I see in this primary election a race where Democrats have a clear chance to nominate a winning candidate, Barack Obama, who represents a clean break from the old style of Democratic politics that has brought us 2 heartbreaking defeats against George W. Bush, a narrow victory over Ross Perot and G.H.W. Bush and 2 landslide defeats at the hands of Ronald Reagan (sorry, I mentioned Reagan- time to get the vapors!).
But I also see why Democratic voters aren't yet sold on Obama and it has to do with the party's continued efforts to shoot itself in the foot every four years. Please join me behind the jump to see what I have cooked up...
Whereas, the Fox Propaganda Network is disappointed that the Democrat (sic) Party has decided to cancel the Nevada presidential primary debate and whereas they have decided to call Democrats Stalinists for opposing their generous attempts to help Democrats reach their massive audience of mostly right wing viewers and whereas several prominent Democratic "stategists" have joined them in their concern troll outrage, I hereby propose that the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy make it up to them by hosting and moderating a debate of all the Republican candidates for president.
If ALL the GOP candidates agree to the rules as set forth by a significant portion of the members of this site, then we shall consent to give the mouthpiece of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy back the canceled debate and urge all Democratic presidential candidates to attend. I feel that the concern trolls are right and our democracy CANNOT function if the candidates are afraid to answer questions from those holding opposing viewpoints. I think it's only fair that if they are going to try do us such a huge favor them maybe we should help them in return.
I'm asking you to join me below the fold and in the comments to help mold the rules of the debate and make this official so we can start alerting the candidates and the media.
Isn't it just disgusting to hear the Right Wing Corporate Spin Machine cry about the "Blame Game" when all they've done since Hurricane Katrina hit is to try to pass off the blame onto anybody but Dear Leader? I had actually hoped most Americans had finally seen Bush for what he is- a pathetic useless turd dressed up to look like a brave leader. It's seriously starting to look like a large portion of this country thinks he can do no wrong no matter how much evidence there is that he is in fact a complete fuck up that turns anything he touches into disaster. As usual Karl Rove blames the other side for what his guy is guilty off while muddying the waters (no pun here) in order to confuse the masses so they fall back on their programming- Bush is the Second Coming, he can do no wrong, and anything bad that happens is the fault of negroes, queers, feminists, tree huggers, and the Clintons.
Anyway, as part of my new attempt to get off my ass and do something about it, I've instead chosen to completely waste my time and draw a cartoon about it. If you want to see it you'll have to keep reading...
I would probably just post this in the front page story about Bush nominating Roberts to fill Rehnquist's spot, but those things are big enough without having to wait for graphics to load too. So, below the fold you will find my take on the nomination of Roberts for Chief Justice...
I just drew an editorial cartoon on the death of SCOTUS Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Of course, it's a very tired cliche in the field of editorial cartooning to show the deceased at the Pearly Gates (you may remember every single syndicated cartoonist in America doing the same "Here's Johnny" at the Pearly Gates joke after Carson died), but I just couldn't resist using St. Peter to do a cartoon you probably won't see in your local paper (unless they carry Ted Rall or Tom Tomorrow). So, I don't want to mess with anybody's download time so I'll have to post it below the fold...
I appreciated Slack Inc.'s recent attempt to discuss abortion which unfortunately got derailed into a pissing match between two of this site's most prominent pissers. I had wanted to use that diary to get into a discussion of abortion statistics but felt that it would probably deserve it's own diary. Follow the jump and see if it does...
Anyone following Michigan politics knows our state has been in a fiscal mess since Governor Engler and the GOP cut tax rates through the floor and left us unable to pay for essential services in the current economic climate. I am here to do a favor for a friend and push a radical solution: Making Michigan only the second state (besides Nebraska) to move to a unicameral system.
My local Democratic Party (Barry County, Michigan) took a proposal to eliminate the State Senate to the state Dem convention. The resolution was immediately shot down by the powers that be. Our local paper, the Hastings Banner, has taken up the issue and written an editorial endorsing the measure. Please read the editorial below and tell me what you think and if you'd be willing to try to get a referendum going on this.
The Sunday talk shows made it clear this weekend that Bush is attempting to declare victory in Iraq and to take credit for a sweeping tide of democracy in the Middle East in order to silence critics of his Iraq policy. If Bush can score a victory with the debacle in Iraq, the Republicans will be able to turn Bush into a "great" president and Dems will be on the defense in foreign policy for a long time.
While, we can argue valiantly to the American people that victory has still not been achieved in Iraq, most people just want to move on thinking we won and we would merely come out looking like spoilsports, pessimists, or sore losers if we try to argue that somehow none of it matters because Bush was wrong to invade. I think a better way to go is to argue that Bush is unfairly taking credit for what the people of Iraq, Ukraine, Palestine, and Lebanon have done for themselves. Kind of like Al Gore supposedly saying he "invented the Internet."
We can't let this talking point go unchallenged, so help craft a solution as only the combined might of the pajamahadeen can.
Is America finally getting sick of Bush? I know we all hope so. I want to make the case that this is already happening and that we can hasten his downfall by throwing out the meme: Bush fatigue. Here goes:
Consumers' confidence has fallen dramatically over the past month, reaching a 16-month low, and economists say the political debate over revamping Social Security (news - web sites) probably is a major factor in the decline.
A new poll out shows Bush's declining numbers since the State of the Union and his public campaign to enrich Wall Street with your payroll taxes. More below...
With all the "chatter" for the last couple of months it comes as no suprise that Rove is using threats of terrorism to try to woo the undecided voters Bush's way. Yahoo
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ABC News has asked U.S. security officials to examine a videotape it obtained in Pakistan of an English-speaking man threatening a massive attack on the United States, the network said on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the tape -- the authenticity of which U.S. intelligence officials have not been unable to verify -- said the man, who claims to be a U.S. native and al Qaeda supporter, warns that the "streets will run with blood."
The video appears to have been made as recently as late summer because the speaker discusses the Darfur conflict in Sudan, makes a reference to the Massachusetts same-sex marriage legislation and mentions the Sept. 11 Commission, one U.S. intelligence official told Reuters.
A recent poll suggest Bush leads with women voters (sorry, I just caught the story on NPR's All Things Considered and didn't catch the source of the poll). While I doubt it's true, Kerry does seem to be underperforming with women according to a large number of recent polls. I hear alternately that it's because of so-called "security moms" but then the next moment I hear it's because Kerry is talking too much about war and terrorism and not bread and butter issues. Once again, Bush gets away with screwing voters, while the media puts Kerry on the defensive. So, what's going on here and what can be done about it?
I understand Kerry has been fighting back harder which is great and it comes at the perfect time. But I think that at some point it would be better if Kerry could voice some kind of simple plan that really could work to get us out of the quagmire without relinquishing Iraq to the thugs and without seeming to look timid. He needs to find a way to bring the soldiers home and appease war critics while finishing the job and winning over conservatives. I think I've got a good idea for Kerry to use that fights the criticism he doesn't have a plan on Iraq or that his plan is light on details. I think this idea would let Kerry have it both ways in a brilliant stroke of imagination that could win him the election. Drum roll please...
According to this[http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0903gop-notebook03.html] Bush is planning on limiting the campaign to two presidential debates and one VP debate. GOP strategist Scott Reed was quoted by the Reuters news agency this week as saying the Bush camp's position is that "two debates are sufficient and will not dominate the entire fall schedule. Three debates would have a tendency to be a little overbearing on your campaign strategy and tactics."
Yeah, three debates might be distracting to your campaign if your campaign is all about distraction. More "below the fold."
Moore told Reuters that Goss, who until Tuesday was chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, granted an interview to two of his producers without first checking to see who they worked for.
"You'd think the person who was the head of the intelligence committee would ask a few more questions," said Moore.
"The reality is that Porter Goss was in charge of the oversight of the CIA during a time when the CIA didn't do its job, which in part resulted in the loss of lives of 3,000 people," he said via telephone from New York.
I got to wondering how Kerry might best respond to the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush's lies and thought the debates might be the best time to give the proper response to Bush's attempt at pulling a Willie Horton with Kerry's war record. So I made up a little cartoon in Photoshop. Please click on the link to see my version of Kerry's response.
Spoiler warning: This will be a discussion of the new M. Night Shamalayan film, "The Village." If you have not seen the film yet please do not click on the link!
I happened upon this http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14285582&method=full&siteid=50143&headl
ine=dubya-is-trailing-8-points-name_page.html article. When I got to the line about a Kerry-McCain ticket adding 6 points to a Kerry lead already at +8 over Bush/Cheney I really got to thinking. Since McCain has stated repeatedly that he has zero interest in being someone else's Vice President, and since I take him at his word, what if Kerry were to find some other Republican with which to run in order to shore up the moderate & disillusioned conservative/libertarian voters?
