Great Music that describes the US in the Bush Era
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 11:49 PM
3 comments
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Watch out, the FIX IS ON to Replace DeLay with a Clone!
Democratic leaders in the Houston area should be watching the administration of the Congressional District 22 election very closely. With a GOP write-in candidate running in an election with electronic voting, the Dems should watch all the rules VERY CLOSELY. That the GOP election administrator will have signs for the write-in GOP candidate in the voting booth strongly suggests that the FIX IS ON!
Some say they wouldn't do that. HA! They've done it repeatedly in presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. What about this fellow who threw the Ohio election to Bush?
Activists want Ohio election chief out
By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 56 minutes ago
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Activists filed a civil-rights lawsuit Thursday claiming Secretary of State Ken Blackwell deprived people of their voting rights during the 2004 presidential election and seeking to have him removed from overseeing the general election in November.
The plaintiffs, who range from the Ohio Voter Rights Alliance for Democracy to the head of a Columbus neighborhood association, accuse Blackwell of distributing fewer voting machines per person in black neighborhoods, purging voter registrations and disproportionately assigning provisional ballots to blacks. Those provisional ballots then were disqualified at higher rates than in nearby precincts that were mostly white, the plaintiffs allege.
"The court should appoint someone that everyone will say is honest and competent and will ensure that the appropriate security measures are in place and we don't have this kind of vulnerability in the next election," said attorney Cliff Arnebeck, who represents the plaintiffs.
Blackwell, a Republican running for governor this November, said he sees the lawsuit not as an attack on him, but on Ohio's elections process, run by 88 bipartisan county elections boards.
"They're frivolous, they're off-base, and they're political," he said.
Randy Borntrager, a spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, said the party wants Blackwell to stop setting rules that affect his own campaign.
"We just want him to do his job," he said. "It wouldn't be an issue if he would give clear directions to the boards of elections in the counties."
Blackwell also said he would do what he could to keep ballots from the 2004 presidential election beyond their scheduled destruction date. Federal law requires the ballots be saved for 22 months following a federal election. That time period ends next week.
Arnebeck had asked for the records to be preserved longer because the individuals and public interest groups he represents have found irregularities and anomalies among the ballots they have reviewed so far, and they want to keep digging.
Arnebeck's sweeping lawsuit accuses Blackwell of violating state and federal laws and the U.S. Constitution by "inequitably distributing voting resources, suppressing votes, and spoiling ballots" in 2004, the letter said.
Bush prevailed over Democrat Kerry John Kerry by 118,000 votes in Ohio.
Blackwell will not interfere with the group's review, spokesman James Lee said, though he emphasized that county elections boards have the final say regarding what happens to the records.
Lee said that the lawsuit is based on a faulty understanding of Blackwell's statutory duties as the state elections chief.
"Anyone who is objectively looking at the election system in Ohio knows that we have a bipartisan voting system that is run primarily at the county level, that bipartisan boards determined whether to place individual voting machines," he said. "It's amazing that there are still those conspiracy theorists out there who refuse to accept the facts."
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 9:48 PM
3 comments
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
George W: How can we buy some votes?
George: I just don't know what we can do to start winning some support as we go into the congressional elections across the country.
Karl Rove: Listen you idiot, this is easy, easy, easy. We don't give a damn about balancing the budget or the deficit spinning out of control. Give the people some candy, that is, give them money! It works like a tax cut! Give them money and they'll be able to buy more Hummers and they'll show their appreciation by voting for more GOP "budget cutters!"Ha, these people are so stupid! Why they even believe that Osama and Saddam were partners in 9/11. Whoa boy, combine a stupid president who'll say anything I say with a huge portion of the electorate that is too busy watching reality shows to think about their vote, and voila, elect more Republicans!!
AP: White House to hand out $800M to combat drought
POSTED: 3:55 p.m. EDT, August 29, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration will give nearly $800 million to farmers and ranchers devastated by drought, The Associated Press has learned.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns planned to announce the aid Tuesday afternoon in South Dakota.
The drought aid includes:
• $50 million in block grants for hard-hit states.
• $18 million from emergency conservation funds.
• $11 million from a grassland conservation program.
• The department would accelerate $700 million in planned payments to cotton, grain, sorghum and peanut farmers.
Two sources confirmed the details on condition of anonymity because Johanns had not yet announced it.
The administration has resisted a $4 billion drought-aid plan in Congress because it would go only to those who already get government subsidies, about four in 10 farmers. House leaders and President Bush have opposed the aid, but senators in June added the aid to a farm spending bill.
Drought has hit farmers in western Corn Belt states -- Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota -- particularly hard.
Last month was the hottest July since the Dust Bowl in 1936. Dryness also approached records in many parts of the country, which saw the driest conditions from May through June since 1988.
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 9:39 PM
4 comments
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Bush Failures: Katrina
Bush: Sure am glad I don't have to go down there and talk to people I made these promises to.
And Bush and Rove believe that they can slip another past the American pubic.
More speechifying pablum will be served up to the American media and people, just like some "date-rape" drug, so that voters might be deluded into thinking Bush is actually doing something and succeeding.
Truth is, of course, this is just another in a long string of Bush failures...
Still Blind to the Poverty
How could George W. Bush have blown the aftermath of Katrina? It's not as if he lacks confidence in the power of his office.
By Johnathan Alter
Newsweek
Some readers told me at the time that this was naive—that the president, if not indifferent to the problems of black people, as the singer Kanye West charged, was not going to do anything significant to help them. At first this seemed too cynical. The week after the article appeared, Bush went to
Well, it turned out that the critics were largely right. Not only has the president done much less than he promised on the financing and logistics of
"This is the greatest lost opportunity I've ever seen in public life," Sen. John Kerry told me last week. "The
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 10:40 PM
4 comments
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The BUSH "We did ok w/ Katrina and we're doing better now" PUSH is on
Watch and listen closely in the coming days at Bush and Rove and the boys work to make their Katrina effort sows ear into a PR silk purse. It is amazing, but Bush seriously thinks that spending weeks at Crawford (again, a year later) and a long weekend at the quiet Maine seashore estate, can prepare him to appear "in command" and working to help Americans and rebuild the Gulf coast.
Once again, he'll fly in, look down from Air Force 1 and helicopters, to witness the reality on the ground from above. No one should accept this and the Democrats should certainly be out front in criticizing his failures.
Check out the Katrina/Bush timeline of those days last year and remember what really happened while Bush played a guitar in California, went to NO to say Brownie was doing a good job and mom Bush went to Houston's Astrodome to comment how people who had nothing before had something better after the hurricane!
Once again, he'll fly in, look down from Air Force 1 and helicopters, to witness the reality on the ground from above. No one should accept this and the Democrats should certainly be out front in criticizing his failures.
Check out the Katrina/Bush timeline of those days last year and remember what really happened while Bush played a guitar in California, went to NO to say Brownie was doing a good job and mom Bush went to Houston's Astrodome to comment how people who had nothing before had something better after the hurricane!
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 11:26 PM
3 comments
Thursday, August 24, 2006
It's All in the Name - Democrat vs. Sherry-Rodriguez-Givens
Cute, the Greasy Old Party enjoys gigging Democrats by calling them the Democrat Party. Apparently attempting to make a point that the Democrats are not "democratic!"
What a laugh. This from the party that does everything possible to turn over taxpayer assets to BIG BUSINESS. This from the party that overturned a democratic election for president in 2000 with a Supreme Court decision that was so bad that even the Supreme Court justices said it would have no precedent for future cases. This from the party that is attempting to force democracy down on the people of the middle east with automatic weapons. But of course this is all a GOP "name game."
But we can all play at that game.
For instance here in Houston and Texas, we all wonder what the heck is woman's name who is running to become the GOP's new Tom Delay? Is it Shelly-Suckula Gives, Shallhe Sekoohla, Sherry-Sekula Rodrigues, Shallia Giffs, Carol Keeton, Sherry Matula, Sheila Givens, Carole Keeton, Sherry Rodriquez, Grandma, Sally Roderick, Carol Rylander, Sherry Schoola, Carol Strayhorn, Susie-Sekookla-Rodreepess-Jipps??
I just don't know. These Grimy Old Pary opportunists are so out of control on the name front, that a majority may vote straight ticket Democratic Party simply to avoid all the confusion and hassle of trying to figure out the correct names to vote against!
See what the Houston Chronicle says about the "Politically Incorrect" approach the Goofy Old Party is taking...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4137423.html
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 11:26 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
What's Her Name Runs To Become the Next Tom DeLay
NPR's Political Junkie, Ken Rudin, thinks Shelley Sekula-Gibbs might have trouble because of her name. That's a huge issue for SS-G, especially considering that she was Shelley Sekula, then Shelley Sekula-Rodriguez and just Sekula-Gibbs for the last couple years since her TV newsman/husband Sylvan Rodriguez died and Shelley married anew.
(What's her name with her mentor Tommie D)
Actually, a set of great questions arise about writing in SS-G. Will the name have to be complete? Will a hyphen be necessary? What if the name is mis-spelled? Can the election judges help? (I doubt it and I'm sure the Democratic judges like me will make sure there's no extra discussion between voters and GOP election judges) And of course, there's all the fun of trying to do a write-in with the goofy electronic voting machines used in Harris County, with the dial a letter system. It will take five minutes for the computer savvy to do it. Who knows how long for an older, less computer literate person!
Plus, on the state-wide ballot we have the other name confuser, Carol Keeton Rylander, etc. etc. Her name issues are so bad that she wanted to change the ballot to call her, "Grandma!" Of course she also used to be a Democrat before becoming a Republican before becoming an independent to run in this race for Texas Gobnor. No wonder her son is so confused he went to work as W's Press Secretary!
Anyway, SS-G is the best candidate the limpy GOP can get to try this swing for the fences strategy that Tommie D foisted on his party...
NPR's Political Junkie Comment Whether a Write-in can Win
Political Junkie
By Ken Rudin
NPR
8/23/06
Q: What are the chances the Republican write-in candidate for Tom DeLay's old House seat in Texas can beat Democrat Nick Lampson in November? I don't think the GOP has enough time to pull it off. -- Robert Cooper, Washington, D.C.
A: Obviously, given the fact that only three people accomplished the feat in the past half-century, it's not an easy task trying to win election to the House as a write-in candidate. It may be even more difficult, given the fact that the GOP may have some divisions over how they came to endorse their write-in candidate, Houston Council member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. She was nominated at a meeting of 22nd District Republican precinct chairs over Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace.
Wallace had initially indicated he would remain in the race as a write-in candidate, suggesting that the endorsement of Sekula-Gibbs was a sham and unrepresentative of the district's "grass roots." But with national Republicans insisting that the only way they would fund the race -- they were pledging $3 million -- was if the GOP field was limited to one candidate, Wallace withdrew this week. Part of the decision to bypass Wallace may have been based on his decision to take on and defeat the incumbent Republican mayor of Sugar Land in 2002.
I don't have intimate knowledge about the campaign skills of either Sekula-Gibbs or Wallace, but I would venture a guess that writing in the name of the latter would be easier than the former. And there's another complication: Some Republicans have suggested that the best way to deny Lampson a return to Congress is to vote for Bob Smither, the Libertarian Party nominee, who is already on the ballot.
If Lampson wins in November, as well he might, look for Wallace to seek the GOP nomination in 2008. And if he does win this year, the blame rests with DeLay, under indictment in Texas, whose decision to run and then withdraw was a major miscalculation.
And wouldn't that be something if the Democrats won the House by one seat -- Tom DeLay's.
Now, on to the question: Does the GOP have enough time to unite behind Sekula-Gibbs and hold onto the seat? While the odds don't look so good, it might be helpful to look at what happened in Arkansas in 1958, where the winning write-in candidate launched his effort just one week to go before the election. Here's a look at that situation, as well as the other two times a House candidate won on a write-in:
DALE ALFORD, Arkansas, 1958
The issue here was President Eisenhower's sending in federal troops to integrate Central High School in Little Rock. Most Arkansas politicians opposed the intervention, but Rep. Brooks Hays (D) tried to mediate the standoff between the federal government and Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus (D). This inflamed segregationists in the state, who rallied around a Citizens Council candidate in the Democratic primary. Hays prevailed by a 3-2 margin. Then, with a week to go before the November election, Alford, a member of the Little Rock school board, launched a write-in bid against Hays. Backed by Faubus' allies, Alford won in a major upset by just over 1,200 votes (51-49 percent).
JOE SKEEN, New Mexico, 1980
Five-term Rep. Harold Runnels, a conservative Democrat, was so popular in his district that the Republicans didn't even put up a candidate against him, either in 1978 or '80. Then, on Aug. 5, 1980, Runnels, 56, died of cancer. The state attorney general, a Democrat, announced that the Democrats could replace Runnels on the ballot but that it was too late for the Republicans to do so. Enraged Republicans rallied behind a write-in effort by Skeen, a former state senator who twice ran for governor and who was well-known in the district. The Democrats also had their problems: They nominated David King, the nephew of Gov. Bruce King, to replace Runnels on the ballot. David King had only moved his voter registration into the district some 10 days after Runnels died. Worse, he defeated Runnels' widow Dorothy for the nomination, which led her to launch a write-in candidacy as well. The Democratic disarray enabled Skeen to win as a write-in candidate with 38 percent of the vote.
RON PACKARD, California, 1982
Eighteen Republicans were running in the primary for the seat being vacated by Rep. Clair Burgener (R). The winner was political novice Johnny Crean, whose family wealth bankrolled his saturation of the airwaves in the district, situated just north of San Diego. Crean spent well over $750,000 in the primary, then a substantial amount, mostly attacking his fellow Republicans, while ducking candidate forums and personal appearances. Crean defeated Carlsbad Mayor Ron Packard in the primary by 92 votes out of more than 83,000 cast. Furious, Packard announced a write-in effort. Fearful that the GOP split in this overwhelming GOP district could end up electing a Democrat, there was great pressure on Packard to end his bid. But he refused, and won the seat with 37 percent of the vote. The Democrat finished second with 32 percent; Crean received 31 percent.
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 5:15 PM
3 comments
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Attack Bush at His "Strongest"!
Remember how Bush and Rove used the Swift Boat Liars to attack John Kerry on one of his greatest assets? Yes, in ten days in the summer of 2004, they ripped Kerry's status as a war hero and turned it into questions about whether he cheated to get his Purple Hearts.
NOW, the Democrats must attack Bush where he's the "strongest," his fairly strong reputation for "fighting terrorism." It is truly crazy that anyone in the US would still think he's done a good job of fighting terrorism, especially since Osama bin Laden and others (UK conspirators plans to blow up airliners headed to the US) are still plotting terrible attacks on US citizens.
We must take on Bush and help American voters realize that he's been playing a continual shell game, especially with the Iraq war. Instead of hunting down bin Laden, Bush took a chicken-shit side-step to attack Iraq. This didn't decrease terrorists, it increased them.
Democrats need to work on this NOW, especially with the 9/11 anniversary coming quickly!
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 6:06 PM
3 comments
Friday, August 11, 2006
Ask Bush, WHERE IS OSAMA?
With the GOP rushing to their terrorism and fear = electoral success strategy, the Democrats need to ask, WHERE IS OSAMA?. Bush and the boys, i part because of their Iraq war, have been a total failure on the fight against terrorism. Instead, in Iraq, they created a spot to create more and more terrorists.
Just like the "swift boat" veterans who attacked Kerrys strongest asset, his Vietnam veterans heroic status, Dems need to show the American public that Bushs so called "war on terror" has been a charade all along. It is simply a political strategem.
The chant needs to be, WHERE IS OSAMA? WHERE IS OSAMA? WHERE IS OSAMA? Followed by there are more terrorists today than Sept. 11, 2001.
Can the GOP use terrorism to win -- again?
Suspected plot to blow up airliners puts issue front and center
By Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst
Friday, August 11, 2006
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Could there be political fallout in the United States from the terror arrests in Britain?
Typically, when Americans become fearful their support for the president tends to go up. President Bush and the Republican Party used the security issue to their advantage in the previous two elections, when they portrayed Democrats as weak and vacillating. Republicans give every indication that they intend to run on the security issue again in 2006.
Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday that one thing he found disturbing about the defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary on Tuesday was that "our adversaries in this conflict, the al Qaeda types, clearly are betting on the proposition that ultimately they can break the will of the American people." (Cheney made the comments after he was briefed on the suspected terror plot, according to a senior administration official.)
Republicans may use the issue against Democrats who voted against renewal of the Patriot Act this year. In the House of Representatives, 123 "no" votes were cast by Democrats running either for re-election or for another office. Three "no" votes were cast by Democratic senators seeking re-election -- Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
Will the issue work for Republicans this year?
In a CNN poll taken by the Opinion Research Corporation last week -- before the arrest of terror suspects in Britain -- terrorism topped the list of issues that voters said would be "extremely important" to their vote this year. (The poll involved interviews with 1,047 adult Americans on August 2-3, 2006. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent.) (Read the complete poll results -- PDF)
But among voters concerned about terrorism, slightly more said they would vote for a Democrat (50 percent) rather than a Republican (45 percent) for Congress.
Republicans still do better on terrorism than on any other issue except same-sex marriage, which is far less important to voters. But the Republican advantage on terrorism had vanished, at least before the news from Britain.
Why did that happen? Here's a clue. As of last week, only 31 percent of Americans believed the United States and its allies were winning the war on terror. That is the lowest figure recorded since 9/11. The prevailing view (45 percent) is that neither side is winning.
One reason is disillusionment with the war in Iraq. A majority of Americans polled recently by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News believe terrorism has increased around the world because of the situation in Iraq (52 percent). Only 5 percent think the Iraq war has decreased the threat of terrorism, while 39 percent say it has made no difference.
This week's primary results suggested a growing anti-incumbent mood in the country. Three incumbent members of Congress -- Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz of Michigan and Democrats Lieberman and Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia -- were defeated by candidates from their own parties, a rare phenomenon.
But concern about terrorism threats could blunt that anti-incumbent mood and lead voters to place more value on experience. If news of the suspected plot had come out only a few days earlier, it might have helped Lieberman.
And it still might, since he has filed to stay in the race as an independent candidate. His Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont, issued a statement saying the terror arrests in Britain show the need to fight "for our security in a rational, serious way rather than being bogged down in a war than is harmful to our security."
For Democrats, all issues in this campaign come down to Iraq. For Republicans, they all come down to the war on terrorism.
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 9:06 PM
3 comments
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Crying Wolf to Build Support
Bush and Rove are at it again. Hmmm... coming up on another election. Let see, Carl calls for some terrorist media frenzy to shake up the American electorate.
Take a few minutes to remember 2002. Remember the frenzy then, and the fear mongering by Bush, Cheney and Collin Powell? All that summer, the boys were freaking out the American people with scary stories about the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Saddam had all over Iraq, how the terrorists were going to bring suitcases full of nuclear bombs. We HAD to have a major national debate by a fearful press (larded up with lie after lie by the Bush administration) about whether to invade Iraq. The polls early on predicted the Ds would pick up up to 20 congressional seats early in the summer, but after all the fear tactics, the Ds ended up losing seats even though it was an off-year election.
In 2004, Bush/Rove despite completely failing to come close to catching bin Laden, continued to wind up the fear of terrorism. Wagging the dog, the Bush White House talked and talked about how the terrorists were going to attack again, and attack soon. As the Iraq war drifted south, Bush continued to persuade unknowing voters that the war was just because Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately Carl and the boys (especially Bob Perry and slick boat jives) attack John Kerry's stellar record in Viet Nam. Anything to suggest the terrorists could survive and attack the US.
And now, trailing by 20 points or more, George W. Bush and the Greedy Old Party want nothing more than some kind of terrorist threat to the American people. It's worked perfectly in the past, and the boys are hopelessly addicted to its drug-like powers. Watch now as Bush spins and spins the latest terrorist bust to convince the US populace to be afraid, be very afraid. Be so afraid that maybe you'll forget what W's been doing (or not doing) the last six years.
You'all better watch closely. This is a shell game at a global level. While you're all watching for the pea, the boys are going to steal another election!
posted by Hawkeye's Mash at 9:59 PM
2 comments
