November 27, 2004
(Ah, Good Times)
Remember the 60s? Boing-Boing does.
Funny thing is, it doesn't even need photoshoping to make it relevant to America's contemporary Reds.
Remember the 60s? Boing-Boing does.
Funny thing is, it doesn't even need photoshoping to make it relevant to America's contemporary Reds.
November 26, 2004
(Sharing A Good Belly Laugh, Or Not)
" I know a lot of hysterical anti-Bush anarchists probably don’t understand the true significance of his reelection. So let me explain. George W. Bush, like all good anarchists, understands that human beings shouldn’t be restrained by political institutions. And so we see a president who refuses to follow the Constitution – a rotten statist document that any principled anarchist should reject. Bush also flouts international law, the United Nations, anti-torture treaties, and all sorts of other governmental abstractions, which all too many libertarians fall into the trap of defending. Are we not anarchists? Should we not celebrate Bush’s dismissal of these laws and state institutions that seek to confine his actions? "
It only gets better.
"Think about four more years of aggressive militarism, paving the way for a revival of punk rock. Without punk rock, what’s the point of being an anarchist, anyway?"
Indeed. What is the point of Anarchism without the punk rock? I know I don't see any.
...Sad thing is, as I write this, I just know some of my readers aren’t going to get the joke. Leftist Anarchists typically find the concept of Rightwing Anarchism so fundamentally contradictory and irrational that they're like to have a hard recognizing when the anarcho-capitalists start laying on the sarcasm. And, of course, some of you don’t know Anarchism from the reefer-toting Goth infront of the corner store. Sigh. Well I’m not letting you ruin my happy. I'll be back later with less personal amusement and more cross-spectrum pleasing snark. Until then you'll just have to cope.
" I know a lot of hysterical anti-Bush anarchists probably don’t understand the true significance of his reelection. So let me explain. George W. Bush, like all good anarchists, understands that human beings shouldn’t be restrained by political institutions. And so we see a president who refuses to follow the Constitution – a rotten statist document that any principled anarchist should reject. Bush also flouts international law, the United Nations, anti-torture treaties, and all sorts of other governmental abstractions, which all too many libertarians fall into the trap of defending. Are we not anarchists? Should we not celebrate Bush’s dismissal of these laws and state institutions that seek to confine his actions? "
It only gets better.
"Think about four more years of aggressive militarism, paving the way for a revival of punk rock. Without punk rock, what’s the point of being an anarchist, anyway?"
Indeed. What is the point of Anarchism without the punk rock? I know I don't see any.
...Sad thing is, as I write this, I just know some of my readers aren’t going to get the joke. Leftist Anarchists typically find the concept of Rightwing Anarchism so fundamentally contradictory and irrational that they're like to have a hard recognizing when the anarcho-capitalists start laying on the sarcasm. And, of course, some of you don’t know Anarchism from the reefer-toting Goth infront of the corner store. Sigh. Well I’m not letting you ruin my happy. I'll be back later with less personal amusement and more cross-spectrum pleasing snark. Until then you'll just have to cope.
November 25, 2004
(Year After Baghdad, Bush Visits Troops By Phone)
Things are going much better in Iraq, the President explained to troops. So good, in fact, that the President thought he'd stay this one home.
Things are going much better in Iraq, the President explained to troops. So good, in fact, that the President thought he'd stay this one home.
(Gay Hackers Terrorize Homophobic Italian Senators With Uploaded Porn)
What could be the motivation for such a heinous act?
They hate freedom. Duh.
What could be the motivation for such a heinous act?
They hate freedom. Duh.
November 24, 2004
(I Really Need To Cut Back On The Maniac Laughter)
Really? The US and Russia are fighting a proxy war through the Ukraine? Really? Jeeze, that's a shock. I was all under the impression that the Ukrainian election crisis was just a nice little isolated development. Like Georgia, Chechnya, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Italy, hell the whole EU...
Really? The US and Russia are fighting a proxy war through the Ukraine? Really? Jeeze, that's a shock. I was all under the impression that the Ukrainian election crisis was just a nice little isolated development. Like Georgia, Chechnya, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Italy, hell the whole EU...
November 23, 2004
(One Sentence)
And then Bush is all like I hate you William, you personally, and then he all up and cuts wasteful government expenditure on college financing and skewers William all good an' all, and William is all like dang you man, I really need that grant cash or I'm like all on the street again, and Bush is all like but there's nothing you can do about it 'cause this shit's totally in line with yo' libertarian leanings, and William's all like but that's not entirely the case, see if the government just up and nationalized the schools while privatizing the fed then nobody'd have to get locked in escalating systems of -and Bush is all like Flipflopper!- and William's all like I know a college education is crap, man, if you wanna learn something go get a day job and spend yo nights on Wikipedia, but I really, really need that paper to get my work in physics done and Bush is all like la-la-la I can't hear you man, and William's all like dude, man.
And then Bush is all like I hate you William, you personally, and then he all up and cuts wasteful government expenditure on college financing and skewers William all good an' all, and William is all like dang you man, I really need that grant cash or I'm like all on the street again, and Bush is all like but there's nothing you can do about it 'cause this shit's totally in line with yo' libertarian leanings, and William's all like but that's not entirely the case, see if the government just up and nationalized the schools while privatizing the fed then nobody'd have to get locked in escalating systems of -and Bush is all like Flipflopper!- and William's all like I know a college education is crap, man, if you wanna learn something go get a day job and spend yo nights on Wikipedia, but I really, really need that paper to get my work in physics done and Bush is all like la-la-la I can't hear you man, and William's all like dude, man.
(We. Won. World. War. II. Bitch.)
For those of you who haven't seen yet, Oliver Willis is launching an effort to brand the Democratic Party. Now I'm more of the mind that the whole damn thing should be abolished, but I'll give credit where credit is due and some of these slogans are just wonderful.
Go ahead, amuse yo'self.
For those of you who haven't seen yet, Oliver Willis is launching an effort to brand the Democratic Party. Now I'm more of the mind that the whole damn thing should be abolished, but I'll give credit where credit is due and some of these slogans are just wonderful.
Go ahead, amuse yo'self.
November 22, 2004
(Some Thoughts Upon My Return To The South)
It's especially important one recognize the capitalization taking place with the word South. Alone, "south" can refer to a lot of habitable land and I think it’s important to clarify the distinction between ye old Confederate States and places like California, Arizona or, oh say, the country of New Zealand.
In other parts of the US, "southern" and "northern" terminology is implicit. But, for those of us in the western two-thirds of the country, it's a bit hard to relate to the ancient family squabbles of some random east-coast states (like, you know, Arkansas). And there’s more than a little feeling that such sentiment reeks of Europeanism; what with the living in the same place for more than a couple decades and still remembering something that happened years ago...
So it's always a little unsettling to talk to folks in the stretch of Dixie that runs from Mississippi to North Carolina where it's just about impossible to get into a real conversation that doesn't involve some sorta reminder that yes, indeed, at some time in primordial pre-history there was a war between the states... and, yes again, some folks have not gotten over it.
The local hippies may kvetch about the trouble they’d be inviting should they slap up anti-Bush bumper stickers on their Toyota, but they can’t seem to make it two minutes without some bitter reference to Sherman’s march to the sea or reconstruction. At first it was pretty amazing, but listening to a Food-Not-Bombs organizer bitch about American imperial conquest gave me some understanding. And, indeed, the most inflammatory progressive bumper sticker I encountered in Dixie read gloriously, “Fascism: Still a Bad Idea.” Resistance is alive. What some might consider loungin’ about is just a response to the heat, not at all indicative of some deficit in spirit. It takes balls to live in such an unnatural and hostile climate, I mean, significant portions of the year are spent over 60 degrees. (I shudder at the thought. There are, it would seem, places on Earth man was truly not meant to go.)
Now, everywhere's got local features (like Minnesota's ginormous street signs, so large they block the sun for appreciable portions of the day) but there's something utterly unique about the South's highway systems. What it is I've never been able to pin down, but walking or driving the interstate stretches in Dixie there's something about the very set of the concrete that reminds you in no uncertain terms which section of the US you're traveling.
Not, of course, that you'd need to examine lane dividers to feel the differences that mark The South. The uniform quasi-tropical ecology is ever-present, along with an intimate system of racial identity that's hideously alien to me. Barbeque pits are an inescapable year-long affair. The radio waves play hip-hop, country, soul and little else. But hitching a ride is a simple thing and 17 teenagers packed in a pickup's flatbed flying down a boulevard at 70 miles an hour is call for waves and good hearted laughter rather than sirens.
Much more so than any other part of the country, the divisions between urban, suburban and rural are so slurred as to be nearly non-existent. Roads run wide and far with little to no sidewalk. Outside Atlanta’s absolutely wonderful transit system, cars are simply the only means of transportation and absolutely necessary to accomplish any small task. Nevertheless (or perhaps because) SUVs are far rarer a sight than in, say, Seattle. Instead you get the sort of been-there-done-that trucks and beaters that would scream Democrat membership were they west of the Cascades.
But most surprising to me this time down were the paradoxes the internet has brought. Riding past spattered strip malls in Tennessee and Georgia one'd think the whole population of podunksville, USA were avid LAN gamers. Yet, walking down the lived-in streets of Alabama and Georgia, one gets the impression that this modernization is but an inconstant wave breaking upon the bow of the old and all is caught up in the swirling humanity produced. Carefully handpainted billboards write out addresses as "W.W.W." instead of "www." and a readerboard warns of the evil lurking online to lure young children.
Downtown Columbus boasts a very strong wi-fi zone around their convention center... that's completely inaccessible, due to some "technical glitches."
Racially divided neighborhoods look otherwise identical, from the tacky plastered advertisements of the corner stores to the ubiquitous cell phones.
...And, parked in the mud down a backwoods road, lies a rusted roadster sporting a fresh Republicans for Voldemort bumper sticker.
Tangy. Sweet and sour. Like the sweat covered brows of teenage students dancing through darkened and muggy city streets to ecstatic cries of “This is what democracy looks like.” Light rain falls on lithe bodies and mud soaked jeans. Welcome to the South.
It's especially important one recognize the capitalization taking place with the word South. Alone, "south" can refer to a lot of habitable land and I think it’s important to clarify the distinction between ye old Confederate States and places like California, Arizona or, oh say, the country of New Zealand.
In other parts of the US, "southern" and "northern" terminology is implicit. But, for those of us in the western two-thirds of the country, it's a bit hard to relate to the ancient family squabbles of some random east-coast states (like, you know, Arkansas). And there’s more than a little feeling that such sentiment reeks of Europeanism; what with the living in the same place for more than a couple decades and still remembering something that happened years ago...
So it's always a little unsettling to talk to folks in the stretch of Dixie that runs from Mississippi to North Carolina where it's just about impossible to get into a real conversation that doesn't involve some sorta reminder that yes, indeed, at some time in primordial pre-history there was a war between the states... and, yes again, some folks have not gotten over it.
The local hippies may kvetch about the trouble they’d be inviting should they slap up anti-Bush bumper stickers on their Toyota, but they can’t seem to make it two minutes without some bitter reference to Sherman’s march to the sea or reconstruction. At first it was pretty amazing, but listening to a Food-Not-Bombs organizer bitch about American imperial conquest gave me some understanding. And, indeed, the most inflammatory progressive bumper sticker I encountered in Dixie read gloriously, “Fascism: Still a Bad Idea.” Resistance is alive. What some might consider loungin’ about is just a response to the heat, not at all indicative of some deficit in spirit. It takes balls to live in such an unnatural and hostile climate, I mean, significant portions of the year are spent over 60 degrees. (I shudder at the thought. There are, it would seem, places on Earth man was truly not meant to go.)
Now, everywhere's got local features (like Minnesota's ginormous street signs, so large they block the sun for appreciable portions of the day) but there's something utterly unique about the South's highway systems. What it is I've never been able to pin down, but walking or driving the interstate stretches in Dixie there's something about the very set of the concrete that reminds you in no uncertain terms which section of the US you're traveling.
Not, of course, that you'd need to examine lane dividers to feel the differences that mark The South. The uniform quasi-tropical ecology is ever-present, along with an intimate system of racial identity that's hideously alien to me. Barbeque pits are an inescapable year-long affair. The radio waves play hip-hop, country, soul and little else. But hitching a ride is a simple thing and 17 teenagers packed in a pickup's flatbed flying down a boulevard at 70 miles an hour is call for waves and good hearted laughter rather than sirens.
Much more so than any other part of the country, the divisions between urban, suburban and rural are so slurred as to be nearly non-existent. Roads run wide and far with little to no sidewalk. Outside Atlanta’s absolutely wonderful transit system, cars are simply the only means of transportation and absolutely necessary to accomplish any small task. Nevertheless (or perhaps because) SUVs are far rarer a sight than in, say, Seattle. Instead you get the sort of been-there-done-that trucks and beaters that would scream Democrat membership were they west of the Cascades.
But most surprising to me this time down were the paradoxes the internet has brought. Riding past spattered strip malls in Tennessee and Georgia one'd think the whole population of podunksville, USA were avid LAN gamers. Yet, walking down the lived-in streets of Alabama and Georgia, one gets the impression that this modernization is but an inconstant wave breaking upon the bow of the old and all is caught up in the swirling humanity produced. Carefully handpainted billboards write out addresses as "W.W.W." instead of "www." and a readerboard warns of the evil lurking online to lure young children.
Downtown Columbus boasts a very strong wi-fi zone around their convention center... that's completely inaccessible, due to some "technical glitches."
Racially divided neighborhoods look otherwise identical, from the tacky plastered advertisements of the corner stores to the ubiquitous cell phones.
...And, parked in the mud down a backwoods road, lies a rusted roadster sporting a fresh Republicans for Voldemort bumper sticker.
Tangy. Sweet and sour. Like the sweat covered brows of teenage students dancing through darkened and muggy city streets to ecstatic cries of “This is what democracy looks like.” Light rain falls on lithe bodies and mud soaked jeans. Welcome to the South.
November 19, 2004
(Grit)
While I'm gone I'll leave you with this beautiful collection of photography from Iraq.
From tales of violence we oft jump to infer heroics. But servitude to one's country is not heroism, it is simply dedication. And those who worship violence as a purifier rarely find peace or victory. Real heroism is found not in the grandiose conflicts of oppressors but in the daily lives and struggles of all individuals.
While I'm gone I'll leave you with this beautiful collection of photography from Iraq.
From tales of violence we oft jump to infer heroics. But servitude to one's country is not heroism, it is simply dedication. And those who worship violence as a purifier rarely find peace or victory. Real heroism is found not in the grandiose conflicts of oppressors but in the daily lives and struggles of all individuals.
November 18, 2004
(Man Just Doesn't Like Freckles)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has moved to outlaw all organizations that support human rights. This follows his controversial decisions to outlaw happiness, flowers and freckles.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has moved to outlaw all organizations that support human rights. This follows his controversial decisions to outlaw happiness, flowers and freckles.
(Brazil Gets A Clue)
I've always liked the idea of environmentalists with guns.
Secret aaa-gent hippie, secret aaa-gent hippie, they've given you a mandate and taken... tanken... um. Okay, I'll shut up now.
I've always liked the idea of environmentalists with guns.
Secret aaa-gent hippie, secret aaa-gent hippie, they've given you a mandate and taken... tanken... um. Okay, I'll shut up now.
(America)
I've been chomping at the bit to write about Uruguay's Leftist victory, a feverish desire to address the social and geopolitical ramifications that's tempered only by my being completely unqualified to even mention the country's name. Gabelula's got a post up quoting a good letter. Go there. Stop looking at me like that.
I've been chomping at the bit to write about Uruguay's Leftist victory, a feverish desire to address the social and geopolitical ramifications that's tempered only by my being completely unqualified to even mention the country's name. Gabelula's got a post up quoting a good letter. Go there. Stop looking at me like that.
(Small Himalayan Kingdoms Have It Comin')
I figure the Bush Administration's got one last shot at getting the libertarians on the imperialist bandwagon: Invade Bhutan.
I figure the Bush Administration's got one last shot at getting the libertarians on the imperialist bandwagon: Invade Bhutan.
November 17, 2004
(Awww... That's Cute)
Matthew Yglesias thinks Putin's just another wannabe who's just talking about creating the most destructive nuclear weapons the world has yet seen.
I'm glad you're here to tell us these things, Matthew. For a moment there I almost concluded you were deluded by after effects of the Yeltsin years and all the American experts who gleefully emasculated the Russian state, but no, you're right, there's just no way Putin would ever consider building missiles for geopolitical and militaristic power. It's all just propaganda. After all, it's not like we've ever sought to benefit from the propagandistic power of our nuclear technology while we had it. Heck no. That stuff’s for has-been third world countries out in the boondocks. Besides, Putin's all about helping us. Russia posing a threat is so 1980.
And yes, Matthew, the title of this post most definitely refers to Putin and not you. Definitely.
Addendum: I think it's worth pointing out, in retrospect, that Putin's been building said "propaganda" nukes for some time now. This just marks his decision to make sure everyone was on the same page. Strategic and definitely a bolster to nationalist sentiment (like he needs it), but Putin's got no desire play up his power and bring down the American hounds. He's plenty content at the neo-conservative divide between 90s "our little ex-soviet buddy" confusion and "oh my God why doesn't anyone see this" confusion. And, unless there's a dramatic international shift, he'll continue to chug away at his near-abroad policy till he's got a powerful enough base to completely overwhelm the US's small counter-tactics. But that doesn't mean that he isn't thinking and planning ahead for the first days of post-resurgent Russia. So, yes, Putin displays some of the characteristics of shortsighted nationalism (like building up Iran's nuclear program) but it is precisely his deeply intelligent dedication to matching American nuclear power that marks him as a long term player.
Matthew Yglesias thinks Putin's just another wannabe who's just talking about creating the most destructive nuclear weapons the world has yet seen.
I'm glad you're here to tell us these things, Matthew. For a moment there I almost concluded you were deluded by after effects of the Yeltsin years and all the American experts who gleefully emasculated the Russian state, but no, you're right, there's just no way Putin would ever consider building missiles for geopolitical and militaristic power. It's all just propaganda. After all, it's not like we've ever sought to benefit from the propagandistic power of our nuclear technology while we had it. Heck no. That stuff’s for has-been third world countries out in the boondocks. Besides, Putin's all about helping us. Russia posing a threat is so 1980.
And yes, Matthew, the title of this post most definitely refers to Putin and not you. Definitely.
Addendum: I think it's worth pointing out, in retrospect, that Putin's been building said "propaganda" nukes for some time now. This just marks his decision to make sure everyone was on the same page. Strategic and definitely a bolster to nationalist sentiment (like he needs it), but Putin's got no desire play up his power and bring down the American hounds. He's plenty content at the neo-conservative divide between 90s "our little ex-soviet buddy" confusion and "oh my God why doesn't anyone see this" confusion. And, unless there's a dramatic international shift, he'll continue to chug away at his near-abroad policy till he's got a powerful enough base to completely overwhelm the US's small counter-tactics. But that doesn't mean that he isn't thinking and planning ahead for the first days of post-resurgent Russia. So, yes, Putin displays some of the characteristics of shortsighted nationalism (like building up Iran's nuclear program) but it is precisely his deeply intelligent dedication to matching American nuclear power that marks him as a long term player.
(Son Of A ...)
CrossGen's been bought up by Disney. On the one hand this was sorta expected after the indy company's financial collapse back in June, but it's disheartening to watch the crypt get sealed all the same.
Of all the late-nineties comic book publishing companies that blossomed in the graphic novel revolution, CrossGen was uniquely poised to shred the old-school DC/Marvel monopoly and for a while they were the popular contender for pulp throne.
While everyone else was digging through seventies indy comix and drinking way too much William Gibson half a dozen artists and writers got together in Florida and started making legitimate plans for the demise of America's comic book institutions. Sure the pulp series they first threw together were utterly unoriginal vacuum fillers but the company matured over time. Meridian built up a popular appeal that broke CrossGen into the monthly budgets of corporate comic stores. And, slowly, with their gradual decision to settle on a digitally perfected style that far outshone the competition, they finally unleashed their creative talent. In total CrossGen cranked out something like 26 separate lines, a fury of releases designed to shock and awe DC/Marvel into final submission. Most of these were crap. But they had potential.
By the time they'd created Way of the Rat CrossGen was overextended, brutally schizophrenic, and, most tragically, had started to institutionalize the rapid construction of new lines. Stylistically, though, they remained champions of an art form that went many of the same places the Japanese had, but from a deeply appreciated American aesthetic. CrossGen had been built by artists who desired clean art and realism but had been raised on the junk inks of western pulp comics, and they knew it. Though CrossGen's tradebacks were largely reviewed as eclectic; tightly maintaining a balance between chaotic soulless tripe and intricate masterpieces, all critics had elaborate praise for their visually stunning pages. Much hope was had for the future of this upstart insurgent.
If their gobbling up of originality has truly come to naught, CrossGen's death and subsequent consumption by the arch-cultural-nememis will stand as a great loss to writers who're now constrained from one more set of good ideas that may not have blossomed but still had enough of a presence to rule out any attempt at duplication.
But that's not to say there weren't some real pieces of art that developed under their wing and I will most sorely miss them. Had Dark Horse come to their senses in time and CrossGen not heard the hounds of death, I have little doubt that we would have seen more work like Ruse, The Path and Meridian.
On the other hand, the short and bright life of CrossGen saw the industry reinvigorated beyond anyone's dreams. Though the hideous beasts of old live on, there are now dozens of line-oriented independent publishers jockeying across mainstream bookstores around the nation and a depth of ingenuity is being restored forcefully to the pulp fantasy shelves. For all the strengths and failings of CrossGen, they left the cultural forces of the comix revolution undeniably stronger. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe.
CrossGen's been bought up by Disney. On the one hand this was sorta expected after the indy company's financial collapse back in June, but it's disheartening to watch the crypt get sealed all the same.
Of all the late-nineties comic book publishing companies that blossomed in the graphic novel revolution, CrossGen was uniquely poised to shred the old-school DC/Marvel monopoly and for a while they were the popular contender for pulp throne.
While everyone else was digging through seventies indy comix and drinking way too much William Gibson half a dozen artists and writers got together in Florida and started making legitimate plans for the demise of America's comic book institutions. Sure the pulp series they first threw together were utterly unoriginal vacuum fillers but the company matured over time. Meridian built up a popular appeal that broke CrossGen into the monthly budgets of corporate comic stores. And, slowly, with their gradual decision to settle on a digitally perfected style that far outshone the competition, they finally unleashed their creative talent. In total CrossGen cranked out something like 26 separate lines, a fury of releases designed to shock and awe DC/Marvel into final submission. Most of these were crap. But they had potential.
By the time they'd created Way of the Rat CrossGen was overextended, brutally schizophrenic, and, most tragically, had started to institutionalize the rapid construction of new lines. Stylistically, though, they remained champions of an art form that went many of the same places the Japanese had, but from a deeply appreciated American aesthetic. CrossGen had been built by artists who desired clean art and realism but had been raised on the junk inks of western pulp comics, and they knew it. Though CrossGen's tradebacks were largely reviewed as eclectic; tightly maintaining a balance between chaotic soulless tripe and intricate masterpieces, all critics had elaborate praise for their visually stunning pages. Much hope was had for the future of this upstart insurgent.
If their gobbling up of originality has truly come to naught, CrossGen's death and subsequent consumption by the arch-cultural-nememis will stand as a great loss to writers who're now constrained from one more set of good ideas that may not have blossomed but still had enough of a presence to rule out any attempt at duplication.
But that's not to say there weren't some real pieces of art that developed under their wing and I will most sorely miss them. Had Dark Horse come to their senses in time and CrossGen not heard the hounds of death, I have little doubt that we would have seen more work like Ruse, The Path and Meridian.
On the other hand, the short and bright life of CrossGen saw the industry reinvigorated beyond anyone's dreams. Though the hideous beasts of old live on, there are now dozens of line-oriented independent publishers jockeying across mainstream bookstores around the nation and a depth of ingenuity is being restored forcefully to the pulp fantasy shelves. For all the strengths and failings of CrossGen, they left the cultural forces of the comix revolution undeniably stronger. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe.
November 16, 2004
November 15, 2004
(I'll Make My Commentary On Powell's Resignation Quick)
Please, please, oh please, do not give us a Hillary v Condoleezza in 2008.
Actually, you know what? Go ahead. Maybe when the Republicans finish up mutilating the corpse of the Democratic Party we'll get to see some of those guts everyone keeps telling me exist.
Please, please, oh please, do not give us a Hillary v Condoleezza in 2008.
Actually, you know what? Go ahead. Maybe when the Republicans finish up mutilating the corpse of the Democratic Party we'll get to see some of those guts everyone keeps telling me exist.
November 14, 2004
(I Call My Advanced Methodology 'The Coolness Factor')
I've got three personal favorite spots for Alantis: Cuba, Kerguelen and Cyprus.
Two-for-three, baby.
I've got three personal favorite spots for Alantis: Cuba, Kerguelen and Cyprus.
Two-for-three, baby.
(You Know How...)
Well, I do.
" You're in a meeting. Of course you aren't sitting around a table, that's authoritarian. Instead, you're sitting in a preschoolesque circle, desperately trying to balance you notebook on your lap while the ever-growing mound of handouts being distributed become a crumpled mess and you waste an excessive amount of time waiting for everyone to reorganize themselves every 10 minutes. And it's really inconvenient to drink your coffee because you have to keep it next to your feet on the floor and the twitchy person next to you keeps narrowly missing knocking it over. And the hippie chick across the room isn't wearing any underwear under her short skirt and can't be bothered to close her legs so all of the white radical guys, who are more often than not dogs to begin with, are doubly distracted.
But I digress...
There's a discussion going on and the co-gendered, co-facilitators are busy bickering about maintaining gender equity in the discussion instead of, you know, facilitating. This means that the "discussion" is rapidly veering away from the actual subject and into some weird interpersonal territory between Person A and Person B. Often, Person B doesn't even know why the hell Person A is gunning for them. In fact, it seems more often than not that Person A is just looking for attention and has randomly chosen a target, but that's just a theory. "
You can find the whole, wonderfully written outburst over at Overly Caffeinated. Which I found through Zoe Mitchell's anti-Left/Right dichotomy ranting and then was later naggingly relinked to by David Grenier. Pure gold. I say again, pure flippin' gold.
Oh, and God bless hippie chicks.
Well, I do.
" You're in a meeting. Of course you aren't sitting around a table, that's authoritarian. Instead, you're sitting in a preschoolesque circle, desperately trying to balance you notebook on your lap while the ever-growing mound of handouts being distributed become a crumpled mess and you waste an excessive amount of time waiting for everyone to reorganize themselves every 10 minutes. And it's really inconvenient to drink your coffee because you have to keep it next to your feet on the floor and the twitchy person next to you keeps narrowly missing knocking it over. And the hippie chick across the room isn't wearing any underwear under her short skirt and can't be bothered to close her legs so all of the white radical guys, who are more often than not dogs to begin with, are doubly distracted.
But I digress...
There's a discussion going on and the co-gendered, co-facilitators are busy bickering about maintaining gender equity in the discussion instead of, you know, facilitating. This means that the "discussion" is rapidly veering away from the actual subject and into some weird interpersonal territory between Person A and Person B. Often, Person B doesn't even know why the hell Person A is gunning for them. In fact, it seems more often than not that Person A is just looking for attention and has randomly chosen a target, but that's just a theory. "
You can find the whole, wonderfully written outburst over at Overly Caffeinated. Which I found through Zoe Mitchell's anti-Left/Right dichotomy ranting and then was later naggingly relinked to by David Grenier. Pure gold. I say again, pure flippin' gold.
Oh, and God bless hippie chicks.
(When Headlines Are Hi-Larious)
Europe 'lags behind' US on terror
European Union commissioners declare we cannot allow a terror gap; begin concerted effort to bomb more third world nations.
Europe 'lags behind' US on terror
European Union commissioners declare we cannot allow a terror gap; begin concerted effort to bomb more third world nations.
(Once Again, Jesse Taylor Takes Snark And Makes It His Bitch)
" I'm glad that someone understands that the purpose of the judiciary isn't to interpret unclear areas of the law, particularly in an era of new and unprecendented challenges.
Everyone knows the judiciary's role is to throw VeggieTales-themed ice cream parties. "
I'm just going to go crawl up in a ball and ponder my comparative inadequacy as a human being.
" I'm glad that someone understands that the purpose of the judiciary isn't to interpret unclear areas of the law, particularly in an era of new and unprecendented challenges.
Everyone knows the judiciary's role is to throw VeggieTales-themed ice cream parties. "
I'm just going to go crawl up in a ball and ponder my comparative inadequacy as a human being.
November 13, 2004
(But I Liked Calling Them "Jesus Horses")
Georgia's recent creationist flap about evolution is apparently proving pretty embarrassing for a lot of Georgians. Some suburban wackos managed to get stickers put in their highschool textbooks advising students that evolution is just a "theory" and should be critically considered.
Now I suppose I'm a card-carrying "scientist," but, so long as these suburban folk are paying for their fancy stickers with their own money, I've got no problem with all this. Honestly, why stop with evolution. They should consolidate and cover every damn textbook they've got with "Critically Consider This" stickers.
Sorta like how now when I buy a new screwdriver I've gotta take off the stickers instructing me on a screwdriver's proper use and warning me against sticking it in my eye.
Honestly people. Who's stupid enough to blindly believe everything some book tells them?
Georgia's recent creationist flap about evolution is apparently proving pretty embarrassing for a lot of Georgians. Some suburban wackos managed to get stickers put in their highschool textbooks advising students that evolution is just a "theory" and should be critically considered.
Now I suppose I'm a card-carrying "scientist," but, so long as these suburban folk are paying for their fancy stickers with their own money, I've got no problem with all this. Honestly, why stop with evolution. They should consolidate and cover every damn textbook they've got with "Critically Consider This" stickers.
Sorta like how now when I buy a new screwdriver I've gotta take off the stickers instructing me on a screwdriver's proper use and warning me against sticking it in my eye.
Honestly people. Who's stupid enough to blindly believe everything some book tells them?
(Cultural Insurgency In Blue America)
Us rebel youth. With our pork rinds.
" Jane Michelson is not alone in her story. Throughout coastal America, school adminstrators and parents are reporting an alarming surge in 'Cracker' cliques on campus. Also known as 'Y'alls' or 'Neckies,' officials say the groups thrive by attracting outcasts and misfits from the student body.
"We try hard to engage all of our students in fun, healthy activities like Progressive Eco-Action March and Rage Against Intolerance Week," says Lawrence DiBenedetto of Patrice Lumumba Magnet School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Unfortunately, there are going to be those who fall through the cracks, into a life of bass fishing and stockcar racing."
It appears those cracks are widening. In one recent three-week period, fourteen high school students in Portland, Oregon were suspended for distributing pork rinds; a Burlington, Vermont high school was briefly closed for decontamination after janitors found a bible hidden in a restroom; and forty-six undergraduate coeds at Swarthmore were expelled for staging clandestine Mary Kay cosmetics parties. "
Us rebel youth. With our pork rinds.
" Jane Michelson is not alone in her story. Throughout coastal America, school adminstrators and parents are reporting an alarming surge in 'Cracker' cliques on campus. Also known as 'Y'alls' or 'Neckies,' officials say the groups thrive by attracting outcasts and misfits from the student body.
"We try hard to engage all of our students in fun, healthy activities like Progressive Eco-Action March and Rage Against Intolerance Week," says Lawrence DiBenedetto of Patrice Lumumba Magnet School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Unfortunately, there are going to be those who fall through the cracks, into a life of bass fishing and stockcar racing."
It appears those cracks are widening. In one recent three-week period, fourteen high school students in Portland, Oregon were suspended for distributing pork rinds; a Burlington, Vermont high school was briefly closed for decontamination after janitors found a bible hidden in a restroom; and forty-six undergraduate coeds at Swarthmore were expelled for staging clandestine Mary Kay cosmetics parties. "
(If You Can't Laugh At Rampant Nationalism What Can You Laugh At)
Although Project For A New American Empire is a fair parody, I've long been of the opinion that the Project For A New American Century folks are pretty funny in and of themselves.
Although Project For A New American Empire is a fair parody, I've long been of the opinion that the Project For A New American Century folks are pretty funny in and of themselves.
(I'm Just Going To Sit Here And Be Right About Stuff)
Richard Thompson Ford over at Slate gets it when it comes to the much hyped "religious heartlanders."
" Many of the relatively new evangelical churches are a hybrid of entertainment, business networking, and free child care.
[...]
these "morals voters" may be almost as scared of the real religious zealots as we are. They'll support symbolic reforms like prayer in school. They'll vote against gay marriage. They'll say they categorically oppose abortion. But despite (because of?) their superficial religious piety, their teenage daughters are getting knocked up at alarming rates and a lot of them are getting safe legal abortions. They can afford to rail against abortion rights, safe in the knowledge that the people they vote for can't actually take them away. At least not yet.
Democrats should not pander to religious zealots or religious hypocrites—the Republicans have cornered that market. Instead, they should appeal, unapologetically, to another set of values: separation of church and state and respect for individual privacy. "
Richard Thompson Ford over at Slate gets it when it comes to the much hyped "religious heartlanders."
" Many of the relatively new evangelical churches are a hybrid of entertainment, business networking, and free child care.
[...]
these "morals voters" may be almost as scared of the real religious zealots as we are. They'll support symbolic reforms like prayer in school. They'll vote against gay marriage. They'll say they categorically oppose abortion. But despite (because of?) their superficial religious piety, their teenage daughters are getting knocked up at alarming rates and a lot of them are getting safe legal abortions. They can afford to rail against abortion rights, safe in the knowledge that the people they vote for can't actually take them away. At least not yet.
Democrats should not pander to religious zealots or religious hypocrites—the Republicans have cornered that market. Instead, they should appeal, unapologetically, to another set of values: separation of church and state and respect for individual privacy. "
(A Rant)
The Stranger's arguing for urban oasisism and a complete liberal abandonment of rural America. A fun rant, I'll admit, almost on par with the glory of fuckthesouth.com. But it just goes to prove that the Left is utterly incompetent when it comes to strategy and geopolitics. They don't know how to play for an end-game.
The Nazis? The Nazis had it down pat. Putin's a flippin' genius. And FDR could kick anybody's ass here at Risk. But, nooo, f'n lefties can't seem to get their heads out of their asses and see more than five inches in front of them.
Retreat will win you nothing. They're not going to stop hounding you if you run and hide. You should never cede ground. Never write something off as unattainable.
Awwww... Is it uncomfortable to think about guns and wilderness? Do haystacks remind you of the kids who took your lunch money when you were in school? Can you not survive five flippin' minutes without constant socialite stimulation? Do large open areas make you fearful? Poor little liberals.
Sorry, if I don’t have much compassion. You want a demographic to demonize? Demonize the f'n Suburbs. They're the source of the close-minded, intolerant and militant Christianity that's fueling the Bushites. Not the true rural areas. Fucking cowboys’ most libertarian, freedom-lovin', anti-power folk in existence. Folks been fightin' the good fight for secularism, cultural freedom and individual rights long before you ever did. And they supported you back when you were the little guys waving the union banner.
Didn't vote for Bush cause they were stupid, they voted for Bush cause John Kerry's a douchebag. Folks support the Bush Admin's "War on Terror" cause they've got a problem with militant religious supremacists and dictators; not cause they like seeing naked pictures in the newspaper.
Most of these folks don't vote on principle and you didn't exactly give them the most compelling reason to break the habit.
And those that do vote? Well... two lying richboy politicians run for office in the middle of a war. One of them can claim experience running said war and your pastor tells you the other one's out to ban the Bible... You're gonna choose the one already in office. Fella can finish the job he started. And if he continues fucking up, we'll be able to rest the blame squarely on his head.
What's more, if your gay brother who's moved to New York calls you a "southern dumb fuck" for not spending hours researching every case of lying and flip-flopping going on in two very dirty campaigns, you're not exactly going to be enamored of his side.
What part of this are the liberal urban elitists not getting?
Our great cities may have gone 85-15 for Kerry. But in rural areas Bush only won 60-40 or 70-30. That's not a committed base. Those are the trend lines of a disenfranchised people.
Yeah, there's an anti-secular insurgency trying to overthrow America. Yeah, they've been abusing distributed church systems to create impassioned mobs.
Who gives a fuck?
These folk are a minority and they know it. They've been fighting hard to monopolize the public discourse and inflame us-v-them sentiments. To paint the fucking Constitution as a tool of oppressive cultural imperialism and the Jones family down the street as appeaser sellouts so that they can ride a wave of hate into power and create a supreme theocratic authoritarian dictatorship.
But they can't do this if we don't let them.
Rural vs. Urban is such shit. We're the same damn people. We're Americans. We don't like authority. Rural folk are constantly moving to the city and hippies are constantly moving out.
There's only one demographic that continually opts out of both; the fucking suburbs. Where all the upper-middle class white elitists fled after desegregation and where all the "let's be good little kids and spend our lives following rigid cultural boundaries" is coming from. That's where the Republican strongholds are, and that's what's gotta be beaten into submission. None of this "dumb hicks" shit. You live in America; your ancestors were "dumb hicks." Get over it.
The Stranger's arguing for urban oasisism and a complete liberal abandonment of rural America. A fun rant, I'll admit, almost on par with the glory of fuckthesouth.com. But it just goes to prove that the Left is utterly incompetent when it comes to strategy and geopolitics. They don't know how to play for an end-game.
The Nazis? The Nazis had it down pat. Putin's a flippin' genius. And FDR could kick anybody's ass here at Risk. But, nooo, f'n lefties can't seem to get their heads out of their asses and see more than five inches in front of them.
Retreat will win you nothing. They're not going to stop hounding you if you run and hide. You should never cede ground. Never write something off as unattainable.
Awwww... Is it uncomfortable to think about guns and wilderness? Do haystacks remind you of the kids who took your lunch money when you were in school? Can you not survive five flippin' minutes without constant socialite stimulation? Do large open areas make you fearful? Poor little liberals.
Sorry, if I don’t have much compassion. You want a demographic to demonize? Demonize the f'n Suburbs. They're the source of the close-minded, intolerant and militant Christianity that's fueling the Bushites. Not the true rural areas. Fucking cowboys’ most libertarian, freedom-lovin', anti-power folk in existence. Folks been fightin' the good fight for secularism, cultural freedom and individual rights long before you ever did. And they supported you back when you were the little guys waving the union banner.
Didn't vote for Bush cause they were stupid, they voted for Bush cause John Kerry's a douchebag. Folks support the Bush Admin's "War on Terror" cause they've got a problem with militant religious supremacists and dictators; not cause they like seeing naked pictures in the newspaper.
Most of these folks don't vote on principle and you didn't exactly give them the most compelling reason to break the habit.
And those that do vote? Well... two lying richboy politicians run for office in the middle of a war. One of them can claim experience running said war and your pastor tells you the other one's out to ban the Bible... You're gonna choose the one already in office. Fella can finish the job he started. And if he continues fucking up, we'll be able to rest the blame squarely on his head.
What's more, if your gay brother who's moved to New York calls you a "southern dumb fuck" for not spending hours researching every case of lying and flip-flopping going on in two very dirty campaigns, you're not exactly going to be enamored of his side.
What part of this are the liberal urban elitists not getting?
Our great cities may have gone 85-15 for Kerry. But in rural areas Bush only won 60-40 or 70-30. That's not a committed base. Those are the trend lines of a disenfranchised people.
Yeah, there's an anti-secular insurgency trying to overthrow America. Yeah, they've been abusing distributed church systems to create impassioned mobs.
Who gives a fuck?
These folk are a minority and they know it. They've been fighting hard to monopolize the public discourse and inflame us-v-them sentiments. To paint the fucking Constitution as a tool of oppressive cultural imperialism and the Jones family down the street as appeaser sellouts so that they can ride a wave of hate into power and create a supreme theocratic authoritarian dictatorship.
But they can't do this if we don't let them.
Rural vs. Urban is such shit. We're the same damn people. We're Americans. We don't like authority. Rural folk are constantly moving to the city and hippies are constantly moving out.
There's only one demographic that continually opts out of both; the fucking suburbs. Where all the upper-middle class white elitists fled after desegregation and where all the "let's be good little kids and spend our lives following rigid cultural boundaries" is coming from. That's where the Republican strongholds are, and that's what's gotta be beaten into submission. None of this "dumb hicks" shit. You live in America; your ancestors were "dumb hicks." Get over it.
November 12, 2004
(It's Just Like Public Television)
We at the United Nations are really sorry for interrupting your regularly scheduled humanitarian aid and peacekeeping as we do every year, but we really need your pledge folks. It's member states like you that help keep your favorite satellite third-world nations from plunging into chaos. We couldn't do it without our members and the contributions you make.
Now tonight we have a special gift we're giving away to the first two dozen callers, it's a deluxe paper weight set from the Congo. Handcarved from discarded infant bones they've been emblazoned with gold to meet the finest in state official standards. Once again folks that number is (202) 887-9040. That's (202) 887-9040. We've got $1,700,000,000 dollars to go tonight, so make your contribution now.
Addendum: If you thought this was bad, just be glad you didn't read the first draft. Poking fun at the sex-slave refugee scandal. Be very, very, very glad. Funny. But it's been burned off my hard drive and we will not speak of it.
We at the United Nations are really sorry for interrupting your regularly scheduled humanitarian aid and peacekeeping as we do every year, but we really need your pledge folks. It's member states like you that help keep your favorite satellite third-world nations from plunging into chaos. We couldn't do it without our members and the contributions you make.
Now tonight we have a special gift we're giving away to the first two dozen callers, it's a deluxe paper weight set from the Congo. Handcarved from discarded infant bones they've been emblazoned with gold to meet the finest in state official standards. Once again folks that number is (202) 887-9040. That's (202) 887-9040. We've got $1,700,000,000 dollars to go tonight, so make your contribution now.
Addendum: If you thought this was bad, just be glad you didn't read the first draft. Poking fun at the sex-slave refugee scandal. Be very, very, very glad. Funny. But it's been burned off my hard drive and we will not speak of it.
(For The Record I'd Like To State That I Am, Indeed, A Consumerist Whore)
But, so long as I continue to operate in my state of perpetual brokeness, this shouldn't be a problem. ...Aside from the embarrassingly copious amounts of drool it’s causing.
But, so long as I continue to operate in my state of perpetual brokeness, this shouldn't be a problem. ...Aside from the embarrassingly copious amounts of drool it’s causing.
(Lessons From My Favorite Red State)
I'm often accused of spending most of my time writing about concepts and broader political themes but very little time addressing the gritty tactics. Mainly this is cause I feel yall are smart enough to work them out for yourselves; tactics should develop naturally situation-to-situation given an intellectual base.
But also... I'm lazy. Laying out every single flippin' method by which the Democratic Party might appeal to the individualistic culture of America would be a long and arduous task.
Thankfully, other people get paid money to write such specific-minded stuff. And, thankfully people tend to rush in and fill the intelligence vacuums left behind by folks as moronic as the Democratic Party Leadership.
Behold Montana and the utterly spot-on lesson it presents for those who can't seem to understand why half the country's been painted red.
I'm often accused of spending most of my time writing about concepts and broader political themes but very little time addressing the gritty tactics. Mainly this is cause I feel yall are smart enough to work them out for yourselves; tactics should develop naturally situation-to-situation given an intellectual base.
But also... I'm lazy. Laying out every single flippin' method by which the Democratic Party might appeal to the individualistic culture of America would be a long and arduous task.
Thankfully, other people get paid money to write such specific-minded stuff. And, thankfully people tend to rush in and fill the intelligence vacuums left behind by folks as moronic as the Democratic Party Leadership.
Behold Montana and the utterly spot-on lesson it presents for those who can't seem to understand why half the country's been painted red.
November 10, 2004
(Well That Didn't Take Long At All)
What part of "mandate" aren't you getting? There's nothing wrong with sending tanks to break up peaceful protests in LA. This here's a Red country afterall. There's a tradition to uphold.
What part of "mandate" aren't you getting? There's nothing wrong with sending tanks to break up peaceful protests in LA. This here's a Red country afterall. There's a tradition to uphold.
(Just So You Know)
Portland Public Schools just lost its appeal to the Supreme Court against a Teacher's whistleblowing suit for being fired after complaining about PPS's allocation of funding.
The $404,150 in legal fees the district has accumulated in this case? ...They'll be coming out of the general fund. In addition to the now $1,000,000 that the teacher has won.
Portland Public Schools just lost its appeal to the Supreme Court against a Teacher's whistleblowing suit for being fired after complaining about PPS's allocation of funding.
The $404,150 in legal fees the district has accumulated in this case? ...They'll be coming out of the general fund. In addition to the now $1,000,000 that the teacher has won.
November 09, 2004
(This One Goes Out To The 74% Percent Of My Readers Who're Too Lazy To Protect Themselves)
Go get Firefox. Now.
Go get Firefox. Now.
(It's Been How Many Days)
After much deliberation United Nations has come to the firm conclusion that masterminding genocide is, indeed, against international law.
Hmm... You know that's funny, because I thought the other side had some really compelling arguments.
After much deliberation United Nations has come to the firm conclusion that masterminding genocide is, indeed, against international law.
Hmm... You know that's funny, because I thought the other side had some really compelling arguments.
November 07, 2004
(Complicated)
It is, of course, most childish to think the Democrats would want my opinion on how they should go forward. Lacking any real committed and advantageous resources of their own, my advice can only remain an extrapolation of my personal political opinions and how they might be forwarded.
I've long been of the opinion that those hanger-ons who still remember the rhetoric of the revolution, both "right" and "left," are pieces of a fundamental whole that must be united to defeat the statist and nihilistic forces that seemingly dominate our world's current condition. And I long for the day when Libertarians and Progressives alike shed their mutual antagonism, recognize the common ground, and work to secure true liberty for all.
Forgive me, though. As a product of Portland Oregon, the city at the end of the American trail and securely set to be the future birthplace of The Revolution, I've developed a nasty habit of mixing Progressives and Democrats.
But the current Progressive faction of American politics emerged as internal opposition to the Democratic Party and Clinton's political runarounds. It is extremely unlikely to emerge at the head of the Democratic Party. Progressives can fight a marginalized and shrill rhetorical war within, or they can leave the Party's ranks and attempt to win small battles hands on. If they do splinter and divorce themselves from the Party in element if not in word, then there is a strong role waiting for them at the head of the Opposition. And, if they want to start winning they need to stop their whining attitude about social responsibility and focus on personal freedoms and liberties.
There is already a strong movement towards this across the country. And in Portland not only have the people overwhelmingly elected an extremely pro-civil rights Mayor, but there's been a clear surge among progressives to turn their unified attention on the Joint Terrorism Taskforce that's done so much to hurt individual liberty. A decision that provides great hope for what future the forces of reform now have before them.
Because I think that, behind all the twisting political opinions and world-weary senses of defeatism in this land, there's a certain human element that cannot help but cry out in pursuit of freedom. I think that this fundamental element underlies every human life and so long as human life persists I see it emerging time and time again in resistance to oppression and coercion. That is why I consider the neo-conservatives' well-planned effort to spread liberty by brute force fundamentally unattainable. That is why I think that this country's theological conservatives’ leadership will be subsumed by its people, pragmatic in their anarchism, but unrelenting in the face of oppression. And that is why I believe that any free-minded people will inevitably come to shake off the chains of team-sports and factionalism.
But this is just my two cents.
Friday night a mob of liberal students scaled the huge flagpole at Macalester College, tore down the American flag and burnt it in the center of campus.
That said. They left the flag of the United Nations still flying. It was the school administration that took it down the next day. Lest they be considered partisan.
It is, of course, most childish to think the Democrats would want my opinion on how they should go forward. Lacking any real committed and advantageous resources of their own, my advice can only remain an extrapolation of my personal political opinions and how they might be forwarded.
I've long been of the opinion that those hanger-ons who still remember the rhetoric of the revolution, both "right" and "left," are pieces of a fundamental whole that must be united to defeat the statist and nihilistic forces that seemingly dominate our world's current condition. And I long for the day when Libertarians and Progressives alike shed their mutual antagonism, recognize the common ground, and work to secure true liberty for all.
Forgive me, though. As a product of Portland Oregon, the city at the end of the American trail and securely set to be the future birthplace of The Revolution, I've developed a nasty habit of mixing Progressives and Democrats.
But the current Progressive faction of American politics emerged as internal opposition to the Democratic Party and Clinton's political runarounds. It is extremely unlikely to emerge at the head of the Democratic Party. Progressives can fight a marginalized and shrill rhetorical war within, or they can leave the Party's ranks and attempt to win small battles hands on. If they do splinter and divorce themselves from the Party in element if not in word, then there is a strong role waiting for them at the head of the Opposition. And, if they want to start winning they need to stop their whining attitude about social responsibility and focus on personal freedoms and liberties.
There is already a strong movement towards this across the country. And in Portland not only have the people overwhelmingly elected an extremely pro-civil rights Mayor, but there's been a clear surge among progressives to turn their unified attention on the Joint Terrorism Taskforce that's done so much to hurt individual liberty. A decision that provides great hope for what future the forces of reform now have before them.
Because I think that, behind all the twisting political opinions and world-weary senses of defeatism in this land, there's a certain human element that cannot help but cry out in pursuit of freedom. I think that this fundamental element underlies every human life and so long as human life persists I see it emerging time and time again in resistance to oppression and coercion. That is why I consider the neo-conservatives' well-planned effort to spread liberty by brute force fundamentally unattainable. That is why I think that this country's theological conservatives’ leadership will be subsumed by its people, pragmatic in their anarchism, but unrelenting in the face of oppression. And that is why I believe that any free-minded people will inevitably come to shake off the chains of team-sports and factionalism.
But this is just my two cents.
Friday night a mob of liberal students scaled the huge flagpole at Macalester College, tore down the American flag and burnt it in the center of campus.
That said. They left the flag of the United Nations still flying. It was the school administration that took it down the next day. Lest they be considered partisan.
November 06, 2004
(The Only Article Democrats Should Be Reading)
I cannot emphasize just how important this viewpoint is. And if the Democrats or the Progressives will not champion it, the Red States will never crack.
Freedom is the answer. And there has never been as good a time as now for freedom to enter the American political discourse in its absolute form, unconstrained by cheap dogma, as now.
I cannot emphasize just how important this viewpoint is. And if the Democrats or the Progressives will not champion it, the Red States will never crack.
Freedom is the answer. And there has never been as good a time as now for freedom to enter the American political discourse in its absolute form, unconstrained by cheap dogma, as now.
(You Are Wrong)
Kevin Drum's got a map up matching the electoral split with that of the country before the war of secession.
But the map's just wrong. First off, Oregon was a state in 1860. And even though we didn't truck with the slavery, we almost voted to succeed from the union with them. Second, Kansas was against slavery. Third, Minnesota was also a state. Fourth, the Dred Scott case opened up all the territories. Washington/Idaho included. Fifth, southern Oregonians and Northern Californians were then agitating for a pro-slavery state called Jefferson State.
Oh and Maryland for Idaho? Stupid blue states. Idaho is so much cooler.
Kevin Drum's got a map up matching the electoral split with that of the country before the war of secession.
But the map's just wrong. First off, Oregon was a state in 1860. And even though we didn't truck with the slavery, we almost voted to succeed from the union with them. Second, Kansas was against slavery. Third, Minnesota was also a state. Fourth, the Dred Scott case opened up all the territories. Washington/Idaho included. Fifth, southern Oregonians and Northern Californians were then agitating for a pro-slavery state called Jefferson State.
Oh and Maryland for Idaho? Stupid blue states. Idaho is so much cooler.
November 05, 2004
(What Sorta Crazy Talk Is That)
"Mandate"?
The guy's a President. Presidents don't get mandates.
Unless you mean to tell me that every single US citizen whole-heartedly abdicated any possible disagreements they could have with him or any action he might choose to take for the next four years.
No. He's an elected leader. He should be shaking his boots with fear of ever crossing any one of us in the slightest.
That's how we view leadership in this country. And if he doesn't know that by now he'll learn it by the end of what part of his second term we allow him.
"Mandate"?
The guy's a President. Presidents don't get mandates.
Unless you mean to tell me that every single US citizen whole-heartedly abdicated any possible disagreements they could have with him or any action he might choose to take for the next four years.
No. He's an elected leader. He should be shaking his boots with fear of ever crossing any one of us in the slightest.
That's how we view leadership in this country. And if he doesn't know that by now he'll learn it by the end of what part of his second term we allow him.
November 04, 2004
(To Conclude My Heavy Election Blogging)
In summary I think it is by now clear to everyone that, indeed, either John Kerry or George W Bush has won the Presidency of the United States of America.
Dang.
In summary I think it is by now clear to everyone that, indeed, either John Kerry or George W Bush has won the Presidency of the United States of America.
Dang.
(Some Quick Thoughts On The Division In This Country)
There is an inability right now, I feel, for some of the more -for lack of a better word- mainstream, Democrats to come to grips with the radicalism coursing through the veins of the more marginalized Liberal strongholds.
Living, as I am, on a campus that produced Koffi Annan, Walter Mondale and Garrison Keillor, and having lived most of my life in Portland, Oregon, I am being bombarded by apocalyptic rhetoric from all quarters.
On the one hand, it's more than a little fun, personally, to watch rich Young Democrats get radicalized in a matter of hours. But like any sudden movement it also holds great danger.
By letting the Bush Administration turn politics into a culture war they have now been faced with the choice of fighting a political war at large or turning inwards to establish and strengthen their cultural fiefdoms.
When NPR and MSNBC report incredibly widespread sentiment in favor of New England succession. When the terms "Cascadia," "Pacifica" and "Ecotopia" enter Joe Pacific Northwest's dinner conversation and do so only half-jokingly. When various versions of pictures declaring the "United States of Canada" pop up independently and then flash across the web. (God, I wish Kerry had won Colorado/New Mexico.)
When people fortunate enough to be born in the United States talk of giving it up in appeasement.
There is serious reason to fear for the future of the world. A future so intertwined with that of the US as to be slave to it.
This election is absolutely unique in the history of America for, irrespective of the candidates (by now it should be clear that they were all very, very bad candidates) and the entrenched parties, the core issues of a side resolved around surrendering geopolitical power, strengthening individual rights and attempting to keep the government from enforcing cultural tastes.
There were lots of little side-tangents fought for by the partisan populists such as smoking bans on private property and roundabout restraints on freedom of speech.
John Kerry was as much a face of the establishment and statism as any.
But the movement that has built itself from nothing in five years is such a beacon of hope that it might yet illuminate the world. As it turns out punching a bunch of cards didn't magically make the world a wonderful place. Wow. Imagine that.
Now. One can cry, run home to snuggle under the blankets and build pillow forts where its comfortable and no one bullies us or questions the holes in our rhetoric. Or. We can head right back and keep fighting with the superior hand "thinking stuff through" gives us.
The Democrats are indeed, as the pundits kept hoping, out in the wilderness. They have four years of desperate bipartisanship, balkanizing, revelations, internal factionism, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to look forward to. Years that will be characterized by the Bush Administration's effort to push them to the periphery.
But the Opposition is not the inept Democratic Party. It is far more. The anti-thesis of division and nihilism. It is us. It is hope.
There is an inability right now, I feel, for some of the more -for lack of a better word- mainstream, Democrats to come to grips with the radicalism coursing through the veins of the more marginalized Liberal strongholds.
Living, as I am, on a campus that produced Koffi Annan, Walter Mondale and Garrison Keillor, and having lived most of my life in Portland, Oregon, I am being bombarded by apocalyptic rhetoric from all quarters.
On the one hand, it's more than a little fun, personally, to watch rich Young Democrats get radicalized in a matter of hours. But like any sudden movement it also holds great danger.
By letting the Bush Administration turn politics into a culture war they have now been faced with the choice of fighting a political war at large or turning inwards to establish and strengthen their cultural fiefdoms.
When NPR and MSNBC report incredibly widespread sentiment in favor of New England succession. When the terms "Cascadia," "Pacifica" and "Ecotopia" enter Joe Pacific Northwest's dinner conversation and do so only half-jokingly. When various versions of pictures declaring the "United States of Canada" pop up independently and then flash across the web. (God, I wish Kerry had won Colorado/New Mexico.)
When people fortunate enough to be born in the United States talk of giving it up in appeasement.
There is serious reason to fear for the future of the world. A future so intertwined with that of the US as to be slave to it.
This election is absolutely unique in the history of America for, irrespective of the candidates (by now it should be clear that they were all very, very bad candidates) and the entrenched parties, the core issues of a side resolved around surrendering geopolitical power, strengthening individual rights and attempting to keep the government from enforcing cultural tastes.
There were lots of little side-tangents fought for by the partisan populists such as smoking bans on private property and roundabout restraints on freedom of speech.
John Kerry was as much a face of the establishment and statism as any.
But the movement that has built itself from nothing in five years is such a beacon of hope that it might yet illuminate the world. As it turns out punching a bunch of cards didn't magically make the world a wonderful place. Wow. Imagine that.
Now. One can cry, run home to snuggle under the blankets and build pillow forts where its comfortable and no one bullies us or questions the holes in our rhetoric. Or. We can head right back and keep fighting with the superior hand "thinking stuff through" gives us.
The Democrats are indeed, as the pundits kept hoping, out in the wilderness. They have four years of desperate bipartisanship, balkanizing, revelations, internal factionism, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to look forward to. Years that will be characterized by the Bush Administration's effort to push them to the periphery.
But the Opposition is not the inept Democratic Party. It is far more. The anti-thesis of division and nihilism. It is us. It is hope.
(A Roundup Of Reactions)
Here's a mostly complete look at what's being said about what happened and where to go from here.
Thomas Friedman
The election results reaffirmed that. Despite an utterly incompetent war performance in Iraq and a stagnant economy, Mr. Bush held onto the same basic core of states that he won four years ago - as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if people were not voting on his performance. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on.
This was not an election. This was station identification. I'd bet anything that if the election ballots hadn't had the names Bush and Kerry on them but simply asked instead, "Do you watch Fox TV or read The New York Times?" the Electoral College would have broken the exact same way.
Andrew Sullivan
Gays: Kerry 77, Bush 23. Jews: Kerry 74, Bush 25.
Eric Alterman
...It’s not “our” fault either. The problem is just this: Slightly more than half of the citizens of this country simply do not care about what those of us in the “reality-based community” say or believe about anything.
[...]
It’s one of “them” and “us.” He’s one of “them” and not one of “us” and that’s all they care about.
Crooked Timber's Chris
Since 9/11 American nationalists have not been shy to tell us about the marvellous things that the United States have brought to the world. And I agree with them. The US Constitution, the struggle against slavery, the struggle for civil rights, the greatest city in the world (New York), the blues, jazz, soul. I could go on and on. I might even, on a generous day, include Hollywood. I love those Americas, and I always will. I’d like to thank them for standing against the strident nationalists and George W. Bush.
— The thirteen original states that brought us the Constitution voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— The states that didn’t secede and which fought against slavery voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— Black America which brought us in Martin Luther King, one of the greatest moral exemplars of modern times as well as the blues, jazz and soul voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— California, home of the modern motion picture industry, voted for Kerry.
These are the great American achievements: the United States’ lasting contribution to freedom, culture and progress. Sadly, that America, the America of which Americans have the most reason to be proud and foreigners have the most reason to admire, just lost. Again.
Atrios
The people who voted George Bush and the Republicans into office this year didn't do so because they were conned by a right wing asshole posing as a compassionate centrist. They did so precisely because he is a right wing asshole. Yes, the modern Republican party consists of nasty bigots and liars and the media rarely bothers to point out just how nasty they are (all the talking heads talking about the role of "moral values" in the election know that what that really means is "fag hating," but they won't say it). But, don't be fooled - people know what they voted for.
Radley Balko
I don't buy the argument that Kerry lost this election because he's an elitist snob who looks down on flyover country -- though those things may very well be true. Kerry lost because Republicans were better at getting their people to the polls than the Democrats, as evidenced by the +4 percent of voters who identified themselves as "conservative" this year over 2000.
And it's easy to see why. The top issues for Bush supporters were values, terrorism, and Iraq. And the Republicans put up a guy who talks about God alot, is waging an aggressive (if misguided) war on terror, and who instigated and promises to see through the war with Iraq.
All of the energy in the Democratic party this year was explicitly anti-Bush, which means explicitly anti- the items listed above. The anybody-but-Bush crowd loathes the PATRIOT Act, loathes the war in Iraq, and loathes the God-talk. Thus all that early enthusiasm for Howard Dean, who spoke for exactly those ideas.
So what did Democrats do? They put up a guy who voted for the war with Iraq (and until late in the campaign insisted that it was still the correct vote), voted for the PATRIOT Act, and never really took a firm stand against what the A-B-B crowd sees as creeping theocracy. It's no wonder more conservatives came to the polls. The left's only option was a guy who in the grand scheme of things wasn't really all that different than the guy they hated.
Strange Chord's Emily
Yesterday was a day of processing - I'm so glad I was on a downtown Portland campus and barely had to deal with gloaters. I attended a small march and rally downtown from about 3-5pm and it was really encouraging to hear all the cars honking in solidarity. I still feel periodic distress pangs in my heart today, though.
I talked to my mom last night, who's been all fired up this election season. With yesterday's results, she was asking herself what she could do now to make a difference and then she remembered the 90-page 1000+reasons to vote against Bush list that she had printed out from the library computer a month ago. She told me she was going to go down that list and get ideas for further action because there is just so much work to do. I thought that was a great idea for a place to start for those who got really charged up for the election and aren't sure now where to turn. I stand by the notion that everyone has unique talents and something to offer to make positive change/transformation in the world and that there's no one or two most effective forms of activism - there's billions. All that's needed is intentionality.
To me, the silver lining of this election's results is that there is the potential for progressives/liberals to get really active outside the system - it should now be painfully obvious that simply voting is not enough. As far as I'm concerned, "bottom up" (vs. "top down") is the compelling mantra now more than ever.
Amy Sullivan
I think Democrats need to say out loud now what many have been whispering (or blogging) for a while. I adore my former boss Tom Daschle and--objectivity be damned--am heartbroken today about his loss. But it is clear that Senate Democrats simply cannot afford to have a leader who hails from a hardcore red state.
Matthew Yglesias
The downside is that the [United States of Canada] would have some real military recruitment problems and needing to cross an international boundary every time I want to go to the Apple Store in Arlington, Virginia would be a real pain in the ass. Come to think of it, having a Metro system that crosses an international boundary would be problematic in a variety of ways. Perhaps we can annex some key portions of Northern Virginia and South Florida in exchange for the downstate portions of Illinois. Alberta also probably belongs in Jesusland.
Matt Welch
There is zero reason to believe Bush will ever listen to libertarians, about anything. Small-government types didn't get out the Republican vote; Evangelicals and other Christian conservatives did.
Libertarians have hammered Bush about stem-cell research, his staggering deficits, flippant eagerness to amend the Constitution, McCain-Feingold, the Federal Communications Commission, and the spectacular growth of government under his watch; all while noisily advertising their own political defections and/or flirtations with divided government. The Religious Right has been much more loyal, and exponentially more productive in delivering votes.
There is no practical reason why Bush should ever throw a bone to libertarians. And his well-demonstrated philosophical beliefs only seem to overlap with small-government advocates on the issues of taxes, the 2nd Amendment (though certainly not the 4th or 1st), rejecting international institutions, and cutting some regulation.
Greg Palast
I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry.
The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel
The American Right understands we are two nations, and cares less about healing than about holding power. A Bush wins forces us to understand, in a very deep way, what that means for us and for the values and institutions we care about. Not that they are wrong, or rejected or weighed down by "identity politics" or some other rationale for surrender. But that they are in desperate danger and we need to start thinking along the lines of how to resist, delay, deflect, oppose and ultimately defeat the assault on our freedoms. As progressives, we will need to marshal at least as much dedication, purpose, strategic focus and tactical ruthlessness, and The Nation is one of the few places that will have earned the trust of over 40 percent of the American people who were against Bush and all his works from the beginning.
Tacitus' Macallan
If as many assume is certain (I don't), and Colin Powell desires to move on -- howzabout Bush selects Kerry as Sec of State and has Mitt Romney give his assurance to Kerry that he will appoint a democrat to his seat in a gesture of bipartisan comity?
This has several advantages, one it would be seen as a gracious unifying gesture on Bush's part and could be used as a face saving opportunity to help the "International Community" pull their heads out of their Chiracs and pretend to not be actively working against. (They'll still actively work against us, but at least they can go back to pretending they aren't). Finally, evil people like me will enjoy watching Kerry actually have to put up or shut up on our "allies". Thoughts?
Jesse Walker
Once they're calm, those Democrats should take a look in the mirror. I hate the Red America/Blue America cliche, the whole idea that the country can be painted in just two colors. But if I had to speak in terms of that map, I'd say the most successful culture warriors come from the blue states. The dominant species of liberal doesn't just want to maintain the old taboos; it wants to introduce some new ones. For many Americans, the Democrats are the party that hates their guns, cigarettes, and fatty foods (which is worse: to rename a french fry or to take it away?); that wants to impose speed limits on near-abandoned highways; that wants to tell local schools what they can or can't teach. There is no party of tolerance in Washington -- just a party that wages its crusades in the name of Christ and a party that wages its crusades in the name of Four Out Of Five Experts Agree. I say fie on both.
Here's an idea for liberals looking for a political project: Team up with some hard-core conservatives and make a push for states' rights and local autonomy. If you have to get the government involved in everything under the sun, do it on a level where you'll have more of a popular consensus. Aim for a world where it won't matter what Washington has to say about who can marry who and whether they can smoke after sodomy. Then, in 2008, the presidential election can turn on something national -- like, say, foreign policy.
Tom Tommorrow
...those of you who "don't agree with Bush on social issues," but voted for him because you thought Kerry would somehow not be serious about the war, or maybe because you'll do a little bit better on your taxes under Bush--I'm afraid you may get the country you deserve, a country in which conservative fundamentalist Christians are calling the shots on abortion and civil liberties and gay rights and a lot of other things you probably care about, or at least should. But hey, you made your bargain. It's just too bad the rest of us--the 48% as of this writing, who voted for another, very different America--have to get dragged down with you.
A poster at Blue Oregon
Hey guys, take a deep breath. I'm an Oregonian temporarily exiled to Waco TX while my wife completes a family practice residency here. We plan to move back to Portland or perhaps Salem when she's through. After living in Texas which is a weird combination of "Southern" and "Western" I've come to the conclusion that all of this is uiltimately the fault of another Republican Administration--the Lincoln Administration.
Take a look at the electoral map and at the boundaries of the Confederacy and contemplate what North America might have looked like today had the South been allowed to go its own way. Slavery would have died a slow death by the late 1800s anyway. It was not sustainable. But Imagine what the North and West would have looked like as a nation without Texas and the South. Perhaps something much more along the Canadian or Northern European model. And with North America broken up into smaller countries we probably wouldn't have seen the American Imperialism of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. So blame it on Lincoln for keeping all those Southerners and Texans in the fold.
That said, I have come to be a believer in Federalism after the experience of the past decade. As long as the red states are dragging us down, forget about using the Federal Government as an agent of change and focus on your state and local governments. But that also means cutting off the Federal gravy train that subsidizes most of the red states. If they want Ag price supports, let them pay for it at home. Let each state go its own way.
Antonia Zerbisias in the Toronto Star
As Joe Conason wrote in his Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine And How It Distorts The Truth, "Conservatives enjoy their virtual monopoly over the nation's political conversation, of course. They paid a lot of money for it and they intend to keep it."
Yesterday, CNN's Bill Hemmer actually mused about liberalism being "dead" in the United States. Never mind that 55 million voters chose John Kerry, or that just about every survey conducted over the past 10 years indicates that Americans overwhelmingly support such liberal concepts as universal health care.
David Bernstein in the Newark Star-Ledger
That idea [that the Federal Government should embrace "traditional values"] is anathema to those who take the Constitution seriously. It's not simply a question of separation of church and state, said Bernstein, but "a separation of everything and state." The conservative idea of limited government has been all but abandoned by Bush, Bernstein said.
Max Fraad Wolff at Commondreams
These have been hard, heavy times and it would seem more is in store. John Kerry has done well but, apparently not well enough to surmount the massive obstacles erected in his path. We must do better despite our sadness and disappointment. For the first time in 4 years I feel the blue in that colored coded map of America.
Wonkette
Rove Blackberrying, grinning: "To: CEO@ Diebold. . . Did you get your check yet?"
Jon Stewart's Daily Show
If you want to have gay sex or visit a library, tonight's your last night.
[...]
We here in New York are too close to the terrorism and the gay people, only the Red States, with the advantage of a safe distance can take in in the whole picture and clearly see what we should do about those issues. And so, on behalf of everyone in the Blue States, I'd like to thank the Red States for saving us from ourselves.
Jim Henley
At least I get to keep my liberal readership. I already alienated all the conservatives. A Kerry presidency would have swiftly reduced me to two dozen libertarians I know at parties and sundry indulgent friends.
Here's a mostly complete look at what's being said about what happened and where to go from here.
Thomas Friedman
The election results reaffirmed that. Despite an utterly incompetent war performance in Iraq and a stagnant economy, Mr. Bush held onto the same basic core of states that he won four years ago - as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if people were not voting on his performance. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on.
This was not an election. This was station identification. I'd bet anything that if the election ballots hadn't had the names Bush and Kerry on them but simply asked instead, "Do you watch Fox TV or read The New York Times?" the Electoral College would have broken the exact same way.
Andrew Sullivan
Gays: Kerry 77, Bush 23. Jews: Kerry 74, Bush 25.
Eric Alterman
...It’s not “our” fault either. The problem is just this: Slightly more than half of the citizens of this country simply do not care about what those of us in the “reality-based community” say or believe about anything.
[...]
It’s one of “them” and “us.” He’s one of “them” and not one of “us” and that’s all they care about.
Crooked Timber's Chris
Since 9/11 American nationalists have not been shy to tell us about the marvellous things that the United States have brought to the world. And I agree with them. The US Constitution, the struggle against slavery, the struggle for civil rights, the greatest city in the world (New York), the blues, jazz, soul. I could go on and on. I might even, on a generous day, include Hollywood. I love those Americas, and I always will. I’d like to thank them for standing against the strident nationalists and George W. Bush.
— The thirteen original states that brought us the Constitution voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— The states that didn’t secede and which fought against slavery voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— Black America which brought us in Martin Luther King, one of the greatest moral exemplars of modern times as well as the blues, jazz and soul voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry.
— California, home of the modern motion picture industry, voted for Kerry.
These are the great American achievements: the United States’ lasting contribution to freedom, culture and progress. Sadly, that America, the America of which Americans have the most reason to be proud and foreigners have the most reason to admire, just lost. Again.
Atrios
The people who voted George Bush and the Republicans into office this year didn't do so because they were conned by a right wing asshole posing as a compassionate centrist. They did so precisely because he is a right wing asshole. Yes, the modern Republican party consists of nasty bigots and liars and the media rarely bothers to point out just how nasty they are (all the talking heads talking about the role of "moral values" in the election know that what that really means is "fag hating," but they won't say it). But, don't be fooled - people know what they voted for.
Radley Balko
I don't buy the argument that Kerry lost this election because he's an elitist snob who looks down on flyover country -- though those things may very well be true. Kerry lost because Republicans were better at getting their people to the polls than the Democrats, as evidenced by the +4 percent of voters who identified themselves as "conservative" this year over 2000.
And it's easy to see why. The top issues for Bush supporters were values, terrorism, and Iraq. And the Republicans put up a guy who talks about God alot, is waging an aggressive (if misguided) war on terror, and who instigated and promises to see through the war with Iraq.
All of the energy in the Democratic party this year was explicitly anti-Bush, which means explicitly anti- the items listed above. The anybody-but-Bush crowd loathes the PATRIOT Act, loathes the war in Iraq, and loathes the God-talk. Thus all that early enthusiasm for Howard Dean, who spoke for exactly those ideas.
So what did Democrats do? They put up a guy who voted for the war with Iraq (and until late in the campaign insisted that it was still the correct vote), voted for the PATRIOT Act, and never really took a firm stand against what the A-B-B crowd sees as creeping theocracy. It's no wonder more conservatives came to the polls. The left's only option was a guy who in the grand scheme of things wasn't really all that different than the guy they hated.
Strange Chord's Emily
Yesterday was a day of processing - I'm so glad I was on a downtown Portland campus and barely had to deal with gloaters. I attended a small march and rally downtown from about 3-5pm and it was really encouraging to hear all the cars honking in solidarity. I still feel periodic distress pangs in my heart today, though.
I talked to my mom last night, who's been all fired up this election season. With yesterday's results, she was asking herself what she could do now to make a difference and then she remembered the 90-page 1000+reasons to vote against Bush list that she had printed out from the library computer a month ago. She told me she was going to go down that list and get ideas for further action because there is just so much work to do. I thought that was a great idea for a place to start for those who got really charged up for the election and aren't sure now where to turn. I stand by the notion that everyone has unique talents and something to offer to make positive change/transformation in the world and that there's no one or two most effective forms of activism - there's billions. All that's needed is intentionality.
To me, the silver lining of this election's results is that there is the potential for progressives/liberals to get really active outside the system - it should now be painfully obvious that simply voting is not enough. As far as I'm concerned, "bottom up" (vs. "top down") is the compelling mantra now more than ever.
Amy Sullivan
I think Democrats need to say out loud now what many have been whispering (or blogging) for a while. I adore my former boss Tom Daschle and--objectivity be damned--am heartbroken today about his loss. But it is clear that Senate Democrats simply cannot afford to have a leader who hails from a hardcore red state.
Matthew Yglesias
The downside is that the [United States of Canada] would have some real military recruitment problems and needing to cross an international boundary every time I want to go to the Apple Store in Arlington, Virginia would be a real pain in the ass. Come to think of it, having a Metro system that crosses an international boundary would be problematic in a variety of ways. Perhaps we can annex some key portions of Northern Virginia and South Florida in exchange for the downstate portions of Illinois. Alberta also probably belongs in Jesusland.
Matt Welch
There is zero reason to believe Bush will ever listen to libertarians, about anything. Small-government types didn't get out the Republican vote; Evangelicals and other Christian conservatives did.
Libertarians have hammered Bush about stem-cell research, his staggering deficits, flippant eagerness to amend the Constitution, McCain-Feingold, the Federal Communications Commission, and the spectacular growth of government under his watch; all while noisily advertising their own political defections and/or flirtations with divided government. The Religious Right has been much more loyal, and exponentially more productive in delivering votes.
There is no practical reason why Bush should ever throw a bone to libertarians. And his well-demonstrated philosophical beliefs only seem to overlap with small-government advocates on the issues of taxes, the 2nd Amendment (though certainly not the 4th or 1st), rejecting international institutions, and cutting some regulation.
Greg Palast
I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry.
The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel
The American Right understands we are two nations, and cares less about healing than about holding power. A Bush wins forces us to understand, in a very deep way, what that means for us and for the values and institutions we care about. Not that they are wrong, or rejected or weighed down by "identity politics" or some other rationale for surrender. But that they are in desperate danger and we need to start thinking along the lines of how to resist, delay, deflect, oppose and ultimately defeat the assault on our freedoms. As progressives, we will need to marshal at least as much dedication, purpose, strategic focus and tactical ruthlessness, and The Nation is one of the few places that will have earned the trust of over 40 percent of the American people who were against Bush and all his works from the beginning.
Tacitus' Macallan
If as many assume is certain (I don't), and Colin Powell desires to move on -- howzabout Bush selects Kerry as Sec of State and has Mitt Romney give his assurance to Kerry that he will appoint a democrat to his seat in a gesture of bipartisan comity?
This has several advantages, one it would be seen as a gracious unifying gesture on Bush's part and could be used as a face saving opportunity to help the "International Community" pull their heads out of their Chiracs and pretend to not be actively working against. (They'll still actively work against us, but at least they can go back to pretending they aren't). Finally, evil people like me will enjoy watching Kerry actually have to put up or shut up on our "allies". Thoughts?
Jesse Walker
Once they're calm, those Democrats should take a look in the mirror. I hate the Red America/Blue America cliche, the whole idea that the country can be painted in just two colors. But if I had to speak in terms of that map, I'd say the most successful culture warriors come from the blue states. The dominant species of liberal doesn't just want to maintain the old taboos; it wants to introduce some new ones. For many Americans, the Democrats are the party that hates their guns, cigarettes, and fatty foods (which is worse: to rename a french fry or to take it away?); that wants to impose speed limits on near-abandoned highways; that wants to tell local schools what they can or can't teach. There is no party of tolerance in Washington -- just a party that wages its crusades in the name of Christ and a party that wages its crusades in the name of Four Out Of Five Experts Agree. I say fie on both.
Here's an idea for liberals looking for a political project: Team up with some hard-core conservatives and make a push for states' rights and local autonomy. If you have to get the government involved in everything under the sun, do it on a level where you'll have more of a popular consensus. Aim for a world where it won't matter what Washington has to say about who can marry who and whether they can smoke after sodomy. Then, in 2008, the presidential election can turn on something national -- like, say, foreign policy.
Tom Tommorrow
...those of you who "don't agree with Bush on social issues," but voted for him because you thought Kerry would somehow not be serious about the war, or maybe because you'll do a little bit better on your taxes under Bush--I'm afraid you may get the country you deserve, a country in which conservative fundamentalist Christians are calling the shots on abortion and civil liberties and gay rights and a lot of other things you probably care about, or at least should. But hey, you made your bargain. It's just too bad the rest of us--the 48% as of this writing, who voted for another, very different America--have to get dragged down with you.
A poster at Blue Oregon
Hey guys, take a deep breath. I'm an Oregonian temporarily exiled to Waco TX while my wife completes a family practice residency here. We plan to move back to Portland or perhaps Salem when she's through. After living in Texas which is a weird combination of "Southern" and "Western" I've come to the conclusion that all of this is uiltimately the fault of another Republican Administration--the Lincoln Administration.
Take a look at the electoral map and at the boundaries of the Confederacy and contemplate what North America might have looked like today had the South been allowed to go its own way. Slavery would have died a slow death by the late 1800s anyway. It was not sustainable. But Imagine what the North and West would have looked like as a nation without Texas and the South. Perhaps something much more along the Canadian or Northern European model. And with North America broken up into smaller countries we probably wouldn't have seen the American Imperialism of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. So blame it on Lincoln for keeping all those Southerners and Texans in the fold.
That said, I have come to be a believer in Federalism after the experience of the past decade. As long as the red states are dragging us down, forget about using the Federal Government as an agent of change and focus on your state and local governments. But that also means cutting off the Federal gravy train that subsidizes most of the red states. If they want Ag price supports, let them pay for it at home. Let each state go its own way.
Antonia Zerbisias in the Toronto Star
As Joe Conason wrote in his Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine And How It Distorts The Truth, "Conservatives enjoy their virtual monopoly over the nation's political conversation, of course. They paid a lot of money for it and they intend to keep it."
Yesterday, CNN's Bill Hemmer actually mused about liberalism being "dead" in the United States. Never mind that 55 million voters chose John Kerry, or that just about every survey conducted over the past 10 years indicates that Americans overwhelmingly support such liberal concepts as universal health care.
David Bernstein in the Newark Star-Ledger
That idea [that the Federal Government should embrace "traditional values"] is anathema to those who take the Constitution seriously. It's not simply a question of separation of church and state, said Bernstein, but "a separation of everything and state." The conservative idea of limited government has been all but abandoned by Bush, Bernstein said.
Max Fraad Wolff at Commondreams
These have been hard, heavy times and it would seem more is in store. John Kerry has done well but, apparently not well enough to surmount the massive obstacles erected in his path. We must do better despite our sadness and disappointment. For the first time in 4 years I feel the blue in that colored coded map of America.
Wonkette
Rove Blackberrying, grinning: "To: CEO@ Diebold. . . Did you get your check yet?"
Jon Stewart's Daily Show
If you want to have gay sex or visit a library, tonight's your last night.
[...]
We here in New York are too close to the terrorism and the gay people, only the Red States, with the advantage of a safe distance can take in in the whole picture and clearly see what we should do about those issues. And so, on behalf of everyone in the Blue States, I'd like to thank the Red States for saving us from ourselves.
Jim Henley
At least I get to keep my liberal readership. I already alienated all the conservatives. A Kerry presidency would have swiftly reduced me to two dozen libertarians I know at parties and sundry indulgent friends.
(For Some Strange Reason)
The Western States have something against the government or the majority telling individuals what to do.
Craziness.
The Western States have something against the government or the majority telling individuals what to do.
Craziness.
(...And)
This is how the youth vote turned out. Notice a difference?
This is how the youth vote turned out. Notice a difference?
(To Bravely And Heroically Deny Reality In Favor Of Hate)
Today I was told, angrily and defiantly, that it is very easy to condemn both sides of the political divide, but much harder to constantly fight for one. Folks, that is why I hate partisanship. That right there.
Today I was told, angrily and defiantly, that it is very easy to condemn both sides of the political divide, but much harder to constantly fight for one. Folks, that is why I hate partisanship. That right there.
(In Three Words)
This Space For Rent undermines all those secessionists.
"Colour. Flavour. Aboot."
Snicker.
This Space For Rent undermines all those secessionists.
"Colour. Flavour. Aboot."
Snicker.
(I Am Suddenly Really Sick Of Living Deep In The Angry Blue)
Instead of complaining I'll link to an article on Wal*Mart and embedded tracking technology.
Instead of complaining I'll link to an article on Wal*Mart and embedded tracking technology.
November 03, 2004
(The Case For Not Abandoning America)
I'm reading and listening to ongoing reports from the riots in Portland. Here in St. Paul the sounds of a Democrat/Republican standoff outside my window keep pouring through.
Across the bloggosphere the conservative Democrats are busy talking about unifying the country and admitting defeat. The Libertarians are smugly planning ways to survive in Fascist America. The old-school radicals are laughing about Democrats who told them to vote. And every lefty in existence is talking about moving or marrying into Canada. Never mind the wait.
Whether buying a passport or agitating for secession, it's called fleeing. And its the most selfish thing the opposition can do.
The United States is the highground. You do not surrender the highground.
Surrender America and you will have surrendered the world. No other country is currently able to stand anywhere near the supreme power that is America.
Not China, not the EU, not Brazil, and barely Russia.
Whatever our political beliefs, if we surrender complete control of America to the incredibly intelligent imperialists currently in power then the US will never let any other country near its power. And it will gradually crush all external resistance. Slowly but surely.
America's culture is, despite our government, a freedom loving one. It's in our songs and down our roads. If America has a native political philosophy it’s Anarchism.
Yes, some think the Bible should rule over all and some believe that government should exist to make their lives plusher. But, behind it all, we are driven by one dictate, one law.
All individuals should be free.
It's like they're trying to build a castle on quicksand. Don't let it dry up.
Addendum: One response of another Oregonian
"...More importantly, I’m tired. Am I really expected to spend my life fighting radical, conservative, fundamentalist, jihad-imitating right-wing drones? I think that I might deserve a better lot in life."
I'm reading and listening to ongoing reports from the riots in Portland. Here in St. Paul the sounds of a Democrat/Republican standoff outside my window keep pouring through.
Across the bloggosphere the conservative Democrats are busy talking about unifying the country and admitting defeat. The Libertarians are smugly planning ways to survive in Fascist America. The old-school radicals are laughing about Democrats who told them to vote. And every lefty in existence is talking about moving or marrying into Canada. Never mind the wait.
Whether buying a passport or agitating for secession, it's called fleeing. And its the most selfish thing the opposition can do.
The United States is the highground. You do not surrender the highground.
Surrender America and you will have surrendered the world. No other country is currently able to stand anywhere near the supreme power that is America.
Not China, not the EU, not Brazil, and barely Russia.
Whatever our political beliefs, if we surrender complete control of America to the incredibly intelligent imperialists currently in power then the US will never let any other country near its power. And it will gradually crush all external resistance. Slowly but surely.
America's culture is, despite our government, a freedom loving one. It's in our songs and down our roads. If America has a native political philosophy it’s Anarchism.
Yes, some think the Bible should rule over all and some believe that government should exist to make their lives plusher. But, behind it all, we are driven by one dictate, one law.
All individuals should be free.
It's like they're trying to build a castle on quicksand. Don't let it dry up.
Addendum: One response of another Oregonian
"...More importantly, I’m tired. Am I really expected to spend my life fighting radical, conservative, fundamentalist, jihad-imitating right-wing drones? I think that I might deserve a better lot in life."
(I'm Not Touching Limbaugh's Comments With A Ten-Foot Pole)
The NYTimes is conciliatory on the Blue, thankgoodness.
The NYTimes is conciliatory on the Blue, thankgoodness.
(The World Continues)
Alina Stefanescu has a wonderful summary of all the major stuff we're too wrapped-up to notice.
Alina Stefanescu has a wonderful summary of all the major stuff we're too wrapped-up to notice.
(With The Sadness)
Oregon bloggers are already making maps and calling for Cascadia. There's humor. But it's so sour it burns.
There's violence of course. Everywhere that the lefty protests have started to falter in St. Paul, the Republicans have trucked in counter-protestors from the yuppie suburbs. Stand offs. The eyes of the lefties are still red from last night and they are forming up ranks against clumps of thick-built Republicans shouting "Four More Years."
From my dorm room, a block away from a protest, all I can make out is a static fuzz of loud but incoherent noise. The window is closed.
Oregon bloggers are already making maps and calling for Cascadia. There's humor. But it's so sour it burns.
There's violence of course. Everywhere that the lefty protests have started to falter in St. Paul, the Republicans have trucked in counter-protestors from the yuppie suburbs. Stand offs. The eyes of the lefties are still red from last night and they are forming up ranks against clumps of thick-built Republicans shouting "Four More Years."
From my dorm room, a block away from a protest, all I can make out is a static fuzz of loud but incoherent noise. The window is closed.
(These Are The Signs I've Seen So Far On The Street)
"Peace Now"
"Resist"
"Fuck Southern Retards"
"Kill The Majority"
"Bring Our Troops Home"
"Assassination"
"Not My President"
"Health Care Now"
"Fuck Hicks"
"My Body, My Opinion, My Country"
"This Is Not The America I Love"
"Yes On Civil Rights"
"Civil Rights Or Civil War"
May I just say that it is a sorry state of affairs when the defense of civil rights (some would call them liberties) is a partisan stance. Although, if I have to choose sides, it certainly makes my choice a lot easier.
"Fight"
I am trying very hard not to be alarmist about the split in this country. Revolution? That might be nice. But civil war will win fucking nothing. Nothing. For anybody. I'll have more to post on that subject later.
Students have poured from the protests across St. Paul / Minneapolis and have taken the huge intersection outside Macalester College. Held a street party. Now in a massive stand off with the cops. Several individuals the cops have assumed to be leaders (who were doing nothing) have been grabbed and slammed into the backs of squad cars. They tried to blackmail the actual leadership after they realized these students were not involved. Several cops have sat back and refused to do anything against the protestors.
Cars have been allowed to stream by. The drivers are honking, waving and raising their fists in union with the demonstrators.
This is in wussy-ass St. Paul. I have no details yet as to what’s emerging in areas like Portland, Seattle and Eugene. The cheers and screams have been unrelenting for hours here.
See you guys later.
"Peace Now"
"Resist"
"Fuck Southern Retards"
"Kill The Majority"
"Bring Our Troops Home"
"Assassination"
"Not My President"
"Health Care Now"
"Fuck Hicks"
"My Body, My Opinion, My Country"
"This Is Not The America I Love"
"Yes On Civil Rights"
"Civil Rights Or Civil War"
May I just say that it is a sorry state of affairs when the defense of civil rights (some would call them liberties) is a partisan stance. Although, if I have to choose sides, it certainly makes my choice a lot easier.
"Fight"
I am trying very hard not to be alarmist about the split in this country. Revolution? That might be nice. But civil war will win fucking nothing. Nothing. For anybody. I'll have more to post on that subject later.
Students have poured from the protests across St. Paul / Minneapolis and have taken the huge intersection outside Macalester College. Held a street party. Now in a massive stand off with the cops. Several individuals the cops have assumed to be leaders (who were doing nothing) have been grabbed and slammed into the backs of squad cars. They tried to blackmail the actual leadership after they realized these students were not involved. Several cops have sat back and refused to do anything against the protestors.
Cars have been allowed to stream by. The drivers are honking, waving and raising their fists in union with the demonstrators.
This is in wussy-ass St. Paul. I have no details yet as to what’s emerging in areas like Portland, Seattle and Eugene. The cheers and screams have been unrelenting for hours here.
See you guys later.
(That Was Fast)
Some of the major news stations are talking about a massive move by the Northeasterners to secede from the union. NPR is all matter-of-fact about it. I'm shocked.
Back in Portland, I'm gettin emails to the effect of folks breaking out the guns and crying for a Cascadian revolution.
I doubt we'll see anything right away, though. And I don't think the Northeasterners have got the balls.
Thankfully, Potter won Portland. Had he not, dozens of my friends and family would be on their way to Canada right now.
I'm off to the streets. I'll be back later. Hopefully.
Measure 36 passed thanks to the east. Oregon has outlawed Gay Marriage.
Some of the major news stations are talking about a massive move by the Northeasterners to secede from the union. NPR is all matter-of-fact about it. I'm shocked.
Back in Portland, I'm gettin emails to the effect of folks breaking out the guns and crying for a Cascadian revolution.
I doubt we'll see anything right away, though. And I don't think the Northeasterners have got the balls.
Thankfully, Potter won Portland. Had he not, dozens of my friends and family would be on their way to Canada right now.
I'm off to the streets. I'll be back later. Hopefully.
Measure 36 passed thanks to the east. Oregon has outlawed Gay Marriage.
November 02, 2004
(It's Coming)
Look at the map.
The moderates just don't seem to understand.
At least 20 percent of the population considers themselves subject to a hostile, foreign power. And there are borders.
Here are the results from my home of Multnomah County.
Fuck the Democrats. Fuck the Republicans. Fuck “Leftists” and fuck “Rightists.”
Tonight a bunch of people are awaking to find themselves subjects of a political power and culture that they will never consent to, never find a moment's rest while subject to.
See you guys tomorrow.
Look at the map.
The moderates just don't seem to understand.
At least 20 percent of the population considers themselves subject to a hostile, foreign power. And there are borders.
Here are the results from my home of Multnomah County.
Fuck the Democrats. Fuck the Republicans. Fuck “Leftists” and fuck “Rightists.”
Tonight a bunch of people are awaking to find themselves subjects of a political power and culture that they will never consent to, never find a moment's rest while subject to.
See you guys tomorrow.
(My Magic Formula Has A Winner)
Colorado went to Bush.
Bush wins.
Or ties. 269-269.
Kerry can take Iowa. He might take both New Mexico and Nevada. In which case we might get a tie and all the fun-fun that entails.
Either way, we've got almost civil war. Without a win in the middle of the country, this will solidify the cultural divide and set off another four years of hate and fascism. I am sad.
Colorado should not have swung so far without some sort of intervention. If only to satisfy my curiosity, I will be investigating.
Colorado went to Bush.
Bush wins.
Or ties. 269-269.
Kerry can take Iowa. He might take both New Mexico and Nevada. In which case we might get a tie and all the fun-fun that entails.
Either way, we've got almost civil war. Without a win in the middle of the country, this will solidify the cultural divide and set off another four years of hate and fascism. I am sad.
Colorado should not have swung so far without some sort of intervention. If only to satisfy my curiosity, I will be investigating.
(Ohio Has Gone Bush)
Behold the power of my rogue and unaccountable reporting. Tremble! For I am unrestrained from making (obvious) predictions.
You're not trembling enough.
Behold the power of my rogue and unaccountable reporting. Tremble! For I am unrestrained from making (obvious) predictions.
You're not trembling enough.
(Extra Extra)
Against all odds, Multnomah County has decided that reducing our public school system to rubble, may not be in our best interested.
Addendum: Heh. I said "interested." Heh.
Against all odds, Multnomah County has decided that reducing our public school system to rubble, may not be in our best interested.
Addendum: Heh. I said "interested." Heh.
(Tom Potter Wins)
The mighty nation of Cascadia is proud of its new President. Almost a 2/3rds shutout of Jim Francesconi.
The mighty nation of Cascadia is proud of its new President. Almost a 2/3rds shutout of Jim Francesconi.
(The South)
Kerry is doing very well in the south. So much so that the networks have been reluctant to call North Carolina. A state who's Governorship's been won by the Dems.
And, as everyone expected, Ohio is very close, but Kerry has held the lead.
Yes. That's right. Ohio's a southern state.
See, it's south of where I'm at. Therefore. The South.
Kerry is doing very well in the south. So much so that the networks have been reluctant to call North Carolina. A state who's Governorship's been won by the Dems.
And, as everyone expected, Ohio is very close, but Kerry has held the lead.
Yes. That's right. Ohio's a southern state.
See, it's south of where I'm at. Therefore. The South.
(Waiting To Vote In Portland)
There's a lot of talk of impossibly long lines on the East Coast. Indymedia has some pictures and a brief report from the Multnomah County Elections office.
There's a lot of talk of impossibly long lines on the East Coast. Indymedia has some pictures and a brief report from the Multnomah County Elections office.
(Legal News)
US District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum has issued a Temporary Restraining Order against Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer for essentially being all evil and stuff.
US District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum has issued a Temporary Restraining Order against Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer for essentially being all evil and stuff.
(All The Happening Election Night Parties In Portland)
The No on 36 folks will be partying it up at the Convention Center with Sam Adams.
The Measure 33 party will be at 4315 SE Division, without marijuana, repeat without marijuana.
The Mercury is supposedly having a party at Doug Fir.
The Libertarian Party will be at 12602 SW Farmington Road starting at 5pm.
The Republican Party will be hiding at the Portland Mariott.
Food Not Bombs is serving up free vegetarian meals in the North Park Blocks.
The Socialists'll be at Sir Loins on NE Sandy.
Powells Bookstore (the main one) will be running the BBC's coverage all night.
Rock the Vote's at Bossanova.
I expect the Red & Black to do something. (If you don't know where it is, you're not invited.)
Those Reed hipsters are throwing a Potter talk/party at the Fireside Coffee Lodge at 1223 SE Powell.
Tom Potter, himself, will be at the Melody Ballroom at 615 SE Alder Street.
And the Greens'll be at Redwing at SE 6th & Market.
The rest of Portland is reserved for the Democrat Party.
The No on 36 folks will be partying it up at the Convention Center with Sam Adams.
The Measure 33 party will be at 4315 SE Division, without marijuana, repeat without marijuana.
The Mercury is supposedly having a party at Doug Fir.
The Libertarian Party will be at 12602 SW Farmington Road starting at 5pm.
The Republican Party will be hiding at the Portland Mariott.
Food Not Bombs is serving up free vegetarian meals in the North Park Blocks.
The Socialists'll be at Sir Loins on NE Sandy.
Powells Bookstore (the main one) will be running the BBC's coverage all night.
Rock the Vote's at Bossanova.
I expect the Red & Black to do something. (If you don't know where it is, you're not invited.)
Those Reed hipsters are throwing a Potter talk/party at the Fireside Coffee Lodge at 1223 SE Powell.
Tom Potter, himself, will be at the Melody Ballroom at 615 SE Alder Street.
And the Greens'll be at Redwing at SE 6th & Market.
The rest of Portland is reserved for the Democrat Party.
(There's A Small DOS War Going On Right Now)
Many blogs are facing denial-of-service attacks tonight. Instapundit went down for a few and Electoral-Vote has felt it pretty bad as well. I bring this up because it appears we were intermittedly down for a few hours this afternoon. I doubt it's bandwidth since Blogger is usually pretty good with that stuff. Could this be our first hackzor? Have we broken into the bigtime and assumed our righteous place among the elite A-List bloggers… or just pissed off some random scriptkiddie? Or was Blogger just suffering some really nasty hiccups?
Human Iterations: We insinuate. You agree mindlessly.
Many blogs are facing denial-of-service attacks tonight. Instapundit went down for a few and Electoral-Vote has felt it pretty bad as well. I bring this up because it appears we were intermittedly down for a few hours this afternoon. I doubt it's bandwidth since Blogger is usually pretty good with that stuff. Could this be our first hackzor? Have we broken into the bigtime and assumed our righteous place among the elite A-List bloggers… or just pissed off some random scriptkiddie? Or was Blogger just suffering some really nasty hiccups?
Human Iterations: We insinuate. You agree mindlessly.
(Under The Cover Of Election)
At 3:00am this morning the Sudanese government ordered its military and police forces to surround the refugee camps in Darfur. International aid workers and UN officials have been expelled and denied access. Many think Sudan's government intends to forcibly march these survivors back into the depths of Darfur where the Janjaweed can slaughter them en mass, unconstrained. [take action]
At 3:00am this morning the Sudanese government ordered its military and police forces to surround the refugee camps in Darfur. International aid workers and UN officials have been expelled and denied access. Many think Sudan's government intends to forcibly march these survivors back into the depths of Darfur where the Janjaweed can slaughter them en mass, unconstrained. [take action]
(I Don't See What The Big Deal Is)
I mean, I could build an irreversible version of this for a couple thousand dollars if I was feeling particularly suicidal. Anyone could. You could. Read a tech magazine. EMPs are so easy they're boring. I'm serious. Go to the library. (Preferably one that's resisting PATRIOT.)
Stands to logic them fancy-pants in our military could pull off some fine tuning. Like, in the 80s.
I mean, I could build an irreversible version of this for a couple thousand dollars if I was feeling particularly suicidal. Anyone could. You could. Read a tech magazine. EMPs are so easy they're boring. I'm serious. Go to the library. (Preferably one that's resisting PATRIOT.)
Stands to logic them fancy-pants in our military could pull off some fine tuning. Like, in the 80s.
November 01, 2004
(Little Difference, No Coherent Ideologies, Violent Hatreds, Good TV)
Yup. Long as we're shouting at the football game, we're not like to get anything important done.
Yeah, but I’m bored and easily manipulated.
Yup. Long as we're shouting at the football game, we're not like to get anything important done.
Yeah, but I’m bored and easily manipulated.
(Some Thoughts)
" Instead of voting on Tuesday, why not talk to someone you know about Liberty, Peace, and Justice? Why not discuss some honorable alternatives with a niece or nephew who is in danger of joining the military or the civilian bureaucracy? Why not spend an hour or two trying to come up with ways to avoid, elude, or undermine leviathan, or cast it into disrepute?
Here's an idea. Practice remembering politicians' lies, contradictions, goofy promises, and failed programs so you can remind your neighbors of them two years from now when the pols try to sell the same confounded buncombe again. Or write a hard-hitting letter to the editor: as an old newspaperman I can tell you that the letters section usually attracts a big readership. (Don't bother writing "your" congressman, of course: for one thing, he actually belongs to someone else.)
If you're willing to deal with the state's court system and its lawyers even tangentially, donate a few bucks to some political prisoner's defense. Or help support his family while he's in the state's Rape Gulag. Give a few more simoleons to some forum devoted to Liberty, Peace, and Justice. Sit down on Tuesday and read some history -- some Robert Caro or some Walter Karp. Read a chapter of Thucydides. Study some free-market economics: get your intellectual ammunition in order. Or get your real ammunition in order and head for the range, because a man who would be free must be acquainted with the means of self-defense. "
From one of those crazy anarcho-capitalists over at Strike The Root.
" Instead of voting on Tuesday, why not talk to someone you know about Liberty, Peace, and Justice? Why not discuss some honorable alternatives with a niece or nephew who is in danger of joining the military or the civilian bureaucracy? Why not spend an hour or two trying to come up with ways to avoid, elude, or undermine leviathan, or cast it into disrepute?
Here's an idea. Practice remembering politicians' lies, contradictions, goofy promises, and failed programs so you can remind your neighbors of them two years from now when the pols try to sell the same confounded buncombe again. Or write a hard-hitting letter to the editor: as an old newspaperman I can tell you that the letters section usually attracts a big readership. (Don't bother writing "your" congressman, of course: for one thing, he actually belongs to someone else.)
If you're willing to deal with the state's court system and its lawyers even tangentially, donate a few bucks to some political prisoner's defense. Or help support his family while he's in the state's Rape Gulag. Give a few more simoleons to some forum devoted to Liberty, Peace, and Justice. Sit down on Tuesday and read some history -- some Robert Caro or some Walter Karp. Read a chapter of Thucydides. Study some free-market economics: get your intellectual ammunition in order. Or get your real ammunition in order and head for the range, because a man who would be free must be acquainted with the means of self-defense. "
From one of those crazy anarcho-capitalists over at Strike The Root.
(I'm Asked)
Liveblogging or no liveblogging? Depends.
I don't plan on getting drunk. I want to be good and prepped for Nov 3. But stuff happens. More than a few posts, though, I'm thinking. Besides, the night'll be pretty long, who here really wants to spend most of that time reading from their computer? Anyway, whatever happens tomorrow happens tomorrow. I hope that answered you as clearly as it didn't seem to.
Liveblogging or no liveblogging? Depends.
I don't plan on getting drunk. I want to be good and prepped for Nov 3. But stuff happens. More than a few posts, though, I'm thinking. Besides, the night'll be pretty long, who here really wants to spend most of that time reading from their computer? Anyway, whatever happens tomorrow happens tomorrow. I hope that answered you as clearly as it didn't seem to.
(The Three States I'll Be Watching)
Forget Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. -Although Ohio will be ground zero for any surprises. There are just three states where I remain so absolutely unsure as to the outcome, that I can't even give the tiniest of probabilities.
Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico.
And, by my estimations, the Democrats have got to win all three to take the presidency. Which, given the 50/50 nature of all three, puts the Democrat's chances just where they should be, naturally, given Kerry's hideous campaign.
Iowa's no big surprise, it's been all over the place. Part of the Bush campaign's battle to undermine the great lakes states. It's gotten less attention than some of its flashy, heavyweight neighbors, but Iowa is far too close to call and doesn't have the strong Liberal bases of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
New Mexico has likewise gotten very close. A fact most have been glossing over in hopes it will default to its 2000 vote so the pundits don't have to brush up on its history.
But the single state I consider of most importance is Colorado. Though constitutional amendment 36 is unlikely to pass in Colorado (if only such was as true with Oregon's 36). As a result it's very likely that all 9 of its electoral votes will be up for grabs.
Conventional wisdom deeply desires to re-secure Colorado's image as deep red territory, smack dab in the middle of the country. But over the last few months Colorado has found itself embroiled in an a revolt against the Republican party that could alter the state's identity forever. And even more importantly, Colorado's blue coloring on the barrage of cheap infographics soon to come could drastically change the nature of America's supposed "Red/Blue" divide.
And maybe, just maybe, end the damn thing.
Forget Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. -Although Ohio will be ground zero for any surprises. There are just three states where I remain so absolutely unsure as to the outcome, that I can't even give the tiniest of probabilities.
Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico.
And, by my estimations, the Democrats have got to win all three to take the presidency. Which, given the 50/50 nature of all three, puts the Democrat's chances just where they should be, naturally, given Kerry's hideous campaign.
Iowa's no big surprise, it's been all over the place. Part of the Bush campaign's battle to undermine the great lakes states. It's gotten less attention than some of its flashy, heavyweight neighbors, but Iowa is far too close to call and doesn't have the strong Liberal bases of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
New Mexico has likewise gotten very close. A fact most have been glossing over in hopes it will default to its 2000 vote so the pundits don't have to brush up on its history.
But the single state I consider of most importance is Colorado. Though constitutional amendment 36 is unlikely to pass in Colorado (if only such was as true with Oregon's 36). As a result it's very likely that all 9 of its electoral votes will be up for grabs.
Conventional wisdom deeply desires to re-secure Colorado's image as deep red territory, smack dab in the middle of the country. But over the last few months Colorado has found itself embroiled in an a revolt against the Republican party that could alter the state's identity forever. And even more importantly, Colorado's blue coloring on the barrage of cheap infographics soon to come could drastically change the nature of America's supposed "Red/Blue" divide.
And maybe, just maybe, end the damn thing.
(When Peace Protestors Get Their Hands On Nuclear Bombs)
Under their incredibly popular President Lula, Brazil has gone to space, forged a coalition to fight the imperialist WTO from the inside, and turned the World Social Forum truly global.
When the second iteration of the 'anti-globalization' movement started mobilizing over 12 million people once a month for protests in every major city in the world, the media coined the term "the Other Superpower" to refer to them.
They were motivated, they were fast and they were hip. But most importantly they were nationless. A movement so global that some briefly entertained the notion that it could bring the omnipresent power of the Bush Administration (and American Imperialism) to it's knees. To stand fast before the undisputed ruler of the planet and refuse him.
Heh.
Well that didn't work.
In America, once our troops had landed the radicals walked off in a huff and the liberals started organizing Deaniac meetups. But, though the opposition in the world community shook its head and threw a few free lectures on the evils of American Hegemony, the fight was anything but over because the fight had never been about one little desert country.
Lula, leftist populist extraordinaire, captured and harnessed this essence of "the Other Superpower" and put it to use in a series of very effective geopolitical moves.
Suddenly, with the US bogged in the internal turmoil from Iraq, Russia focusing on it's own immediate borders and China embroiled in the churning multiplicity of its own nature, Brazil's alliance with South Africa and India has propelled it to the worldstage in a big way. Forget the measly EU. (Or, at least, forget it as long as Tony Blair holds Britain.)
Now, predictably, Lula wants the bomb. There's little he can really do with out it. (Although both India and South Africa have long qualified as nuclear powers, South Africa has completely disarmed and India's military remains fixated on Pakistan, with Israel and China forming background noise.)
And, just as predictably, the 'western press' has reached all the wrong conclusions.
Saying Brazil's strategically timed re-emergent nuclear program is just a matter of a national inferiority complex is like writing off Russia's diplomatic games within the EU as the desperate fumblings of a power who can barely hope to stay afloat. Heh. Heh.
Classic geopolitical thought has sidelined South America because of the very real and very strong balancing effect Argentina and Brazil have played on each other. For almost fifty years they've studiously avoided nuclear buildup by approving a slew of treaties and tacit agreements designed to keep their mutual jockeying from destroying their own citizens. (I know. Remarkable concept for a single country, much less two.)
But Argentina, if you haven't noticed, sorta got raped by 'globalization' and left bleeding in its own bodily fluids. This has proven a golden opportunity for Anarchists and radicals of various persuasions, and though Argentina now has a nominally stable government, the countryside is rife with pockets of anarcho-syndicalists, communal factories and a populace dissatisfied now that it has tasted freedom.
If a Leftist Brazil is emerging to counter the Rightist policies of the Imperial United States, Argentina has tucked itself away to cocoon in the anarchistic political mixture the IMF accidentally released. And it's anyone's guess as to when or what will emerge.
In the meantime Brazil has been liberated. Having skillfully negotiated a relationship with the Caribbean-focused Chinese government and seemingly set off a wave of Leftist empowerment across South America (minus Columbia), Lula is suddenly quite free to do whatever he desires with the country's nuclear program.
Undoubtedly the US has sent all sorts of ninja 007 folk to stop the burgeoning giant, but Lula's no fool. And with North Korea openly testing nukes in their northeastern mountains and Iran grabbing headlines daily, the United States has little, if any threats it can make.
What's gonna stop Lula? International law?
Hey, you know, funny story 'bout how all this got launched...
Under their incredibly popular President Lula, Brazil has gone to space, forged a coalition to fight the imperialist WTO from the inside, and turned the World Social Forum truly global.
When the second iteration of the 'anti-globalization' movement started mobilizing over 12 million people once a month for protests in every major city in the world, the media coined the term "the Other Superpower" to refer to them.
They were motivated, they were fast and they were hip. But most importantly they were nationless. A movement so global that some briefly entertained the notion that it could bring the omnipresent power of the Bush Administration (and American Imperialism) to it's knees. To stand fast before the undisputed ruler of the planet and refuse him.
Heh.
Well that didn't work.
In America, once our troops had landed the radicals walked off in a huff and the liberals started organizing Deaniac meetups. But, though the opposition in the world community shook its head and threw a few free lectures on the evils of American Hegemony, the fight was anything but over because the fight had never been about one little desert country.
Lula, leftist populist extraordinaire, captured and harnessed this essence of "the Other Superpower" and put it to use in a series of very effective geopolitical moves.
Suddenly, with the US bogged in the internal turmoil from Iraq, Russia focusing on it's own immediate borders and China embroiled in the churning multiplicity of its own nature, Brazil's alliance with South Africa and India has propelled it to the worldstage in a big way. Forget the measly EU. (Or, at least, forget it as long as Tony Blair holds Britain.)
Now, predictably, Lula wants the bomb. There's little he can really do with out it. (Although both India and South Africa have long qualified as nuclear powers, South Africa has completely disarmed and India's military remains fixated on Pakistan, with Israel and China forming background noise.)
And, just as predictably, the 'western press' has reached all the wrong conclusions.
Saying Brazil's strategically timed re-emergent nuclear program is just a matter of a national inferiority complex is like writing off Russia's diplomatic games within the EU as the desperate fumblings of a power who can barely hope to stay afloat. Heh. Heh.
Classic geopolitical thought has sidelined South America because of the very real and very strong balancing effect Argentina and Brazil have played on each other. For almost fifty years they've studiously avoided nuclear buildup by approving a slew of treaties and tacit agreements designed to keep their mutual jockeying from destroying their own citizens. (I know. Remarkable concept for a single country, much less two.)
But Argentina, if you haven't noticed, sorta got raped by 'globalization' and left bleeding in its own bodily fluids. This has proven a golden opportunity for Anarchists and radicals of various persuasions, and though Argentina now has a nominally stable government, the countryside is rife with pockets of anarcho-syndicalists, communal factories and a populace dissatisfied now that it has tasted freedom.
If a Leftist Brazil is emerging to counter the Rightist policies of the Imperial United States, Argentina has tucked itself away to cocoon in the anarchistic political mixture the IMF accidentally released. And it's anyone's guess as to when or what will emerge.
In the meantime Brazil has been liberated. Having skillfully negotiated a relationship with the Caribbean-focused Chinese government and seemingly set off a wave of Leftist empowerment across South America (minus Columbia), Lula is suddenly quite free to do whatever he desires with the country's nuclear program.
Undoubtedly the US has sent all sorts of ninja 007 folk to stop the burgeoning giant, but Lula's no fool. And with North Korea openly testing nukes in their northeastern mountains and Iran grabbing headlines daily, the United States has little, if any threats it can make.
What's gonna stop Lula? International law?
Hey, you know, funny story 'bout how all this got launched...
(Blob Remake In The Works)
It's as if millions of Science-Fiction readers across the world cried out in indescribable agony and were suddenly, brutally silenced.
In other news, production on both The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Ender's Game have been moved back while film industry begins work on a title they think will resonate more heavily with the Sci-Fi audience... BattleStar Galactica.
All true. I frikkin' swear. We live in dark times.
It's as if millions of Science-Fiction readers across the world cried out in indescribable agony and were suddenly, brutally silenced.
In other news, production on both The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Ender's Game have been moved back while film industry begins work on a title they think will resonate more heavily with the Sci-Fi audience... BattleStar Galactica.
All true. I frikkin' swear. We live in dark times.
(State By State Predictions)
Alabama: Bush. An dark skinned effigy of Kerry is burned in front of the state capitol.
Alaska: Bush. The rest of the Pacific Northwest cries out in liberal agony. Explain to me again why the freestaters couldn't pick Alaska to be their Libertarian oasis?
Arizona: Bush. By 3-6 points.
Arkansas: Bush. Larger margin.
California: Kerry. And/or Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell. (If California goes Red don't even bother rioting, just find a good place to hole up and run for the border as soon as you feel lucky; they'd only do so if they've already secured the border and the military beyond our wildest expectations.)
Colorado: See later post.
Connecticut: Bush. Right? I mean it's his native state. His elitist Northeastern upbringing and manner should make him an easy shoe-in. Except for some reason I think it'll go Kerry. I'm crazy like that.
Delaware: Kerry.
Florida: Bush. It will be sign of conspiracy indeed if Kerry wins. I mean, Florida? There's one f'n vote and Jeb Bush casts it.
Georgia: Bush. I like Georgia. And they're going to vote Bush. Largely good people with largely good reasons.
Hawaii: Kerry. Again, a Bush win is a sign of absolute arrogance on the part of his Republicans.
Idaho: Bush. The mighty nation of Cascadia launches an attack out of Oregon the following day and steals western half of Idaho back.
Illinois: Kerry. In a very power-to-the-people way. Expect Barack Obama to polarize the state against the reddening nation. Or massive scandals forever plague him. Not entirely sure.
Indiana: Bush. Fight the liberal elitists!
Iowa: See later post.
Kansas: Bush elected Christ.
Kentucky: Bush.
Louisiana: Bush.
Maine: Kerry. Secedes to Canada, along with Minnesota, following serious Bush win.
Maryland: Kerry.
Massachusetts: Kerry. For some reason.
Michigan: Kerry.
Minnesota: Very close. I'm here and I have a hard time calling it. The secretary of state has been all Katherine Harris, mauhahah I vill suck yur votes! But I still expect a Kerry win.
Mississippi: Bush.
Missouri: The center of the election no more, Missouri will go Bush.
Montana: Bush.
Nebraska: Bush.
Nevada: Sex. Greed. Debauchery. Old Fashioned Christian Values. Dirty tricks on both sides. Bush.
New Hampshire: Kerry. Freestaters included.
New Jersey: Kerry.
New Mexico: See later post.
New York: Kerry. They remember September 11th.
North Carolina: Bush. Card gets credit.
North Dakota: Bush.
Ohio: Like everyone else, I'm up in the air on this one. But everything I've seen says Bush.
Oklahoma: Bush.
Oregon: Close. Both sides are breaking the law. But Oregon has been blue all my life, and I'm bettin' it'll remain so.
Pennsylvania: Kerry. By far more than the polls have been giving him.
Rhode Island: Kerry.
South Carolina: Bush.
South Dakota: Bush. Minority leader Tom Daschel seems to be running pretty close, but I think he'll pull out.
Tennessee: Bush.
Utah: Bush. Mormons form lynching mobs and string up all the latte-drinking atheists they can find.
Vermont: Kerry.
Virginia: Bush.
Washington: Kerry.
Washington, D.C.: Nader. Followed by Cobb and Badnarik. Kerry and Bush tie at 2%.
West Virginia: Bush.
Wisconsin: Tough in many people's eyes. People who don't understand that the Onion was started in Wisconsin. LiZo's from Wisconsin. Wisconsin must go Blue.
Wyoming: Cheney.
Oh, and I'm also predicting that the nation of Texas votes to retain us as a occupied slave state.
Early signs of Bush win: Portland gets nuked. Tanks roll into Seattle. Black hawks storm New York.
Early signs of Kerry win: He takes Florida or Ohio. Erie goons show up at the polls wearing the arcane number 72.
Alabama: Bush. An dark skinned effigy of Kerry is burned in front of the state capitol.
Alaska: Bush. The rest of the Pacific Northwest cries out in liberal agony. Explain to me again why the freestaters couldn't pick Alaska to be their Libertarian oasis?
Arizona: Bush. By 3-6 points.
Arkansas: Bush. Larger margin.
California: Kerry. And/or Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell. (If California goes Red don't even bother rioting, just find a good place to hole up and run for the border as soon as you feel lucky; they'd only do so if they've already secured the border and the military beyond our wildest expectations.)
Colorado: See later post.
Connecticut: Bush. Right? I mean it's his native state. His elitist Northeastern upbringing and manner should make him an easy shoe-in. Except for some reason I think it'll go Kerry. I'm crazy like that.
Delaware: Kerry.
Florida: Bush. It will be sign of conspiracy indeed if Kerry wins. I mean, Florida? There's one f'n vote and Jeb Bush casts it.
Georgia: Bush. I like Georgia. And they're going to vote Bush. Largely good people with largely good reasons.
Hawaii: Kerry. Again, a Bush win is a sign of absolute arrogance on the part of his Republicans.
Idaho: Bush. The mighty nation of Cascadia launches an attack out of Oregon the following day and steals western half of Idaho back.
Illinois: Kerry. In a very power-to-the-people way. Expect Barack Obama to polarize the state against the reddening nation. Or massive scandals forever plague him. Not entirely sure.
Indiana: Bush. Fight the liberal elitists!
Iowa: See later post.
Kansas: Bush elected Christ.
Kentucky: Bush.
Louisiana: Bush.
Maine: Kerry. Secedes to Canada, along with Minnesota, following serious Bush win.
Maryland: Kerry.
Massachusetts: Kerry. For some reason.
Michigan: Kerry.
Minnesota: Very close. I'm here and I have a hard time calling it. The secretary of state has been all Katherine Harris, mauhahah I vill suck yur votes! But I still expect a Kerry win.
Mississippi: Bush.
Missouri: The center of the election no more, Missouri will go Bush.
Montana: Bush.
Nebraska: Bush.
Nevada: Sex. Greed. Debauchery. Old Fashioned Christian Values. Dirty tricks on both sides. Bush.
New Hampshire: Kerry. Freestaters included.
New Jersey: Kerry.
New Mexico: See later post.
New York: Kerry. They remember September 11th.
North Carolina: Bush. Card gets credit.
North Dakota: Bush.
Ohio: Like everyone else, I'm up in the air on this one. But everything I've seen says Bush.
Oklahoma: Bush.
Oregon: Close. Both sides are breaking the law. But Oregon has been blue all my life, and I'm bettin' it'll remain so.
Pennsylvania: Kerry. By far more than the polls have been giving him.
Rhode Island: Kerry.
South Carolina: Bush.
South Dakota: Bush. Minority leader Tom Daschel seems to be running pretty close, but I think he'll pull out.
Tennessee: Bush.
Utah: Bush. Mormons form lynching mobs and string up all the latte-drinking atheists they can find.
Vermont: Kerry.
Virginia: Bush.
Washington: Kerry.
Washington, D.C.: Nader. Followed by Cobb and Badnarik. Kerry and Bush tie at 2%.
West Virginia: Bush.
Wisconsin: Tough in many people's eyes. People who don't understand that the Onion was started in Wisconsin. LiZo's from Wisconsin. Wisconsin must go Blue.
Wyoming: Cheney.
Oh, and I'm also predicting that the nation of Texas votes to retain us as a occupied slave state.
Early signs of Bush win: Portland gets nuked. Tanks roll into Seattle. Black hawks storm New York.
Early signs of Kerry win: He takes Florida or Ohio. Erie goons show up at the polls wearing the arcane number 72.
(Those Are Our Drums In The Distance, It Is We Who Bring The Future)
Our good friend, or at least occasional compatriot blogger, b!X is as vigilant as ever, reporting on the Republican Party's massive last-ditch campaign to wipe young first time voters from Oregon polls. This campaign is being run through the empty husk of Kelly Clarkson.
They know they can't put that fascist amendment into our state constitution without deliberately silencing us. Because, for all their desperate blather about a conservative youth movement, they know where we really stand. They know that everyone who walked across that stage with me this summer, regardless of our views on homosexuality, value freedom. And far more clearly than any other generation this country has ever seen. I know this. Because I have talked and campaigned with thousands of my classmates. Because I remember classroom debates splitting entirely Green and Libertarian. Because, however much campaigns of fear might speak to middle-aged armchair pundits, We. Are. Not. Fooled.
The RNC has tried desperately to round up another generation of brownshirts and all they have to show for it are a few preppy Young Republicans, content to live off daddy's checks and complain about bias on their report cards.
Well I have something simple to say on this matter. That's my ballot you're talking about erasing. And it will get erased if you succeed. Because I'm in another state and couldn't pay for the fare over to confirm my registration if I wanted to. Now, I don't care much about it anyway. Not like my presidential vote was worth anything. But what you are doing you do to me. Me personally.
Your games may win you your referendum tomorrow. But I'm here to tell you that you're going to lose the war. And we're going to win it. Because we don't take shit like that sitting down.
Our good friend, or at least occasional compatriot blogger, b!X is as vigilant as ever, reporting on the Republican Party's massive last-ditch campaign to wipe young first time voters from Oregon polls. This campaign is being run through the empty husk of Kelly Clarkson.
They know they can't put that fascist amendment into our state constitution without deliberately silencing us. Because, for all their desperate blather about a conservative youth movement, they know where we really stand. They know that everyone who walked across that stage with me this summer, regardless of our views on homosexuality, value freedom. And far more clearly than any other generation this country has ever seen. I know this. Because I have talked and campaigned with thousands of my classmates. Because I remember classroom debates splitting entirely Green and Libertarian. Because, however much campaigns of fear might speak to middle-aged armchair pundits, We. Are. Not. Fooled.
The RNC has tried desperately to round up another generation of brownshirts and all they have to show for it are a few preppy Young Republicans, content to live off daddy's checks and complain about bias on their report cards.
Well I have something simple to say on this matter. That's my ballot you're talking about erasing. And it will get erased if you succeed. Because I'm in another state and couldn't pay for the fare over to confirm my registration if I wanted to. Now, I don't care much about it anyway. Not like my presidential vote was worth anything. But what you are doing you do to me. Me personally.
Your games may win you your referendum tomorrow. But I'm here to tell you that you're going to lose the war. And we're going to win it. Because we don't take shit like that sitting down.
(Two Views On The World In Which This Irrelevant Election Is Taking Place)
Arundhati Roy and... Henry Kissinger.
Heh.
Arundhati Roy and... Henry Kissinger.
Heh.
(Might As Well Do Something While Waiting For The Riots)
After realizing that'd I picked something like seven fights this weekend alone, I've come to conclusion that my surplus of punk-ocity must be anticipatory adrenaline for November 3rd.
...Well, that and really stupid people.
Anyway, I figure that there've got to be more positive outlets for male bravado and egotism. And what better way than to make arrogant forecasts regarding the election?
Now, even I tremble at any absolute predictions, so before I hand down my analysis I figure I should present my general feelings. Every pundit and newsource has their own list of swing states, varying wildly, here are mine:
Florida and Pennsylvania are, repeat, not swing states. I'm sorry. Even if a bunch of conspirators are meeting in Washington right now and discussing their plans to replace figurehead Bush with figurehead Kerry, there’s no getting around Jeb It-Don’t-Take-A-Weatherman Bush. And however much I might like watching Louisiana go dark blue and sip lattes over the NYTimes; I wouldn't exactly buy stock in the local Starbucks. (Well, it's not like I'd ever consider buying stock in Starbucks anyhow, but still...)
I’ll have a state-by-state break down up later. Stay tuned.
After realizing that'd I picked something like seven fights this weekend alone, I've come to conclusion that my surplus of punk-ocity must be anticipatory adrenaline for November 3rd.
...Well, that and really stupid people.
Anyway, I figure that there've got to be more positive outlets for male bravado and egotism. And what better way than to make arrogant forecasts regarding the election?
Now, even I tremble at any absolute predictions, so before I hand down my analysis I figure I should present my general feelings. Every pundit and newsource has their own list of swing states, varying wildly, here are mine:
Florida and Pennsylvania are, repeat, not swing states. I'm sorry. Even if a bunch of conspirators are meeting in Washington right now and discussing their plans to replace figurehead Bush with figurehead Kerry, there’s no getting around Jeb It-Don’t-Take-A-Weatherman Bush. And however much I might like watching Louisiana go dark blue and sip lattes over the NYTimes; I wouldn't exactly buy stock in the local Starbucks. (Well, it's not like I'd ever consider buying stock in Starbucks anyhow, but still...)
I’ll have a state-by-state break down up later. Stay tuned.
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