent to defeat President Bush or to help congressional candidates.
There were no easy answers to those questions, officials close to Kerry acknowledged yesterday, but they sought to assure Democrats that the four-term Massachusetts senator was sharing his political wealth. They said that he donated $40.5 million to Democratic causes in 2004, including $3 million each to the party's House and Senate campaign committees. More than $32 million went to the Democratic National Committee, including $9 million intended for state parties.
(More ... Aides: Kerry to Donate Cash (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
Associated Press
Friday, November 19, 2004; Page A04
John F. Kerry is likely to donate a substantial portion of his excess presidential campaign cash to help elect Democratic candidates, advisers said yesterday.
Party leaders, including some of Kerry's top campaign aides, said this week that they were surprised and angry to learn that he had more than $15 million left in accounts from the Democratic primaries. They demanded to know why it was not spent to defeat President Bush or to help congressional candidates.
There were no easy answers to those questions, officials close to Kerry acknowledged yesterday, but they sought to assure Democrats that the four-term Massachusetts senator was sharing his political wealth. They said that he donated $40.5 million to Democratic causes in 2004, including $3 million each to the party's House and Senate campaign committees. More than $32 million went to the Democratic National Committee, including $9 million intended for state parties.
(More ... Aides: Kerry to Donate Cash (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
Congress Passes $800 Billion Debt Limit Increase (NYTimes.com)
By REUTERS
Published: November 19, 2004
Filed at 10:53 a.m. ET
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush will sign into law by Monday a measure authorizing an $800 billion increase in the credit limit of the United States, the White House said.
In a statement issued late on Thursday after Congress gave its final approval to increase the limit to a new $8.184 trillion ceiling, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the legislation ``was important to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.''
``The president intends to sign it into law before the close of business on Monday,'' McClellan said in the statement.
(More ... The New York Times > Reuters > Washington > Congress Passes $800 Billion Debt Limit Increase) ¶ 11:20 0 comments
Published: November 19, 2004
Filed at 10:53 a.m. ET
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush will sign into law by Monday a measure authorizing an $800 billion increase in the credit limit of the United States, the White House said.
In a statement issued late on Thursday after Congress gave its final approval to increase the limit to a new $8.184 trillion ceiling, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the legislation ``was important to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.''
``The president intends to sign it into law before the close of business on Monday,'' McClellan said in the statement.
(More ... The New York Times > Reuters > Washington > Congress Passes $800 Billion Debt Limit Increase) ¶ 11:20 0 comments
Greenspan Warns That U.S. Deficits Pose Risk to Dollar (NYTimes.com)
By MARK LANDLER
Published: November 19, 2004
FRANKFURT, Nov. 19 - Alan Greenspan came to the home of the euro today and warned anxious Europeans to expect little relief from the relentless decline of the dollar against their currency.
In a speech to a banking congress here, Mr. Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the United States' persistently high current-account deficit in world trade posed a risk to the dollar's value, since foreign investors would eventually resist buying more American assets.
"It seems persuasive that, given the size of the U.S. current-account deficit, a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point," he said. "But when, through what channels, and from what level of the dollar? Regrettably, no answer to these questions is convincing."
Mr. Greenspan likened predicting the dollar's path to "forecasting the outcome of a coin toss."
(More ... The New York Times > Business > Greenspan Warns That U.S. Deficits Pose Risk to Dollar) ¶ 11:15 0 comments
Published: November 19, 2004
FRANKFURT, Nov. 19 - Alan Greenspan came to the home of the euro today and warned anxious Europeans to expect little relief from the relentless decline of the dollar against their currency.
In a speech to a banking congress here, Mr. Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the United States' persistently high current-account deficit in world trade posed a risk to the dollar's value, since foreign investors would eventually resist buying more American assets.
"It seems persuasive that, given the size of the U.S. current-account deficit, a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point," he said. "But when, through what channels, and from what level of the dollar? Regrettably, no answer to these questions is convincing."
Mr. Greenspan likened predicting the dollar's path to "forecasting the outcome of a coin toss."
(More ... The New York Times > Business > Greenspan Warns That U.S. Deficits Pose Risk to Dollar) ¶ 11:15 0 comments
11.19.2004
'Stinking Evidence' of Possible Fraud in Florida (Scoop.co.nz)
by Thom Hartmann
There was something odd about the poll tapes.
A ''poll tape'' is the phrase used to describe a printout from an optical scan voting machine made the evening of an election, after the machine has read all the ballots and crunched the numbers on its internal computer. It shows the total results of the election in that location. The printout is signed by the polling officials present in that precinct/location, and then submitted to the county elections office as the official record of how the people in that particular precinct had voted. (Usually each location has only one single optical scanner/reader, and thus produces only one poll tape.)
Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org, the erstwhile investigator of electronic voting machines, along with people from Florida Fair Elections, showed up at Florida's Volusia County Elections Office on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 16, 2004, and asked to see, under a public records request, each of the poll tapes for the 100+ optical scanners in the precincts in that county. The elections workers - having been notified in advance of her request - handed her a set of printouts, oddly dated November 15 and lacking signatures.
Bev pointed out that the printouts given her were not the original poll tapes and had no signatures, and thus were not what she'd requested. Obligingly, they told her that the originals were held in another location, the Elections Office's Warehouse, and that since it was the end of the day they should meet Bev the following morning to show them to her.
Bev showed up bright and early the morning of Wednesday the 17th - well before the scheduled meeting - and discovered three of the elections officials in the Elections Warehouse standing over a table covered with what looked like poll tapes. When they saw Bev and her friends, Bev told me in a telephone interview less than an hour later, "They immediately shoved us out and slammed the door."
(More ... Scoop: 'Stinking Evidence' of Possible Fraud in Florida) ¶ 19:03 0 comments
There was something odd about the poll tapes.
A ''poll tape'' is the phrase used to describe a printout from an optical scan voting machine made the evening of an election, after the machine has read all the ballots and crunched the numbers on its internal computer. It shows the total results of the election in that location. The printout is signed by the polling officials present in that precinct/location, and then submitted to the county elections office as the official record of how the people in that particular precinct had voted. (Usually each location has only one single optical scanner/reader, and thus produces only one poll tape.)
Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org, the erstwhile investigator of electronic voting machines, along with people from Florida Fair Elections, showed up at Florida's Volusia County Elections Office on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 16, 2004, and asked to see, under a public records request, each of the poll tapes for the 100+ optical scanners in the precincts in that county. The elections workers - having been notified in advance of her request - handed her a set of printouts, oddly dated November 15 and lacking signatures.
Bev pointed out that the printouts given her were not the original poll tapes and had no signatures, and thus were not what she'd requested. Obligingly, they told her that the originals were held in another location, the Elections Office's Warehouse, and that since it was the end of the day they should meet Bev the following morning to show them to her.
Bev showed up bright and early the morning of Wednesday the 17th - well before the scheduled meeting - and discovered three of the elections officials in the Elections Warehouse standing over a table covered with what looked like poll tapes. When they saw Bev and her friends, Bev told me in a telephone interview less than an hour later, "They immediately shoved us out and slammed the door."
(More ... Scoop: 'Stinking Evidence' of Possible Fraud in Florida) ¶ 19:03 0 comments
Hearings On Ohio Voting Put 2004 Election In Doubt (Scoop.co.nz)
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
November 18, 2004
Highly-charged, jam-packed hearings held here in Columbus have cast serious doubt on the true outcome of the presidential election.
On Saturday, November 13, and Monday, November 15, the Ohio Election Protection Coalition’s public hearings in Columbus solicited extensive sworn first-person testimony from 32 of Ohio voters, precinct judges, poll workers, legal observers, party challengers. An additional 66 people provided written affidavits of election irregularities. The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt.
Most importantly, the testimony has revealed a widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, Blackwell created waits of three to eleven hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.
On November 17, Blackwell wrote an op-ed piece for Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times, stating: “Every eligible voter who wanted to vote had the opportunity to vote. There was no widespread fraud, and there was no disenfranchisement. A half-million more Ohioans voted than ever before with fewer errors than four years ago, a sure sign on success by any measure,” Blackwell wrote. Moon's extreme right wing Unification Church has long-standing ties to the Bush Family and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Additional testimony also called into question the validity of the actual vote counts. There are thus serious doubts that the final official tally in Ohio, due December 1 to Blackwell’s office, will have any validity. Blackwell will certify the vote count on December 3.
While Blackwell supervised the Ohio vote he also served as co-chair of the Ohio Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, a clear conflict of interest that casts further doubt on how the Ohio election and vote counts have been conducted.
(More ... Scoop: Hearings On Ohio Voting Put 2004 Election In Doubt) ¶ 18:53 0 comments
November 18, 2004
Highly-charged, jam-packed hearings held here in Columbus have cast serious doubt on the true outcome of the presidential election.
On Saturday, November 13, and Monday, November 15, the Ohio Election Protection Coalition’s public hearings in Columbus solicited extensive sworn first-person testimony from 32 of Ohio voters, precinct judges, poll workers, legal observers, party challengers. An additional 66 people provided written affidavits of election irregularities. The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt.
Most importantly, the testimony has revealed a widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, Blackwell created waits of three to eleven hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.
On November 17, Blackwell wrote an op-ed piece for Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times, stating: “Every eligible voter who wanted to vote had the opportunity to vote. There was no widespread fraud, and there was no disenfranchisement. A half-million more Ohioans voted than ever before with fewer errors than four years ago, a sure sign on success by any measure,” Blackwell wrote. Moon's extreme right wing Unification Church has long-standing ties to the Bush Family and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Additional testimony also called into question the validity of the actual vote counts. There are thus serious doubts that the final official tally in Ohio, due December 1 to Blackwell’s office, will have any validity. Blackwell will certify the vote count on December 3.
While Blackwell supervised the Ohio vote he also served as co-chair of the Ohio Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, a clear conflict of interest that casts further doubt on how the Ohio election and vote counts have been conducted.
(More ... Scoop: Hearings On Ohio Voting Put 2004 Election In Doubt) ¶ 18:53 0 comments
Thousands Attend Dedication of Clinton's Presidential Library (NYTimes.com)
By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: November 18, 2004
Almost 30,000 people turned out and stood in the rain today for the dedication of Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.
They came to steep themselves in the legacy of Mr. Clinton's eight years in office, including the scandal that tainted his last few years. Before Mr. Clinton, the 42d president, formally opened the facility, the rain-soaked audience was treated to performances by gospel choirs, marching bands, rock stars and an Air Force flyover to entertain the crowds waiting to go inside. The $165 million William J. Clinton Presidential Center, the most expensive of the presidential libraries, is housed in a boxy steel and glass structure perched over the Arkansas River that some critics have described as a "double-wide'' on stilts.
It features two million photographs and 80 million pages of documents, as well as a life-sized replica of the Oval Office and several of the saxophones given to the jazz-playing former president.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Thousands Attend Dedication of Clinton's Presidential Library) ¶ 08:17 0 comments
Published: November 18, 2004
Almost 30,000 people turned out and stood in the rain today for the dedication of Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.
They came to steep themselves in the legacy of Mr. Clinton's eight years in office, including the scandal that tainted his last few years. Before Mr. Clinton, the 42d president, formally opened the facility, the rain-soaked audience was treated to performances by gospel choirs, marching bands, rock stars and an Air Force flyover to entertain the crowds waiting to go inside. The $165 million William J. Clinton Presidential Center, the most expensive of the presidential libraries, is housed in a boxy steel and glass structure perched over the Arkansas River that some critics have described as a "double-wide'' on stilts.
It features two million photographs and 80 million pages of documents, as well as a life-sized replica of the Oval Office and several of the saxophones given to the jazz-playing former president.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Thousands Attend Dedication of Clinton's Presidential Library) ¶ 08:17 0 comments
11.18.2004
Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions (Scoop.co.nz)
By Scoop Co-Editor Alastair Thompson
Scoop.co.nz is delighted to be able today to publish a full set of 4pm exit poll data for the first time on the Internet since the US election. The data emerged this evening NZT in a post on the Democratic Underground website under the forum name TruthIsAll.
The new data confirms what was already widely known about the swing in favour of George Bush, but amplifies the extent of that swing.
Figure 1: Graph showing the "red shift" between 2004 US General Election exit polls & the actual 2004 US Election results
In the data which is shown below in tabulated form, and above in graph form, we can see that 42 of the 51 states in the union swung towards George Bush while only nine swung towards Kerry.
There has to date been no official explanation for the discrepancy.
Ordinarily in the absence of an obvious mistabulation error, roughly the same number of states should have swung towards each candidate.
Moreover many of the states that swung against Democratic Party hopeful John Kerry swung to an extent that is well beyond the margin of error in exit polls. Exit polls by their nature - they ask voters how they actually voted rather than about their intentions - are typically considered highly accurate.
(More ... Scoop: Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions) ¶ 19:53 0 comments
Scoop.co.nz is delighted to be able today to publish a full set of 4pm exit poll data for the first time on the Internet since the US election. The data emerged this evening NZT in a post on the Democratic Underground website under the forum name TruthIsAll.
The new data confirms what was already widely known about the swing in favour of George Bush, but amplifies the extent of that swing.
Figure 1: Graph showing the "red shift" between 2004 US General Election exit polls & the actual 2004 US Election results
In the data which is shown below in tabulated form, and above in graph form, we can see that 42 of the 51 states in the union swung towards George Bush while only nine swung towards Kerry.
There has to date been no official explanation for the discrepancy.
Ordinarily in the absence of an obvious mistabulation error, roughly the same number of states should have swung towards each candidate.
Moreover many of the states that swung against Democratic Party hopeful John Kerry swung to an extent that is well beyond the margin of error in exit polls. Exit polls by their nature - they ask voters how they actually voted rather than about their intentions - are typically considered highly accurate.
(More ... Scoop: Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions) ¶ 19:53 0 comments
Did Lawyer-observers on Election Day Miss Fraud Incidents? (NashuaTelegraph.com)
By IAN H. SOLOMON, Special to The Hartford Courant
Published: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004
Could we have been so naive?
Thousands of the country’s most credentialed lawyers flocked to Florida to guarantee a fair election. Did we inadvertently miss an election debacle even greater than that of 2000 and negligently allow our client to concede?
I am a supporter of Sen. John F. Kerry and a critic of President Bush. I went to Florida because my mother, a Florida resident, asked me to help protect the right of all Florida citizens to vote and to ensure that all votes counted.
I walked the polling lines for early voting in Daytona Beach, distributing sample ballots and helping citizens understand their rights.
I tried to ensure that poll workers obeyed the laws about provisional ballots and that ballots were correctly fed through the optical scanner machines.
And by my presence, along with other Democratic lawyers, I lent an air of legitimacy to the voting process, which, by and large, seemed fair enough. But one thing troubled me: who was checking to make sure the data contained in the digital memory cards actually matched the voters’ intentions marked on the paper ballots?
(More ... The Telegraph Online) ¶ 19:26 0 comments
Published: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004
Could we have been so naive?
Thousands of the country’s most credentialed lawyers flocked to Florida to guarantee a fair election. Did we inadvertently miss an election debacle even greater than that of 2000 and negligently allow our client to concede?
I am a supporter of Sen. John F. Kerry and a critic of President Bush. I went to Florida because my mother, a Florida resident, asked me to help protect the right of all Florida citizens to vote and to ensure that all votes counted.
I walked the polling lines for early voting in Daytona Beach, distributing sample ballots and helping citizens understand their rights.
I tried to ensure that poll workers obeyed the laws about provisional ballots and that ballots were correctly fed through the optical scanner machines.
And by my presence, along with other Democratic lawyers, I lent an air of legitimacy to the voting process, which, by and large, seemed fair enough. But one thing troubled me: who was checking to make sure the data contained in the digital memory cards actually matched the voters’ intentions marked on the paper ballots?
(More ... The Telegraph Online) ¶ 19:26 0 comments
Most Ballots Pass Scrutiny, Ohio Officials Say (NYTimes.com)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 17, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 16 - The vast majority of provisional ballots cast in Ohio have been legitimate, election officials said, after spending nearly two weeks poring over thousands of disputed votes.
In the 11 counties that have completed checking ballots, 81 percent of the ballots are valid, according to a survey Monday by The Associated Press.
Most of the provisional ballots rejected so far came from people who were not registered to vote, election officials said. Others were missing information like addresses or signatures, or were from people voting in precincts where they did not live.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Most Ballots Pass Scrutiny, Ohio Officials Say) ¶ 08:22 0 comments
Published: November 17, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 16 - The vast majority of provisional ballots cast in Ohio have been legitimate, election officials said, after spending nearly two weeks poring over thousands of disputed votes.
In the 11 counties that have completed checking ballots, 81 percent of the ballots are valid, according to a survey Monday by The Associated Press.
Most of the provisional ballots rejected so far came from people who were not registered to vote, election officials said. Others were missing information like addresses or signatures, or were from people voting in precincts where they did not live.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Most Ballots Pass Scrutiny, Ohio Officials Say) ¶ 08:22 0 comments
After the Race, John Kerry Climbs Back Up the Hill (WashingtonPost.com)
By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; Page C01
John Kerry returned to his default job in the Senate yesterday. The man who had hoped to be president is upbeat and optimistic and thrilled to be back -- which we know because this is what he tells reporters who ask.
He turns up for a morning strategy meeting with his Democratic colleagues. He whispers something to Sen. Pat Leahy in the doorway of the Old Senate Chamber room. He hugs Sens. Joe Lieberman and Jon Corzine as the oak doors close behind him. This is how Kerry spends most of his back-to-work day: cloistered, avoiding any semblance of fuss.
It's been two weeks since Kerry lost to President Bush. "The votes have not all been counted in New Mexico and Ohio," says Kerry's campaign and Senate spokesman David Wade, who is waiting for Kerry outside the strategy meeting. "And if you believe some of what you read on the Internet. . . . "
Wade is referring to the litany of conspiracy theories about voting irregularities. He says this while rolling his eyes. Message: Kerry is back at work.
(More ... After the Race, John Kerry Climbs Back Up the Hill (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:14 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; Page C01
John Kerry returned to his default job in the Senate yesterday. The man who had hoped to be president is upbeat and optimistic and thrilled to be back -- which we know because this is what he tells reporters who ask.
He turns up for a morning strategy meeting with his Democratic colleagues. He whispers something to Sen. Pat Leahy in the doorway of the Old Senate Chamber room. He hugs Sens. Joe Lieberman and Jon Corzine as the oak doors close behind him. This is how Kerry spends most of his back-to-work day: cloistered, avoiding any semblance of fuss.
It's been two weeks since Kerry lost to President Bush. "The votes have not all been counted in New Mexico and Ohio," says Kerry's campaign and Senate spokesman David Wade, who is waiting for Kerry outside the strategy meeting. "And if you believe some of what you read on the Internet. . . . "
Wade is referring to the litany of conspiracy theories about voting irregularities. He says this while rolling his eyes. Message: Kerry is back at work.
(More ... After the Race, John Kerry Climbs Back Up the Hill (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:14 0 comments
House GOP Approves Rule Change to Protect DeLay (WashingtonPost.com)
By Larry Margasak
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; 1:24 PM
House Republicans approved a party rules change Wednesday that could allow Majority leader Tom DeLay to retain his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury on state political corruption charges.
By a voice vote, and with a handful of lawmakers voicing opposition, the House Republican Conference decided that a party committee of several dozen members would review any felony indictment of a party leader and recommend at that time whether the leader should step aside.
The current party rule in this area requires House Republican leaders and the heads of the various committees to relinquish their positions if indicted for a crime that could bring a prison term of at least two years. It makes no distinction between a federal and state indictment. Three of DeLay's political associates already have been indicted by that Texas grand jury.
(More ... House GOP Approves Rule Change to Protect DeLay (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:11 0 comments
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; 1:24 PM
House Republicans approved a party rules change Wednesday that could allow Majority leader Tom DeLay to retain his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury on state political corruption charges.
By a voice vote, and with a handful of lawmakers voicing opposition, the House Republican Conference decided that a party committee of several dozen members would review any felony indictment of a party leader and recommend at that time whether the leader should step aside.
The current party rule in this area requires House Republican leaders and the heads of the various committees to relinquish their positions if indicted for a crime that could bring a prison term of at least two years. It makes no distinction between a federal and state indictment. Three of DeLay's political associates already have been indicted by that Texas grand jury.
(More ... House GOP Approves Rule Change to Protect DeLay (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:11 0 comments
11.17.2004
Democrats Elect Reid as Senate Minority Leader (NYTimes.com)
By DAVID STOUT
Published: November 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 - Senator Harry Reid of Nevada was elected the Senate's minority leader today and vowed to strive for good working relationships with President Bush and Republican lawmakers.
Mr. Reid was elected without opposition, as was Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois to succeed Mr. Reid as minority whip, the second-highest Democratic post in the Senate.
When the new Senate convenes in January, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin and the Democratic Party will have less strength than they have now. Republicans picked up four seats in the Nov. 2 elections, bringing their total to 55. There will be 44 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent, Senator James M. Jeffords of Vermont.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Democrats Elect Reid as Senate Minority Leader) ¶ 08:25 0 comments
Published: November 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 - Senator Harry Reid of Nevada was elected the Senate's minority leader today and vowed to strive for good working relationships with President Bush and Republican lawmakers.
Mr. Reid was elected without opposition, as was Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois to succeed Mr. Reid as minority whip, the second-highest Democratic post in the Senate.
When the new Senate convenes in January, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin and the Democratic Party will have less strength than they have now. Republicans picked up four seats in the Nov. 2 elections, bringing their total to 55. There will be 44 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent, Senator James M. Jeffords of Vermont.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Democrats Elect Reid as Senate Minority Leader) ¶ 08:25 0 comments
Supreme Court Rebukes Texas Again Over a Death Sentence (NYTimes.com)
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: November 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The Supreme Court overturned a Texas death sentence on Monday while delivering its latest rebuke to the way the death penalty is being handled by judges in the state, which has executed far more people than any other in the modern era of capital punishment.
The errors committed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in upholding the death sentence of LaRoyce L. Smith were so clear to a majority of the Supreme Court that the justices decided the case in the inmate's favor on the basis of the briefs, without hearing arguments.
Only Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the unsigned 12-page opinion. They did not write an opinion of their own.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Supreme Court Rebukes Texas Again Over a Death Sentence) ¶ 08:22 0 comments
Published: November 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The Supreme Court overturned a Texas death sentence on Monday while delivering its latest rebuke to the way the death penalty is being handled by judges in the state, which has executed far more people than any other in the modern era of capital punishment.
The errors committed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in upholding the death sentence of LaRoyce L. Smith were so clear to a majority of the Supreme Court that the justices decided the case in the inmate's favor on the basis of the briefs, without hearing arguments.
Only Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the unsigned 12-page opinion. They did not write an opinion of their own.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Supreme Court Rebukes Texas Again Over a Death Sentence) ¶ 08:22 0 comments
Why the Democrats Need to Stop Thinking About Elephants (NYTimes.com)
By ADAM COHEN
Published: November 15, 2004
If George Lakoff had his way, the Kerry campaign would have run a commercial attacking the "baby tax." Dr. Lakoff, a Berkeley linguistics professor and Kerry campaign adviser, wanted to divide the interest on the national debt by the number of Americans born each year. The result, $85,000 per newborn, say, would have been handed to a baby in the form of a bill, and the baby would have started to cry. That, Dr. Lakoff says, "frames" the issue "in a way people can understand."
"Framing" is a hot topic among political junkies and in the blogo-sphere right now, thanks to Dr. Lakoff. In "Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," his surprise best seller, Dr. Lakoff argues that Republicans have been winning elections because they have been better than Democrats at framing issues - from taxes, to abortion, to national security - in ways that resonate with core American values.
Dr. Lakoff has been stepping out of the classroom lately to lecture everyone from the Senate Democratic caucus to "living wage" advocates on how to use linguistics to craft a more effective message. "Framing" alone won't give the Democrats the White House, or the Senate and House. But Dr. Lakoff's theories offer the Democrats a road map for going forward.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial Observer: Why the Democrats Need to Stop Thinking About Elephants)
Order George Lakoff's book
Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives from Amazon.com ¶ 08:13 0 comments
Published: November 15, 2004
If George Lakoff had his way, the Kerry campaign would have run a commercial attacking the "baby tax." Dr. Lakoff, a Berkeley linguistics professor and Kerry campaign adviser, wanted to divide the interest on the national debt by the number of Americans born each year. The result, $85,000 per newborn, say, would have been handed to a baby in the form of a bill, and the baby would have started to cry. That, Dr. Lakoff says, "frames" the issue "in a way people can understand."
"Framing" is a hot topic among political junkies and in the blogo-sphere right now, thanks to Dr. Lakoff. In "Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," his surprise best seller, Dr. Lakoff argues that Republicans have been winning elections because they have been better than Democrats at framing issues - from taxes, to abortion, to national security - in ways that resonate with core American values.
Dr. Lakoff has been stepping out of the classroom lately to lecture everyone from the Senate Democratic caucus to "living wage" advocates on how to use linguistics to craft a more effective message. "Framing" alone won't give the Democrats the White House, or the Senate and House. But Dr. Lakoff's theories offer the Democrats a road map for going forward.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial Observer: Why the Democrats Need to Stop Thinking About Elephants)
Order George Lakoff's book
Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives from Amazon.com ¶ 08:13 0 comments
11.16.2004
Greg Palast: Kerry Won Ohio (Scoop.co.nz)
Just count the ballots at the back of the bus.
By Greg Palast
In These Times
From: http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=393&row=0
Friday 12 November 2004
Most voters in Ohio chose Kerry. Here's how the votes vanished.
This February, Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State, told his State Senate President, "The possibility of a close election with punch cards as the state’s primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity." Blackwell, co-chair of Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, wasn't warning his fellow Republican of disaster, but boasting of an opportunity to bring in Ohio for Team Bush no matter what the voters wanted. And most voters in Ohio wanted JFK, not GWB. But their choice won't count because their votes won't be counted.
The ballots that add up to a majority for John Kerry in Ohio -- and in New Mexico -- are locked up in two Republican hidey-holes: "spoiled" ballots and "provisional" ballots.
(More ... Scoop: Greg Palast: Kerry Won Ohio) ¶ 08:16 0 comments
By Greg Palast
In These Times
From: http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=393&row=0
Friday 12 November 2004
Most voters in Ohio chose Kerry. Here's how the votes vanished.
This February, Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State, told his State Senate President, "The possibility of a close election with punch cards as the state’s primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity." Blackwell, co-chair of Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, wasn't warning his fellow Republican of disaster, but boasting of an opportunity to bring in Ohio for Team Bush no matter what the voters wanted. And most voters in Ohio wanted JFK, not GWB. But their choice won't count because their votes won't be counted.
The ballots that add up to a majority for John Kerry in Ohio -- and in New Mexico -- are locked up in two Republican hidey-holes: "spoiled" ballots and "provisional" ballots.
(More ... Scoop: Greg Palast: Kerry Won Ohio) ¶ 08:16 0 comments
It's The Internet's Fault Again (Scoop.co.nz)
Scoop Link Via Prorev.com Editor Sam Smith
DON'T WORRY FOLKS, nothing wrong with the count. It's just all those people on the Internet getting excited again. At least that's the inner monologue of the piece of establishment psyops in the Washington Post headed ''Conspiracy Theories About Presidential Election Flood Internet.''
Of course, that's a hard myth to maintain for a whole article so by the end, Roig-Franzia and Keating are saying accurately that Verified Voting, "a group formed by a Stanford University professor to assess electronic voting, has collected 31,000 reports of election fraud and other problems, but nothing that would overturn the Nov. 2 outcome."
When journalists were journalists and not sociological nannies, they would have known how to report the large number vote fraud complaints without disparaging those who draw the most dire conclusions from them. By ridiculing speculative conclusions, no informational purpose is served other than to put a misleading gloss over the whole corrupt and unreliable manner in which American counts its votes. The clear implication is that it's those stupid people on the web, and not, for example, Republican-run voting machine companies that are the proper cause for concern.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: It's The Internet's Fault Again) ¶ 08:12 0 comments
DON'T WORRY FOLKS, nothing wrong with the count. It's just all those people on the Internet getting excited again. At least that's the inner monologue of the piece of establishment psyops in the Washington Post headed ''Conspiracy Theories About Presidential Election Flood Internet.''
Of course, that's a hard myth to maintain for a whole article so by the end, Roig-Franzia and Keating are saying accurately that Verified Voting, "a group formed by a Stanford University professor to assess electronic voting, has collected 31,000 reports of election fraud and other problems, but nothing that would overturn the Nov. 2 outcome."
When journalists were journalists and not sociological nannies, they would have known how to report the large number vote fraud complaints without disparaging those who draw the most dire conclusions from them. By ridiculing speculative conclusions, no informational purpose is served other than to put a misleading gloss over the whole corrupt and unreliable manner in which American counts its votes. The clear implication is that it's those stupid people on the web, and not, for example, Republican-run voting machine companies that are the proper cause for concern.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: It's The Internet's Fault Again) ¶ 08:12 0 comments
Blame It On The Blogs (Scoop.co.nz)
By Prorev.com Editor Sam Smith
SAM SMITH - The NY Times has picked up where the Washington Post left off with a misleading story headed "2004 Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried." The story is of a genre the wise reader should approach with the greatest skepticism: one which purports to know the truth without any real investigation and which declares the case closed when it is anything but. The article is particularly slimy because it chooses some easy targets of disdain while ignoring the questions being raised by others which it couldn't dismiss so easily if they were actually considered.
What the Times and Post are doing, in Len Downie's infelicitous neologism, is "storifying" the story in such a way that the message is clear: anyone who questions the results of this election is a nut. The very fact that the two papers are engaged in domestic psyops of this nature - rather than simply reporting the facts, corrections, and anomalies as they develop - is a sign that there may be more at stake here than meets the eye and that, in any event, these two journals are not to be trusted on the matter.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: Blame It On The Blogs) ¶ 08:08 0 comments
SAM SMITH - The NY Times has picked up where the Washington Post left off with a misleading story headed "2004 Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried." The story is of a genre the wise reader should approach with the greatest skepticism: one which purports to know the truth without any real investigation and which declares the case closed when it is anything but. The article is particularly slimy because it chooses some easy targets of disdain while ignoring the questions being raised by others which it couldn't dismiss so easily if they were actually considered.
What the Times and Post are doing, in Len Downie's infelicitous neologism, is "storifying" the story in such a way that the message is clear: anyone who questions the results of this election is a nut. The very fact that the two papers are engaged in domestic psyops of this nature - rather than simply reporting the facts, corrections, and anomalies as they develop - is a sign that there may be more at stake here than meets the eye and that, in any event, these two journals are not to be trusted on the matter.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: Blame It On The Blogs) ¶ 08:08 0 comments
11.15.2004
In American Politics, Geography Is Destiny (Observer.com)
by Mitchell Moss
John Kerry’s defeat in the Presidential election should not have come as a surprise. During the past 70 years, there have been only two Presidents elected from the Northeast or New England: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 and John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1960. Since the Depression, Americans have consistently favored candidates from the South and West, regardless of political parties. In Presidential politics, political geography is destiny.
New York politicians, with their easy access to the media, consistently dream about their prospects for national office. In 1964, former Mayor Robert Wagner thought he might be the Vice Presidential nominee, a position that went to Hubert Humphrey. Former Mayor John Lindsay made an ill-fated run for the Democratic nomination in 1972. Former Queens Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro ran as Walter Mondale’s V.P. candidate in their failed 1984 bid. Mario Cuomo encouraged speculation about his Presidential plans when he almost filed papers to run in the 1992 New Hampshire primary. Even former Staten Island Congresswomen Susan Molinari, the keynote speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention, thought she might be tapped for the Vice Presidential nomination. And current New York Governor George Pataki campaigned across the nation for George W. Bush, in part to gain exposure among Republican Party heavyweights.
Clearly there is no limit to the ambitions of New York politicians, and yet there is also no future for them in national office. The same can be said for politicians from Massachusetts. Not only has the nation’s population shifted to the South and West, the cultural values of the Northeast and New England are increasingly driven by a zest for secular over spiritual values, and commercialism over community, that the rest of the nation considers offensive and threatening.
(More ... In American Politics, Geography Is Destiny) ¶ 20:22 0 comments
John Kerry’s defeat in the Presidential election should not have come as a surprise. During the past 70 years, there have been only two Presidents elected from the Northeast or New England: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 and John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1960. Since the Depression, Americans have consistently favored candidates from the South and West, regardless of political parties. In Presidential politics, political geography is destiny.
New York politicians, with their easy access to the media, consistently dream about their prospects for national office. In 1964, former Mayor Robert Wagner thought he might be the Vice Presidential nominee, a position that went to Hubert Humphrey. Former Mayor John Lindsay made an ill-fated run for the Democratic nomination in 1972. Former Queens Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro ran as Walter Mondale’s V.P. candidate in their failed 1984 bid. Mario Cuomo encouraged speculation about his Presidential plans when he almost filed papers to run in the 1992 New Hampshire primary. Even former Staten Island Congresswomen Susan Molinari, the keynote speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention, thought she might be tapped for the Vice Presidential nomination. And current New York Governor George Pataki campaigned across the nation for George W. Bush, in part to gain exposure among Republican Party heavyweights.
Clearly there is no limit to the ambitions of New York politicians, and yet there is also no future for them in national office. The same can be said for politicians from Massachusetts. Not only has the nation’s population shifted to the South and West, the cultural values of the Northeast and New England are increasingly driven by a zest for secular over spiritual values, and commercialism over community, that the rest of the nation considers offensive and threatening.
(More ... In American Politics, Geography Is Destiny) ¶ 20:22 0 comments
Right-Wingers Take First Bite Out of Rudy (Observer.com)
by Ben Smith
The Rudy Giuliani backlash has begun.
A week after the former New York Mayor gave his final speech for President George W. Bush and emerged as the poll-tested front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2008, the party’s religious conservatives have opened fire. Claiming Nov. 2 as their own victory, conservative leaders are moving to pre-empt any resurgence of their party’s socially liberal wing.
In interviews this week, an official at the Family Research Council suggested that religious conservatives would defect to a third party if Mr. Giuliani won the Presidential nomination in four years, and a prominent conservative activist unleashed a broadside at the former Mayor.
"We don’t want to nominate The New York Times’ favorite Republican," said Richard Viguerie, the Virginia-based direct-mail guru who helped create the modern conservative movement in the 1960’s. Mr. Viguerie pointed to Mr. Giuliani’s stance on abortion, gay rights and gun control, as well as the former Mayor’s personal life.
(More ... Right-Wingers Take First Bite Out of Rudy) ¶ 20:13 0 comments
The Rudy Giuliani backlash has begun.
A week after the former New York Mayor gave his final speech for President George W. Bush and emerged as the poll-tested front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2008, the party’s religious conservatives have opened fire. Claiming Nov. 2 as their own victory, conservative leaders are moving to pre-empt any resurgence of their party’s socially liberal wing.
In interviews this week, an official at the Family Research Council suggested that religious conservatives would defect to a third party if Mr. Giuliani won the Presidential nomination in four years, and a prominent conservative activist unleashed a broadside at the former Mayor.
"We don’t want to nominate The New York Times’ favorite Republican," said Richard Viguerie, the Virginia-based direct-mail guru who helped create the modern conservative movement in the 1960’s. Mr. Viguerie pointed to Mr. Giuliani’s stance on abortion, gay rights and gun control, as well as the former Mayor’s personal life.
(More ... Right-Wingers Take First Bite Out of Rudy) ¶ 20:13 0 comments
At Opening of Clinton Library, Democrats to Talk Strategy (WashingtonPost.com)
By John F. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 15, 2004; Page A01
Arkansas may look like it is playing host to a Democratic convention this week, as hundreds of the party's best-known faces and most influential political hands descend on Little Rock for the opening of former president Bill Clinton's presidential library -- an event that suddenly promises to be much more than a nostalgia tour.
It is not just Clinton's presidential past, but his party's -- and his wife's -- presidential future that will be driving conversation at this reunion, Democrats say.
John F. Kerry's failure to unseat President Bush, who will attend the opening ceremonies on Thursday, gave Democrats new reason to appreciate Clinton as a politician who sometimes stumbled but still managed to win. And it has bolstered those in the party who argue that his brand of centrist politics and policies offers the best path back to victory.
(More ... At Opening of Clinton Library, Democrats to Talk Strategy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:53 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 15, 2004; Page A01
Arkansas may look like it is playing host to a Democratic convention this week, as hundreds of the party's best-known faces and most influential political hands descend on Little Rock for the opening of former president Bill Clinton's presidential library -- an event that suddenly promises to be much more than a nostalgia tour.
It is not just Clinton's presidential past, but his party's -- and his wife's -- presidential future that will be driving conversation at this reunion, Democrats say.
John F. Kerry's failure to unseat President Bush, who will attend the opening ceremonies on Thursday, gave Democrats new reason to appreciate Clinton as a politician who sometimes stumbled but still managed to win. And it has bolstered those in the party who argue that his brand of centrist politics and policies offers the best path back to victory.
(More ... At Opening of Clinton Library, Democrats to Talk Strategy (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:53 0 comments
Southern Democrats' Decline Is Eroding the Political Center (NYTimes.com)
By ROBIN TONER
Published: November 15, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 - The once mighty Southern Democrats are an increasingly endangered species on Capitol Hill.
In the new Congress, only 4 of the 22 senators from the 11 states of the old Confederacy will be Democrats, the lowest number since Reconstruction; as recently as 1990, 15 of those Southern senators were Democrats. In the House, the Democrats suffered smaller but still significant losses in Texas, where a Republican redistricting plan took down a group of veteran lawmakers, including the paradigmatic Southern conservative: Representative Charles W. Stenholm, a 13-term deficit hawk and longtime leader of the Blue Dog Democrats, a group of centrists in the House.
This moment has been a long time coming. Ever since the national Democratic Party fully embraced the cause of civil rights 40 years ago, shattering its hold on the so-called solid South, Republicans have been making steady inroads among culturally conservative white voters in the region. But the acceleration of this trend is important for the next Congress: some of these Southern Democrats, along with Northeastern Republicans, were among the last remaining lawmakers in the political center of an increasingly polarized House and Senate.
(More ... NYTimes.com > Washington > Southern Democrats' Decline Is Eroding the Political Center) ¶ 19:37 0 comments
Published: November 15, 2004
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 - The once mighty Southern Democrats are an increasingly endangered species on Capitol Hill.
In the new Congress, only 4 of the 22 senators from the 11 states of the old Confederacy will be Democrats, the lowest number since Reconstruction; as recently as 1990, 15 of those Southern senators were Democrats. In the House, the Democrats suffered smaller but still significant losses in Texas, where a Republican redistricting plan took down a group of veteran lawmakers, including the paradigmatic Southern conservative: Representative Charles W. Stenholm, a 13-term deficit hawk and longtime leader of the Blue Dog Democrats, a group of centrists in the House.
This moment has been a long time coming. Ever since the national Democratic Party fully embraced the cause of civil rights 40 years ago, shattering its hold on the so-called solid South, Republicans have been making steady inroads among culturally conservative white voters in the region. But the acceleration of this trend is important for the next Congress: some of these Southern Democrats, along with Northeastern Republicans, were among the last remaining lawmakers in the political center of an increasingly polarized House and Senate.
(More ... NYTimes.com > Washington > Southern Democrats' Decline Is Eroding the Political Center) ¶ 19:37 0 comments
11.14.2004
Worst Voter Error Is Apathy Toward Irregularities (WashingtonPost.com)
By Donna Britt
Friday, November 12, 2004; Page B01
Is anyone surprised that accusations of voter disenfranchisement and irregularities abound after the most passionately contested presidential campaign in memory? Is anybody stunned that the mainstream media appear largely unconcerned?
To many people's thinking, too few citizens were discouraged from voting to matter. Those people would suggest that not nearly enough votes for John Kerry were missed or siphoned away to overturn President Bush's win. To which I'd respond:
Excuse me -- I thought this was America.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Metro > Columnists > Donna Britt > Worst Voter Error Is Apathy Toward Irregularities) ¶ 09:38 0 comments
Friday, November 12, 2004; Page B01
Is anyone surprised that accusations of voter disenfranchisement and irregularities abound after the most passionately contested presidential campaign in memory? Is anybody stunned that the mainstream media appear largely unconcerned?
To many people's thinking, too few citizens were discouraged from voting to matter. Those people would suggest that not nearly enough votes for John Kerry were missed or siphoned away to overturn President Bush's win. To which I'd respond:
Excuse me -- I thought this was America.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Metro > Columnists > Donna Britt > Worst Voter Error Is Apathy Toward Irregularities) ¶ 09:38 0 comments
Why Kerry Supporters Haven't - And Won't - Accept This Election's Results, And What You Need To Do If You Really Want The Fury To End ...
Open Letter to Bush Supporters
By Thomas J. Bico
Editor-in-Chief, The Moderate Independent
NOVEMBER 7, 2004 – This past week, there has been a dynamic of true surprise and confusion playing out among Bush supporters. It seems they are as tired of the hatred and division as those on the other side of things are. And so when they saw the election results, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly. I have heard one thing and thing only from Bush supporters this past week: the expression of hope that since Bush got a "clear majority" this time, that the other side will let up, accept the verdict as the legitimate choice of the nation, and that from here on out we could all just get along and accept the situation.
As they have seen that this is not the case - that Kerry supporters do not accept the situation or election results, and have not decided to just go along with what the elected government chooses to do - their reactions have been something I have not seen or heard from Bush supporters all along: true dismay.
It is not the fake, mocking, sarcastic dismay of a Limbaugh skit. It seems they really are tired of the tit for tat, exhausted from the past four years, and longing to be able to get along with all those friends and family members they have been warring with for the past four years. The fight was fierce, spirited, but they are quite sick of it and now wish it could just be over.
The good news is that this is a true opportunity for America. This is a window - which will close if we don't enter through it - for America to come back to being a civil nation again.
The bad news is that it can't happen unless there are certain specific changes. These are things both sides, and indeed all good Americans, should be able to agree on. And they are the roadblock, and potential keystone, to restoring civility in America.
So, for those Bush supporters who truly want the fighting to end, and to Kerry supporters who want the same, here are the five things that must be done to make that happen. If we join together to make these things happen, then the vicious fighting will end and we can truly be one nation, not Red and Blue but Red, White, and Blue.
(More ... Why Kerry Supporters Haven't - And Won't - Accept This Election's Results, And What You Need To Do If You Really Want The Fury To End [And You Really Care About Democracy]) ¶ 09:30 0 comments
By Thomas J. Bico
Editor-in-Chief, The Moderate Independent
NOVEMBER 7, 2004 – This past week, there has been a dynamic of true surprise and confusion playing out among Bush supporters. It seems they are as tired of the hatred and division as those on the other side of things are. And so when they saw the election results, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly. I have heard one thing and thing only from Bush supporters this past week: the expression of hope that since Bush got a "clear majority" this time, that the other side will let up, accept the verdict as the legitimate choice of the nation, and that from here on out we could all just get along and accept the situation.
As they have seen that this is not the case - that Kerry supporters do not accept the situation or election results, and have not decided to just go along with what the elected government chooses to do - their reactions have been something I have not seen or heard from Bush supporters all along: true dismay.
It is not the fake, mocking, sarcastic dismay of a Limbaugh skit. It seems they really are tired of the tit for tat, exhausted from the past four years, and longing to be able to get along with all those friends and family members they have been warring with for the past four years. The fight was fierce, spirited, but they are quite sick of it and now wish it could just be over.
The good news is that this is a true opportunity for America. This is a window - which will close if we don't enter through it - for America to come back to being a civil nation again.
The bad news is that it can't happen unless there are certain specific changes. These are things both sides, and indeed all good Americans, should be able to agree on. And they are the roadblock, and potential keystone, to restoring civility in America.
So, for those Bush supporters who truly want the fighting to end, and to Kerry supporters who want the same, here are the five things that must be done to make that happen. If we join together to make these things happen, then the vicious fighting will end and we can truly be one nation, not Red and Blue but Red, White, and Blue.
(More ... Why Kerry Supporters Haven't - And Won't - Accept This Election's Results, And What You Need To Do If You Really Want The Fury To End [And You Really Care About Democracy]) ¶ 09:30 0 comments
11.13.2004
The C.I.A. Versus Bush (NYTimes.com)
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: November 13, 2004
Now that he's been returned to office, President Bush is going to have to differentiate between his opponents and his enemies. His opponents are found in the Democratic Party. His enemies are in certain offices of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Over the past several months, as much of official Washington looked on wide-eyed and agog, many in the C.I.A. bureaucracy have waged an unabashed effort to undermine the current administration.
At the height of the campaign, C.I.A. officials, who are supposed to serve the president and stay out of politics and policy, served up leak after leak to discredit the president's Iraq policy. There were leaks of prewar intelligence estimates, leaks of interagency memos. In mid-September, somebody leaked a C.I.A. report predicting a gloomy or apocalyptic future for the region. Later that month, a senior C.I.A. official, Paul Pillar, reportedly made comments saying he had long felt the decision to go to war would heighten anti-American animosity in the Arab world.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The C.I.A. Versus Bush) ¶ 19:01 0 comments
Published: November 13, 2004
Now that he's been returned to office, President Bush is going to have to differentiate between his opponents and his enemies. His opponents are found in the Democratic Party. His enemies are in certain offices of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Over the past several months, as much of official Washington looked on wide-eyed and agog, many in the C.I.A. bureaucracy have waged an unabashed effort to undermine the current administration.
At the height of the campaign, C.I.A. officials, who are supposed to serve the president and stay out of politics and policy, served up leak after leak to discredit the president's Iraq policy. There were leaks of prewar intelligence estimates, leaks of interagency memos. In mid-September, somebody leaked a C.I.A. report predicting a gloomy or apocalyptic future for the region. Later that month, a senior C.I.A. official, Paul Pillar, reportedly made comments saying he had long felt the decision to go to war would heighten anti-American animosity in the Arab world.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The C.I.A. Versus Bush) ¶ 19:01 0 comments
Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA (WashingtonPost.com)
Agency Is Said to Be in Turmoil Under New Director Goss
By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 13, 2004; Page A01
The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials.
John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year CIA veteran who was acting director for two months this summer until Goss took over, resigned after warning Goss that his top aide, former Capitol Hill staff member Patrick Murray, was treating senior officials disrespectfully and risked widespread resignations, the officials said.
Yesterday, the agency official who oversees foreign operations, Deputy Director of Operations Stephen R. Kappes, tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Murray. Goss and the White House pleaded with Kappes to reconsider and he agreed to delay his decision until Monday, the officials said.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Nation > National Security > Intelligence > Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA) ¶ 18:28 0 comments
By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 13, 2004; Page A01
The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials.
John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year CIA veteran who was acting director for two months this summer until Goss took over, resigned after warning Goss that his top aide, former Capitol Hill staff member Patrick Murray, was treating senior officials disrespectfully and risked widespread resignations, the officials said.
Yesterday, the agency official who oversees foreign operations, Deputy Director of Operations Stephen R. Kappes, tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Murray. Goss and the White House pleaded with Kappes to reconsider and he agreed to delay his decision until Monday, the officials said.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Nation > National Security > Intelligence > Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA) ¶ 18:28 0 comments
"Kansas" and the 2004 Election (DemocraticUnderground.com)
November 12, 2004
By Carolyn Winter and Roger Bybee
The disaster of Kerry's loss and the widespread gains of Republicans have left many of us as bewildered by the continuing popularity of Bush and his narrow right-wing agenda as we are anguished over the implications of the results.
How can it be that an agenda that works against the interests of the overwhelming majority of the working people of this country attracts some 58 million votes? For example, the overwhelming economic reality of 230,000 lost jobs did not prevent George W. Bush from recapturing a majority of Ohio's electorate (if the official count is to be believed).
How is it that this regressive whirlwind has been fueled by the votes of the very people it most cruelly victimizes? How have Americans been persuaded to align themselves with their economic overseers and ignore their own most fundamental needs for decent jobs, quality health care and education, and an effective voice in society?
In his stunningly prescient book published earlier this year What's the Matter with Kansas? Thomas Frank addresses these questions with great insight into the cultural forces animating America. While Frank writes about Kansas, his insights contribute immensely to comprehending Kerry's narrow defeat.
(More ... Frankly Speaking: "Kansas" and the 2004 Election, by Carolyn Winter and Roger Bybee - Democratic Underground) ¶ 14:06 0 comments
By Carolyn Winter and Roger Bybee
The disaster of Kerry's loss and the widespread gains of Republicans have left many of us as bewildered by the continuing popularity of Bush and his narrow right-wing agenda as we are anguished over the implications of the results.
How can it be that an agenda that works against the interests of the overwhelming majority of the working people of this country attracts some 58 million votes? For example, the overwhelming economic reality of 230,000 lost jobs did not prevent George W. Bush from recapturing a majority of Ohio's electorate (if the official count is to be believed).
How is it that this regressive whirlwind has been fueled by the votes of the very people it most cruelly victimizes? How have Americans been persuaded to align themselves with their economic overseers and ignore their own most fundamental needs for decent jobs, quality health care and education, and an effective voice in society?
In his stunningly prescient book published earlier this year What's the Matter with Kansas? Thomas Frank addresses these questions with great insight into the cultural forces animating America. While Frank writes about Kansas, his insights contribute immensely to comprehending Kerry's narrow defeat.
(More ... Frankly Speaking: "Kansas" and the 2004 Election, by Carolyn Winter and Roger Bybee - Democratic Underground) ¶ 14:06 0 comments
U.S. States Defy Bush With Carbon Trading Plan (Independent.co.uk)
By Saeed Shah
12 November 2004
Individual US states are putting together a system to cap and trade greenhouse gas emissions, despite the Bush administration's opposition to the Kyoto protocol on global warming.
The regional-level initiative, led by the Governor of New York state, George Pataki, aims to be able to announce the details of a scheme by April. Nine north-eastern and mid-Atlantic states are taking part, with other states and some Canadian provinces involved as "observers" in the process.
The scheme could even link up with the emissions controls and trading system being established by the European Union next year, allowing emission allowances to be traded across the Atlantic. It is understood that informal talks have taken place between environmental officials of the US states and their European Commission counterparts.
(More ... News) ¶ 13:58 0 comments
12 November 2004
Individual US states are putting together a system to cap and trade greenhouse gas emissions, despite the Bush administration's opposition to the Kyoto protocol on global warming.
The regional-level initiative, led by the Governor of New York state, George Pataki, aims to be able to announce the details of a scheme by April. Nine north-eastern and mid-Atlantic states are taking part, with other states and some Canadian provinces involved as "observers" in the process.
The scheme could even link up with the emissions controls and trading system being established by the European Union next year, allowing emission allowances to be traded across the Atlantic. It is understood that informal talks have taken place between environmental officials of the US states and their European Commission counterparts.
(More ... News) ¶ 13:58 0 comments
Moore to Make Sequel to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Independent.co.uk)
By Helen Kinsella
13 November 2004
Michael Moore is not taking George Bush's election victory lying down. The guerrilla film-maker is planning a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, the feature-length documentary he hoped would sway American voters in the recent presidential election.
The sequel, to be called Fahrenheit 9/11½, will be timed to coincide with the next election and will revisit the same issues as the previous documentary, which lambasted Mr Bush's presidency, the response to the 11 September attacks and the war in Iraq.
"We want to get the cameras rolling now and have it ready in two [to] three years," he told the industry paper Daily Variety. "Fifty-one per cent of the American people lacked information [in this election], and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now."
(More ... News) ¶ 13:53 0 comments
13 November 2004
Michael Moore is not taking George Bush's election victory lying down. The guerrilla film-maker is planning a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, the feature-length documentary he hoped would sway American voters in the recent presidential election.
The sequel, to be called Fahrenheit 9/11½, will be timed to coincide with the next election and will revisit the same issues as the previous documentary, which lambasted Mr Bush's presidency, the response to the 11 September attacks and the war in Iraq.
"We want to get the cameras rolling now and have it ready in two [to] three years," he told the industry paper Daily Variety. "Fifty-one per cent of the American people lacked information [in this election], and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now."
(More ... News) ¶ 13:53 0 comments
Experts See States as Force in Fighting Global Warming (ChicagoTribune.com)
By Stevenson Swanson
Tribune national correspondent
Published November 12, 2004
NEW YORK -- With the re-election of President Bush, state governments and big business will likely be the biggest forces pushing policies and developing innovative technologies aimed at reducing U.S. emissions of the gases scientists say are causing global warming.
That forecast by leaders in the environmental and business communities is based on the Bush administration's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement that seeks to cut the amount of so-called greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere, where they trap heat.
The treaty requires industrialized countries to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing substances on average by 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels.
(More ... Chicago Tribune | Experts see states as force in fighting global warming) ¶ 11:01 0 comments
Tribune national correspondent
Published November 12, 2004
NEW YORK -- With the re-election of President Bush, state governments and big business will likely be the biggest forces pushing policies and developing innovative technologies aimed at reducing U.S. emissions of the gases scientists say are causing global warming.
That forecast by leaders in the environmental and business communities is based on the Bush administration's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement that seeks to cut the amount of so-called greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere, where they trap heat.
The treaty requires industrialized countries to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing substances on average by 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels.
(More ... Chicago Tribune | Experts see states as force in fighting global warming) ¶ 11:01 0 comments
11.12.2004
Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried (NYTimes.com)
By TOM ZELLER Jr.
Published: November 12, 2004
The e-mail messages and Web postings had all the twitchy cloak-and-dagger thrust of a Hollywood blockbuster. "Evidence mounts that the vote may have been hacked," trumpeted a headline on the Web site CommonDreams.org. "Fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines," declared BlackBoxVoting.org.
In the space of seven days, an online market of dark ideas surrounding last week's presidential election took root and multiplied.
But while the widely read universe of Web logs was often blamed for the swift propagation of faulty analyses, the blogosphere, as it has come to be known, spread the rumors so fast that experts were soon able to debunk them, rather than allowing them to linger and feed conspiracy theories. Within days of the first rumors of a stolen election, in fact, the most popular theories were being proved wrong - though many were still reluctant to let them go.
Much of the controversy, called Votergate 2004 by some, involved real voting anomalies in Florida and Ohio, the two states on which victory hinged. But ground zero in the online rumor mill, it seems, was Utah.
"I love the process of democracy, and I think it's more important than the outcome," said Kathy Dopp, an Internet enthusiast living near Salt Lake City. It was Ms. Dopp's analysis of the vote in Florida (she has a master's degree in mathematics) that set off a flurry of post-election theorizing by disheartened Democrats who were certain, given early surveys of voters leaving the polls that were leaked, showing Senator John Kerry winning handily, that something was amiss.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried) ¶ 23:26 0 comments
Published: November 12, 2004
The e-mail messages and Web postings had all the twitchy cloak-and-dagger thrust of a Hollywood blockbuster. "Evidence mounts that the vote may have been hacked," trumpeted a headline on the Web site CommonDreams.org. "Fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines," declared BlackBoxVoting.org.
In the space of seven days, an online market of dark ideas surrounding last week's presidential election took root and multiplied.
But while the widely read universe of Web logs was often blamed for the swift propagation of faulty analyses, the blogosphere, as it has come to be known, spread the rumors so fast that experts were soon able to debunk them, rather than allowing them to linger and feed conspiracy theories. Within days of the first rumors of a stolen election, in fact, the most popular theories were being proved wrong - though many were still reluctant to let them go.
Much of the controversy, called Votergate 2004 by some, involved real voting anomalies in Florida and Ohio, the two states on which victory hinged. But ground zero in the online rumor mill, it seems, was Utah.
"I love the process of democracy, and I think it's more important than the outcome," said Kathy Dopp, an Internet enthusiast living near Salt Lake City. It was Ms. Dopp's analysis of the vote in Florida (she has a master's degree in mathematics) that set off a flurry of post-election theorizing by disheartened Democrats who were certain, given early surveys of voters leaving the polls that were leaked, showing Senator John Kerry winning handily, that something was amiss.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried) ¶ 23:26 0 comments
11.11.2004
The lowest ignorance takes charge (Guardian.co.uk)
Having helped Bush to office, the religious right is exerting its power
Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday November 11, 2004
The Guardian
The 2004 election marks the rise of a quasi-clerical party for the first time in the United States. Ecclesiastical organisation has become the sinew and muscle of the Republican party, essential in George Bush's re-election. His narrow margins in the key states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio, and elsewhere, were dependent on the direct imposition of the churches. None of this occurred suddenly or by happenstance. For years, Bush has schooled himself in the machinations of the religious right.
Bush's clerisy is an unprecedented alliance of historically anti-Catholic nativist evangelical Protestants with the most reactionary elements of the Catholic hierarchy. Preacher, priest and politician have combined on the grounds that John Kennedy disputed in his famous speech before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960. Kennedy's every principle is flouted and contradicted by Bush: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the president - should he be Catholic - how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. ... where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials..."
From the White House, Karl Rove held a weekly conference call with religious leaders. Evangelical churches handed over membership directories to the Bush campaign for voter registration drives. A group associated with the Rev Pat Robertson advised 45,000 churches how to work for Bush. One popular preacher alone sent letters to 136,000 pastors advising them on "non-negotiable" issues - gay marriage, stem cell research, abortion - to mobilise the faithful. Perhaps the most influential figure of all was the Rev James Dobson, whose programmes broadcast daily on more than 3,000 radio stations and 80 TV stations, and whose organisation has affiliates in 36 states.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | The lowest ignorance takes charge) ¶ 23:07 0 comments
Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday November 11, 2004
The Guardian
The 2004 election marks the rise of a quasi-clerical party for the first time in the United States. Ecclesiastical organisation has become the sinew and muscle of the Republican party, essential in George Bush's re-election. His narrow margins in the key states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio, and elsewhere, were dependent on the direct imposition of the churches. None of this occurred suddenly or by happenstance. For years, Bush has schooled himself in the machinations of the religious right.
Bush's clerisy is an unprecedented alliance of historically anti-Catholic nativist evangelical Protestants with the most reactionary elements of the Catholic hierarchy. Preacher, priest and politician have combined on the grounds that John Kennedy disputed in his famous speech before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960. Kennedy's every principle is flouted and contradicted by Bush: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the president - should he be Catholic - how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. ... where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials..."
From the White House, Karl Rove held a weekly conference call with religious leaders. Evangelical churches handed over membership directories to the Bush campaign for voter registration drives. A group associated with the Rev Pat Robertson advised 45,000 churches how to work for Bush. One popular preacher alone sent letters to 136,000 pastors advising them on "non-negotiable" issues - gay marriage, stem cell research, abortion - to mobilise the faithful. Perhaps the most influential figure of all was the Rev James Dobson, whose programmes broadcast daily on more than 3,000 radio stations and 80 TV stations, and whose organisation has affiliates in 36 states.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | The lowest ignorance takes charge) ¶ 23:07 0 comments
Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether (WashingtonPost.com)
By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Dan Keating
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 11, 2004; Page A02
MIAMI, Nov. 10 -- The e-mail subject lines couldn't be any bigger and bolder: "Another Stolen Election," "Presidential election was hacked," "Ohio Fraud."
Even as Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign is steadfastly refusing to challenge the results of the presidential election, the bloggers and the mortally wounded party loyalists and the spreadsheet-wielding conspiracy theorists are filling the Internet with head-turning allegations. There is the one about more ballots cast than registered voters in the big Ohio county anchored by Cleveland. There are claims that a suspicious number of Florida counties ended up with Bush vote totals that were far larger than the number of registered Republican voters. And then there is the one that might be the most popular of all: the exit polls that showed Kerry winning big weren't wrong -- they were right.
Each of the claims is buoyed by enough statistics and analysis to sound plausible. In some instances, the theories are coming from respected sources -- college engineering professors fascinated by voting technology, Internet journalists, election reform activists. Ultimately, none of the most popular theories holds up to close scrutiny. And the people who most stand to benefit from the conspiracy theories -- the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee -- are not biting.
(More ... Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether) ¶ 22:58 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 11, 2004; Page A02
MIAMI, Nov. 10 -- The e-mail subject lines couldn't be any bigger and bolder: "Another Stolen Election," "Presidential election was hacked," "Ohio Fraud."
Even as Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign is steadfastly refusing to challenge the results of the presidential election, the bloggers and the mortally wounded party loyalists and the spreadsheet-wielding conspiracy theorists are filling the Internet with head-turning allegations. There is the one about more ballots cast than registered voters in the big Ohio county anchored by Cleveland. There are claims that a suspicious number of Florida counties ended up with Bush vote totals that were far larger than the number of registered Republican voters. And then there is the one that might be the most popular of all: the exit polls that showed Kerry winning big weren't wrong -- they were right.
Each of the claims is buoyed by enough statistics and analysis to sound plausible. In some instances, the theories are coming from respected sources -- college engineering professors fascinated by voting technology, Internet journalists, election reform activists. Ultimately, none of the most popular theories holds up to close scrutiny. And the people who most stand to benefit from the conspiracy theories -- the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee -- are not biting.
(More ... Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether) ¶ 22:58 0 comments
Election Gives American English New Phrases (Reuters.com)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thanks to 2004 presidential election, Americans now know that after a lot "flip-flopping" the country is divided into "red and blue states" where "moral values" are important, according to a survey of political terms that became household words during the campaign.
According to the study released on Wednesday by Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group which ranks word usage, the Nov. 2 election popularized a number of political words and phrases once used mainly by political insiders.
Among the most-used words of the campaign were red and blue states, signifying Republican and Democratic strongholds; flip-flopping, a term used by Republicans to denigrate the politics of Democrat John Kerry; moral values, a reason cited by voters for their electoral choices; and liberal, used in a pejorative sense.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 22:45 19 comments
According to the study released on Wednesday by Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group which ranks word usage, the Nov. 2 election popularized a number of political words and phrases once used mainly by political insiders.
Among the most-used words of the campaign were red and blue states, signifying Republican and Democratic strongholds; flip-flopping, a term used by Republicans to denigrate the politics of Democrat John Kerry; moral values, a reason cited by voters for their electoral choices; and liberal, used in a pejorative sense.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 22:45 19 comments
11.10.2004
Defeated Kerry refuses to go quietly (Guardian.co.uk)
Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday November 10, 2004
The Guardian
John Kerry was reported to be planning his political comeback yesterday, preparing to spearhead the resistance to the Bush administration in the Senate and even contemplating running for president again in 2008.
Senator Kerry's brother, Cameron, said another presidential bid was "conceivable" while the Washington Post reported that the defeated Democratic contender had raised the possibility himself in a defiant party with staff on Saturday night.
He reminded about 400 campaign aides that Ronald Reagan had twice failed in his presidential bid before winning in 1980. "Sometimes God tests you," Senator Kerry is quoted a saying. "I'm a fighter, and I've come back before."
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Defeated Kerry refuses to go quietly) ¶ 21:46 0 comments
Wednesday November 10, 2004
The Guardian
John Kerry was reported to be planning his political comeback yesterday, preparing to spearhead the resistance to the Bush administration in the Senate and even contemplating running for president again in 2008.
Senator Kerry's brother, Cameron, said another presidential bid was "conceivable" while the Washington Post reported that the defeated Democratic contender had raised the possibility himself in a defiant party with staff on Saturday night.
He reminded about 400 campaign aides that Ronald Reagan had twice failed in his presidential bid before winning in 1980. "Sometimes God tests you," Senator Kerry is quoted a saying. "I'm a fighter, and I've come back before."
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Defeated Kerry refuses to go quietly) ¶ 21:46 0 comments
To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe... (DemocraticUnderground.com)
To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe:
1- That the exit polls were WRONG...
2- That Zogby's 5pm election day calls for Kerry winning OH, FL were WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
3- That Harris last minute polling for Kerry was WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
4- The Incumbent Rule I (that undecideds break for the challenger)was WRONG.
5- The 50% Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent doesn't do better than his final polling)
6- The Approval Rating Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent with less than 50% approval will most likely lose the election)
7- That Greg Palast was WRONG when he said that even before the election, 1 million votes were stolen from Kerry. He was the ONLY reporter to break the fact that 90,000 Florida blacks were disnfranchised in 2000.
8- That it was just a COINCIDENCE that the exit polls were CORRECT where there WAS a PAPER TRAIL and INCORRECT (+5% for Bush) where there was NO PAPER TRAIL.
9- That the surge in new young voters had NO positive effect for Kerry.
10- That Bush BEAT 99-1 mathematical odds in winning the election.
11- That Kerry did WORSE than Gore agains an opponent who LOST the support of SCORES of Republican newspapers who were for Bush in 2000.
12- That Bush did better than an 18 national poll average which showed him tied with Kerry at 47. In other words, Bush got 80% of the undecided vote to end up with a 51-48 majority - when ALL professional pollsters agree that the undecided vote ALWAYS goes to the challenger.
13- That Voting machines made by Republicans with no paper trail and with no software publication, which have been proven by thousands of computer scientists to be vulnerable in scores of ways, were NOT tampered with in this election
Democratic Underground Forums - To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe... ¶ 21:25 0 comments
1- That the exit polls were WRONG...
2- That Zogby's 5pm election day calls for Kerry winning OH, FL were WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
3- That Harris last minute polling for Kerry was WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
4- The Incumbent Rule I (that undecideds break for the challenger)was WRONG.
5- The 50% Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent doesn't do better than his final polling)
6- The Approval Rating Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent with less than 50% approval will most likely lose the election)
7- That Greg Palast was WRONG when he said that even before the election, 1 million votes were stolen from Kerry. He was the ONLY reporter to break the fact that 90,000 Florida blacks were disnfranchised in 2000.
8- That it was just a COINCIDENCE that the exit polls were CORRECT where there WAS a PAPER TRAIL and INCORRECT (+5% for Bush) where there was NO PAPER TRAIL.
9- That the surge in new young voters had NO positive effect for Kerry.
10- That Bush BEAT 99-1 mathematical odds in winning the election.
11- That Kerry did WORSE than Gore agains an opponent who LOST the support of SCORES of Republican newspapers who were for Bush in 2000.
12- That Bush did better than an 18 national poll average which showed him tied with Kerry at 47. In other words, Bush got 80% of the undecided vote to end up with a 51-48 majority - when ALL professional pollsters agree that the undecided vote ALWAYS goes to the challenger.
13- That Voting machines made by Republicans with no paper trail and with no software publication, which have been proven by thousands of computer scientists to be vulnerable in scores of ways, were NOT tampered with in this election
Democratic Underground Forums - To believe that Bush won the election, you must also believe... ¶ 21:25 0 comments
Redefining "Values" (DemocraticUnderground.com)
November 9, 2004
By Tim Keane
Born-again Christians did indeed have a huge and probably deciding role in electing George Bush to a second term, and as a result we may have as many as four conservative appointments to the Supreme Court during the next four years; the first may be only weeks or months away.
This provides an enormous opportunity for Democrats to redefine the "Values" issue and stop the born-again conservative movement from trying to rewrite history by stating that this country was founded on Christian values.
You see, this is the United States of America, and its values were established by the great men who founded this incredibly progressive nation. This country was founded on a whole new set of values never seen before - it was founded on American Values.
While many of the Founding Fathers were indeed of Christian faith, they understood that separation of church and state was critical to ensuring the freedoms of the citizens of this new and hopeful nation - so critical that it is included as part of the first of our American Values: the First Amendment.
Regarding the combination of government and religion Thomas Jefferson went so far as to say:
I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature... Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world.
(More ... Redefining "Values", by Tim Keane - Democratic Underground) ¶ 20:51 0 comments
By Tim Keane
Born-again Christians did indeed have a huge and probably deciding role in electing George Bush to a second term, and as a result we may have as many as four conservative appointments to the Supreme Court during the next four years; the first may be only weeks or months away.
This provides an enormous opportunity for Democrats to redefine the "Values" issue and stop the born-again conservative movement from trying to rewrite history by stating that this country was founded on Christian values.
You see, this is the United States of America, and its values were established by the great men who founded this incredibly progressive nation. This country was founded on a whole new set of values never seen before - it was founded on American Values.
While many of the Founding Fathers were indeed of Christian faith, they understood that separation of church and state was critical to ensuring the freedoms of the citizens of this new and hopeful nation - so critical that it is included as part of the first of our American Values: the First Amendment.
Regarding the combination of government and religion Thomas Jefferson went so far as to say:
I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature... Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world.
(More ... Redefining "Values", by Tim Keane - Democratic Underground) ¶ 20:51 0 comments
Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote' (WashingtonPost.com)
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 10, 2004; Page A07
Liberal Christian leaders argued yesterday that the moral values held by most Americans are much broader than the handful of issues emphasized by religious conservatives in the 2004 presidential campaign.
Battling the notion that "values voters" swept President Bush to victory because of opposition to gay marriage and abortion, three liberal groups released a post-election poll in which 33 percent of voters said the nation's most urgent moral problem was "greed and materialism" and 31 percent said it was "poverty and economic justice." Sixteen percent cited abortion, and 12 percent named same-sex marriage.
But the religious leaders acknowledged that the Christian right had reached more voters than the Christian left. Some said it was time for "moderate and progressive" religious groups, as well as the Democratic Party, to rethink their positions.
(More ... Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote' (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:45 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 10, 2004; Page A07
Liberal Christian leaders argued yesterday that the moral values held by most Americans are much broader than the handful of issues emphasized by religious conservatives in the 2004 presidential campaign.
Battling the notion that "values voters" swept President Bush to victory because of opposition to gay marriage and abortion, three liberal groups released a post-election poll in which 33 percent of voters said the nation's most urgent moral problem was "greed and materialism" and 31 percent said it was "poverty and economic justice." Sixteen percent cited abortion, and 12 percent named same-sex marriage.
But the religious leaders acknowledged that the Christian right had reached more voters than the Christian left. Some said it was time for "moderate and progressive" religious groups, as well as the Democratic Party, to rethink their positions.
(More ... Liberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote' (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:45 0 comments
Women Wrongly Warned Cancer, Abortion Tied (Yahoo!--AP)
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - In several states, women considering abortion are given government-issued brochures warning that the procedure could increase their chance of developing breast cancer, despite scientific findings to the contrary.
More than a year ago, a panel of scientists convened by the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) reviewed available data and concluded there is no link. A scientific review in the Lancet, a British medical journal, came to the same conclusion, questioning the methodology in studies that suggested a link.
The cancer information is distributed to women during mandatory waiting periods before abortions. In some cases, the information is on the states' Web sites.
"We're going to continue to educate the public about this," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer (news - web sites), an anti-abortion group. She dismissed the National Cancer Institute's findings as politically motivated and maintained that the link has been scientifically proven.
(More ... Women Wrongly Warned Cancer, Abortion Tied | Yahoo! News | AP) ¶ 20:33 0 comments
WASHINGTON - In several states, women considering abortion are given government-issued brochures warning that the procedure could increase their chance of developing breast cancer, despite scientific findings to the contrary.
More than a year ago, a panel of scientists convened by the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) reviewed available data and concluded there is no link. A scientific review in the Lancet, a British medical journal, came to the same conclusion, questioning the methodology in studies that suggested a link.
The cancer information is distributed to women during mandatory waiting periods before abortions. In some cases, the information is on the states' Web sites.
"We're going to continue to educate the public about this," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer (news - web sites), an anti-abortion group. She dismissed the National Cancer Institute's findings as politically motivated and maintained that the link has been scientifically proven.
(More ... Women Wrongly Warned Cancer, Abortion Tied | Yahoo! News | AP) ¶ 20:33 0 comments
11.09.2004
Arctic Thaw (WashingtonPost.com)
Tuesday, November 9, 2004; Page A26
NOT ONLY HAS it moved beyond the realm of science fiction, but the Arctic ice cap's melting has been much faster than anyone has suspected. That is one of the important conclusions of a report published yesterday at the behest of the Arctic Council, a forum composed of eight nations with Arctic territories, including the United States. Yet the report, produced over four years by several hundred scientists, government officials and indigenous groups, is not sensational or alarmist. It simply compiles the data, noting that because of long-term global warming, average winter temperatures in Alaska, western Canada and eastern Russia have increased by as much as seven degrees (Fahrenheit) over the past 50 years. If the trend continues, about half of the Arctic sea ice is projected to melt by the end of this century.
The report describes some of the possible environmental effects of this change. Many northern animal species, including polar bears and seals, are likely to become extinct. Vegetation and animal migration patterns around the world will shift. Low-lying parts of the world, including Florida and coastal Louisiana, are likely to experience serious flooding. But although the report's scientific conclusions will be the subject of an international conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, this week, the authors intentionally do not offer specific recommendations, political or environmental, on how to halt or cope with these changes.
Such recommendations are supposed to come from diplomats and indigenous representatives who will also be meeting at the Reykjavik summit, however. And already, these are the subject of controversy: Some participants have accused the Bush administration of resisting a mild endorsement of the report and of rejecting even vague language suggesting that greenhouse gas reduction might be part of the solution. Given the thorough nature of this report, and given that the election is now over, that would be inexcusable. At the very least, we hope that the final language reflects a practical, commonsensical and depoliticized approach to what will certainly be one of the most pressing environmental issues of the next half-century.
WashingtonPost.com > Opinion > Editorials > Arctic Thaw ¶ 21:37 0 comments
NOT ONLY HAS it moved beyond the realm of science fiction, but the Arctic ice cap's melting has been much faster than anyone has suspected. That is one of the important conclusions of a report published yesterday at the behest of the Arctic Council, a forum composed of eight nations with Arctic territories, including the United States. Yet the report, produced over four years by several hundred scientists, government officials and indigenous groups, is not sensational or alarmist. It simply compiles the data, noting that because of long-term global warming, average winter temperatures in Alaska, western Canada and eastern Russia have increased by as much as seven degrees (Fahrenheit) over the past 50 years. If the trend continues, about half of the Arctic sea ice is projected to melt by the end of this century.
The report describes some of the possible environmental effects of this change. Many northern animal species, including polar bears and seals, are likely to become extinct. Vegetation and animal migration patterns around the world will shift. Low-lying parts of the world, including Florida and coastal Louisiana, are likely to experience serious flooding. But although the report's scientific conclusions will be the subject of an international conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, this week, the authors intentionally do not offer specific recommendations, political or environmental, on how to halt or cope with these changes.
Such recommendations are supposed to come from diplomats and indigenous representatives who will also be meeting at the Reykjavik summit, however. And already, these are the subject of controversy: Some participants have accused the Bush administration of resisting a mild endorsement of the report and of rejecting even vague language suggesting that greenhouse gas reduction might be part of the solution. Given the thorough nature of this report, and given that the election is now over, that would be inexcusable. At the very least, we hope that the final language reflects a practical, commonsensical and depoliticized approach to what will certainly be one of the most pressing environmental issues of the next half-century.
WashingtonPost.com > Opinion > Editorials > Arctic Thaw ¶ 21:37 0 comments
Liberals Dismayed by 'Moral Values' Claims (Yahoo!--AP)
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
NEW YORK - Family values, traditional values and now, "moral values." Most American adults would say they have them, and yet that two-word phrase is the focus of an ideological tug-of-war heightened by President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election, with conservatives declaring principal ownership and liberals scrambling to challenge them.
"We need to work really hard at reclaiming some language," said the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the liberal-leaning National Council of Churches.
"The religious right has successfully gotten out there shaping personal piety issues — civil unions, abortion — as almost the total content of 'moral values,'" Edgar said. "And yet you can't read the Old Testament without knowing God was concerned about the environment, war and peace, poverty. God doesn't want 45 million Americans without health care."
(More ... Yahoo! News - Liberals Dismayed by 'Moral Values' Claims) ¶ 21:29 0 comments
NEW YORK - Family values, traditional values and now, "moral values." Most American adults would say they have them, and yet that two-word phrase is the focus of an ideological tug-of-war heightened by President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election, with conservatives declaring principal ownership and liberals scrambling to challenge them.
"We need to work really hard at reclaiming some language," said the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the liberal-leaning National Council of Churches.
"The religious right has successfully gotten out there shaping personal piety issues — civil unions, abortion — as almost the total content of 'moral values,'" Edgar said. "And yet you can't read the Old Testament without knowing God was concerned about the environment, war and peace, poverty. God doesn't want 45 million Americans without health care."
(More ... Yahoo! News - Liberals Dismayed by 'Moral Values' Claims) ¶ 21:29 0 comments
11.08.2004
House Dems Seek Election Inquiry (Wired.com)
By Kim Zetter
Published: November 5, 2004
Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accounting Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday's elections.
The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.
There were also problems with machines that counted absentee ballots in Florida. Software made by Election Systems & Software began subtracting votes when totals surpassed 32,000. Officials said the problem affected only certain countywide races on one of the last pages of the ballot. Elections officials knew about the problem two years ago, but the company failed to fix the software before the election this year.
Reports from voters in Florida and Ohio also indicated that some of them had problems voting for the candidate of their choice. When they tried to vote for John Kerry, they said, the machine either wouldn't register the vote at all or would indicate on the review page that the vote was cast for Bush instead.
(More ... Wired News: House Dems Seek Election Inquiry) ¶ 23:13 0 comments
Published: November 5, 2004
Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accounting Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday's elections.
The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.
There were also problems with machines that counted absentee ballots in Florida. Software made by Election Systems & Software began subtracting votes when totals surpassed 32,000. Officials said the problem affected only certain countywide races on one of the last pages of the ballot. Elections officials knew about the problem two years ago, but the company failed to fix the software before the election this year.
Reports from voters in Florida and Ohio also indicated that some of them had problems voting for the candidate of their choice. When they tried to vote for John Kerry, they said, the machine either wouldn't register the vote at all or would indicate on the review page that the vote was cast for Bush instead.
(More ... Wired News: House Dems Seek Election Inquiry) ¶ 23:13 0 comments
Don't Mourn, Organize (CommonDreams.org)
by Molly Ivins
AUSTIN, Texas — Do you know how to cure a chicken-killin' dog? Now, you know you cannot keep a dog that kills chickens, no matter how fine a dog it is otherwise.
Some people think you cannot break a dog that has got in the habit of killin' chickens, but my friend John Henry always claimed you could. He said the way to do it is to take one of the chickens the dog has killed and wire the thing around the dog's neck, good and strong. And leave it there until that dead chicken stinks so bad that no other dog or person will even go near that poor beast. Thing'll smell so bad the dog won't be able to stand himself. You leave it on there until the last little bit of flesh rots and falls off, and that dog won't kill chickens again.
The Bush administration is going to be wired around the neck of the American people for four more years, long enough for the stench to sicken everybody. It should cure the country of electing Republicans.
And at least Democrats won't have to clean up after him until it is real clear to everyone who made the mess.
(More ...
Don't Mourn, Organize) ¶ 22:38 0 comments
AUSTIN, Texas — Do you know how to cure a chicken-killin' dog? Now, you know you cannot keep a dog that kills chickens, no matter how fine a dog it is otherwise.
Some people think you cannot break a dog that has got in the habit of killin' chickens, but my friend John Henry always claimed you could. He said the way to do it is to take one of the chickens the dog has killed and wire the thing around the dog's neck, good and strong. And leave it there until that dead chicken stinks so bad that no other dog or person will even go near that poor beast. Thing'll smell so bad the dog won't be able to stand himself. You leave it on there until the last little bit of flesh rots and falls off, and that dog won't kill chickens again.
The Bush administration is going to be wired around the neck of the American people for four more years, long enough for the stench to sicken everybody. It should cure the country of electing Republicans.
And at least Democrats won't have to clean up after him until it is real clear to everyone who made the mess.
(More ...
Don't Mourn, Organize) ¶ 22:38 0 comments
Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked (CommonDreams.org)
By Thom Hartmann
When I spoke with Jeff Fisher this morning (Saturday, November 06, 2004), the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th District said he was waiting for the FBI to show up. Fisher has evidence, he says, not only that the Florida election was hacked, but of who hacked it and how. And not just this year, he said, but that these same people had previously hacked the Democratic primary race in 2002 so that Jeb Bush would not have to run against Janet Reno, who presented a real threat to Jeb, but instead against Bill McBride, who Jeb beat.
"It was practice for a national effort," Fisher told me.
And some believe evidence is accumulating that the national effort happened on November 2, 2004.
The State of Florida, for example, publishes a county-by-county record of votes cast and people registered to vote by party affiliation. Net denizen Kathy Dopp compiled the official state information into a table, available at http://ustogether.org/Florida_Election.htm, and noticed something startling.
While the heavily scrutinized touch-screen voting machines seemed to produce results in which the registered Democrat/Republican ratios largely matched the Kerry/Bush vote, in Florida's counties using results from optically scanned paper ballots - fed into a central tabulator PC and thus vulnerable to hacking – the results seem to contain substantial anomalies.
(More ... Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked | CommonDreams.org) ¶ 21:51 0 comments
When I spoke with Jeff Fisher this morning (Saturday, November 06, 2004), the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th District said he was waiting for the FBI to show up. Fisher has evidence, he says, not only that the Florida election was hacked, but of who hacked it and how. And not just this year, he said, but that these same people had previously hacked the Democratic primary race in 2002 so that Jeb Bush would not have to run against Janet Reno, who presented a real threat to Jeb, but instead against Bill McBride, who Jeb beat.
"It was practice for a national effort," Fisher told me.
And some believe evidence is accumulating that the national effort happened on November 2, 2004.
The State of Florida, for example, publishes a county-by-county record of votes cast and people registered to vote by party affiliation. Net denizen Kathy Dopp compiled the official state information into a table, available at http://ustogether.org/Florida_Election.htm, and noticed something startling.
While the heavily scrutinized touch-screen voting machines seemed to produce results in which the registered Democrat/Republican ratios largely matched the Kerry/Bush vote, in Florida's counties using results from optically scanned paper ballots - fed into a central tabulator PC and thus vulnerable to hacking – the results seem to contain substantial anomalies.
(More ... Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked | CommonDreams.org) ¶ 21:51 0 comments
The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy (Scoop.co.nz)
Privatizing Our Vote
by Thom Hartmann
The hot story in the Blogosphere is that the ''erroneous'' exit polls that showed Kerry carrying Florida and Ohio (among other states) weren't erroneous at all - it was the numbers produced by paperless voting machines that were wrong, and Kerry actually won. As more and more analysis is done of what may (or may not) be the most massive election fraud in the history of the world, however, it's critical that we keep the largest issue at the forefront at all time: Why are We The People allowing private, for-profit corporations, answerable only to their officers and boards of directors, and loyal only to agendas and politicians that will enhance their profitability, to handle our votes?
Maybe Florida went for Kerry, maybe for Bush. Over time - and through the efforts of some very motivated investigative reporters - we may well find out (Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org just filed what may be the largest Freedom of Information Act [FOIA} filing in history), and bloggers and investigative reporters are discovering an odd discrepancy in exit polls being largely accurate in paper-ballot states and oddly inaccurate in touch-screen electronic voting states Even raw voter analyses are showing extreme oddities in touch-screen-run Florida, and eagle-eyed bloggers are finding that news organizations are retroactively altering their exit polls to coincide with what the machines ultimately said.
But in all the discussion about voting machines, let's never forget the concept of the commons, because this usurpation is the ultimate felony committed by conservatives this year.
(More ... Scoop: Hartmann: The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy) ¶ 21:16 0 comments
by Thom Hartmann
The hot story in the Blogosphere is that the ''erroneous'' exit polls that showed Kerry carrying Florida and Ohio (among other states) weren't erroneous at all - it was the numbers produced by paperless voting machines that were wrong, and Kerry actually won. As more and more analysis is done of what may (or may not) be the most massive election fraud in the history of the world, however, it's critical that we keep the largest issue at the forefront at all time: Why are We The People allowing private, for-profit corporations, answerable only to their officers and boards of directors, and loyal only to agendas and politicians that will enhance their profitability, to handle our votes?
Maybe Florida went for Kerry, maybe for Bush. Over time - and through the efforts of some very motivated investigative reporters - we may well find out (Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org just filed what may be the largest Freedom of Information Act [FOIA} filing in history), and bloggers and investigative reporters are discovering an odd discrepancy in exit polls being largely accurate in paper-ballot states and oddly inaccurate in touch-screen electronic voting states Even raw voter analyses are showing extreme oddities in touch-screen-run Florida, and eagle-eyed bloggers are finding that news organizations are retroactively altering their exit polls to coincide with what the machines ultimately said.
But in all the discussion about voting machines, let's never forget the concept of the commons, because this usurpation is the ultimate felony committed by conservatives this year.
(More ... Scoop: Hartmann: The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy) ¶ 21:16 0 comments
I Voted... Messenger Bag (CafePress.com)
I Voted... Messenger Bag
Product Number: 14381138
US$22.99
AVAILABILITY: In Stock, will ship in 2-3 business days
We came, we saw, we voted, and still the chimp Geroge Bush pulled out a narrow victory. Let everyone know that he won't have it so easy this time.
ORDER NOW!I Voted ... Messenger Bag | The Angry Left | CafePress.com ¶ 20:42 0 comments
Product Number: 14381138
US$22.99
AVAILABILITY: In Stock, will ship in 2-3 business days
We came, we saw, we voted, and still the chimp Geroge Bush pulled out a narrow victory. Let everyone know that he won't have it so easy this time.
ORDER NOW!I Voted ... Messenger Bag | The Angry Left | CafePress.com ¶ 20:42 0 comments
Meditations (Politics): Don't Organize, Mourn (Scoop.co.nz)
Column: Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Friday, 5 November 2004, 4:43 pm
Well the inevitable happened. The dark genius of Karl Rove brought millions of Christian followers (not of Jesus but of Bush) out of the woodwork, and ''W'' was re-elected.
Even though I predicted just how the race would unfold, it gives me cold comfort. Like everyone else who sees the Bush Administration for what it is, I’m still recovering.
During Cheney’s introduction to Bush's acceptance speech yesterday, the discerning viewer noticed that the public address system went out for a few minutes in the hall where the scary crowd of American flag waving, “USA, USA” chanting sycophants had been waiting for 16 hours for this moment.
A hollow, tinny, eerie reverberation filled the room. Cheney’s voice became distant, and possessed of its true timbre, a mechanical sound that gave one the creeps. Just then a baby in the vast audience began to cry. The single competing sound of a wailing child was somehow amplified until it matched the vice-president’s empty echo.
(More ... Meditations (Politics): Don’t Organize, Mourn | Scoop.co.nz) ¶ 20:32 0 comments
Friday, 5 November 2004, 4:43 pm
Well the inevitable happened. The dark genius of Karl Rove brought millions of Christian followers (not of Jesus but of Bush) out of the woodwork, and ''W'' was re-elected.
Even though I predicted just how the race would unfold, it gives me cold comfort. Like everyone else who sees the Bush Administration for what it is, I’m still recovering.
During Cheney’s introduction to Bush's acceptance speech yesterday, the discerning viewer noticed that the public address system went out for a few minutes in the hall where the scary crowd of American flag waving, “USA, USA” chanting sycophants had been waiting for 16 hours for this moment.
A hollow, tinny, eerie reverberation filled the room. Cheney’s voice became distant, and possessed of its true timbre, a mechanical sound that gave one the creeps. Just then a baby in the vast audience began to cry. The single competing sound of a wailing child was somehow amplified until it matched the vice-president’s empty echo.
(More ... Meditations (Politics): Don’t Organize, Mourn | Scoop.co.nz) ¶ 20:32 0 comments
Rewarding the 'Values' Crowd (WashingtonPost.com)
By William Raspberry
Monday, November 8, 2004; Page A25
Today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation.
-- President Bush,
in his victory speech
We are required now to work together for the good of our country. In the days ahead, we must find common cause, we must join in common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion.
-- Sen. John F. Kerry,
in his concession speech
Are they, the reelected president and his defeated opponent, merely doing their compulsories? Or do they really think they can help Americans pull together across the lines that made this such a brutally divisive election?
I think they mean it. I doubt they can do it.
(More ... Rewarding the 'Values' Crowd | Washington Post) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
Monday, November 8, 2004; Page A25
Today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation.
-- President Bush,
in his victory speech
We are required now to work together for the good of our country. In the days ahead, we must find common cause, we must join in common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion.
-- Sen. John F. Kerry,
in his concession speech
Are they, the reelected president and his defeated opponent, merely doing their compulsories? Or do they really think they can help Americans pull together across the lines that made this such a brutally divisive election?
I think they mean it. I doubt they can do it.
(More ... Rewarding the 'Values' Crowd | Washington Post) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
Stable Iraq Tops Voter Priorities (Yahoo!--AP)
WASHINGTON - As President Bush (news - web sites) mulls what to do after winning re-election, voters say his first priority should be resolving the situation in Iraq (news - web sites), where the fighting is growing more intense. They also want Bush to cut the deficit, which ballooned under his watch, rather than pushing for more tax cuts, according to an Associated Press poll taken right after the election.
The voters' concerns stood in contrast to the priorities Bush cited after he defeated Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites). Bush pledged to aggressively pursue major changes in Social Security (news - web sites), tax laws and medical malpractice awards. Terrorism was a chief concern both for Bush and many voters in the poll.
"I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said a day after becoming the first president in 68 years to win re-election and gain seats in both the House and Senate.
Some 27 percent of respondents named Iraq as the top priority for the president's second term, ahead of issues such as terrorism, the economy and health care.
(More ... Stable Iraq Tops Voter Priorities | Yahoo! News | AP) ¶ 13:52 0 comments
The voters' concerns stood in contrast to the priorities Bush cited after he defeated Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites). Bush pledged to aggressively pursue major changes in Social Security (news - web sites), tax laws and medical malpractice awards. Terrorism was a chief concern both for Bush and many voters in the poll.
"I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said a day after becoming the first president in 68 years to win re-election and gain seats in both the House and Senate.
Some 27 percent of respondents named Iraq as the top priority for the president's second term, ahead of issues such as terrorism, the economy and health care.
(More ... Stable Iraq Tops Voter Priorities | Yahoo! News | AP) ¶ 13:52 0 comments
