Nixon

In the 1972 election, Richard Nixon secured his second term in the Oval Office with a 520-17 victory over the Democratic candidate George McGovern. McGovern failed to win his home-state of South Dakota’s 4 electorates, winning only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

FDR

The 1936 election put Alfred M. Landon of Kansas up against incumbent president Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York. FDR won this election 523-8, giving up only Maine and Vermont to the Republican ticket. It is also notable that in FDR’s four presidential-election victories, his lowest electoral college total was 432 in 1944.

Reagan

The largest total electorates given to one candidate in a single election came in 1984 when incumbent president Ronald Reaganreceived 525 to his Democrat opponent Walter F. Mondale’s 13. Mondale was able to win his home state of Kansas and the District of Columbia.

Looking at the top electorate winners of all time, Obama’s 364 would land him 16th on that list. If Missouri goes in his favor, he will move up one spot. So was it a landslide? No, but it was a decisive victory for the Obama campaign. He was able to convert nine states (Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado) to the Democratic column after they voted Republican in the 2004 election.

Alex J Martin

The crisis from the 2000 presidential election continued to leave a bad taste in the mouths of the voting public during the 2004 election and even the recently removed 2008 presidential election. To the outsider, the hanging chads and the recount after recount in Florida gave the impression that every person’s vote must count. However, everyone knew that it was one of those rare instances in American presidential politics that a single vote could actually make such a dramatic a difference. A single vote that could potentially give Florida’s electoral college votes to the winning candidate, and thus the presidency. When Florida and the presidency finally went to candidate George Bush, people were at least somewhat happy that the judicial and election systems of America had held its ground.

However, another interesting statistic left the Al Gore camp more perturbed. Candidate Gore had won the popular vote over George Bush. That means more people in the country had voted for Gore over Bush. But due to the electoral college system, Bush won the presidency. Mathematically speaking, each vote cast for Gore was actually worth less than one vote. Or, each vote cast for Bush was worth more than each vote cast for Gore. “This doesn’t seem fair”, the Gore supporters argued. Bush supporters responded, “Well, that’s the system for hundreds of years and it’s always worked.  Stop complaining.”

Why did the founding fathers use an electoral college instead of a popular vote to determine the winner of the presidential election? In short, the founding fathers were skeptical of the will of the people or their ability to intellectually vote for the candidate of their choice. By inserting a safeguard, the electoral college, the founding fathers believed that if by that rare chance the will of the people was either misguided or that some populated region in America dominated the popular vote, the safeguard would protect American democracy.

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska

Which leads me to why I think the electoral college, although in many cases a frustration and hints at unfairness, it is a necessary safeguard. Let’s look at one Senate race this year that could have used something like an electoral college. The Alaska Senate race between Republican incumbent Ted Stevens and Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven counts of making false statements and taking bribes worth more than $250,000 to make renovations on his personal home. The evidence was overwhelming. After the announced conviction, bipartisan calls for Stevens removal were prominent, reaching up to federal level, including John McCain and Barack Obama. Even the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin said at the time that he had broken his trust with the people and she planned to ask him to step aside. However, the news of the corruption did not affect Stevens attempt for an eighth term in the Senate as he won the Senate elections in November! This is a man who epitomizes the corruption in government and the Alaskan people still voted for him!!! He won by a 1.43% margin (roughly 3200 votes) over Begich. To make it more interesting, Sarah Palin switched her tone and declared that the will of the people had spoken and she would not ask him to step aside. In other words, she was okay with supporting the first felon elected to the US Senate in history!! What about the 46.61% of the people? Is the 48.04% that voted for Stevens the “will of the people.” It is not even a majority. However, the question that really needs answering is why did the people still vote for Ted Stevens? Had they no shame that they were electing a felon to the US Senate for the first time ever?

The corruption scandals associated with Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Don Young. The inexperience and ethical issues of Sarah Palin. The hilarious attempt of Mike Gravel to win the Democratic primary. The Bridge to Nowhere. And finally, the “will of the people” voting for convicted felon, Stevens.  What is going on in Alaska?? I just think the people there live their own merry little lives and are disconnected with reality or don’t care for it. If the presidential election was ran the same way Alaska is, this country would be in big trouble. Are you telling me that if McCain or Obama was convicted as a felon, that they would still win the general election?

This example clearly demonstrates that the will of the people or the ability of the public to vote with due diligence and conscience is not always dependable. The electoral college works for an overwhelming majority of the time. It is only at times of a close race that it has the potential to rear its ugly head. However, if a race is that close anyways, theoretically it won’t really matter who wins since there is no  definitive will of the people.

In the case of Ted Stevens and Alaska, I wish the founding fathers put the electoral college into Senate races as well. But of course they wanted to separate representation at the federal and state elections. Then again, I don’t know if I would trust the electoral college in Alaska either.

Happy Friday, y’all! It’s been a long, crazy week, hasn’t it? We elected a new president! In honor of that, this week’s Freaky Friday Flashback takes us back to 2000. Remember that election?

Yeah.

So basically, it all went down like this: We all dutifully went out and voted that November, thinking the nation’s political process would work as it should and by the end of the night or next morning, we’d have a new president. But it didn’t really work out that way, thanks to these assholes:

Remember the hanging chads? They were the little bits of paper that should be punched away when a person chooses a candidate on a punch card ballot. Except some of them didn’t fall off. So those votes in Florida, the state that decided the election, weren’t counted. This (along with a lot of other shady stuff in the state, which at the time, was governed by Bush’s brother, Jeb) led to the election not being decided until December 12, after the Supreme Court ended the recounts and certified Bush the winner of Florida, and thus the winner of the entire election. Even though he didn’t receive the popular vote (Al Gore received 543,895 more votes).

And so, instead of getting this guy:

Aw, look how young and fresh-faced he was! So full of hope!

We got the worst president EVER. But things turned out OK for Gore. He won a Nobel Prize for his work on climate control and an Oscar for his film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. He also made a couple really awesome skits on SNL, including one where he gives a State of the Union address, and another where he refuses to leave the Oval Office set of The West Wing. Hilare!

Have a good weekend!

This morning I woke up still in disbelief.  I read through my friends statuses on facebook.  Most of my friends were thrilled — I think that it’s harder to come up with people I know who were pro-McCain — but there were a few kids from high school claiming that they needed to move to another country.  I thought I would claim the same thing with my facebook status if McCain was elected, BUT  we all know I would’ve been even poorer than I am now if he was in office with his continuation of the Bush policy.

When I was watching McCain’s concession speech, all I could think of was the Rage Against the machine video for Testify from the 2000 election.  Video after the jump.

At the end of the video, it makes the note that nearly 100 million people would not vote on election day in 2000 because there wasn’t a difference between the names on the ballot.  Yesterday, there were lines winding around blocks to get to polls, people were genuinely excited and happy that they got to push tabs behind a curtain or cross and X on a piece of paper. What made me think about this video is the creepy montages when Bush and Gore’s faces were blended together to make pretty much the same person.

When you look at Obama, he’s different because he’s black, he’s a good public speaker, and his campaign was about grassroots and outreach to society with plenty of speeches and appearances.  He was the earworm of soundbites with his “Yes We Can!” mantra.  McCain was the WASP that had been running every election for the last fifty years, but this time with one folksy gal on his arm.

I don’t know what better way to convince people that this election proved that Democracy works when there’s a leader we can all get behind, that wants to make America one America, than by showing Obama’s quote from his victory speech last night:

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy… tonight is your answer.”

Before I seriously put on my political hat and evaluate the recently ended US presidential campaign and election, allow me to state a few things. One, I am not a US citizen, but I’d like to think of the US as my adopted home away from home. Two, I am too liberal to be dress myself in Republican red. Three, I know very little of politics than what I see and hear on CNN, so don’t crucify me for this post. And four, I am just honestly stating my opinions and asking questions that have been bothering me, so if anyone can give me an insight or two and enrich my political knowledge, it would be really great.

Now, let’s start.

When it was announced that Obama and McCain were the presidential nominees for their respective parties, I was very excited. I think the Obama- Clinton fight was a big challenge for Obama to overcome, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was curious to see how he would take on McCain for the presidency. And you know of McCain as the Maverick, McRage, etc, and with his 26 years of experience, you expect some really heavy, interesting and exciting campaigning from him, against the fresh, inspirational campaign of Obama’s. So, the stage was set, may the best man win.

The Vice-Presidential nominees were next to be announced. Obama’s choice made sense. Joe Biden has experience, especially in foreign policies, something that a lot of people say Obama lacks knowledge in. Biden may be a more hot-headed senator than Joe Cool Obama, but you see how they have chemistry and how they really support each other. And, most importantly, Biden has a sense of humor- I believe anyone who can laugh at themselves is someone you can get along with. So, you know, Obama- Biden is a good partnership in my eye.

And what did McCain do? Pick a governor, with very little experience, and from a state that she claims she can see Russia from just because it shares a little strait of a border. And this close proximity is her qualification in foreign policy. Wow. Seriously, of all the 50 states, of all the Republican candidates in USA, Sarah Palin? Really? I mean, I have nothing against Alaska; my parents and a few of my friends have gone on a cruise there and they said it’s really beautiful, and I’m sure Alaskans are very nice people. But, McCain, haven’t you been criticizing Obama for his lack of experience, and you selected this woman with even less experience than Obama as your running mate? I mean, SERIOUSLY?! 

That woman was the beginning of the end for McCain. Yes, everyone was excited, a female running mate! We’ve seen the excitement from Hillary’s campaigns and women voters are the key to the presidency! But, really? He’s like 72 years old, and I’m sure he’s in good health to be able to campaign vigorously at his age, but should he become president, his plan B is this woman. Seriously? 

And I don’t understand McCain’s ad campaigns. I mean, I haven’t seen them all, again, I only know what I know thanks to CNN, but what I’ve seen are not very inspiring. What’s there to inspire when he just kept attacking Obama? Obama is promising change, McCain is just attacking his background, his middle name, and the list goes on. In a diverse society like America, is it really wise to criticize all these things? Didn’t you think, McCain, that your undecided voters may have one or more similar backgrounds as Obama’s? 

And then, THAT interview happened. I think a fifth grader can do better than Sarah Palin when asked the same questions. I couldn’t even bear to watch it because I felt to embarrassed for Palin. OK I admit I wasn’t doing any better than she did; I didn’t know what the Bush Doctrine was prior to the interview, but as a Republican Governor of Alaska, and as John McCain’s running mate, shouldn’t you have some inkling of an idea? 

As if the interview wasn’t bad enough, the Canadians decided to prank call her. The fake Sarkozky asked if she would run for presidency in 2012, and she GIGGLED. OK, you’re pretty cute Sarah Palin, but when you talk to another head of state from a country that doesn’t think much of your own country, you ought to have some sort of professionalism. Seriously, where did this woman come from?

And I hate how she puts herself as the model of working mom, that she would be your friend in the White House. Girl, Michele Obama is a working mom, Hillary Clinton is a working mom, MY mom and sisters are working moms. Don’t put yourself on a pedestal like that to get our sympathy. I honestly take that as an insult; just because you share the hardship of being a working mom does not make you any better than any working moms out there, and it offends that you’re using this angle to impress the women voters. You want to score points with the working moms? Make sure that when they take their kids to the hospital, they won’t be turned away or be burdened by thousands of dollars in medical bills. Make sure their kids don’t have to be deep in debts in their effort to get a college degree. Make sure the job market and the economy is healthy so that they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their kids would have better future and better lives. If there are really wars to be fought, make sure the soldiers are equipped properly and safely so they can come home alive and well to their mothers. When you’ve done all this, Sarah Palin, you can crown yourself The Working Mom of All Working Moms.

I just don’t get it. I mean, this should have been one of the most exciting campaigns ever! And in his concession speech, he was thanking everyone for job well done, for all the efforts put in, etc, etc. If I were McCain, I’d be like this is a shit campaign! Who the hell let me select Palin? Why the hell did anyone convince me she would be a good running mate? Why didn’t any of MY advisors give her any coaching before the Couric interview? Obama has over 2 million people on his Facebook, why do I have only 600 thousands? Why didn’t anyone teach me all this techy stuff to connect with the young voters? How come Obama has all those cool celebrities endorsing him, and I only have Arnold? Can’t you people find me some cool athletes and the Republican equivalent of Oprah?

It’s not that I wanted McCain to win, but I just thought there’s more to McCain than what we’ve seen. Well, I guess after what happened to Al Gore in 2000, it’s the Republican’s turn. Yeah, we kinda feel bad about Florida and all, so we’ll screw up this campaign to make up for it, and leave some good materials for the SNL people to do their skits. 

Oh McCain, it’s really sad that we saw the man that we know you are capable of being during that concession speech. I’m sure Obama would’ve won regardless the campaign McCain was running, but man, to bow out with such an embarrassing running mate and aimless presidential campaign? 

The best man did win. And it’s about time change arrives in America. Yay Obama!

If you think too long and hard about the question, they might close Comments on you!  (Maybe that’s one of the MSM’s problems!!)  So here’s what I was gonna say (and maybe more):

• Simple paper ballots, hand-completed in ink (X, check, or circle; no dots to fill in or chads), hand-counted in public at the polling place, no matter how long it takes (no matter what Wall Street or Fox News say), with protections against old-fashioned stuffing. Yes, LOW-TECH. It was good enough for the Founding Fathers….
• Enough precincts for the population to have no more than a reasonable wait.
• Non-partisan administration of elections. (And no “privatization” of THIS!)
• Federal regulation of elections to Federal-related offices: Presidential and Vice-Presidential Electors, Senators, Representatives.
• Right to Vote: no more “determined by the legislative authority of each state,” like when the 2000 Fla. GOP legislature threatened to throw out the vote and select GOP Electors themselves.
• Total public financing of campaigns, no private or party or third-party (eg, Swiftboats) donations or money at all … with an amount of free ad time on TV, radio, satellite, and cable.
• Automatic voter registration with citizenship / adulthood.
• Regional Primaries.
• Enforce truth-in-advertising standards, especially if now we’re paying for them!!!
• Paid holiday, and/or mandatory paid time-off for those who can’t plan to take the whole day off.  No matter what employers say.
• Simultaneous 24-hour polling nationwide, so as not to disenfranchise the West.
• No re-election of President: only one term ever per person.
• Make the presidential runner-up President of the Senate as effectively originally (just, no longer VP, since that has become an important part of the Prez’s Administration), with only a tie-breaking vote, but chairing Senate sessions, etc.
• Require polling places to be able to accommodate all expected voters indoors in any way possible, in case of bad weather, even if they have to be tents in parks, rental trailers, commandeered big-box stores, supermarkets, malls, etc.
• Electoral Votes for Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Am. Samoa, Guam, and Northern Marianas Islands — maybe one or two apiece. After all, they’re Americans too, and affected by Presidential decisions! (How about a voting Senator and Rep. apiece, too, and 2 Sens. for DC?)
• No ballot initiatives at the same time as elections for President or Congress, effectively “federalizing” state and local issues (so much for States’ Rights!!); nevermind that I&R is unconstitutional in the first place, denying States “a republican form of government,” ie, representative democracy!
• Warmer-weather elections and changes-of-government
• Apparently it needs to be clarified that Federal Courts have NO role in election of a president or VP
• Put teeth in the requirement that Prez and VP can’t be from the same state, by adding “in the last 4 years,” to avoid another Dick Cheney sham-move from Texas to Wyoming to be eligible
• Lame-duck restrictions on abuse of powers, maybe for the final six months of his/her term, maybe unless consented by a supermajority of Congress or the Senate (”advice and consent”), or something

Would you like your students to have a better understanding of the 2008 Presidential Campaign? Do you wish your American Government text could cover this important race to the presidency? Pearson Education is pleased to offer The 2008 Election Preview by Daniel M. Shea and Bryan Reece. This dynamic duo, both of whom are active in the classroom and in the youth participation movement, offer instructors a powerful teaching program to integrate campaign material into their courses.

What is in this teaching program? The 2008 Election Preview is 92 full color pages of compelling editorials, graphics, and photos from the NY Times.

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Other Products of Interest

• American Government: Continuity and Change, 2008 Alternate Edition (8th Edition)
• Is Voting for Young People? With a Postscript on Citizen Engagement (Great Questions in Politics Series) (2nd Edition) (Great Questions in Politics)
• The American Democracy
• Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy (13th Edition)
• Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics (Presidential Elections)

Yes, I heard a Ralph Nader presidential campaign ad on the radio in the middle of the night the other night.  First one I ever heard in all his years of running.  How deluded must he be to still be saying, after the last eight years, that there’s no difference between Republicans and Democrats in Washington???  What does Nader really stand for when all’s said and done?  Certainly not the environment or consumer protection, not workplace safety or civil rights, not even the automotive safety he cut his teeth on all those years ago, because all these have backslid since W. stole the 2000 election with Nader’s help.

Yup, yup, America’s done just swell under Bush/Nader these last 8 years!

Ralph, you belong with us liberal Democrats.  Please!

As voting begins, the opinion polls indicate that Barack Obama is significantly ahead of his Republican opponent, John McCain. It is possible that Obama and the Democratic Party will win the election. However, the Democratic candidate has made only a limited appeal to popular discontent, one, moreover, which avoids any indictment of the social and economic interests which have determined the policies of the Bush administration.

This limitation, which flows from the logic of the class interests represented by Obama and the Democratic Party, is the principal vulnerability of the Democratic campaign. The continuous appeal of the Republican Party to racism and social backwardness, which remain significant factors in the reactionary political climate fostered in the United States, could really be fought and beaten back only on the basis of a direct appeal to the class interests of all working people.

In keeping with the norms of American politics, where no mention of the working class is permitted and the great mass of working people must be labeled the “middle class,” Obama has avoided any class appeal. To the extent that he has sought to capitalize on popular anger, he has to an extraordinary extent done so on the basis of his individual persona. The Democratic Party has sought to exploit the expectation that the election of Obama, by virtue of his personal background, will substantially change the direction of America. This belief is widely held not only in the United States but throughout the world. It is, however, an illusion.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain face the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter struggle for the White House, with Obama holding a decisive edge in national opinion polls.

At least 130 million Americans are expected to cast votes on a successor to unpopular Republican President George W. Bush and set the country’s course for the next four years on the economic crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an overhaul of health care and other issues.

The first polls begin to close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday. Voting ends over the next six hours in the other 48 states.

All will be sitting on pins and needles, hands will wring, nails will be bitten, many trips to the restroom and then we will eventually know who will lead the US.  Just like only you can prevent a forest fire, only you can pick a president.  GO VOTE!

Or, and perhaps even more frightening, will it be changed?

George W. Bush is NOT my president. He has never been my president. Nor is he, for that matter, the person we, as citizens of the United States, chose to be our president. We did NOT choose him in 2000. We did NOT choose him in 2004. So what happened?

In 2000, hundreds of thousands of votes were not counted. Thousands more were not even cast, because  voters were turned away from the polls; either because they were intimidated into leaving, or because their names were not even on the list. Tens of thousands of people were purged from the lists in Florida because their names too closely resembled the names of convicted felons.

And when we asked for votes to be counted, for the truth to be revealed no matter how long it took, the U.S. Supreme Court said no, and gave the Presidency of The United States of America to George W. Bush, like a tired mother who makes one of her kids give a toy to the other, just to shut them the hell up.

In 2004, Ohio became the controversial state.

The city of Gahanna, Ohio, as just one example, had 638 registered voters in the 2004 election.

4,258 votes from Gahanna were counted for Bush.

Electronic voting machines failed all over Ohio and other states. They broke, they exceeded their capacity for containing the voter tabulations and began counting backwards, erasing votes. Votes were counted three times, votes were flipped, so if you voted for one person, you actually voted for the other. With no paper trail, electronic voting is the most unreliable and corrupt process being used, yet 27 states are using electronic voting machines. Voting machines manufactured in large part by Diebold, a company that manufactures ATM machines… ATM machines that produce paper receipts and are required to have precise auditing capabilities, yet NO SUCH STANDARDS EXISTED in previous elections for the voting machines! The good news, it seems, is that these 27 states are requiring “Voter-Verified Paper Record” or VVPR in the 2008 Election. HOWEVER, 11 states are not requiring VVPR in the election tomorrow, and only 18 states require a manual audit of votes.

This is not the democracy we are trying to set as an example for other countries. Is it? Why are we in Iraq, as Bush says, to help build their country, and their democracy, when ours is far more corrupt? At least the corruption in other countries is out in the open and not hidden behind the veil American Democracy. When behind closed doors that veil comes off to reveal an infuriating Republican totalitarianism.

I am challenging you to find the truth out for yourselves. Do not believe the mainstream press in our country. All they want to do is keep their jobs and protect their interests; i.e. the people in power who control their money.

Watch the trailers below, visit the websites below, and refuse to blindly accept results as they are force-fed to us, if this election should be stolen again by the Republicans.

The video below is a trailer for the documentary, Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections.

The video below is a clip from Uncounted. Tom Feeney was going to assure that Florida’s electoral votes went to George W. Bush in 2000. Here is how he did it.

http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/index.php

http://blackboxvoting.org/

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/

http://www.freepress.org/index2.php

http://www.freepress.net/

http://www.bradblog.com/

http://www.votersunite.org/

The video below is a trailer for the fantastic movie, Recount.

The video below is a parody. Funny! (But not really.)

Justice Antonin Scalia said we were the laughingstock of the world, so that was why they had to end the fight for the election in 2000… WTF?

Bill Maher discusses with Charlie Rose the role of religion in our current administration and in American politics in general… separation of church and state is in our First Amendment! “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

I am an American. But I am not proud to be one, when our country’s leaders hypocritcally corrupt everything for which we stand; freedom, democracy, basic civil rights.

Everything on which our country was founded.

It is all meaningless, if we don’t fight for it.

The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither George W. Bush nor Al Gore had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, hanging chads, butterfly ballots, court challenges, etc., but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed the sportsmanlike way to settle things. The candidate that caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election. Therefore, it was decided that there should be an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner.

After much of back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest take place on a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota.

There were to be no observers present, and both men were to be sent out separately on this isolated lake and return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties. At the end of the first day, Gore returned to the starting line and he had ten fish.

Soon, Bush returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having another ‘bad hair’ day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the ext day.

At the end of the 2nd day Gore came in with 20 fish and Bush came in again with none. That evening, Dick Cheney got together secretly with Bush and said, “I think Gore is a low-life, cheatin’ son-of-a-Democrud. I want you to go out tomorrow and don’t even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating.”

The next night (after Gore returns with 50 fish), Cheney said to Bush, “Well, tell me, how the hell is Gore cheating?”

Bush replied, “Dick, you’re not going to believe this, but that son-of-a-gun is  cutting holes in the ice.”

And these guys say ‘08 will be a hum-dinger!

All networks’ “experts” locked up together all day Tuesday, no leaks?  I smell a coverup.  Collusion.  Probably in favor of the Republicans who sign their paychecks.  They sound more concerned about their own embarassment than about the shredding of the Constitution and of the Rule of Law.  But no, millions of us ‘just misunderstood, didn’t know’ in 2000 and ‘04, we’re all just ‘too dumb.’  Well, we’re not too dumb to know when the wool is being pulled over our eyes; when formally published, supposedly complete exit poll data change before our eyes.

Why only one exit poll, anyway?  This is like the lazy science we’re also increasingly subjected to, where one experiment is considered proof of something new.  Every experiment should be duplicated before publication — isn’t that what they told us in elementary school? – and every poll should be too, preferably by someone else.

Increasingly in this country, voting becomes a ‘religious’ act: we do the right thing even if it might not have any effect in this space and time, simply because it’s right, even if McCain eerily predicts a ‘miraculous’ comeback, like W. swearing Jeb promised him Florida in ‘00, and Mr. E-voting pledging to deliver him Ohio in ‘04.

So get ready for every excuse in the book: imperfect election systems, imperfect voting devices, lost ballots, imperfect ballots, not enough voting devices, lying Whites, cheating Blacks and Hispanics and Democrats and liberals, massive last-minute shifts in opinion, Republican judges and Justices, elite losers’ “civil right to a presumption of victory,” imperfect vote-counting devices, illiterate Democrats, analysts’ stupidity, yada yada yada.

But do the right thing anyway.  Even if McCain and the Repugs steal it again, “God who sees in secret will reward you.”  And He will not let us suffer all the way until He returns again in Glory….  “‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

Maybe it’d be better if we had a warm-weather change of government, rather than in the dead of winter, November-January, when people are less apt to come out and protest a coup d’etat in Washington and most of the rest of the country….  Elections just before Memorial Day, Inauguration Columbus Day weekend perhaps, also leaving more time, enough time to make sure the election was done right?

I want to start with this new post because it is very profound, despite the spelling mistakes.

Lala

I found this …. someone had a dream read it.
I have never posted any of my dreams before but this one I felt I had to shair I hope you will forgive my spelling
2 nights ago I dreamed I was hunting in a forrested aria when I saw an elder standing just inside the wood line of a clearing as I approached him and ask if he needed assistance. Because it is rair to se someone so old in the woods he looked to be in his 90-early hundreds.Wearing clean white buck skins with a bandana with 2 feathers in it out to the side to shade his eyes from the sun he had a bow and a knife but no gun. he said no he was waiting for me that there are things I must see. I said lead on atet mosunni or Grand father he said just watch it is not for you to interfear. Wached an eagle land in the clearing he was a beautiful bird with wite tailfeathers and a snow white head.but his feet where dirty and I thought this was odd for some reason as I wached I saw a brown snake slithering through the grass. I remember thinking that it was too cold for snakes but as I wached the eagle it saw the snake but refused to leave or do any thing about it. the snake struck a wound to the right wing of the eagal who was facing north it was a deep wound but not debilitating one well the eagal fought off the snake and sent it away . soon I saw a red brown and pailblue snake comming through the grass I thought the eagle would fly away ,but it did notit treated the snake as a friend and went to shelter it with his wing and the snake bit the left wing causing a wound so terrable that the eagal could no longer fly the eagal fought this snake off also then I saw a larger snake comming through the grass it was huge multicolored with black red white brown and green comming tward the eagle . who just stood there untill it was too late iw waited to attack till its head was already in the mouth of the other snake but by then its head was gone. I wached the snake crawl away and the old one said to me the first blow has already been struck the last 2 will happen after the dark chief is put in to power
remember before the dark one leaves his office the second blow will fall and the final blow will fall in the time of 2 chiefs
I know what some of what I was shown and creator I hope I am wrong .

Hi Lala: I need to know a couple of things because this dream is very clear, but it depends on when the dream came. Was this your dream? Or did you find it posted somewhere and transcribe it? Either way the time the dream came to the person is pertinent because one could interpret the first snake attack to the right wing as the first George Bush administration which was short lived, the dark chief as Clinton as he was referred to as “the first black president,” even though that seems ridiculous now, but anyway, and the last in the time of the two chiefs as George W, and Dick Cheney, as Cheney has clearly been a shadow president.

Now the first attack could have been the first gulf war and the drop in the economy of the 90s. The second attack the 2000 election debacle when Clinton was president and the last in the time of the two chiefs, 9/11 and the subsequent wars. All would fit this prophecy. This is the thing about dreams they are often out of sync with time. Let me know. If it was back during the first Bush administration when the person had this dream it would be very clearly prophetic of what we all of just gone through. Obviously, the elder in white was the person’s spirit guide. And forests often represent introspection and spirituality. The eagle clearly the US. The snakes problems. Interesting that the eagle saw the snake as a friend as this would fit with the interpretation. We have done a lot of business with the Saudis and it was mostly Saudi nationals who attacked us on 9/11. And it is well documented that the Bush family has a long standing friendship with the Bin Laden family. Perhaps, this is why he has never been found and all his family was flown out of our country on 9/11.

hopeandaplan

Your tower card is scary. This is completely off topic but is there any hope that Rush Limbaugh will fall from his powerful perch. He is as antagonizing, misleading, as outrageous as Palin in his claims and just as popular. Turned in two votes yesterday!! Thanks for helping us all keep the faith…

Rush Limbaugh!!! He is so awful. It’s so wrong that he has a platform of any kind other than one to jump off of, like into a swimming pool — that I would not begrudge him because he looks like he could use the exercise.

So I asked the tarot: Will Rush Limbaugh fall from power in the next few years.

The answer: Yes.

People will walk away from him, lose faith and interest. And generally feel like he’s just regurgitating the same stuff over and over. 

He may find his way again in hate radio again at some even more distant point, but it will be a much smaller demo.

curious123

Hello Denise,
I’m becoming more anxious and more nervous each day for Obama. I can’t wait till this is all over. I truly hope he is elected and the majority of Americans see through this mess that McCain/Palin has spun! It’s truly getting uglier and uglier with the McCain camp. I just can’t believe that Obama might or will lose PA. Please, please revisit this closer to the election and hopefully the outcome will change. I truly believe that he is for the people and we need a Barack Obama Presidency. Please tell me that karma will hit McCain/Palin upside the head real hard!!!

1. What do you see happening to McCain’s psyche after this election?

2. What about the Republican Party?

He has sold his soul to the devil…how unfortunate!!!
Vote!!!! Obama/Biden 08

Thanks so much

Hi Curious, 

Actually every time I do a reading regarding McCain the devil card does come up so you’re not really wrong in a sense. He has betrayed his own ethics in a crazy desire for power over others. He’s lost his mind really. “My fellow prisoners,” tells you a lot about what’s going on in his head. 

I feel the Republican party is in turmoil. It has been attracting and playing to the shadow side for the past 30 years, since Nixon. During the 80s Reagan put a happy grandpa face on it, but its agenda and many of those attracted to the party are motivated by greed, power over others, money, selfishness and they are hypocritical. Not all Republicans. But it has become a magnet for that sort of energy.

The fracturing we are seeing in the party between the religious right who basically want to make our country a theocracy and the wall street right who want to turn us into a plutocracy, are finding that those two ideologies don’t really play that well together. Not because a theocratic plutocracy, in and of itself, is an impossible idea (just look at the papacy during the middle ages) but because these particular brand of religious ideologues are (in general) not very knowledgeable about their world or their own belief system and attract ignorance.

It takes smarts to create and steal wealth and, need I say more?

I have a feeling we will see more people calling for a third party from the right in the coming years, more jumping ship to libertarianism or some other form of plutocracy masquerading as capitalism, (lets make the rich, richer) in a possible new party.

However, I don’t see the Republican party being in power for a very long time. They’ve done enough damage.

Now its time for some healing.

Wyntyr

Hi Denise (waving),
Thank you so much for answering my question.
I wanted to run this by you on the Tower (reversed) card. I have always interpreted the Tower card as two figures falling out of the tower on their head so if reversed it means they have landed on their feet. So, you can take the upright Tower to mean a chaotic situation that leaves you feeling out of control, reversed to mean that it’s chaotic but you land on your feet. So the Tower reverses essentially means coming out on top of a chaotic situation. Of course, I am assuming that is the only card that you pulled from the deck. And, interesting that you had a dream of a tornado. A tornado can be symbolic of a lot of things. The skies in dreams generally link to the future with the possibility of change. So if they are disturbed then it could mean there is no clear outlook for how things will be. Uncertainty, Unforeseen, changes are possibilities with tornado meanings in dreams. I keep feeling that we are in the ‘calm before the storm’. Anyway, thank you for reading and listening to my rambling.  Many blessings to you! Hugs, Wyntyr

Hi Wyntyr:

I wanted to share part of a dream I had last night. It was very lucid and when this happens I know it is a premonition of some sort. I was in Alaska on a ship there were all these bridges, some going to Russia. There was a very creepy, eerie feeling that something was very wrong up there. The local people knew about it, and were following the story, but we in the lower 48 were not aware. It had something to do with a bridge to Russia as well.

I don’t know exactly what it means yet, but I wonder if Sarah Palin and her husband don’t have treasonous ambitions. Perhaps making a deal with another country like Russia to succeed. Or the Russian bridge may be a metaphor for making a bridge to someone we have traditionally seen as our enemy. Perhaps the group they are involved with is actively seeking military support in secret? I’m sure if there is anything to this I will get more clarification.

The other possibility is that Palin is bad news and more negative stuff will come out about her. Scary stuff that if we knew it, would make us feel, as a country, we would have been put in jeopardy militarily by her coming into power.

There is something very bad going on up there. I know that for sure from the dream.

Tjuania in Desoto, Texas

I am totally shocked about PA coming up in the cards as a win for McCain, and shocked about the win for Obama in Arizona…..Could you check Texas?????

The reason I am asking I am checking the polls everyday and there is a large turnout, expecially African -American and young people…..We have a senate race in Texas and alot of people are pulling for Noriega over John Coreign…Do you see Noriega closing the deal in Texas?

 I asked the cards if Obama/Biden would win Texas and oddly here is the answer:

Maybe.

It looks like they have some strong support but there are so many crazy lies and misinformation about Obama down there, it’s hard to erase all of it. Even though it looks like the Obama supporters have been working tirelessly to do so. It will be a lot closer than anyone things. And surprisingly it shows up as a maybe. So we’ll have to wait and see.

OK, since I did not ask last time if Obama would win PA but rather if McCain would lose PA. I asked it again of the cards.

Will Obama win PA on 11/4/08?

The answer:

Again a maybe with the tower reversed in the center. The moon card, stuff going on behind the scenes. I take this to be that there is some serious maleficence going on in PA. Voter fraud? Or perhaps voters being scared by McCain’s recent trip there into changing their minds. But Obama has great support. And since McCain had a definite no.

I’m going to say PA will have some weird stuff happen. It is not going to be clear cut, and a winner may not be called right away. I think we will see shades of 2000 here. It may require a recount, and then Obama will be the winner even though by that point people will feel his win was shaky, which is why it always comes up as a maybe.

I will answer more posts tomorrow. So look for yours. Hope you had a great holiday weekend.

Don’t forget to move your clocks back an hour!

Best wishes to all and many blessings.

The world has been anxiously awaiting my endorsement. I am officially endorsing Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Pictured above are chads from Florida from the 2000 election. I received them as a kind gift from Bunny Burson, who had an excellent array of prints on display in Brooklyn this weekend, themed as “Consequences”. She utilized chads as one of her mediums.

From the gallery website:

Bunny Burson

American, Born 1948 in Memphis, TN

Lives and works in St. Louis, Missourri

Bunny Burson’s artwork focuses on the Presidential election of 2000 and the consequences of a failed electoral process. As a medium she uses chad, which has become the universal symbol of the corrupted ballot. From Iraq to Katrina, the controversial election results in 2000 and again in 2004 triggered devastation.

Chad is a paradoxical medium. On the one hand it is a colorful, discarded fragment of paper. But on the other hand it represents power, the vote. That paradox is carried forward in her work. Using the delicate chad, she creates storms, which have become a metaphor for the powerful consequences of the election results. Her work evokes failures of the past to inspire efforts to correct our election processes and to highlight the vigilance necessary to make sure that each vote is honestly cast and counted. Political art becomes particularly important during times of divisiveness and uncertainty. This is one of those moments.

Votes count, even for apathetic people. Vote Obamathetic.

• McCain/Palin backers in Ohio claim to fear that if Obama/Biden win “the Blacks will take over,” and “Obama is related to a terrorist,” and “lots of people forget 9/11.”  (WARNING: Video includes an instance of the N word.)
• Who’s an “elitist,” and who’s a “plumber” and other “salt of the earth” occupations — quarter-millionaires?  You do the math!
• GOP bigwig threatens Obamas’ lives via mass email.  I wonder if the Secret Service is following up on these things?
• McCain calls NYC and DC residents “out-of-touch elites”!!!  Between them probably more “plumbers” than many whole States!
• Florida once again highlights election farce.  Especially this memorable line from Palm Beach’s election head: “‘The accuracy that the public in this country demands in elections does not exist,’ said Judge Barry Cohen, head of Palm Beach County’s canvassing board.”  What’s so difficult: I cast my vote for a candidate, you count it.  It isn’t quantum physics!  If anybody invents an election method that complicates THAT, we must question their agenda — which of course they have, many times over!!!  We really need to go back to simple hand-marked paper ballots, hand-counted in public right at the polling place, like most of the voting world.
• Young Texas woman made up story of assault by a Black man in Pittsburgh who didn’t like her pro-McCain bumpersticker.  It’s like a reverse Twana Brawley case!  Meanwhile, did you hear about the Obama worker actually slashed and abused by a McCain supporter back in August, ’cause I sure didn’t!
• Palin meltdown: Said to be “going rogue,” which must be pretty bad given what we’ve seen from that campaign!!!  Meanwhile, appearance of impropriety between Palin and that celebrated natural gas pipeline in Alaska; “that’s not a maverick, that’s a sidekick!”  Stuff like this makes me wonder if this ticket isn’t just being offered up as a sacrificial lamb, and the GOP is just phoning it in for this election cycle, realizing that W. and cronies have got them in it up to their eyeballs.  Why else would McCain forego all that rich Republican / corporate campaign cash, and be out-fundraised and outspent by a Black Democrat and all his small donors?!?!?!  (Try as the MSM might to get McCain elected anyway…)  Why would he just keep hammering the same tired slurs instead of campaigning imaginatively, creatively, with initiative?  He’s even running against the ’60s and the ’40s?!!!
• “Spread the wealth around”?  If Repugs were really against redistribution of wealth, they’d support labor unions, welfare, monetary reform, and all other kinds of things.  ‘Cause right now we’re redistributing it from the lower classes to the rich and corporations, and foreign investors and offshored workers!!!!!
• One of their ads claims under Obama’s healthcare plan “bureaucrats will decide” what we get and when.  This only shows how out of touch they are — and McCain, since he “approved this message” — because unless one gets his/her healthcare on a cash-and-carry basis, BUREAUCRATS ARE ALREADY DECIDING ON OUR HEALTHCARE!!!!!  HMO and insurance company bean-counters who are paid to NOT pay for US!!!!!  And if you’re on Medicaid or Medicare, also government bureaucrats, legislators, governors, President, corporate lobbyists, etc etc etc.  This is the problem with what Orthodox Christian Holy Tradition alludes to as Mercenary medicine, ie, profiteering — profiting from people’s illness, injuries, bad luck, victimization, etc.  What a sin.

During the 2000 election, Bush opposed the notion that America was responsible for leading a moral crusade around the globe. When questioned about foreign policy, Bush asserted that it was a mistake to “go around the world and say this is the way it’s got to be.” He went further to say by policing the world we would “end up being viewed as the ugly American.” Bush told America that he would pursue action that was in the direct interests of the U.S., as opposed to Clinton who intervened in Bosnia and Haiti on moral grounds.

Bush won, and it was not long before 9/11 hit and the fate of the U.S. shifted dramatically. Entering Afghanistan seemed logical at the time - our intelligence had located Bin Laden and we needed to hit him where it hurts. The fact that the Taliban was an extremely oppressive regime: added bonus. The emphasis on leading a crusade of freedom and democracy against barbaric, repressive regimes began to take shape.

With the decision to enter Iraq, we saw the two political parties switch sides. The Middle East would be democratized and Saddam’s oppressive regime would be toppled, so said the Neocons. Iraqis would experience true freedom and not live in fear. Democrats, however, passionately opposed the war in Iraq. Iraq was a mistake from the beginning, a position further verified by the inability of U.N. weapons inspectors to find WMDs.

Within two years, the moralistic goals of the left were tossed out of the window. Perceiving Bush’s lust for oil and the initiation of the NeoCons’ long-standing goal in the Middle East, Democrats were willing to overlook Saddam’s horrible human rights record, including the use of chemical weapons on the Kurdish town of Halabja, which killed 3,200 - 5000 Iraqi civilians and injured thousands more. Republicans, however, were quick to paint the war in Iraq as a battle against an oppressive, brutal regime.

During the 2000 election, Bush would have lambasted the thought of the U.S. military engaging in a protracted war in order to bring democracy to Iraq–these days that’s the job of the Democrats.

My family has been traditionally conservative as long as I can remember.
The 2000 election happened my senior year of high school and at the time I was HUGE green party supporter. I collected signatures to petition the ballots for Ralph Nader- I even attended the Nader rally that year at the University of Houston (John and I paid to go and it was kindof awesome).

I threw myself into green party like my life depended on it. I wore green party pins on my homecoming mum and in my senior government class election I was the representative for Nader- (I won that election!).

My mother knew all of this- so when I told her that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was for her to vote for Nader- she was not surprised by the proposition. Unfortunately for myself, she declined while declaring she would be voting for George W. Bush.
At the time, (for some asinine reason) I was angered by this.

I dont know what I expected. Maybe I thought since I seemingly cared more about politics that it made more sense to just support me and my personal agenda instead of her own. Looking back I was being ridiculous- but I honestly was disappointed in my mom for even thinking about voting for George W. Bush. I was apalled.
With that said, I was VERY VERY VERY surprised this weekend. My mother said she was voting for Barack Obama.
I literally did a double-take when she casually said it during a political conversation with my family.

Before my mom said this-
I was watching the Texas A&M game with 3 Uncles and 1 Aunt when a political conversation materializes out of nowhere.
Not 30 seconds later, the hatetalk started pouring out of 1 particular Uncle and his wife (my aunt)…. to the point of them talking about just bombing Iran (getting “it over with”) and taking the Oil…. among other caustic talking points about Muslims and the middle name Hussein.

Hearing this stuff at work (constantly) does not phase me too much because well… its work.- but this is my family saying this stuff.
People I am irrevocably bound to by blood. Even more disturbing is the fact that the one spewing this ignorant hate is Police Officer Lieutenant. (the same ex-marine cop that at Thanksgiving said “You must be a democrat” anytime someone said something stupid)

At one point, one of my other Uncles (whom is Libertarian) said that there are some redeeming qualities about Obama- to which my aunt (the wife of the cop) quickly replies- (in the most condescending, angry way possible.)- “I’ll pray for you.”

Really? You’ll pray for my uncle? Because he doesn’t think Obama is the Anti-Christ?

I am ALL for political opinion- and that is fine… but once people start getting high and mighty- looking down on those who do not agree- and practically force their hatred on others I get physically ill.
Once the bombing Iran thing started I had to get up and leave the room- I even said out loud that I couldn’t take it anymore.

I joined the rest of my family who were sitting outside with my grandma. I told them what had just happened- and oddly enough- everyone agreed that they were being ridiculous.
The conversation went on to our thoughts about Sarah Palin and McCain in general- and somewhere around this point is where my mom casually interjects that she will be voting for Obama.
very strange.

I don’t think I should be proud just because she has changed her affiliation- especially since I am voting for Obama- but I am pleasantly surprised that she budged at all.

That afternoon has completely warped my perception of my family.
It also made me realize how jerky it was of me to ask my mom to vote for my candidate of choice…
especially since I am fully aware of the fact that voting for Nader at all may have helped George W. Bush win 2000.
I’m positive I am not the only one who thinks this…..

Sarah Palin. The woman is an embarrassment. Her campaign is straight out of the Bush White House “keep telling the lie long enough, and people will believe it” Book. Yes, THAT book. The one that has been the plan book since before GWB even took office.

I remember the arrogance he displayed during that long drawn out period when the country waited to see if Gore or Bush would be president.  Bush acted like the assumptive President. He just was quite the thing. His whole attitude was that this Gore guy was being silly and surely, he, George W. Bush was the rightful heir to the US throne!

I remember remarking on this at the time: This is exactly how his presidency will be. Arrogance and more arrogance. Repeating lies enough times that he figures people will believe them. And look where he got us!

Now there is Palin. Claiming that she has been exonerated by the investigation of her actions as Alaska’s Governor. This, you recall, is the trooper-gate story. Where she tried to get her sister’s ex fired from the police department. Took a personal interest,  she did.

Exonerated! Only problem is that she was NOT exonerated at all. The investigative report said that people in her employ were uncooperative and the investigation concluded that  she, herself, had violated the standards of government officials.  That she and her husband had SEVERAL times contacted a government official to fire her ex brother-in-law. Then she threatened to fire the official when he didn’t do as she wanted.

We have had 8 years of this nonsense. We don’t need a single day longer than we absolutely have to have. Adios GOP. Your arrogant day has ended. A new dawn has come. And what a dawn it is. The first black President of The United States.

Never before, and I pray never again, has anything taken place that would come even remotely close to that which has rocked the political realm this fall. I was not a fan of the political process before this Presidential cycle; now I vow to never pay a bit of attention to the subject ever again.

For those who just awoke and think we live back in the “happy days” of the 1950’s, let me clue you in on what is different in America now. We live in a country split into red and blue, black and white, rich and poor and angry and less angry. We live in a nation where the most important thing in all of life is who gets elected President every four years. We live in country of naïve fools who cannot see manipulation or fraud if it was happening right in front of them.

Eight years ago, the Republicans somehow managed to get their guy elected whether the popular vote indicated it was the will of the nation or not. Whether the election was “stolen” or not, the bitterness and animosity on the part of the Democrats led to what has now happened this year. Actually, the seeds were planted two years earlier when the Republicans dared launch impeachment proceedings against everybody’s most popular President, Bill Clinton.

Starting in 1998, the Democratic Party was intent on inflicting punishment on the Republicans for dragging Bill through the humiliating process of having to acknowledge what went on in the White House after hours. When “Monicagate” finally calmed down, the plans were drawn up to make sure Al Gore would win the 2000 election and serve two terms. By then, Hillary would be able to run and serve another two terms. Twenty four years of uninterrupted Clinton/Gore was the plan. Things didn’t quite work out that way did they?

With his stunning defeat in 2000, Al Gore became CEO of the Global Warming campaign instead and has gloried in that capacity ever since. Right on cue, Hillary emerged as everyone’s favorite to win the Democratic nomination for 2008 and no matter who the Republicans chose, she would dominate them. A funny thing happened on the way to the nomination though; she didn’t win.

At the 2004 Democratic convention, an up and coming fresh new face gave a stirring keynote speech one evening. The nation’s first impression of Barack Obama was that of a golden tongued orator who could whip the emotions of a crowd into a frenzy. Commentators gave fair warning in 2004 that Mr. Obama would be force to be reckoned with in the Democratic Party down the road; as in 2016 after Hillary’s two terms.

We all know the story of what took place this year. In a stunning upset, Barack Obama whipped Hillary in Iowa and then blitzed her by winning state after state in the early primaries. The “traditional” thinking was still that Hillary would win in the end and Barack would be her running mate. By the middle of spring this notion was squelched by the stampede of delegates Mr. Obama had won. He would be the candidate and had NO intention of putting Hillary on the ticket.

As the Obama express has picked up steam and flattened the “geezer” express of John McCain, more and more Americans have fallen under the spell of a larger than life figure who somehow has convinced millions of otherwise rationale white Americans that socialism is a good thing. Fueled by the conveniently fabricated economic crisis, Obama’s message of “spreading the wealth around” appeals to everyone being hurt by the financial meltdown.

Just as in 1932 (Hoover), the prevailing opinion is that one man (W. Bush) managed to cause all the current pain. No sane person would ever believe one person could single handedly bring down the entire American financial system, but obviously we are dealing with a nation of temporarily insane people. Just as they believe one man caused all the problems, they believe one man holds all the answers to solving them.

So, what we are left with is the prospect of a LBJ landslide victory by a candidate who has full intention of turning this country into a socialistic, if not Marxist state. We are left with the prospect of anyone who has worked hard to make money being taxed to the hilt to finance one new government program after another. What we are faced with is the demonizing of the conservative right wing in America and especially the religious right.  We are left with the nationalization of one industry and aspect of American life after another.

It is hard to believe a nation which was decidedly tilted toward the conservative just a few years ago has suddenly and mysteriously turned in mass to not just liberalism, but the far left wing of it. It is hard to believe that millions of “good Catholics” will reject their faith and vote for candidates who promote abortion and other “right to die” causes. It is hard to believe that thousands of very wealthy people will back a candidate who promises to raise their taxes into the stratosphere.

The only logical explanation for the Obama phenomena is found in emotion. Just as a fiery preacher can whip the congregation up in such a way to dump far more into the offering plate than they should; so Obama whips up people’s emotions to do things they aren’t really sure are right, but they do them anyway. Political candidates depend on emotion to inspire the audience to not only vote but go tell others also.

The only other explanation is MONEY. The amount of money raised by the Obama campaign is insane. So much for campaign finance reform. Once again this election is proving that if you have enough money to saturate the airwaves and mailboxes of America and have a candidate able to whip huge crowds into a “football game” frenzy mentality; someone with ZERO credentials and NO verifiable experience can not only run for the nation’s highest office—but win it in a landslide.

I’m only going to answer one tonight because I’m under the weather. It comes from Mabochan:

mabochan
What is your take on the likelihood of martial law, the use of the expanded powers of the presidency, the FEMA concentration camps, and so forth?

This is a good question and one I’ve thought about a lot since the Reagan administration when the laws were changed. I think we’ve already seen the effect of the widening of the executive branch’s power. Guantanamo, torture, ignoring the Genova Convention, invading a sovereign nation are all perfect example of what happens when are checks and balances are not equally weighted.

It’s ironic that the Republican party claims to be the party of patriots when they have actually done the most damage to our constitution, chiseling away at the separation of church and state, the right to privacy, eliminating checks and balances, awarding veterans less help then veterans of previous wars and allowing American companies to export jobs while giving them tax breaks to do it. It is also rather ironic that they want to make boat loads of money in our economy, but not pay their fair share of taxes. That to me is unpatriotic as well.

In terms of martial law, we’ve seen it. Here in Los Angeles when the riots happened. And if we continue to be ignorant about the real agenda of the right wing, we will see this country continue to slide toward fascism. I use that term in the way Musolini meant it. He said of fascism, “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.” It of course also has the added element of totalitarianism or dictatorship which our current president joked he’d like a whole lot better. I believe, honestly that there has been a coo going on over the past 20 years, slow and steady by this radical group of people who truly do want to take over our country and the world. I’ve been seeing that since I was a kid, (psychically I mean). We really have to be on guard because the people calling us (those who respect Democracy and want to make it better through discussion and healthy debate) treasonous, are actually the very people who are inacting treason. In psychology this is called projection. Problem is the way this coo has been evolving has been so behind the scenes until the 2000 and 2004 elections that many people didn’t see or believe it possible. Like the old saying, “never say never” once the collective consciousness feels invulnerable to treason, fascism, authoritarianism or as your question taps concentration camps, martial law, etc. we actually become open to the possibility, because we are no longer on guard against it.

If our country were to continue down the path its on (with George W) we would be nothing, but a banana republic with a third world economy. We are in a kind of war here, a war for the soul of our country. We have to win back our Democracy. Just as those right wing “Christians,” have co-opted Christianity as a shield to do whatever they want in the name of Christ, so have the right wing Republicans co-opted the word Democracy to sell us fascism. It’s a very scary time. And it is utterly important that all of us are engaged, informed and involved in the political process.

Best wishes and good luck.

In the US, the 2008 election is just around the corner (bet you didn’t know that). And I got to thinking about a time eight years ago when Gore and Bush vied for the White House. No wait, never mind, no political analysis today.

Here is the breaking news from The Onion:

Serbia Deploys Peacekeeping Forces To U.S.

November 15, 2000 | Issue 36•41

BELGRADE–Serbian president Vojislav Kostunica deployed more than 30,000 peacekeeping troops to the U.S. Monday, pledging full support to the troubled North American nation as it struggles to establish democracy.

“We must do all we can to support free elections in America and allow democracy to gain a foothold there,” Kostunica said. “The U.S. is a major player in the Western Hemisphere and its continued stability is vital to Serbian interests in that region.”

Kostunica urged Al Gore, the U.S. opposition-party leader who is refusing to recognize the nation’s Nov. 7 election results, to “let the democratic process take its course.”

“Mr. Gore needs to acknowledge the will of the people and concede that he has lost this election,” Kostunica said. “Until America’s political figures learn to respect the institutions that have been put in place, the nation will never be a true democracy.”

Serbian forces have been stationed throughout the U.S., with an emphasis on certain trouble zones. Among them are Oregon, Florida, and eastern Tennessee, where Gore set up headquarters in Bush territory. An additional 10,000 troops are expected to arrive in the capital city of Washington, D.C. by Friday.

Though Kostunica has pledged to work with U.S. leaders, he did not rule out the possibility of economic sanctions if the crisis is not resolved soon.

“For democracy to take root and flourish, it must be planted in the rich soil of liberty. And the cornerstone of liberty is elections free of tampering or corruption,” Kostunica said. “Should America prove itself incapable of learning this lesson on its own, the international community may be forced to take stronger measures.”

Q:  Do you think we’re meeting our obligations properly?

A: 

I’m not sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say this is the way it’s got to be. I want to empower people. I want to help people help themselves, not have government tell people what to do. I just don’t think it’s the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you. We went into Russia, we said here’s some IMF money. It ended up in Chernomyrdin’s pocket. And yet we played like there was reform. The only people who are going to reform Russia are Russians. I’m not sure where the vice president’s coming from, but I think one way for us to end up being viewed as the ugly American is for us to go around the world saying, we do it this way, so should you. I think the United States must be humble and must be proud and confident of our values, but humble in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their own course.

October 11, 2000 — Wake Forest University — George W. Bush