If you want to read a thorough, apparently well researched article about the horror that was the 2000 Presidential election and the aftermath in Florida, you have to pick up the October issue of Vanity Fair. From the Supreme Court deliberations to the manipulations and outright deception by Florida's politicians and various government officials, if you read this and don't get steamed, you're not breathing. Check it out. Unfortunately, Conde Nast, in their infinite wisdom, doesn't make Vanity Fair articles available online, so you'll have to go pick up the magazine. And, while you're at it, shoot a letter to Jeb Bush voicing your outrage. Here's mine:
September 23, 2004
Governor Jeb Bush
Plaza Level, The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
VIA FAX & MAIL: 850-487-0801
Re: The Florida Elections
Dear Governor:
First let me send my best wishes for a speedy recovery from the recent storms that have hit your state and the storms that may make landfall in the coming days or weeks. While I am not a resident of your state, I do have relatives and friends living there.
But the real reason for this letter is to express my utter disgust at the state of voting rights in your state. It is now common knowledge that many, many innocent individuals were prevented from voting in the 2000 Presidential elections due to what can only be called the questionable actions of numerous individuals within the Florida government. I have just finished reading the article in the October issue of Vanity Fair about the difficulty that way too many people in your state have to deal with in order to do something as simple as vote. You should really be embarrassed. I know if I were the governor of a state with as many problems as yours, I would probably be a bit more critical of my performance than you appear to be. Hell, I doubt that I would have seen fit to run for reelection after the boondoggle that I presided over. But that’s just me and a little something I like to call integrity.
Too many people put their lives on the line in order to ensure that they had the right to vote. People died for this right. And here you and your minions have seen fit to advance your own causes (and the causes of your brother) by taking this right away from the people. People who were mistakenly labeled ex-convicts. Ex-convicts whose rights had been restored, only to have you take them away again. It’s utterly disgraceful.
I truly hope that the race this year in Florida is not as close as it was in 2000 so that, despite the misguided actions of your administration, the votes of those whom you have chosen to alienate and who were not able to vote are not pivotal to the outcome of the election.
Sincerely,
Joel C. Press
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Sunny Day, Everythings A-OK, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet....
So Bush says things are impring in Iraq, huh? Well, by now we've all heard about the NIE that Bush received in July that indicated otherwise. But Bush and his cronies continue to pile on the bullshit. And the sad thing is people still believe what he's shoveling. How in the hell can people still believe that this man can adequately fulfill the role of Commander-In-Chief. He's a blooming idiot. When asked just yesterday about the NIE, he indicated that the CIA was just "guessing" about the situation in Iraq. Huh? So before the Iraq invasion the CIA information was a slamdunk and now it's questionable? Sure the CIA dropped the ball on pre-Iraq invasion intel. Which is why anything they put together now is very likely to be double and triple-checked before they release it.Here's some info from an article in the Sunday NY Times (9/19). Check out the whole article for more info:
Violence against American forces surged last month to its highest level since the war began last year, with an average of 87 attacks per day. --And this is how things are getting better???
…
Iraqi officials say it will be necessary to keep those offices open for at least six weeks while the registrations are gathered, requiring thousands of police officers and possibly troops to protect them. Those plans have not yet been completed, but American and British officials said the primary responsibility for providing ballot security will fall to the Iraqi police, whose record against the insurgents in southern and central Iraq has been spotty at best. [T]he Association of Muslim Scholars, the country's largest group of Sunni clerics, said last week that it had decided against taking part in the elections. "As long as we are under military occupation, honest elections are impossible," said Sheik Abdul Satar Abdul Jabbar, a member of the association, which represents about 3,000 Sunni mosques in the region.
…
Indeed, the violence in Iraq is giving rise to concerns that voting held under the present conditions, with a possible large-scale boycott by the Sunni Arabs, will render the results of such an election suspect in the eyes of many Iraqis. If that happens, some Iraqis say, the stage could be set for even more violence.
…
"If the Sunnis do not vote, then you could end up with a polarized Parliament that could lead to civil war." --But the CIA was just "guessing" in their NIE??!!
…
Many of those soldiers do not have adequate equipment, and they have little or no combat experience. American commanders are concerned that the experience of April not be repeated, when the Iraqi security forces largely disintegrated in the face of Shiite and Sunni uprisings. –And these are the people that are supposed to ensure the safety of the millions of folks that are supposed to vote in January???
Great! Aren't you glad that we're winning the so-called war on terror? Now we're screwing things up for people in Iraq. I caught NOW with Bill Moyers on Friday and one of his guests was a soldier recently returned from Iraq. This soldier's mother had to buy him body armor off of the internet because the body armor he was initially issued wasn't adequate to stop a round from an AK-47 assault rifle, apparently the preferred weapon of the insurgents in Iraq. Meanwhile we're dumping billions of dollars on Halliburton, much of which is unaccounted for. Anyway, this soldier indicated that he had befriended a translator that worked with him in Iraq and the translator indicated that he actually felt safer in the streets with Saddam in power. Odd, isn't it? Not that I'm saying that Iraq would be better off with Saddam at the helm, but we don't seem to be doing much good over there at the moment. We shouldn't have bone in there without adequate troops in place to keep the peace. God help the Iraqis and our troops over there.
Violence against American forces surged last month to its highest level since the war began last year, with an average of 87 attacks per day. --And this is how things are getting better???
…
Iraqi officials say it will be necessary to keep those offices open for at least six weeks while the registrations are gathered, requiring thousands of police officers and possibly troops to protect them. Those plans have not yet been completed, but American and British officials said the primary responsibility for providing ballot security will fall to the Iraqi police, whose record against the insurgents in southern and central Iraq has been spotty at best. [T]he Association of Muslim Scholars, the country's largest group of Sunni clerics, said last week that it had decided against taking part in the elections. "As long as we are under military occupation, honest elections are impossible," said Sheik Abdul Satar Abdul Jabbar, a member of the association, which represents about 3,000 Sunni mosques in the region.
…
Indeed, the violence in Iraq is giving rise to concerns that voting held under the present conditions, with a possible large-scale boycott by the Sunni Arabs, will render the results of such an election suspect in the eyes of many Iraqis. If that happens, some Iraqis say, the stage could be set for even more violence.
…
"If the Sunnis do not vote, then you could end up with a polarized Parliament that could lead to civil war." --But the CIA was just "guessing" in their NIE??!!
…
Many of those soldiers do not have adequate equipment, and they have little or no combat experience. American commanders are concerned that the experience of April not be repeated, when the Iraqi security forces largely disintegrated in the face of Shiite and Sunni uprisings. –And these are the people that are supposed to ensure the safety of the millions of folks that are supposed to vote in January???
Great! Aren't you glad that we're winning the so-called war on terror? Now we're screwing things up for people in Iraq. I caught NOW with Bill Moyers on Friday and one of his guests was a soldier recently returned from Iraq. This soldier's mother had to buy him body armor off of the internet because the body armor he was initially issued wasn't adequate to stop a round from an AK-47 assault rifle, apparently the preferred weapon of the insurgents in Iraq. Meanwhile we're dumping billions of dollars on Halliburton, much of which is unaccounted for. Anyway, this soldier indicated that he had befriended a translator that worked with him in Iraq and the translator indicated that he actually felt safer in the streets with Saddam in power. Odd, isn't it? Not that I'm saying that Iraq would be better off with Saddam at the helm, but we don't seem to be doing much good over there at the moment. We shouldn't have bone in there without adequate troops in place to keep the peace. God help the Iraqis and our troops over there.
A good reason for tort reform?
And this from an article in the September 27, 2004 issue of Time Magazine on exhorbitant hospital bills. Note that the hospital's CEO gets paid a butload of money (and has benefits), while his hospital sues people making $7 an hour. And the hospital is one of Albany, Georgia's most litigious parties! I bet Bush would seek out some exemption that would place absolutely no restrictions on this type of bullshit. Yeah, bankrupt these people living in poverty so that your damn CEO can live in the lap of luxury.
Probing Phoebe's IRS tax filings, they found that CEO Joel Wernick was paid $707,000 (including benefits) in Phoebe's 2002 fiscal year and had an interest-free loan from the hospital for $85,300. The filings also showed that Phoebe had more than $300 million in net assets and reported offshore entities in the Cayman Islands worth some $15.5 million. At the same time, Phoebe had sued citizens in the Dougherty County area, one of the nation's poorest, hundreds of times over a five-year span, making the hospital one of the region's most litigious parties. Phoebe garnished the wages of patient Virginia Franklins, 49, even though she made $7 an hour pressing men's dress shirts and had no house or car to her name. After that, Franklins says, "I couldn't afford to pay my bills." She now lives off welfare, caring for a 13-year-old niece as well.
Probing Phoebe's IRS tax filings, they found that CEO Joel Wernick was paid $707,000 (including benefits) in Phoebe's 2002 fiscal year and had an interest-free loan from the hospital for $85,300. The filings also showed that Phoebe had more than $300 million in net assets and reported offshore entities in the Cayman Islands worth some $15.5 million. At the same time, Phoebe had sued citizens in the Dougherty County area, one of the nation's poorest, hundreds of times over a five-year span, making the hospital one of the region's most litigious parties. Phoebe garnished the wages of patient Virginia Franklins, 49, even though she made $7 an hour pressing men's dress shirts and had no house or car to her name. After that, Franklins says, "I couldn't afford to pay my bills." She now lives off welfare, caring for a 13-year-old niece as well.
Friday, September 17, 2004
It's The Dishonesty, Stupid; and the bleak forecast for Iraq
Great opening line from Paul Krugman's piece in the NY Times. It's a couple days old, so maybe you've seen it already. If not, it's a good read about the lack of honesty in the Bush administration.
Also of interest, a piece in the New Yorker by Jeffrey Toobin on the Voting Rights Act and how our beloved John Ashcroft is fucking things up in the Justice Department.
Also in the NY Times, a piece on the recent CIA report on prospects in Iraq - not so good, as you can probably imagine.
Enjoy.
Also of interest, a piece in the New Yorker by Jeffrey Toobin on the Voting Rights Act and how our beloved John Ashcroft is fucking things up in the Justice Department.
Also in the NY Times, a piece on the recent CIA report on prospects in Iraq - not so good, as you can probably imagine.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Fire Ashcroft! And, has anyone seen Dubya???
Read an interesting piece in Long Island's NEWSDAY newspaper today (9/14/04) worth reading. It calls for John Ashcroft to be fired for his incompetence.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpcoc143966772sep14,0,7320437.column?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines
This article indicates how very little time Dubya is spending at the the White House these days. Not that he spent much time there during his time in office. Apparently he's spent about 40% of his time in office on vacation. Nice job if you can get it.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040915/D853P7280.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpcoc143966772sep14,0,7320437.column?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines
This article indicates how very little time Dubya is spending at the the White House these days. Not that he spent much time there during his time in office. Apparently he's spent about 40% of his time in office on vacation. Nice job if you can get it.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040915/D853P7280.html
Bush/Cheney is a failed experiment.
God help us all if George W. Bush is re-elected President. I'm serious about that. Someone please explain to me how someone that has been such an obvious failure as President can hold a lead in the polls. Now, granted, I don't believe the polls hold the key to the outcome of November's election, but it's disheartening to see Bush with a lead. Knowing what we know today, he should be on his way back to his ranch in Crawford. Please, can someone tell me what he has accomplished successfully since taking office (and I truly mean "taking" office)?
OK, so he went to war in Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban. No he didn't. In case you haven't heard (mainly because the major media doesn't give it much, if any, coverage), the Taliban is back and gaining strength in Afghanistan. And the opium farmers' production is soaring. If you saw my previous post, you'll know that claims of a successful turn toward democracy is questionable. Failure.
The war in Iraq. Oh, c'mon. We shouldn't have gone there in the first place. Yes we went in on incorrect information, but I don't believe for a second that our intelligence was that bad. No, Bush wanted to go in and go in he did. And we all know that we can hardly claim success in Iraq. It's a fuckin mess. Failure.
OK, so Bush passed tax cuts. Great (please hear the sarcasm). So when we need to spend billions on a war, he cuts taxes. The only President in our country's history to ever cut taxes during a time of war. And, as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office indicated, most of that tax cut went into the pockets of the rich. Don't forget that when Federal tax revenue decreases, that means less tax revenue for the States...which means that state and local taxes go up. That's what happened to me here in New York. Thanks, George.
Bush has no successes to run on, so all he and Cheney can do is repeat the same mantra over and over. Kerry is a flip-flopper. He voted to give the President the authority to go to war, but voted against additional funding of the war. Well, of course he would vote to give the President the authority to go to war, especially based on the intelligence reports from the CIA. But did he vote against the additional funding? The Bush/Cheney claims are inaccurate and disingenuous. And you won't generally hear what really happened, because the media only print or show what Bush and Cheney say, without expounding on the issue. It's like an episode of Dora The Explorer - keep repeating the same thing over and over to hammer it into people's heads. What REALLY happened is that Kerry voted FOR the funding bill that actually made the reconstruction money a loan and that asked Bush to repeal his tax cuts on the ultra rich. Bush threatened to veto the bill. So the second bill came through, which made the $20 billion reconstruction monies a grant, which does not need to be repaid. And Kerry voted against this bill since it seemed irresponsible. Remember that the Administration told us that the Iraq oil moneys would pay for the reconstruction. Yet another Bush administration lie.
Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm just steamed. Yes, Kerry isn't doing a great job of selling himself, but good Lord people, do you want to vote for someone because he's likeable or because he can run the country. Bush has proven that he can't handle the job. We need to get him out of office.
Maybe in my next post I'll address the issue of how Bush flip-flops just as much, if not more, than Kerry. Only the media doesn't really address the issue, in the same way they harped on Al Gore in the 2000 election about how he was a serial exaggerator for claiming that he invented the Internet and was the basis of the lead male character in "Love Story." (FYI, Gore didn't claim to have invented the Internet, and he apparently WAS one of two men used as the basis of the character in "Love Story." Read Al Franken's book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" for clarification.
OK, so he went to war in Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban. No he didn't. In case you haven't heard (mainly because the major media doesn't give it much, if any, coverage), the Taliban is back and gaining strength in Afghanistan. And the opium farmers' production is soaring. If you saw my previous post, you'll know that claims of a successful turn toward democracy is questionable. Failure.
The war in Iraq. Oh, c'mon. We shouldn't have gone there in the first place. Yes we went in on incorrect information, but I don't believe for a second that our intelligence was that bad. No, Bush wanted to go in and go in he did. And we all know that we can hardly claim success in Iraq. It's a fuckin mess. Failure.
OK, so Bush passed tax cuts. Great (please hear the sarcasm). So when we need to spend billions on a war, he cuts taxes. The only President in our country's history to ever cut taxes during a time of war. And, as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office indicated, most of that tax cut went into the pockets of the rich. Don't forget that when Federal tax revenue decreases, that means less tax revenue for the States...which means that state and local taxes go up. That's what happened to me here in New York. Thanks, George.
Bush has no successes to run on, so all he and Cheney can do is repeat the same mantra over and over. Kerry is a flip-flopper. He voted to give the President the authority to go to war, but voted against additional funding of the war. Well, of course he would vote to give the President the authority to go to war, especially based on the intelligence reports from the CIA. But did he vote against the additional funding? The Bush/Cheney claims are inaccurate and disingenuous. And you won't generally hear what really happened, because the media only print or show what Bush and Cheney say, without expounding on the issue. It's like an episode of Dora The Explorer - keep repeating the same thing over and over to hammer it into people's heads. What REALLY happened is that Kerry voted FOR the funding bill that actually made the reconstruction money a loan and that asked Bush to repeal his tax cuts on the ultra rich. Bush threatened to veto the bill. So the second bill came through, which made the $20 billion reconstruction monies a grant, which does not need to be repaid. And Kerry voted against this bill since it seemed irresponsible. Remember that the Administration told us that the Iraq oil moneys would pay for the reconstruction. Yet another Bush administration lie.
Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm just steamed. Yes, Kerry isn't doing a great job of selling himself, but good Lord people, do you want to vote for someone because he's likeable or because he can run the country. Bush has proven that he can't handle the job. We need to get him out of office.
Maybe in my next post I'll address the issue of how Bush flip-flops just as much, if not more, than Kerry. Only the media doesn't really address the issue, in the same way they harped on Al Gore in the 2000 election about how he was a serial exaggerator for claiming that he invented the Internet and was the basis of the lead male character in "Love Story." (FYI, Gore didn't claim to have invented the Internet, and he apparently WAS one of two men used as the basis of the character in "Love Story." Read Al Franken's book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" for clarification.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
The Afghanistan "elections"
I never even gave a second thought to the fact that the Bushies claim 10 million people are registered to vote in Afghanistan. According to the CIA's own website (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html), the total population is about 28.5 million people, of which approximately 13 million are 14 or under. Approximately 15 million are between 15-64, but how many million are "eligible" to vote, which I'm assuming means they're 18 or over, since that's the voting age in the USA. Assuming another, say, 2 million of this 15-64 group are below the age of 18, are they expecting us to believe that they registered 10 million of the approximately 13 million eligible voters?? I find that hard to believe. So they found all these people and had them register to vote, but they can't find bin Laden??? And they can purge legitimate voters from the rolls in Florida?? Talk about f'ed up priorities!
On the issue of Florida, check out this site: http://www.ericblumrich.com/gta.html . While I can't verify the information, if it's true, it's very disturbing.
On the issue of Florida, check out this site: http://www.ericblumrich.com/gta.html . While I can't verify the information, if it's true, it's very disturbing.
Friday, September 10, 2004
The Bush Military Files
So the Republicans are gone from New York City...and not a minute too soon, if you ask me. From here on out, I'm making it my mission to educate whomever I can to make sure that George Bush doesn't get reelected. If that's not your bag, well, you're probably not gonna want to read my blatherings.
So Bush's military record during Vietnam. Relevant? Probably not. So why would I mention it here? Because he apparently lied about it, making this a credibility issue. It amazed me from the beginning that the records of the specific period of time that Bush was apparently AWOL mysteriously disappeared and could not be found. Well, now apparently some of that information has been found and it looks like he was lying all along. I've been working through the site http://www.glcq.com, an exhaustively detailed site analyzing Bush's service records. Check it out. I missed the 60 Minutes episode last night that had a piece on the subject, but I heard snippets on Air America Radio...and the evidence seemed pretty damning.
Lying, cheating, right wing bastard.
So Bush's military record during Vietnam. Relevant? Probably not. So why would I mention it here? Because he apparently lied about it, making this a credibility issue. It amazed me from the beginning that the records of the specific period of time that Bush was apparently AWOL mysteriously disappeared and could not be found. Well, now apparently some of that information has been found and it looks like he was lying all along. I've been working through the site http://www.glcq.com, an exhaustively detailed site analyzing Bush's service records. Check it out. I missed the 60 Minutes episode last night that had a piece on the subject, but I heard snippets on Air America Radio...and the evidence seemed pretty damning.
Lying, cheating, right wing bastard.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
RNC day 2
Day 2 here, for me at least, was incredibly uneventful. Started off with a visit to the Air America morning show "Unfiltered" again and their live broadcast from a local restaurant.
This was supposed to be the "official" day of Civil Disobedience. Well I didn't see it. I understand that a bunch of folks got arrested today, but I think the police are doing a good job keeping things controlled and contained in the area around Madison Square Garden.
That pen you see essentially closes off all of 7th Avenue. I saw lots of people walking the streets with signs, mostly anti-Republican or anti-Bush (hey, I just calls 'em like I sees 'em). Took a walk by one of the Delegate hotels, which is right across the street from my office. I'm waiting to see what happens tomorrow when the Broadway matinees run. There will likely be some protesters in the area, so maybe I'll get some good shots for y'all. Photos that is.
No incidents on the trains either. Maybe folks are waiting until Cheney speaks (tomorrow) or when Bush arrives (Thursday). No worries, though. I'm off on Thursday.
Very moving speech by Ahnold just ended. Here comes the First Lady....
This was supposed to be the "official" day of Civil Disobedience. Well I didn't see it. I understand that a bunch of folks got arrested today, but I think the police are doing a good job keeping things controlled and contained in the area around Madison Square Garden.
That pen you see essentially closes off all of 7th Avenue. I saw lots of people walking the streets with signs, mostly anti-Republican or anti-Bush (hey, I just calls 'em like I sees 'em). Took a walk by one of the Delegate hotels, which is right across the street from my office. I'm waiting to see what happens tomorrow when the Broadway matinees run. There will likely be some protesters in the area, so maybe I'll get some good shots for y'all. Photos that is.
No incidents on the trains either. Maybe folks are waiting until Cheney speaks (tomorrow) or when Bush arrives (Thursday). No worries, though. I'm off on Thursday.
Very moving speech by Ahnold just ended. Here comes the First Lady....
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