Well take a look at yesterday's link, its a pretty interesting story. It may be a little off the wall, but I have suspected things along that line with the voters for awhile. I mean after all georgie shrub has done in these last 4 years I can't imagine how anyone would want to vote for him. ANYONE. But what do I know?

Oh and how about Dick Ch*ney coming here to NM. Like a mile from my office.
ABQjournal: Obtaining Cheney Rally Ticket Requires Signing Bush Endorsement
There was a story in the local paper here that in order to get tickets to the rally to see him you had to sign an endorsement of the prez.

Here is what the endorsement form says:

"I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States." It later adds that, "In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."

I think that is ridiculous. But what do I know.
Hey Kerry is coming back to NM soon, I'll keep you posted about that.

CNN.com - Study: Fear shapes voters' views - Jul 30, 2004

John Kerry has accepted the nomination for the Democratic presidential candidate of the United States of America. He gave an awesome speech, the best I have ever heard him give. He made me proud to be an American, proud to be part of this democratic process, and proud to be a Democrat.

Here's a transcript.

Here's an excerpt:

"My parents inspired me to serve, and when I was a junior in high school, John Kennedy called my generation to service. It was the beginning of a great journey -- a time to march for civil rights, for voting rights, for the environment, for women and for peace. We believed we could change the world. And you know what? We did.

But we're not finished. The journey isn't complete. The march isn't over. The promise isn't perfected. Tonight, we're setting out again. And together, we're going to write the next great chapter of America's story."

Next up, he talks about what he will do when he is president.

"I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders. And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States."

And another AWESOME quote:

"I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president. Let there be no mistake: I will never hesitate to use force when it is required. Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response."

And now a little dig at those Republicans who call us dissenters unpatriotic, or worse, traitors:

"That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology and it doesn't belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people."

Come on give me more you say?

"We believe that what matters most is not narrow appeals masquerading as values, but the shared values that show the true face of America. Not narrow appeals that divide us, but shared values that unite us. Family and faith. Hard work and responsibility. Opportunity for all -- so that every child, every parent, every worker has an equal shot at living up to their God-given potential."

Tell him John, tell HIM!!

"...I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side."

And finally,

"That is the kind of America I will lead as president -- an America where we are all in the same boat. Never has there been a more urgent moment for Americans to step up and define ourselves. I will work my heart out. But, my fellow citizens, the outcome is in your hands more than mine.

It is time to reach for the next dream. It is time to look to the next horizon. For America, the hope is there. The sun is rising. Our best days are still to come."

"America can do better. And help is on the way."

P.S......

Kerry's daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra.
Alexandra; HOTTIE!!!! Oh YEEEEAAHHHH!

Have a good night America!

Ok well tonight was a pretty good night for the convention. We had Jesse Jackson give a rather dull speech in my opinion. Then the good old Dennis Kucinich gave an uneventful speech.

Then came the Rev, Reverend Al Sharpton. My oh my, this man is a great speaker. Every time I hear this man speak I am amazed at how well he can convey his message to the audience. He is a very moving speaker and I am glad that he spoke tonight.

Here is a snippet from the Rev's speech.

"We are also faced with the prospect of in the next four years that two or more of the Supreme Court Justice seats will become available. This year we celebrated the anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education.

This court has voted five to four on critical issues of women's rights and civil rights. It is frightening to think that the gains of civil and women rights and those movements in the last century could be reversed if this administration is in the White House in these next four years."

And again, here's his closer.

"Mr. President, we love America, not because all of us have seen the beauty all the time.

But we believed if we kept on working, if we kept on marching, if we kept on voting, if we kept on believing, we would make America beautiful for everybody.

Starting in November, let's make America beautiful again."

So yeah I REALLY liked Al Sharpton's speech.

Then we had Elizabeth Edwards introduce John Edwards. He gave a pretty good speech, although I have heard alot of what he said in some of his earlier speeches. But he did have some good new things to say. He did outline some details about policies that him and John Kerry have been saying they will do to make this country better.
CNN.com - Key points of Edwards' speech - Jul 29, 2004

The new slogan: Hope is on the way!

Ok as I mentioned before if you missed any of the speeches you can read transcripts here or you can watch the actual video of some of the major speeches here or here.

Ok more tomorrow.

I HATE Ann Coulter and I'll tell you why. I may really dislike Republicans and right-wing propaganda, BUT I would never go to the lows that this woman does. She is a goddamn N-U-T; NUT!
t r u t h o u t - USA Today Drops Ann Coulter
Listen to this excerpt, Coulter was sent to cover the Democratic National Convention for the USA Today newspaper:

"Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazoned with the 'F-word' are my opponents."

Or this gem further in her story:

"My pretty-girl allies stick out like a sore thumb amongst the corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie-chick pie wagons they call 'women' at the Democratic National Convention."

Sick, sick, sick, this woman is sick and she should be thrown out like yesterday's garbage.

Ok well what a night! Another great night of the Democratic National Convention. First off. Barack Obama is going to be a star very soon! If he runs for President one day, I will vote for him, and I guarantee you will too. He gave an amazing speech tonight, and I wish I had some quotes for you, but I did not have a chance to jot any down. When I find an article on his speech I will link to it here.

Ok I didn't have a chance to catch all of Edward Kennedy's speech, but I will try to rewatch it and make some comments. I also didn't catch Dick Gephardt, and I will tell you why. Michael Moore was on Bill O'Reilly. I do have to say that I think Bill O'Reilly got the better of Michael Moore. I will have more to say about this later.

Howard Dean spoke as well, he was ok, nothing special.

Ron Reagan also spoke, yes Ron Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan, our 40th President of the United States. He spoke about stem cell research and how this party believes that it needs to be allowed, while the republicans do not, and he urged everyone to vote for a party that supports it. He was great, he speech was great!

Also Ilana Wexler, a 12 year old, that's right a twelve year old who founded Kids for Kerry. She was an amazing speaker, I couldn't believe that she was 12. I think one day she will be one hell of a politician.

And that leads me to Teresa Heinz Kerry. I think she gave a great speech as well. She spoke to women like I have not heard any possible first ladies. I really believe everything that this women says she says from the heart and truthfully.

And all of this praise brings me to disgust. I just found out that NONE of the big three networks CBS, NBC, or ABC covered the convention at ALL tonight. NONE at ALL. They cut down their measly 1 hour a night coverage to 0 hour coverage tonight. I am deeply disgusted with all the networks. Because the 10pm EDT hour that the networks usually cover, had GREAT speeches tonight that I think could have reached many undecided voters and possibly swayed them. Once again DISGUSTED! Please everyone watch PBS at least, and C-SPAN if you can. Hey that rhymed, but nevermind. OH SNAP!!!!!!

Ok back to reality. I would like to mention that the AP story in this mornings newspapers used both Bill Clinton quotes that I wrote here last night. That's right, I can pick 'em!

Thank You, Goodnight!

From the frontpage of CNN.com this morning 9AM MDT.


Caption(from CNN.com): New Mexico delegate Frances
Williams wears a hat illustrating her state's history.

Ok NM is on the map baby!

"They [Republicans] need a divided America, WE don't!"

That is a quote from Bill Clinton tonight during the Democratic National Convention.  Still a great public speaker.

"Strength and wisdom are not opposing values."

Another Bill Clinton, quote, and I wish I could give it context, but these quotes will have to stand on their own, if you missed the convention tonight.

Ok also Al Gore has become a better public speaker I think, he seemed very loose and you could feel his anger towards georgie shrub, and I think it has made him a better speaker.  He was GREAT.

And lets not forget former President Jimmy Carter.  Wow, what a great speaker he was tonight.  He is truly a shining star in the sky. 

Seriously folks if you aren't watching the Convention, at least from 8-11PM EDT you are missing some wonderful speakers really speaking from their heart. 

America is in peril, America needs help, America needs change.  We need to take back America for ALL Americans, not just the elite!  It's a call to arms, will you be there?

Well tomorrow is the start of the Democratic National Convention.  I hope that the Dems make some progress on the voters.  We need to have a strong convention in order to get a head start on the Republicans who aren't having their convention until after the Olympics on August 31st.

In other news, I watched Entourage on HBO for the first time tonight, not too bad.  I enjoyed it actually.  And how about that Six Feet Under huh?  Good show. 

Ok enough about television, the boob tube, the idiot box; lets move on to other topics.
t r u t h o u t - Trouble Ahead for Bush from 9/11 Panel
Here is a quote from an editorial in the Boston Globe that I really think sums up the whole 9/11 Commission report.

    "The commission's exhaustive sifting of evidence and its unsparing yet fair criticism of the government's failures to protect Americans exemplify a democracy's capacity for self-correction ...
    "It is now up to ... Republicans and Democrats to heed the commission's example. This means not only accepting its catalogue of missed opportunities to detect the September 11 plot and its call for reforms of US intelligence. It also means that Congress and the executive branch must retrieve a vanishing tradition - to put aside partisan politics when American lives are at stake."

I think that is it.  Really some are trying to make this report political, and believe it or not I am not saying that is simply a Republican pursuit, but rather a by-partisan pursuit.  But this whole thing is a wonderful example of how great our Democracy is, and that will be how this chapter is written. 

To end for tonight; I'm sorry that I did not have an entry yesterday.  Yesterday was not a good day, I will try not to miss another day.  Don't forget to watch the Democratic National Convention tomorrow.

First off Happy Birthday Chris.  Today was my brother's Birthday, he turned 18 today!  Congrats Chris you are now a real person who can vote and drink....  oh wait no you can't.  Oh well.

Last night I went to the Kerry 2004 Meetup here in Albuquerque.  It was a good time, we talked about the campaign and how the Democrats can win.  Richard Romero, who is running for Congress against the evil Heather Wilson, stopped by and talked to us.  It was really good to be involved.

Ok here is an article that I think dissects some of the 9/11 Commission report. 
The 9/11 Report: Bad News for Bush
Obviously this article is very one sided, but I am not saying that it is a comprehensive review, I just think that the media at this point are not properly highlighting (or rather lowlighting) the things that the Bush Administration should be faulted for.  In my opinion Bush is getting off easy here.  Ok I will go over this article in my next post a bit.

Well the 9/11 Commission Report was released today.  I downloaded the full nearly 600 page report and read the first chapter section about the hijackings of the planes.  All I can say is that it brings back the terrible memories of that day in a vivid form.  I am angry and sad all over again.  Some details in that first section are hard to read.  I can't help but think at each juncture in the recount of this morning how this possibly could have been changed, how this possibly could have been different.

Now I am not claiming that this could have been completely prevented, as there is simply no way to back up this claim, with all the variables that were at play.  But I do believe that small changes could have averted the full catastrophe as we know it.

Well I don't know what else to say.  I hope to god that something like this never ever happens again.

Well I am just disgusted with Ralph Nader now. Here's the latest:
AlterNet: Election 2004: GOP and Nader sittin' in a tree...in Michigan
 
Well it looks like Nader is going to get on the ballot in the swing state of Michigan. He got the necessary 40,000 signatures. Not too long ago he only had 6,000 signatures of his own. Where did the rest come from?  The good old GOP.  The GOP claim that they believe in the importance of third party candidates.  O-K.

Michigan was going for Kerry in the latest polls that did not include Ralph Nader, but now most likely that will no longer be the case, the 17 electoral votes may go to Bush.

Here's what Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese had to say:

"We have to get on the ballot somehow."

Yeah and that is why I no longer have any respect for Ralph Nader.

Sorry about yesterday's last post. It is entirely too long and I was rambling on and on. Once again sorry, for a short recap:

Sandy Berger under investigation; probably inadvertent;Fox News very right wing biased and hiding it.

THE END

Ok, let me start off by saying the news that has come out about former Clinton National Security Advisor Samuel Berger is disturbing.  We don't know much yet, but from what I can discern about the story I want to make some comments.

First of all after reading the story on CNN.com I, just for the hell of it, went to FoxNews.com to read what they had to say.  It immediately struck me how the story was completely different depending on whether you were reading CNN or Fox News.  So my concern is for the people who get their first and maybe ONLY news from Fox News, either on TV or on the net. 

I will first tell you what I can deduce from reading the story so far.  Keep in mind that my current interpretation might not be what things turn out to be, but stay with me.

As far as I can tell former President Clinton asked Sandy Berger to go through all the relevant documents during his administration that are stored at the National Archives that needed to be given to the 9/11 commission.  Apparently Sandy Berger was up all night and and trying to speed read through all the documents and put them in piles to either give to the 9/11 commission or to give back to the Archives.  All this time he was taking notes on the documents as well.  He says that he put the notes in his pockets and mistakenly took some classified documents with him in his portfolio that he had taken into the screening room.  Now apparently one staffer at the archives claimed that they saw Sandy put documents into his socks.  He denies this.

Ok I know this is alot of info.  But I want to use this story to try to illustrate how Fox News blatantly spins the news for a right wing agenda, and worse HIDES that fact behind a "Fair and Balanced" moniker!

First here is the CNN.com article.
CNN.com - Feds probe Clinton aide over missing papers - Jul 20, 2004
Ok some keys quotes from that article.

"Law enforcement sources said archive staff members told FBI agents they saw Berger placing items in his jacket and pants, and one archive staffer told agents that Berger also placed something in his socks. "

OK notice that one staffer said something about the socks.  Further that is denied by Berger's friend.  There is also some discussion about how the timing of this leak is curious since the investigation into this incident has been taking place since October, and next week is the start of the Democratic National Convention, and the 9/11 Report is due out this week.  Ok and a last quote;

"In the case of the classified documents removed from the archives, the associate said Berger was reviewing thousands of documents and trying to "power read" as much as possible -- placing some in a pile to be forwarded to the 9/11 commission and others in a "nonresponsive" file to be returned, because he did not believe they were relevant to the commission's requests. 

Berger has told associates and his attorneys he deliberately set aside drafts of the millennium plot after-action report because it was a longer document and "he knew he needed to take some time on it," according to one adviser.

In Berger's account, after hours of reading documents, he inadvertently took the documents he had set aside to read later along with other materials and a leather portfolio he had carried into the screening room."

Ok now onto FoxNews.com story.
FOXNews.com - Politics - Sandy Berger Probed Over Terror Memos
First quote;

"Former President Clinton's national security adviser is under criminal investigation for taking highly classified terrorism documents that should have been turned over to the independent commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, FOX News has confirmed."

Ok I think that this quote construes that Sandy Berger is under investigation for taking documents and then NOT turning them over to the 9/11 Commission.  My understanding is that he only mistakenly took copies of documents that he was reviewing, and that the Commission received all documents in question.  I could be wrong.  Next quote VERY disturbing;

"Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket, pants and socks, and also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio."

This quote is categorically WRONG!  And as of 10:43PM MDT FoxNews.com has still yet to "fix" this.  Berger and people on his behalf have called the socks comment completely untrue, and certainly Berger and his lawyer did not say that he knowingly removed the notes in his socks! 

Now the fox story has sub-headlines which seem to have some strange connotations.
'Inadvertent' Action? is the headline.  Notice that Inadvertent is in quotes and it ends with a question mark.  That says to me that they are calling Berger's claim of this being an inadvertent mistake as questionable.  Maybe I am making too much out of this.  But I am going now so I might as well keep going.

"Although lawmakers didn't want to make a judgment call on Berger's fate until all the facts are known, they agreed that the situation doesn't look good for Berger, or even for Kerry."

Sure.  Here's the follow-up quote;

"There's an ethic here -- that is of strict discipline, of not letting the fact you're working on a political campaign start to color your actions when it comes to national security," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FOX News on Tuesday."

Oh man they are jumping right on this, and I didn't see any of these quotes in the CNN.com article.  ANYWAYS, another sub-headline:
More 'Innocent Than It Looks?' Notice again the same technique, the line is in quotes with a question mark at the end. Argh!  

Ok there is more but I had better stop.  Sorry for the rambling.

Here's a quote from georgie shrub talking about reform of malpractice lawsuits.

"It doesn't do the consumers any good. It doesn't do the providers any good. It doesn't do small-business owners any good to have a legal system that is not fair and balanced."

Oh sh*t!  georgie, you better watch out!  Fox News Channel has a trademark on the phrase "Fair and Balanced".  I wonder if they will sue.  (insert sly grin here)
 
Full article here: CNN.com - Bush pledges to make America safer - Jul 20, 2004

So I saw Anchorman last week, I forgot to mention it.  It was ok, funny, but I wouldn't say it was great or anything.  This past weekend we watched The Station Agent.  I enjoyed this movie alot, Peter Dinklage(Elf) is a really good actor.  Yeah I really liked it, I don't think Leah enjoyed it as much as I did though, but I will give it a thumbs up.
 
Ok I wasn't going to talk about politics in this post, but dammit, I just can't do it!
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Fox News: Unfair and Unbalanced
I think Fox News is disgraceful.  They sued Al Franken for using "Fair and Balanced" claiming it was their trademark.  The judge threw it out luckily, saying it was "wholly without merit,  both factually and legally."  He went on further,

"From a legal point of view," said Judge Chin, "I think it is highly unlikely that the phrase 'fair and balanced' is a valid trademark. I can't accept that that phrase can be plucked out of the marketplace of ideas and slogans."

So Alternet and its parent company The Independent Media Institute have challenged Fox News trademark right before the deadline to contest it ran out.  I think Fox should be stripped of their ridiculous trademark of "Fair and Balanced".  Ok that's it.

Ok a short one tonight.  Back to Nader, I am really upset with this man right now.  He really needs to think about the good of the country, and not his own ambitions right now.  And apparently Barbara Ehrenreich of the New York Times agrees with me.
 
t r u t h o u t - Barbara Ehrenreich It's Over, Ralph
She brings up some good points.  Such as how Ralph is not with the Green party this year, so he can't claim that he is running his campaign to further their agenda, as he did in 2000.  Not only that but he has courted the Reform party, who ran Pat Buchanan (who many call a bigot, or worse) in 2000.  Then you try the New Alliance party.  And you have relied on Conservative supporters who only want you in the race to get their guy "georgie shrub" elected. 
 
Well I digress.
 
Ok a few more....
 
t r u t h o u t - Regime Change in Iran Now in Bush's Sights
Take this story however you want.  It looks like we may be setting our sites on Iran now.  I'm not sure what to make of this.  One side is that the 9/11 Commission is expected to say in its report that there ARE links between IraN and al-Qaeda.  Well you can then ask why did we attack IraQ when it looks like IraN was a country that seemed to have actually helped the 9/11 hijackers.  Oh well, the other side, is that well, if IraN did do this, then we need to go after them.
 
Ok lastly.
 
t r u t h o u t - Newsweek Calls Allawi "Iraq's New S.O.B."
This article reports some scary things about the "new Iraq" and the leader that we have installed there.  There are some reports that the Prime Minister may have personally executed some prisoners or had prisoners executed without trial.  It seems that his government and the people of Iraq actually seem to be leaning towards a dictatorship, over freedom.  Hmmmm....

Well its Saturday, what has happened so far this weekend?  Not much.  The 9/11 Comission is going to issue its report soon.  I hope to god that it holds the Bush administration accountable, for whatever they did or didn't do.  Don't get me wrong if the current administration did everything right, then fine, but I surely doubt that they did.  Anyways.
 
Ok now for some links.
 
AlterNet: Election 2004: The silencing of the Dems
Well basically this article talks about how Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown was basically told to shut up and sit down when she tried to discuss possible monitoring of the 2004 election, and dared to bring up the injustice to African Americans during the 2000 election.  If you have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 you know what I am talking about.  Well they struck her words from the record, and would not let her speak for the rest of the day as a punishment.  Kind of upsetting if you ask me.
 
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Times apology
Ok the New York Times apologized to all of its readers.  I have rarely seen this sort of thing.  Ok here is the quote.

"[W]e do fault ourselves for failing to deconstruct the W.M.D. issue with the kind of thoroughness we directed at the question of a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, or even tax cuts in time of war. We did not listen carefully to the people who disagreed with us."...

Amazing if you ask me.
 
AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Cabin Fever
Did you all know that there is a group called the Log Cabing Republicans?  Can you guess what the group is?  Ok I will tell you.  It is a group of gay and lesbian people who also happen to be Republican.  I know, I know, isn't that impossible?!  Well apparently not.  This article talks about how this group is having a hard time "reconciling" the fact that George W. Bush has pushed the Constitutional Ammendment to ban gay marriage with the fact that they are gay and Republican.  It baffles me how they are having a problem.  Obviously this party is not for gay people, its pretty straight forward.  Well apparently half or so of the people in this group have abandoned the Republican party.  I say good for them!  It is dispicable the way the Republican party has overtly declared its disdain for gay and lesbian members of our fine society.  How any party can declare that a segment of its constituency deserves no rights is beyond me.  I want to throw up on the entire party.  Down with hate!  Down with discrimination!

Ok now for some movies that I think people should see.
Preventive Warriors
I really enjoyed this movie, its a documentary that deconstructs the document that not many members of the media paid attention to; the National Security Strategy of 2002.  In it the so called "Bush Doctorine" is laid out in plain english.  The Bush Doctorine, for those not familiar, is the idea that preventive action is required in order to head off threats to the security of the United States of America before the threat fully emerges.  Well ok I think there are two distinct philosphies about how best to protect the United States.  One philosophy is the Bush Doctorine, get them before they get you.  The other is that we never engage in war unless it is the absolute last resort.  Well I say after the results of the war in Iraq and the findings of various comissions that intelligence was majorly wrong, how the hell can we possibly have a policy that relies on this sort of intelligence when there is a large chance that it is wrong.  I believe we must not have a policy such as the current "Bush Doctorine".  But watch this movie if you have the chance, I think it brings up some very good points.
 
Control Room
I have not seen this movie but I REALLY want to.  This movie takes an inside look at the Al-Jazeera News network during the beginning of the war in Iraq.  I have heard really good things about this movie, and I can't wait to see it.  It came here to Albuquerque for a week, of course the week I was gone back east!  I think it is really important that we see the other side of things, so maybe, just maybe we can begin to understand what is really reality, and not just take the fox news/Republican official stance on the war and the news coverage.
 
The Corporation
Now this seems like an interesting movie.  I have not seen it yet.  The premise is that the corporation is the dominant institution in our society today.  And that you can physo-analyze the corporation and argue that it is a sociopath if it was an individual.  Ok this is a bad summary, but check out the website, and check out the movie.
 
Ok I have to stop writing for tonight.
 
Ok one more movie.
 
The Truth Uncovered
Ok this movie is from the the director of Outfoxed, which I have mentioned in my previous posts.  Anyways this movie takes a hard look at how we got into this war in Iraq.  I think it is worth a look.
 
I am out. 

Ok I was talking to someone at work here about Bill O'Reilly yesterday, and I really didn't have anything to back up my reasoning for disliking the man, or at least his on-air persona.  Well thanks to someone at michaelmoore.com I have a few grenades to launch.
 
http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/index.php?id=22
 
Here are just a few highlights, or rather lowlights, however you look at it. 
 
He verbally assaults a son of a September 11th victim.  Telling him to shut up and cutting his mic off.  Nice.
 
Next up O'Reilly straight up lies on air about his "French boycott".
http://mediamatters.org/items/200405020006
Please read that actual article, because it has too much info in it for me to dissect here, but it is very well structured to show how Bill O'Reilly's integrity is questionable.
 
Now these are quotes from the man himself.

"We cannot intervene in the Muslim world ever again. What we can do is bomb the living daylights out of them."

Ok scary, and sad.  Yeah the answer is to blow everyone in the whole Muslim world up!  That is ludicrous and disgusting!  How dare you Bill O'Reilly!

"I have no respect for [the Iraqi people]. I think that they're a prehistoric group..."

This just shows how much O'Reilly respects people of other cultures around the world.

"[T]he ACLU because they're the most dangerous organization in the United States of America right now. There's by far. There's nobody even close to that. They're, like, second next to Al Qaeda."

The ACLU is a very valuable organization in our society.  They stand up for the people and their right to free speech, which is very important, especially today in the current climate, where SOME people would rather call you a traitor or the like for simply stating your opinion which is contrary to the Bush administration.  But Bill O'Reilly likes to liken them to a terrorist organization.  Yuck!

"Judges are overruling the will of the people, and fascist organizations like the ACLU are imposing their secular will."

Apparently Bill O'Reilly does not support the separation of church and state, which I happen to very much support.  And I will address this issue of activist judges overrulling the will of the people, since that has been uttered by many Bush supporters, but that issue deserves a post of its own.  Be on the look out for that in the near future.

"Bill Moyers on PBS, he's -- hides behind the label of objectivity. He's about as objective as Mao Zedong, all right. I mean he's a Far-Left bomb-thrower who actually runs a foundation that funds left-wing organizations. I mean the guy's a joke. Get out of the news business, Bill."

Now this last quote is very disturbing for me. I watch NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS regularly, and I find him a refreshing voice. Now while I can tell that he has a left leaning stance on things, he works very hard, it seems in my opinion, to make his stories as fair as possible.  What smacks of "irony" (irony purists [Leah I am looking in your direction] please, I know it may not fit the strict definition of irony, but go with it), is that Bill O'Reilly in the end of this quote suggests that Bill Moyers should step down, and not be a journalist because he identifies with a political affiliation.  How ridiculous!  Yeah O'Reilly, you definitely are very fair and balanced!  If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black...  Disgusting.   

Ok now I have supported my reasoning for disliking Bill O'Reilly, or at least his on-air persona.  If you would like to hear more of the story on Bill O'Reilly and Fox News I recommend the new movie Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism.  I think I may have mentioned it before.  Anyways I will have some more movie recommendations soon.  Stay tuned.

Ok that last one didn't really work (fist-frocking?!)  Anyways get over it. 
Flip-flopping
Ok this is just the beginning of my push back at the right wingers out there who accuse Kerry of being a flip-flop on issues.  Take a look at this article:
 
AlterNet: George W. Bush: Presidential or Pathological?
 
Now scroll down to about half way through the article (by all means read it in its entirety, but for the point I want to make follow me here).  The section I am honing in on, and keep in mind this is an editorial written by Arianna Huffington, starts with the sentence: "For those of you who bailed on Psych 101"...  Ok anyways I don't want to address every point she makes but please do read.  Basically she calls Bush to task for labeling Kerry a flip-flopper even though he has done his fair share of flip-flopping himself.  And she brings up a good point,

"Now, God knows, I have no problem with changing your mind - so long as you admit that you have and can explain why."

Next, Drip-dropping.
Drip-dropping with irony!  Well ok not really irony, but you will get the point.  Here is an extended quote from Paul Sperry with a conservative online "ezine".

"Forget that Bush lied about the reasons for putting our sons and daughters in harm's way in Iraq; and forget that he sent 140,000 troops there with bull's-eyes on their backs, then dared their attackers to bring it on," Sperry wrote. "It was the height of irresponsibility to have done so in the middle of a war on al-Qaida, the real and proven threat to America. Bush diverted those troops and other resources - including intelligence assets, Arabic translators and hundreds of billions of tax dollars - from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders along the Afghan-Pakistani border. And now they've regrouped and are as threatening as ever. That's inexcusable, and Bush supporters with any intellectual honesty and concern for their own families' safety should be mad as hell about it - and thats coming from someone who voted for Bush."

Now for fist-frocking (seriously I have no idea)
No really I thought I would end with a couple of links to a website that I find hilarious! And it really is about time that we can laugh at all this crap sometimes.

www.whitehouse.org
This site is jam packed with hilarious stories and anecdotes, very well done.

www.georgewbush.org
This site is related to the previous one, but this site is nearly identical to the official Bush/Cheney 2004 site.  The biography sections are particularly hilarious. 
 
Have a good time and seriously take the time to read all the stuff that is on those two sites.
Oh and also www.billionairesforbush.com .  Good stuff!
Until next time America!

Well well well. Sorry my republican friends, but you have lost the battle. The vote to try to amend the constitution, YES AMEND the most hallowed document of our civilization, to ban same sex marriage was put down. I'm sorry all you gay haters but you lost! Now you can go back to trying to ban "Orientals" from coming into your local bar, and trying to "pick up" your womens.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?! I cannot understand how we can get to a point in our society where the leader of the free world suggests that we amend our founding document, just so that all the homophobes can feel safe at night in their bed f***ing their wives in the missionary position, without having to worry about the gay sex fiend waiting to have a go at their dark place. I mean come on, I am sad and dismayed at this country. I know we are better than this. Can't people realize that Bush is just trying to distract us from the Iraq war and the economy? It's a thinly disguised veil. Is that even a saying? Oh well.

I went to the New Voters Project meeting tonight. Its an organization that is trying to get young people between the ages of 18-24 to register to vote. Only 31% of people 18-24 voted in the 2000 election, and politicians completely ignore the issues of this age group. So we are out to make the politicians listen to us by getting as many young people to vote as we can. Anyways I had a good time. We went out to a local bar and had some drinks and good conversation. I am really glad that I joined. It was good to talk to people in this state about something a little more interesting than whether it is going to rain here in the next goddamn month or not(its a desert people!). Anyways I have to go to bed, more ranting tomorrow.

I promised I would be back today. Though I don't think I will address much content, but I have found some images I would like to share.


My friend Brent mentioned after reading an earlier post of mine that while I am talking about Bush being a hypocrite why didn't I mention how he is a supposed Christian, yet he strongly supports the death penalty. Not only strongly supports but I believe he put more people to death in Texas than any other governor, but I'm not sure about that. Anyways I found this image and it gave me another point to make about Bush and his hypocritical ways.


This image just reminds me how much Bush really was involved with Enron(this pic shows Bush with Ken Lay, who has now been indicted and arrested for ripping off many many employees). And now that this whole Enron thing went down and Bush and Cheney and Co. just try to distance themselves so much, well this picture serves as a little walk down memory lane.


Ok this picture has a nice caption for you. Here is a link to a story about it. Basically they want to run this billboard ad in NYC from August 2nd until election day, but Clear Channel doesn't want to let them. Anyways read for yourself. I like the ad myself.


There has been alot of talk that the Department of Defense and the State Department don't get along at all. Specifically Donald Rumsfeld(DoD), is characterized as a war hawk, neo-conservative and Colin Powell(State Dept) is said to have butted heads with Rumsfeld because he wanted to try Diplomacy first(how crazy). Anyways they both deny it publicly, so I just thought I would post this interesting picture. Everyone has disagreements right? I'm sure they were just debating whether or not tonight's poker game would be Texas Hold 'Em or 5 card stud.

Ok and to end this post tonight I thought I would give you a link to a nice little comic strip.
This Modern World: The Liberal Media Compares the Candidates

Have a good night.

Caption(from truthout.org): On Friday George W. Bush, facing questions from reporters about his close personal relationship with indicted former Enron CEO Ken Lay, simply walked off stage rather than respond.(Photo: Paul J. Richards / AFP)

Ok I have been reading alot of stuff on the web in the last day and have wanted to post links here for some of these stories. I have so much to say, but not alot of time to say it, so look for an update post today sometime.

t r u t h o u t - Fearing 'Powers That Be,' CIA Fell for 'Curveball'
This story is a scary inside look into just how our government gets its intelligence and then uses it as reason to launch a war against a country killing thousands of innocent civilians and over 900 of our fine American soldiers to date! I can't tell you how angry this makes me. I have completely lost all trust in our ability to lead the world when we use such shoddy intelligence to start such a costly war. If we do not kick Bush out of office in 2004 then this country truly is lost. I will make it my mission to get as many people to look at what is truly going on, not just what the mainstream media is showing you.

t r u t h o u t - Richard Hetu | Dick Cheney's Fear
This just showcases the type of "leader" this man, Dick Cheney, is. Despicable if you ask me, but then maybe you didn't.

t r u t h o u t - Bob Herbert | The Real Enemy Staring Us in the Face
This article brings up a good point. Its down in the article several paragraphs in.

If we know that bin Laden and his top leadership are somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that they're plotting an attack against the United States, why are we not zeroing in on them with overwhelming force? Why is there not a sense of emergency in the land, with the entire country pulling together to stop another Sept. 11 from occurring?

Why are we not more serious about this?

When Tom Ridge gave us our latest warning, and it included the fact that Osama Bin Laden is most likely in the tribal mountainous region of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border and that he is directing another huge attack on our soil, I was alarmed! First of all if Bush is so great on protecting this country as he claims in his campaign and tv ads and pretty much every time he speaks, then how in the HELL can he just sit there when there is a warning that includes what I just mentioned and not send out as many troops as he can to this region to try and get this guy once and for all?!

WHY??????!!!!!!

I want an answer. I want an answer now. If there is any proof that this war in Iraq is completely misguided than it surely has to be in this question and the probable answer to it from this administration.

Ok calming down, and going back to media and how I believe it is affecting our perception of world events. There is a new documentary out called Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. For those not into media ownership, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox Television among MANY MANY MANY other media holdings throughout the world, mostly concentrated in the US though. He of course owns Fox News, which many claim to be the most partisan news channel or rather news source in modern times. This movie is trying to highlight this fact to the public so they are at least aware of the bias and can actively decided their views on the news with that knowledge. Watch the trailer here(windows Media Player), or here(Quicktime).

Ok that is it for now I must get back to work. Look for more later on today.

Howard Dean this is why we all love you. This quote is pure genius and hits the nail directly on the head.

"I'm not running for president right now, not just because I lost in Iowa, but [because] I made the calculation that if I did, I would take away votes that would otherwise go to John Kerry and result in the reelection of George Bush. That is a national emergency, and we cannot have it. My argument simply is, When the house is on fire, it's not the time to fix the furniture." (debating Ralph Nader)

Read the article that contained this quote at:
www.truthout.org/docs_04/071104K.shtml

Ok I just read this article literally 2 minutes ago and I have to link to it.

Lynne, Dick Cheney Differ on Gay Marriage

Fascinating! I always thought that the things that Bush and Cheney said while campaigning in 2000 differs significantly from their stands on issues now. They ran on a more moderate ticket, and then barely won the election (or not, however you look at it). And then instead of embracing the other side, since it was such a dead heat, they just went head first into a super conservative stance on everything. Seems like a slap in the face to decency. I mean his "address" to the nation was how he was going to work to reach "across the aisle" to democrats. How far from the truth that was.

Also I want to address the public discussions about possible terrorist threats to the election and so called plans to reschedule the election. I am really concerned here. Also the general discussion on how Tom Ridge seems to be calling these news conferences at very coincidental times to give "no new information". But alas I need to go to bed I think. I will try to address those points in the morning.

...Ok I had a good time last night, Stoli and cranberry. MMMMM! Anyways Nader and Dean. They debated on NPR radio. You can listen to the full debate here. Basically it was a debate on the role of third parties in US elections. You can read a short review of the debate here. or www.alternet.org/election04/2004/07/002168.html

Anyways apparently Howard Dean asked Nader to bow out of the race for the good of the United States, but Nader refused. At one point Dean claimed that 46% of the required signatures to get Nader on the Ballot in Arizona were from Republican supporters. Nader deflected the charge and continued to rip apart both of the ruling parties.

Dean brings up a good point. When there is a third candidate such as is the case right now, and that third candidate does not really have a chance to win, AND that third candidate is more likely to appeal to people who would otherwise support another candidate, what effect does that have. I mean you see the situation right now, we have Republicans actively trying to get Nader on the ballot and supporting his candidacy, even though they want Bush to win. While my immediate response is one of anger, I pause now to propose this idea.

If things were completely switched around and there was a third candidate who might pull votes away from a Republican and we knew the race was likely to be close, would I applaud Democrats who tried to underhandedly support that third party candidate?

Yes.

Most likely, anything to win. Would those democrats get away with it, or would the Republicans quickly jump on it and go after these Dems for misconduct?

No and Yes.

Well I went to the Kerry/Edwards rally last night. John Kerry, Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Edwards, and Elizabeth Edwards were all there.

It was a long journey to get to this rally. I wanted to take some digital camera pictures of the rally and post them here, but when I called the NM Democrats office they told me no cameras. So I reluctantly and begrudgingly did not bring my trusty digicam. When we did finally get to the rally, nearly everyone had a damn camera! I was so peeved. But wait, back to getting to the rally. We had to leave work early because they asked us to be there at 4:30. So we ended up getting there at like 4:45. We were supposed to park at the University and take the complimentary shuttle buses. Well when we got there there was a line around the block, literally. So we waited in that line for nearly an hour. Lucky John and John were running late.

When we finally got to the place, there was another HUGE line to get into the gates and through security. Finally we were in. We actually got a pretty good spot. We listened to a bunch of local politicians talk, and try to warm us up. People were shouting Kerry, Kerry, Kerry! The reports said there were 8-10,000 people there. There sure were alot, I can tell you that.

Then the event we were all waiting for. John Kerry, and John Edwards came out with both their wives. Elizabeth Edwards talked first, then Teresa Heinz Kerry (who was really a from the heart speaker), and then John Edwards got up and did some really great cheerleading for John Kerry. He is a great speaker and you could really see why Kerry picked him as his running mate. John Kerry then spoke and the crowd was really into what he was saying.

At one point some hecklers in the middle of the crowd held up their flip flops and pounded them together and chanted "flip flop" "flip flop"! Kerry actually stopped and told the crowd that there were some Republicans in the audience. But aside from that the rest of the rally went smoothly. At the end I was somehow able to make my way to the front rail, to about 4 people back from the rail actually. I reached over everyone and was able to shake hands with John Kerry. That was a thrill. This man could one day be president and I was able to shake that man's hand. I waited for John Edwards to come by, but alas he didn't, he went the other way. Oh well maybe next time.

That was pretty fun. Then we decided to walk back to the car instead of waiting in the long line for the bus again.

MMMMM! Did anyone hear about the Ralph Nader and Howard Dean debate? I read about it. Apparently Dean tried in every way he could to convince Nader to drop out of the race.....

I have to go meet my girlfriend right now for a Saturday night of drinking.

To be continued....

Today is a mixed day. Today marks the one year anniversary of my friend Jody's death. Jody fought brain cancer for some time. I still can't believe it has been a year, and that he is no longer here. Sometimes I think it was just yesterday and sometimes it feels like an eternity ago.



But on another note, today John Kerry and John Edwards come to town and I have tickets to go see them. I am excited to see them and I hope to take pictures and be able to post them soon.

I may write more after I have had some time to digest the day.

Seriously, Bush team, what a bunch of hypocritical idiots, and it will probably never garner the attention of the mainstream press either. Specifically on the point of claiming that John Edwards was Kerry's second choice for VP after John McCain. First of all the mainstream press just JUMPED on this story and spread it around like near death bees fiercely polinating 10 acres of flowers! Even though the Kerry camp rebutted the story saying he never asked McCain to be his VP, hardly a mention of this from the mainstream media. Now let me insert a short story from the alternet.org website, which by the way is a good place to get non-mainstream news.

www.alternet.org/election04/2004/07/002151.html

The basic gist of the story is that while the Bush team immediately, and I do mean IMMEDIATELY put out the story that John McCain was Kerry's first choice, and by the way released a new ad with John McCain giving Bush a nice glowing introduction for a speech Bush was about to make, the story goes that Bush's first choice for VP in 2000 was not Cheney, but actually John McCain! Now whether this could ever be proven is a whole other issue, BUT there is as much evidence, if not more for this Cheney as second choice as there is for Edwards as second choice.

Ok I was going to stop with the politics, but here is another issue that got me fired up. And its in the mainstream press (insert a smiley face with mouth wide open and eyes all big).
www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/08/bush.naacp.ap/index.html

Bush declines an invitation to speak at the NAACP annual convention. Ok maybe that is understandable, he is busy right now with this whole campaign thing, but wait. Here is a direct quote from the article.

"NAACP spokesman John White said Wednesday that Bush has declined invitations in each year of his presidency -- becoming the first president since Herbert Hoover not to attend an NAACP convention."

Now that should speak volumes enough, I think. But WAIT!

Here is a quote from whitehouse spokesman Jim Morrell.

"White House spokesman Jim Morrell said Wednesday that the president has spoken about "equal opportunity and equal rights for all Americans" in many public places"

Holy sh**! Is it just me or does that sound very condescending? He has spoken about this whole "equal rights thing" before in other places, what's the big deal?

Anyway ok I am done for now. I am here at work, just another day of sitting here in front of this computer! I'll have more to say later maybe.

Nothing much to say. I have started a blog here, not sure if I am going to keep it or not. I might make one of my own, on my site; not sure. I wonder how this presidential race is going to shake out. I really think the democrats have a chance, but Bush/Cheney are very fierce.

Ralph Nader is quoted as saying that he would like Kerry to pick Edwards as VP because he thinks Edwards would work for the underprivileged in the whitehouse. Of course this is exactly what Nader's platform is. So here is my suggestion: Kerry should meet with Nader and tell him that he will make him the Surgeon General, or Health Minister in his Administration, should he win, if Nader agrees to throw his support behind the Kerry/Edwards ticket. Now I think that would get most of the Greens and Independents who are currently in the Nader camp, and that just might make the difference. ...Just a thought.....