Giving back to the community
As a public service, Loaded Mouth will document the profound changes rocking the lives of hetrosexuals everywhere since San Francisco committed the mortal sin of marrying loving gay couples. Let's begin....
This concludes our documentary. Thank you for tuning in, and be sure to check back for more hard hitting coverage of how gay marriage has profoundly changed the lives of hetrosexuals.
Vote Edwards. Now.
Loaded Mouth’s official stance: John Kerry = (Probably) Unelectable
You’re going to have to hear me out for this one, because I’ve probably convinced 90% of my reading audience that I’m nuts with this statement. And honestly, it’s just a hunch I had today that made more sense the more I thought about it. Here’s my reasoning.
While driving to class, I thought about the campaign speech Bush delivered on Monday, attacking Kerry with lines like this:
”The other party's nomination is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group with diverse opinions: for tax increases and against tax increases; for the liberation of Iraq and against it -- and that's just one senator from Massachusetts.” –Bush, 2/23/04
On Tuesday, I was listening to NPR and they played this line from Bush’s speech and it earned a lot of laughs from the crowd. I have to admit that even I almost laughed. It didn’t dawn on me today just how much of a problem this could potentially be… I hate this fucking guy, yet I almost laughed at this joke. His speech writers set this up to be a joke that a standup comic could use, and Bush even had good comic timing in his delivery. I had to face the facts, Bush just burned Kerry.
This campaign hasn’t started yet, and saying that makes this next statement more pertinent: The polls mean dick. It’s great that currents polls show either Kerry or Edwards could beat Bush in a general election and the man’s approval ratings have taken a dip below 50%, but honestly, this doesn’t mean shit because this campaign hasn’t even started yet. Bush, despite his numerous (and taxpayer funded) photo-op’s and campaign fund raisers, really hasn’t started his campaign yet. For the past few months, Bush has been a sitting duck while multiple Democrat candidates were able to use him as their own personal punching bag, so it only makes sense that his approval ratings would dip. But once you set your focus beyond causal observation, you realize that one thing has been missing from this campaign until now: Bush himself. Bush hasn’t begun to fight.
When Bush starts his campaign, he has two things going for him. One of these is his $104 million (and growing) war chest, which most people have started to take into consideration. But I don’t think anyone has taken the other factor into consideration, and that’s the change in Bush’s personality. If Monday’s speech is any indication, this isn’t the same Bush we are used to seeing. This isn’t the stupid, bumbling man who frequently made up words (“misunderestimated”) and leaned on his lectern, looking like he’s exhausted and about to crack under pressure. 2004’s Bush will be very different from the 2000 version; polished, well-spoken, and sharp as a tack. He’s able to accomplish all this with a Texan accent and his standard fare of being plain spoken, an anti-elitist style of speaking which spits in the face of “intellectualism.” While Kerry has been offering bland, not very original or dynamic statements that talk down on Bush and the Republican Party, Bush is talking like your amusing coworker or next door neighbor, cracking jokes about his competition in the same manner he would use to discuss a football game.
Those of us living in the Northeast (I imagine that’s the majority of my readers) might not get this. This region of the country, on top of being heavily Democratic, is also very Yankee. When we hear a southern accent, we make fun of it. That’s just what we do, I imagine we have done it for the previous 200 years and we’ll do it for the next 200, no matter how many NASCAR tracks they build up here.
I have a unique perspective, sharing my citizenship in the past couple years between New England and the Midwest, living in Cincinnati which is a border city to the South and holds more than a few southern values. I suppose if I never moved to Cincinnati, I wouldn’t get it. I would have heard part of Bush’s speech and said to myself, “God, what a bad attempt at a joke,” make fun of Texas a little bit and switched the channel. I realize that how Bush talks won’t translate up here, but the problem is that it translates to the rest of the country. I’m reminded of a friend I made in Cincinnati, he is 36 and anti-Republican in every sense. He’s old enough to remember what the country was like before Reagan and how uptight people became after he was elected, things just weren’t fun anymore. And he hated Bush, both father and son. But I remember a discussion we had one day we my friend said Bush is the kind of guy you want to invite to a barbeque and have a beer with, talk sports and stuff. This surprised me, because like I said, my friend hates Republicans and thinks Bush is an asshole, but this is the way Bush translated to him.
How can Kerry win against this Bush? Since Iowa, I’ve regarded Kerry as the most electable because of his results in the primaries and how he’s won so many states, though in the back of my mind, I’ve thought that Edwards southern roots make him the more attractive candidate as far as electability is concerned. Now I’m convinced that Edwards is the most electable candidate the Democrats have going for them.
Kerry has two big problems that Bush will exploit in a head-to-head campaign: A Senate voting record that’s a mile long, and the fact that Kerry cannot speak to most Americans. Nobody can imagine grabbing a brewsky with Lurch Kerry and discussing that fucking A-Rod trade. As you read this, Bush’s trolls are looking into Kerry’s past and digging up things to exploit. Since Kerry has been all over the place in his political career, who knows what they’ll find? They are already painting a picture of Kerry being a hypocritical politician, somebody who says one thing and does another. And as far as I’m concerned in some cases, they’re right. Kerry did vote for the war in Iraq, Kerry does take huge sums of money from special interest groups. It’s hypocritical of Bush to point this out, of course, since he’s a “corporation disguised as a human,” to paraphrase Nader. But the fact of the matter is that Bush will portray Kerry as somebody who can’t decide what side of the issue he’s on. It seems to change with public opinion.
I realize there are other things going on in the campaign. Bush continues to stonewall the 9/11 panel, there's still the whole AWOL issue, his immigration policy suggestion with Mexico and, more recently, his call for a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage could take away votes. The economy is still a wreck if people can't find jobs, and the more unemployed there are the more votes the Democrats get. Bush has hardly done wonders for the country, and I hope that the true, desperate state of the nation becomes his undoing and Kerry can just walk into office. Like I said in my introduction, I'm trying to apply reason to a hunch, and that can be difficult because there are so many factors which could effect this election, some we won't know about until a few months down the road. But I think this much is obvious: Bush could run a spectacular campaign against Kerry.
I don't think Bush can run a better campaign against Edwards, who doesn't have a long Senate voting record. Edwards is also more plain spoken, he would translate better to most people across America. Kerry hasn't has any trouble making himself a popular choice among Democrats, but Democrats are going to coalesce around whoever the candidate eventually is. If even Kucinich won the primaries, the party would form ranks around him. Electability can no longer be judged solely on how many voters a candidate can win over in the Democratic primary, we have to look at which candidate has the best chance win independents, and maybe even a few Republican voters. Right now, the polls say either Kerry or Edwards can do that, but the polls mean dick. Bush hasn't begun to fight yet.
It comes down to this: Bush knows how to talk with most of America. Kerry knows how to talk with most of Massachusetts. His stale oneliners won't have time to grow old when the blitzkrieg of negative attacks by Bush begin, constantly putting him on the defensive. Edwards has the voice, the accent, the looks, and the demeanor to translate to most of America and win the votes of independents. He doesn't have a track record that makes him a sitting duck who is waffling on the issues. He can combat Bush's plain spokeness with the same manner of speaking and positive message.
Unemployed? Here's some KY.
Bush administration won't extend unployment benefits for Americans who can't find jobs because Bush doesn't know how to handle the economy.
Ashcroft wants medical records for women who got abortions
Again, of course. You know, Rush's medical records are out of the question, but if you dare to make a choice about your body, beware!
Random Notes
Another day, another 3 hours of sleep to work off of... I know my postings have become a bit weird as of late, (though I'm still proud for asserting that Michael Savage looks like he shit himself), weirdness is what happens when I suffer from sleep deprivation.
I would promise to be more coherent this weekend, but I'm not going to be here this weekend. Taking over blogging duties will be L/M semi-regulars The Mat(t)'s and Lumenia, a regular to L/M comments and my first female contributor since Rabid Bitch. There may also be a surprise guest this weekend making it a group of 4. I'm sure they'll do a fine, non-sleep deprived job.
I'll be back Tuesday morning, and soon after there will be pictures of anything quirky I found on yet another trip to the south.
Making fun of Michael Savage
Why? Because he's an asshole, that's why. Here's a picture of him with Mel Gibson:
OK, not to make fun of anybody for being fat, but I've listened to this man's radio show and he thinks he's a nutritional expert. He's gone into rants against activists who say that fast food is unhealthy, he's even claimed on his show that KFC and McDonalds are OK if you order the right meals. Uhm, looks like he's been ordering the wrong ones. Seriously. This is the face of the man that says fried chicken is healthy as long as you don't eat the skin. What a wanker. And what's that look on his face, anyway? Looks like he just crapped his pants.
Rapes in war
The unfortunate thing I find about this article is that it doesn't surprise me.
The United States military is facing the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops, lawmakers and victims advocates said on Wednesday.
There have been 112 reports of sexual misconduct over roughly the past 18 months in the Central Command area of operations, which includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, military officials said on Wednesday.
It seems like we hear a story about rapes in the military every few months. I wonder if anything will get done this time.
Unbelievable
Remember when Bush said he would give the 9/11 panel his testimony? Well there's a few strings attached.
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will grant to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's top two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said Wednesday.
And get a load of this shit:
Republican Congressional leaders have criticized the investigation's pace. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said he would not support and might block any legislation that extended the life of the panel, which is scheduled to complete its work in May.
So let me get this straight, Bush is only going to meet with two panel members for an hour, in private. And even though the panel needs more time, Bush's supports won't give it to them. Do I have that clear? I've only slept for 3 hours and I can barely keep my eyes open, so lemmie know...
Well, at least some jobs aren't being outsourced
They probably don't pay much, though.
Modern-day slavery is alive and well in Florida, the head of a human rights center said Tuesday as it released a report on people forced to work as prostitutes, farmworkers and maids across the state.
Human traffickers bring thousands of people into the United States each year and Florida is believed to be one of the top three destinations, along with New York and Texas, according to the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University.
I'm not quite sure what to say about this one...
From the "WTF?" dept.:
A Paterson man faces child endangerment charges after allegedly showing up at a Roman Catholic school clad in a diaper and pink stretch pants.
...Police said he showed up at Holy Spirit School at dismissal on Feb. 13 seeking a job application. When his request was denied, he defecated in the diaper and fled on foot, police said.
I wonder if he'll sell the diaper on eBay. Probably make a million.
My dog licks my feet and inbetween my toes
So I wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that a dog's mouth has more bacteria in it than a cats. Hey, it's news!
Outsourcapalooza
How many other countries are competing with India for American call center jobs?
South Africa is in the top echelon of India's IT competitors, according to Gartner. The group also includes Canada, China, Hungary, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, and others. A second tier includes Belarus, Costa Rica, Egypt, Estonia, and Venezuela. Promising rookies include Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Nepal, Senegal, and Vietnam.
So if India ever becomes too expensive, jobs can be outsourced to 20 other countries and never brought back to America.
I wonder if they'll set birthdays back nine months, too
Unfortunately, it looks like this bill will pass in the House today.
The legal rights of the fetus are at issue in a House vote on legislation that would make it two separate crimes to harm both a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Some true American businesses don't want to outsource...
...instead, they just employ the cheap labor of prisoners to fill their cubicles.
For full disclosure, a few years back when I washed dishes for some shitty chain restaurant whose name starts with an "A" and ends with "pplebee's," they had some minimum security prisoners working in the kitchen. People who were rolled on drug charges and trying to get their lives back together. I could also see their reason for hiring prisoners, since staff there were treated so badly by the managers that many who had the freedom to do so simply walked out. (Like me.) But using the excuse of needing to hire prisoners for call center jobs because, otherwise, you'll just move the jobs to India? If that's you're excuse, then you're a fucking asshole. Give a job to an American, in turn they'll purchase your products and everyone's happy. That's the capitalistic social contract, right? You give us money, we give you profits, and everything stays balanced. It becomes unbalanced when you get greedy and want too much money, therefore cutting labor costs and not paying workers enough money to purchase your products. The cash might be nice now, but what happens when people just stop buying because they're broke? Don't be a fucking asshole, don't break the social contract.
You should be reading Mother Jones anyways...
My mailbox has a present for me this afternoon: the latest issue of Mother Jones. Inbetween classes, work, and my grand total of 3 hours worth of sleep inbetween, I haven't had time to read the articles yet. But I was able to look over the photos they had of soldiers injured in Iraq, and I somberly report that they are some of the most powerful photographs I've seen in a while. Many of the soldiers photoed have lost one of their legs, one lost both of his, another lost his eye sight. The very first photo is just so striking.. You're looking are a soldier in tee shirt and boxers, a metal rod with a shoe attached to the end serving in place of his leg, learning how to walk again. Then you look at his face, and he's just a kid. 21.. Which I realize I'm only 4 and a half years removed from, but if I lost my leg now, I couldn't imagine having to go through the first of my half without it.
All these injuries, all of this pain and suffering.. And for what? Why can we only see this reported in a lefty magazine like Mother Jones? There have been over 500 soldiers killed in Iraq, and thousands more injured. It just seems like this is being ignored.
Censored
As you've probably already heard, Clear Channel has pulled the plug on Howard Sterns show for all of their stations. That's a large part of the market gone for a guy who, as coincidence would have it, just wasn't a fan of our president, der monkey. Clear Channel said of Stern's show, "It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency."
Clear Channel stations, however, still carry Michael Savage, the same host who was booted off MSNBC for saying that homosexuals should "get AIDS and die." Apparently, Clear Channel is OK with their hosts using a highly prejudiced and offensive language to wish death upon a certain group of people, but as long as that host supports Bush, then it's OK. I won't spend the time to find this, but I remember an Atrios post about a comment Savage made which was so offensive that it prompted Atrios to ask what it took for one of these radio hosts to be fired. The first comment answered his question: "Being liberal." So I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that once Stern started supporting Kerry, they pull the plug on him.
So remember, Clear Channel would rather see homosexuals get AIDS and die before airing Howard Stern. No wonder the rest of the world thinks we're so fucked up.
McManufacturing
The Bush Administration wants to reclassify some jobs as belonging to the manufacturing. What jobs, you ask? Oh, hamburger flippers and fry cooks, to name a couple.
You know this question has been on your mind
MATT DRUDGE IS SO GAY, WHY DOESN'T HE SAY SO?
Go read the whole thing. You;ll laugh.
Man, all this free trade and outsourcing rocks
See where it will take us 20 years down the road. I hope you like working 2 jobs to make ends meet and the prospect of switching jobs every year or two. But hey, one "benefit" this report lists is that online classes will allow people to study easier so they can pursue two careers at once! Fuck leisure time!
You know, I'd like to travel the world someday. I better get started now before I don't have the chance. Where should I go?
All the weird international news you ever wanted to know
In Mumbai, police raid nightclubs and arrest 600, "cracking down on flesh trade, obscenity that had flourished in these nightclubs, police said." In Burundi, armed forces have been terrorizing the population and raping women and young girls. (If I had time, I'd check to see if they receive any US foreign aid.) In Morocco, an earthquake has killed 564 (so far...) In Russia, President Putin shitcanned most of his cabinet. In Congo, 100 people are mutilated, "After they had cut off the sexual organs, they walked away with them. They took the victims' blood in flasks." In Costa Rica, the UN shuts down a progressive/pro-peace shortwave radio station. And since California feels more like a foreign country everyday, I'll mention that they have banned the sale of genetically-alerted glow in the dark fish.
More proof that all Bush needs is a good assfucking
Don't tell me you're surprised that Bush supports amending the constitution against gay marriage. I still love it when he blames "activist judges" for the issue. First of all, what's so "activist" about these judges? If something hasn't been prohibited by the constitution and they are ruling it as legal, then, uhm haven't they done their jobs? Err, duh! No banana for you, der monkey! Secondly, where was this jive about "activist judges" when they awarded him the White House? Thirdly, if he's so concerned about "activist judges" and the constitution, how come he's bypassing the Senate (and thus the constitution) to place highly partisan judges in federal courts?
Random thought or two
There may not be too many updates tonight. I fell behind on my homework because I took time replying to comments on another site.. Oops.
For some reason, this thought popped into my head: A couple years back, I worked with a man who was half Syrian, and his last name reflected this. When I left that job and moved to Cincinnati, I used him as a reference to the jobs I applied for. I don't think I got hired when I used him as a reference, but when I dropped him for references with non-arab names, I eventually landed a position. I'm trying to remember whether or not I used his name has a reference for that position.. I can't check, unfortunately. I don't think I did, though. Hm. Yeah, I guess I shouldn't exactly be surprised, but, you know...
Well, these search strings brought somebody here...
Type one of these into Google and you might find this site. Somebody else did.
"a good assfucking onion"
"18 years boys fuck 40years girls pictures"
"babe uprooting cock"
"ben cohen shirtless"
"blowjob gunpoint"
"blowjob disgraced"
"cheif c is fuckin gay"
"cocksucking whores"
"cow milking machinebreastsfree"
"foxnews legal female anchors"
"fuck and alexa and harvard"
"fuck offshoring" [I concur]
Just impeach the bastard
Nope, you're thinking of the wrong bastard. I'm talking about Scalia, Cheney's hunting buddy who refuses to recuse himself from a case against The Big Dick. One party suing Cheney, the Sierra Club, has filed a 14 page brief demanding Scalia recuse himself from the case. I can't wait until this gets ignored.
Sounds like they have something to hide
US bars Amnesty International, and two other human rights groups, from attending the trails of suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.
Lies Lies Lies
But are you surprised?
Two years ago, the administration forecast that there would be 3.4 million more jobs in 2003 than there were in 2000. And it predicted a budget deficit for fiscal 2004 of $14 billion. The economy ended up losing 1.7 million jobs over that period, and the budget deficit for this year is on course to be $521 billion.
These are not isolated cases. Over three years, the administration has repeatedly and significantly overstated the government's fiscal health and the number of jobs the economy would create, but economists and politicians disagree about why.
One Uzbek political prisoner released, 5999 to go
Remember the mother in Uzbekistan who was not only thrown in prison, but he son was tortured by being boiled alive? Well, Uzbekistan has released her just in time for Donny Rumsfeld's state visit. Of course, there were no apologies about what happened to her son, and the thousands of other political prisoners in Uzbekistan were not released and some continue to be tortured. I guess Rumsfled is OK with this.
I love these headlines
From today's New York Times comes a rather misleading diddy: "Campaign Begins as Bush Attacks Kerry in Speech"
Excuse me, did you just say the campaign began when Bush attacked Kerry? Perhaps you missed the Democratic primaries? Or Bush's numerous fund raisers? Or Bush's appearence on Meet the Press? Or Bush's surprise photo op in Baghdad? Or maybe that whole "Mission Accomplished" fiasco? Call me picky, but WTF?
Another tax break from der monkey
I'll give you a few guesses on who it goes to. But here's the real kicker:
The General Accounting Office, or GAO, an investigative arm of Congress, recently examined Pentagon and IRS records. The conclusion: As of September 2002, many thousands of Pentagon contractors weren't paying their taxes, to the collective tune of $3 billion.
The Pentagon gave these contractors $183 billion of our tax money, yet they don't seem to care when their taxes are due.
Getting pro-life about unsafe abortions
As a side note before I make this post, I want to mention that I try to find links for feminist issues. That doesn't mean I've been successful, so in this case, I'm just going to rip off somebody elses blog. But even if feminist issues were the one single thing I focused on, I couldn't do half the job that Alas, a blog does. With that said, I'll probably post more links from Alas in the future.
Now onto the topic, and there's not much I have to add to this, it's just one of those links you see that can't be overlooked: 78,000 women killed each year by unsafe abortion
78,000 is quite a lot. But such is the legacy of pro-"life" activists who have stock in coat hanger manufacturers.
No, please, tell us what you really think
Bush's education secretary Paige thinks the National Education Association is a "terrorist organization." You've got to hand it to Bush's cronies, at least they are open and honest about what they think. They're also flexible, and it's a shame the press didn't get a photo of Paige eating his foot.
Just a wee bit late
This article caught my eye: "Nader: Parties 'dialing for the same dollars'"
It's funny.. Four years ago when Nader was running a more viable campaign on the same platform, he couldn't even imagine the press coverage he's receiving now. A day after he enters the race, he's receiving front page coverage for his views. What gives? This would have helped 4 years ago, but now that he's a weaker candidate they'll give him the coverage?
Electoral Musings
I was pretty hard on Ralph this past weekend, and I feel kind of bad. It's not like he reads this blog or anything, and to the best of my knowledge, none of my readership comes from the people I lost touch with in the RI Green Party. I'm pretty sure I haven't offended anyone, save for myself. (If that makes any sense.) But I still feel bad because I feel like I've plunged a knife into somebody's back and I'm twisting, twisting, twisting... And I won't stop until November. That's a bad feeling. I certainly don't mean to piss on the political career of Ralph Nader, it makes me feel like too much of a Democrat. Once I've gone that far to the right, please shoot me.
I imagine Ralph, as far as his most important issues are concerned, had very good reasons to enter the race. I think his candidancy in 2000 was far more important, and if the clock were turned back to 2000 and I knew what the future held, I'd vote for him again. Even if I was in Florida. Nobody is willing to admit, since scapegoating is far easier to do then actually assessing all sides of a situation, understanding what happened and thinking about a conclusion, that Ralph did not hand the presidency to Bush. Ralph would have never taken votes away from Gore if Gore wasn't such a fucking hypocrite, if he didn't have a wife who held hands with the far right to form an organization called the PMRC to censor artists, if he didn't pick Joe freakin Lieberman as his running mate. It's important to remember that at this time, Governor George W. Bush of Texas was less far right and centrist enough prompt the candidacies of Pat Buchanan and the Constitution Party's Howard Phillips, both from the far right. In 2000, it was Gore v. Bush, centrist republicrat v. centrist republicrat, both bankrolled by large corporations. Ralph looked at our "choice" for 2000 and he knew that his main issues wouldn't even be brought up in this campaign, and he knew that he had to run just to give people a choice.
There are differences between 2000 and 2004. The Democrats likely choice is Kerry unless Edwards is able to pull off a miracle, but Kerry is still very much a centrist republicrat. But now we know that Bush is a card carrying member of the far right, a neocon. So it's another centrist republicrat v. the neocon, and we can be cleaar about who the lesser of two evils is. That's a great philosophy for this election because it points out the fact that they're both evil.
Today on dKos there was a thread about Nader's candidacy, and one comment from rmelcher caught my attention. It makes me wonder how willing people will be to rally around candidate Kerry.
Democrats had a chance to change the rules of the game. Instead they listened to the media, the Republicans and their own entrenched party establishment and decided to try one more time to win in the same old arena with the same old rules. From an impressive field of candidates representing a fair spectrum of ideas they've whittled the choices to the two rivals who they're convinced play well on network television.
...When I look around at the disappointed Clark and Dean people, I see little that would justify the term energized. At best there's a sense of resignation, bordering on betrayal and resentment. There's resentment of the media, the party establishment, even the front-runner, followed by a fatalistic sigh and a statement of grudging support for whoever the party settles on. When John Kerry is mentioned there's often a curl of the lip and a turn of the the nose that signals borderline distaste. This is the opposite of a formula for winning a presidential election.
...Today Ralph Nader threw his hat into the ring as an Independent candidate, because the choices offered by the mainstream candidates are unlikely to deal with issues that go much beyond superficial questions of style. Since Nader's candidacy will not be backed by a party organization it's unlikely he will make enough of a major difference in the race for Democrats to blame their likely defeat on him this time. I fully support his efforts to bring real issues to public light. Even without party backing Nader will undoubtedly make more interesting news copy than John Kerry.
Think about it. I've been very critical with Ralph's late decision to join the race, I haven't known the method behind his motives. Why decline membership in the Green Party primary and then declare your independent candidacy? It seems counter-productive to getting Bush out of office (which Ralph has said is his goal in this election, which hasn't seemed to get press from anywhere) and to building third parties, since his candidacy outside of the growing Green Party could destroy the footholds it has made by becoming a major party in states and vying for major national party status in the 2008 election. This part I still don't understand, but for Ralph waiting until now to run, he could have been waiting to see if Dean or Kucinich could pull out with the nomination. But they didn't, and the Democrats are running another centrist politician. Could you imagine Ralph running if the Democrats had the balls to nominate Mosely-Braun? Or Dean? Or Kucinich?
If the Democrats are so uncomfortable with Nader's candidacy, then it's worth pointing out that Ralph is probably running because the Democrats still can't nominate a real candidate to provide us with a real choice. Ralph has to run because that's the only way the issues important to him, which he thinks are very important to the health of the nation, are going to get aired. I'll admit that such a stance is very egocentric, but Ralph cares deeply about this country and who runs it for the four years. Since it's nearly impossible for him to build up a grassroots network of volunteers to get him on the ballot in a majority of states to make a difference in November, maybe it's OK for him to run just to get his issues out there, to inform the populace and hopefully get these issues introduced as major issues in the 2004 election.
I still have a beef with Ralph running against the Green Party, it's not like my loyalities are split enough this election. If RI falls into the status of swing state, I'll vote for Kerry. If not, then I'll vote Green so they can get their 5% and keep major party status in this state. In either situation, I'm not voting for Nader.
When it's all said and done, the Democrats may reap the spoils of a Nader campaign which was too weak to make a difference in the presidential election, but was strong enough to tear the Green Party apart.
Twisting, twisting, twisting... My only question now is whose back the knife has been plunged into.
Protesting the GOP National Cash Register Convention
From the "May I borrow a line from Atrios?" dept: Can we stop calling him a popular president?:
Though the [NYC] Police Department and many protest organizers have been reluctant to predict how many people will ultimately turn out for protests [of the Republican National Convention], estimates have ranged from 500,000 people to a million.
Count me in. Are you in?
You are being watched
Guess what's back? It's not your privacy!
The government is still financing research to create powerful tools that could mine millions of public and private records for information about terrorists despite an uproar last year over fears it might ensnare innocent Americans.
Yup. Remember all of those ideas from our good bussy Poindexter that supposedly died? Well, their budgets were kinda never eliminated and, you know, just kinda transferred here and there.
But some of those projects from retired Adm. John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness effort were transferred to U.S. intelligence offices, congressional, federal and research officials told The Associated Press.
In addition, Congress left undisturbed a separate but similar $64 million research program run by a little-known office called the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) that has used some of the same researchers as Poindexter's program.
"The whole congressional action looks like a shell game," said Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, which tracks work by U.S. intelligence agencies. "There may be enough of a difference for them to claim TIA was terminated while for all practical purposes the identical work is continuing."
Ahhhh, democracy at work.
Not the most pleasant of weekends
On top of a suicide bombing in Israel and another car bomb at an Iraqi police station, Uganda rebels kill 190 refugees, and 48 Colombians died after their soldiers fought with right-wing paramilitary guerrillas. So if you're having a bad day, cheer up - you ain't dead!
Where's the worlds smallest violin when you need it?!
From the same people who bitch and moan about criticism faced by the Boy Scouts, whose organization has practically been converted into Hitler Youth the Young Republicans in the past 7-8 years, (speaking as a former Assistant Scoutmaster, I do know what I'm talking about), comes a call for a Girl Scout cookie boycott. Why, you might ask? Because of the Girl Scouts' sponsorship at a Planned Parenthood conference.
Boo!
The Pentagon has a rather scary, and until recently, rather buried, report on climate change. While it goes against the Bush administration's "Take your head and insert it into your ass" view of climate change, this report seems extremely extreme (I'm really not feeling to articulate today...), so I dunno what to believe.
Yawn...
I woke up in a daze this afternoon (not unlike most other sundays when I force myself out of bed). I Knew I hadn't updated the blog (couldn't find anything interesting last night and I was much too tired to concentrate to begin with), but there was something I was meaning to check on.. So I Farked and then went "AH-HA!" The biggest non-story of the year...
I say non-story because everyone has been making a big stink about this since the beginning of the year, myself included. But honestly, Ralph's candidancy well probably add upto jacksquat in November. Refer to my post from yesterday to udnerstand why. Of course, this is only my opinion, for whatever tha's worth... But I haven't heard a counterargument, so I just assume I'm correct. :)
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]