Saturday, November 06, 2004
* * * * * * * *
Black Wednesday
The guy in the next cube at the day job had a great idea yesterday. He said from now on the first Wednesday in November should be an international day of mourning. We'll simply call it Black Wednesday.
Black arm bands would be quite appropriate. And maybe a sign or two that says "Down with Big Brother."
|
Black Wednesday
The guy in the next cube at the day job had a great idea yesterday. He said from now on the first Wednesday in November should be an international day of mourning. We'll simply call it Black Wednesday.
Black arm bands would be quite appropriate. And maybe a sign or two that says "Down with Big Brother."
Thursday, November 04, 2004
* * * * * * * *
I Miss the Black Panthers
On days like this, it's hard to be a liberal. That's because we believe in being nice. It's hard to be nice when the other side tend to be such absolute ass holes.
I imagine by now you've read the Adam Yoshida quote of the day, but I'm going to share it with you anyway, just in case.
Consequently, whenever some weak shit Republican like Yoshida or Norquist or DeLay opens his fat mouth, I feel like paraphrasing an old Woody Allen line:
And since all those Republican bigots are such good Christians, they'd do well to get down on their knees every single night and pray to God that I stay nice.
|
I Miss the Black Panthers
On days like this, it's hard to be a liberal. That's because we believe in being nice. It's hard to be nice when the other side tend to be such absolute ass holes.
I imagine by now you've read the Adam Yoshida quote of the day, but I'm going to share it with you anyway, just in case.
Let’s face a hard truth: this was the bitterest Presidential campaign in living memory. The Democrats and their allies staked everything on the defeat of this President. All of the resources they had accumulated over a generation of struggle were thrown into this battle: and they have failed. Despite all of their tricks, despite all of their lies, the people have rejected them. They mean nothing. They are worth nothing. There’s no point in trying to reach out to them because they won’t be reached out to. We’ve got their teeth clutching the sidewalk and out boot above their head. Now’s the time to curb-stomp the bastards.That's why I miss the Panthers. There was something poetic about a bunch of bad-ass urban Blacks with guns just scaring the shit out of all those snivling reactionary white bigot punks.
Consequently, whenever some weak shit Republican like Yoshida or Norquist or DeLay opens his fat mouth, I feel like paraphrasing an old Woody Allen line:
I never met a Republican yet you couldn't straighten out with a gym bag full of cash or a round from a forty five.But, of course, I'm a liberal. I am, therefore, a nice guy. So I would never say anything like that.
And since all those Republican bigots are such good Christians, they'd do well to get down on their knees every single night and pray to God that I stay nice.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
* * * * * * * *
Coulter's Legs
While I'm feeling snarky. . .
I don't generally rant on anybody's body. We got what we got. But there is something to be said for truth in advertising.
Did you notice those ads, you know the ones I mean, with Ann Coulter and Al Franken facing off in boxing gloves? It was up on Atrios for a couple of weeks (though it's gone now). But you can still catch it on Jesus' General if you move fast.
Anyway, in the cartoon of Coulter's body, she's actually got meat on her bones. What the hell is that about?
Let's get real. The only thing more narrow than Ann Coulter's legs is her mind.
|
Coulter's Legs
While I'm feeling snarky. . .
I don't generally rant on anybody's body. We got what we got. But there is something to be said for truth in advertising.
Did you notice those ads, you know the ones I mean, with Ann Coulter and Al Franken facing off in boxing gloves? It was up on Atrios for a couple of weeks (though it's gone now). But you can still catch it on Jesus' General if you move fast.
Anyway, in the cartoon of Coulter's body, she's actually got meat on her bones. What the hell is that about?
Let's get real. The only thing more narrow than Ann Coulter's legs is her mind.
* * * * * * * *
Why Bush Won
I know in my fairly wide circle of friends, family, and associates, most folks are pretty stunned. Hardly anyone we know would have even considered voting for Bush. So we have to ask ourselves, Who were all those people who voted for him?
This explains a lot. (UPDATE: Actually this doesn't explain anything. The link changed within 2 hours of me posting. What it was was a chart (probably a hoax, we are now told), that purported to show how a state voted in the 2004 Presidential Election and the average I.Q. in the state. The results wouldn't have surprised you at all. The Red States definately tended toward the lower end of the I.Q. scale. So, according to the hoax, people who voted for Bush aren't delusional after all. They're just really stupid. -- Travis)
Thanks to Noel has moved for the link.
UPDATE: Digby frames this information quite well:
|
Why Bush Won
I know in my fairly wide circle of friends, family, and associates, most folks are pretty stunned. Hardly anyone we know would have even considered voting for Bush. So we have to ask ourselves, Who were all those people who voted for him?
This explains a lot. (UPDATE: Actually this doesn't explain anything. The link changed within 2 hours of me posting. What it was was a chart (probably a hoax, we are now told), that purported to show how a state voted in the 2004 Presidential Election and the average I.Q. in the state. The results wouldn't have surprised you at all. The Red States definately tended toward the lower end of the I.Q. scale. So, according to the hoax, people who voted for Bush aren't delusional after all. They're just really stupid. -- Travis)
Thanks to Noel has moved for the link.
UPDATE: Digby frames this information quite well:
UPDATE 2 (Saturday morning): The General has found the IQ Chart (bless his heterosexual heart). Let's all go look at it.I know it's not politic to say it, but a majority of this country are obviously dumb as posts.
* * * * * * * *
"Charlie Mike"
Continue the Mission
When I went to bed last night, things looked very bad. I didn't want to check the news this morning. I had a vicious headache, and my spirits were on the leading edge of clinical depression.
When I finally went on-line, it was as bad as I thought. Yeah, there was the possibility of pulling something out of the provisional ballots in Ohio. But after having gone through the anguish of the 2000 election, I wasn't hopeful.
As my posts below indicate, I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel. America is pretty hosed right now, and it wouldn't take much for any of us to just say "Fuck it!," pack up our stuff, and head off for Canada or New Zealand or Costa Rica or wherever. I actually spent a couple of minutes this morning on Craig's List, checking out job openings in Vancouver, B.C. They were pretty paltry.
Then my kids started waking up and I heard their mother telling them about the election and that I was feeling pretty bad and probably would all day. There was something in their smiles that turned the day around for me.
Don't get me wrong. I and everyone I know is in significant pain today. And it's the kind of pain that no amount of sex or scotch or Ben & Jerry's is going to wash away.
It hurt some more when I heard the concession speech. But I'm done snivling. It's time to pick ourselves up off the canvass and get back into the fight. Daily Kos contributor Meteor Blades wrote a great piece this morning on where we go from here. You should read it all, but here are the key graphs:
But that's the sort of true believers we're dealing with today. And it's only a short step from a religious-political cult to full-blown fascism.
There are lessons we can learn in all this. We're not all that far removed from elections of just a few decades ago. I loved the Hunter Thompson quote from Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail that Billmon posted this morning:
Where I operate is at the local level, so that's where my efforts will go. Everybody in my little town, in my little county, who is just sick to death of the way the elections (national, and state) turned out, I'm going to ask them: "Are you willing to do something to change it?"
I know that the Democratic effort this year was unprecedented. There were lots of folks, more than ever before, who participated in many, many ways. And still we lost.
What I know for sure is that there were also lots of people in my community who stayed on the sidelines. Politics is just something that they don't do. But now they are shocked at the thought of what 4 more years of Republican rule might mean for them and their children. Those are the people we need to bring into the fold.
We have 2 years until the next general election -- one year until those campaigns begin. And for many of us there will be municipal elections in just 18 months or so. I intend to make the bastards pay for every contest they enter. Good progressive Democrats still control my little town and the county that it is in. We're going to keep it that way, and in the process serve notice to the Repulsives. We're going to take America back, town by town, state by state. I'm reminded of the soldier in the 101st Airborne Division, which was holding Bastogne against several German divisions during the Battle of the Bulge. He was heard to remark, "The poor bastards. They've got us surrounded."
With the Radical Wrong in charge of all three branches of government, they truly have us surrounded. There will be no shortage of good targets. Let's make the most of it.
Time to get to work. Let's get off our sad butts and continue the work. We have much to do. It's time to complete the mission. "Charlie Mike."
|
"Charlie Mike"
Continue the Mission
When I went to bed last night, things looked very bad. I didn't want to check the news this morning. I had a vicious headache, and my spirits were on the leading edge of clinical depression.
When I finally went on-line, it was as bad as I thought. Yeah, there was the possibility of pulling something out of the provisional ballots in Ohio. But after having gone through the anguish of the 2000 election, I wasn't hopeful.
As my posts below indicate, I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel. America is pretty hosed right now, and it wouldn't take much for any of us to just say "Fuck it!," pack up our stuff, and head off for Canada or New Zealand or Costa Rica or wherever. I actually spent a couple of minutes this morning on Craig's List, checking out job openings in Vancouver, B.C. They were pretty paltry.
Then my kids started waking up and I heard their mother telling them about the election and that I was feeling pretty bad and probably would all day. There was something in their smiles that turned the day around for me.
Don't get me wrong. I and everyone I know is in significant pain today. And it's the kind of pain that no amount of sex or scotch or Ben & Jerry's is going to wash away.
It hurt some more when I heard the concession speech. But I'm done snivling. It's time to pick ourselves up off the canvass and get back into the fight. Daily Kos contributor Meteor Blades wrote a great piece this morning on where we go from here. You should read it all, but here are the key graphs:
Not a few people have spoken in the past few hours about an Americanist authoritarianism emerging out of the country's current leadership. I think that's not far-fetched. Fighting this requires that we stick together, not bashing each other, not fleeing or hiding or yielding to the temptation of behaving as if 'what's the use?'It's no secret that I think most of the people who supported Bush are in serious need of behavioral health services. I've studied religious cults. They aren't likely to change how they view the world, certainly not right away. The transformation necessary to acknowledge that your entire belief system is based upon lies, upon a false reality is quite painful and difficult.
It's tough on the psyche to be beaten.Throughout our country's history, abolitionists, suffragists, union organizers, anti-racists, antiwarriors, civil libertarians, feminists and gay rights activists have challenged the majority of Americans to take off their blinders. Each succeeded one way or another, but not overnight, and certainly not without serious setbacks.
After a decent interval of licking our wounds and pondering what might have been and where we went wrong, we need to spit out our despair and return -- united -- to battling those who have for the moment outmaneuvered us. Otherwise, we might just as well lie down in the street and let them flatten us with their schemes.
But that's the sort of true believers we're dealing with today. And it's only a short step from a religious-political cult to full-blown fascism.
There are lessons we can learn in all this. We're not all that far removed from elections of just a few decades ago. I loved the Hunter Thompson quote from Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail that Billmon posted this morning:
This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it -- that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.And Kos points to another lesson:
In 1964, the Lyndon Johnson beat Barry Goldwater by 23 points. Goldwater managed to carry just 6 states and Johnson won the electoral college 486-52. But the conservatives didn't give up. They didn't spend a lot of time wringing their hands. They regrouped and fought back. By 1968, Nixon crushed Humphrey in the electoral college 301-191 and won the popular vote by a million votes. If you oppose Bush, now isn't the time to feel sorry for yourself. Now is the time to get to work.I don't know a lot about how the party works at the national level. I'll leave those tasks to those who understand that end of the business.
Where I operate is at the local level, so that's where my efforts will go. Everybody in my little town, in my little county, who is just sick to death of the way the elections (national, and state) turned out, I'm going to ask them: "Are you willing to do something to change it?"
I know that the Democratic effort this year was unprecedented. There were lots of folks, more than ever before, who participated in many, many ways. And still we lost.
What I know for sure is that there were also lots of people in my community who stayed on the sidelines. Politics is just something that they don't do. But now they are shocked at the thought of what 4 more years of Republican rule might mean for them and their children. Those are the people we need to bring into the fold.
We have 2 years until the next general election -- one year until those campaigns begin. And for many of us there will be municipal elections in just 18 months or so. I intend to make the bastards pay for every contest they enter. Good progressive Democrats still control my little town and the county that it is in. We're going to keep it that way, and in the process serve notice to the Repulsives. We're going to take America back, town by town, state by state. I'm reminded of the soldier in the 101st Airborne Division, which was holding Bastogne against several German divisions during the Battle of the Bulge. He was heard to remark, "The poor bastards. They've got us surrounded."
With the Radical Wrong in charge of all three branches of government, they truly have us surrounded. There will be no shortage of good targets. Let's make the most of it.
Time to get to work. Let's get off our sad butts and continue the work. We have much to do. It's time to complete the mission. "Charlie Mike."
* * * * * * * *
Bumper Sticker
I expect to see
|
Bumper Sticker
I expect to see
I'd rather be bitch-slapping
my congressman
* * * * * * * *
What This Election Will Mean:
Kiss your job goodbye
Kiss your retirement goodbye
Kiss your Social Security goodbye
Kiss your health care goodbye
Kiss the air goodbye
Kiss the water goodbye
Kiss the trees goodbye
Kiss the canyons goodbye
Kiss your children goodbye
Say Hello to the Draft
Say Hello to War without End
Say Hello to the New Imperialist Nation
Say Hello to the New Dictatorship
Say Hello to the Christian Fascist Party
Kiss Freedom goodbye
Kiss Democracy goodbye
Kiss America goodbye
|
What This Election Will Mean:
Kiss your job goodbye
Kiss your retirement goodbye
Kiss your Social Security goodbye
Kiss your health care goodbye
Kiss the air goodbye
Kiss the water goodbye
Kiss the trees goodbye
Kiss the canyons goodbye
Kiss your children goodbye
Say Hello to the Draft
Say Hello to War without End
Say Hello to the New Imperialist Nation
Say Hello to the New Dictatorship
Say Hello to the Christian Fascist Party
Kiss Freedom goodbye
Kiss Democracy goodbye
Kiss America goodbye
"Remember what we sang
Remember how we danced
In America, so many years ago"
* * * * * * * *
Worst President in History Re-Elected?
What will we tell the children?
|
Worst President in History Re-Elected?
What will we tell the children?
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
* * * * * * * *
Fucking Nightmare!
I'm going to bed. Maybe it will be better in the morning...
Maybe it will be better in Canada.
|
Fucking Nightmare!
I'm going to bed. Maybe it will be better in the morning...
Maybe it will be better in Canada.
Monday, November 01, 2004
* * * * * * * *
EV Prediction Update:
A Kerry Blow-out
It's Monday night and I'm updating my EV prediction:
Kerry takes (to name just a few battleground states) Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota.
|
EV Prediction Update:
A Kerry Blow-out
It's Monday night and I'm updating my EV prediction:
Kerry takes (to name just a few battleground states) Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota.
Kerry 301And why not? America is full of good people, Republicans and Democrats, who have seen their country severely damaged by 4 years of lies, corruption, arrogance, stupidity and mismanagement. They're tired of this shit. Their votes will say so.
Bush 237
* * * * * * * *
Hope in Florida
Dirty Tricks be Damned
I have to confess that, in my electoral vote projection below, I conceded Florida to the adverse party -- not because the votes aren't there, not because Democrats and supporting organizations haven't created a far superior (and rather astounding) ground game there.
I just assumed that Jeb Bush and his fundamentalist new-nazi true believers in Florida would find a way to steal the election in Florida -- again.
But there are some great stories coming out of the early voting in Florida. Thirty percent of registered voters there have already cast their ballots. Polls show Kerry leading Bush 51% - 43% among early voters there.
Josh Marshall posted this rather remarkable letter about voters waiting in line for hours to vote in an African-American neighborhood in East Tampa. And Atrios linked to this piece from the LA Weekly about Black voters not being fooled by a rather lame attempt by Republicans pretending to be gay campaigners for Kerry.
Democrats in Florida know that they got screwed four years ago. And they know that, as a result, the whole country has been getting screwed ever since. They're going to make sure that doesn't happen again. They are voting with resovle and steadfast determination. And they won't get fooled again.
|
Hope in Florida
Dirty Tricks be Damned
I have to confess that, in my electoral vote projection below, I conceded Florida to the adverse party -- not because the votes aren't there, not because Democrats and supporting organizations haven't created a far superior (and rather astounding) ground game there.
I just assumed that Jeb Bush and his fundamentalist new-nazi true believers in Florida would find a way to steal the election in Florida -- again.
But there are some great stories coming out of the early voting in Florida. Thirty percent of registered voters there have already cast their ballots. Polls show Kerry leading Bush 51% - 43% among early voters there.
Josh Marshall posted this rather remarkable letter about voters waiting in line for hours to vote in an African-American neighborhood in East Tampa. And Atrios linked to this piece from the LA Weekly about Black voters not being fooled by a rather lame attempt by Republicans pretending to be gay campaigners for Kerry.
Democrats in Florida know that they got screwed four years ago. And they know that, as a result, the whole country has been getting screwed ever since. They're going to make sure that doesn't happen again. They are voting with resovle and steadfast determination. And they won't get fooled again.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
* * * * * * * *
Redskins Lose!
Alert reader basilbeast reminds me that this is bad for Bush. According to the WaPo:
|
Redskins Lose!
Alert reader basilbeast reminds me that this is bad for Bush. According to the WaPo:
Ever since 1936, the year before the team moved to Washington, the last home game before the election has predicted the winner. If the Redskins win, so does the incumbent party in the White House; if not, not. This rule has held good for 17 straight elections.I didn't really need another reason why Kerry should win, but, you know, whatever works.
* * * * * * * *
Predicting Election Results:
Rain Storm makes the call
Here's how I think it goes down: Kerry Wins!
I'm holding off on publishing the swing state computations that produced these EV results. They are quite conservative, and I don't wish to dampen the enthusiasm of anyone working or voting in a swing state. With just the slightest changes in actual turnout, the election could be an EV blow-out for Kerry.
Say your prayers and hit the streets hard on Tuesday. Wake up on Wednesday with a smile, knowing that you did your part to save America.
|
Predicting Election Results:
Rain Storm makes the call
Here's how I think it goes down: Kerry Wins!
Electoral Votes:Game -- Set -- MatchKerry 284Popular Vote:
Bush 254Kerry 52%
Bush 47%
Other 1%
I'm holding off on publishing the swing state computations that produced these EV results. They are quite conservative, and I don't wish to dampen the enthusiasm of anyone working or voting in a swing state. With just the slightest changes in actual turnout, the election could be an EV blow-out for Kerry.
Say your prayers and hit the streets hard on Tuesday. Wake up on Wednesday with a smile, knowing that you did your part to save America.
