Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Correction:

In my January 25th post, I wrote:

Kerry, though a War Hero, yes, yes, caved in to Bush early on in the Iraq propaganda blitz in '92, even though he could have read easily available analyses that refuted Bush's lie factory.

Arrgghh. Obviously I meant '02/'03. Wrong Bush. Getting the rerun mixed up with the original show. I don't know the exact date that Congress resigned its power and handed it over to Bush, but it wasn't '92.

Sorry!
Kerry Throws Away Another Gun.

Well. I haven't had time to track this down, but it seems Kerry has decided that he doesn't want his supporters using the issue of George's AWOL/desertion from the National Guard in wartime to bash Bush's electoral brains out.

First, Kerry can't use the fact that Bush conned us into a war, because Kerry voted for giving Bush dictatorial powers to wage war. Even so, the biggest attack job that Rove has prepped paints Kerry as a hypocrite even so.

NOW he's throwing away the second biggest hammer he's got? Is he trying to lose? What is he going to run on?

I miss Dean. He didn't have Kerry's vote baggage, and he would never have thrown his biggest attack points away for no freaking reason.

But Dean insulted the wrong people, both in the Democratic party and the news media management itself. Stating categorically that he was going to try to break up the new Supermedia corporations guaranteed that he'd be tried and executed on TV, and it was so.

So now, the crowned one declares he's throwing down his weapons.

Anyone for Canada? How about a new country? What's going on in Antarctica?

Sunday, February 08, 2004

NOT NOW, KATO!

Remember the Pink Panther movies? If you don't, then rent them now. Get NetFlix and have the DVD's sent to you. It'll help with the analogy, and my stock portfolio will thank you.

In all of the Pink Panther flicks, Inspector Clouseau, the intrepid master of asian martial arts, used his manservant Kato as an irregularly expected sneak attacker to keep his fighting skills honed.

One fine evening, as the Inspector was entertaining a lovely lass in his bed, Kato crashed into the couple's party as it was just getting interesting. As the three were being catapulted out through the wall, all you could hear was Inspector Clouseau's impassioned scream: "Not NOW, KAAATO!"

As I was driving home tonight, I was half-listening to a debate being held on National Public Radio concerning the right of gay people to marry. All was going well, and I was boredly following the introductions, and then I hear the pro-marriage debater hold forth on this lovely gem.

A few weeks ago, it seems Edwards the Prez candidate was on the spot, being grilled to a nice toasty brown on his position on gay marriage. Apparently Edwards had danced around the subject, refusing to be pinned down. The debater today was triumphantly remembering how he had made the Democratic candidate squirm and falter.

Save me, Monkey Jesus. NOT NOW, KATO!

Right now? After all eternity, this issue has to be forced to the fore, right now, as the Democrats are fighting a game of inches? The next election is going to be microscopically close. As we saw in Florida in 2000, one foolish man, Nader, tipped Bush into the White House. All other issues aside about the Green's right to run, and others to vote for him, in really real life the spoiler did install the most radical president ever to sit on the chair in the Oval office.

Raising the issue of gay marriage, which heretofore has not exactly been a barnburner of an issue, hell, wasn't an issue at all, in the minds of the American public at large, has given Rove and the right-wing southern baptists a solid percentage of the truly intolerant that will vote for the candidate who is dead set against the idea. Hell, Bush insisted on mentioning a constitutional amendment banning non-straight marriage in the last State of the Union speech. That wasn't casual. He lined up several percent of the voting public to vote for him, lies about war notwithstanding. If there is gayness to be fought, they will forgive him the fifteen thousand dead people.

If Democrats are to win this next election, it will be by a percentage point, I strongly believe. Throwing away a few percent of the electorate by insisting on raising this issue RIGHT NOW is bloody stupid, if you are a backer gay rights.

IF Bush wins this next election, he will fundamentally alter the makeup of the federal courts, making them pro-right "Christians", one and all. A constitutional amendment banning gay marriage will be introduced, tho I doubt it will make it into law until Cheney or Rice is president.

IF Bush is elected, the Republicans will start a redistricting crusade that will stonker the historians. They've already run a trial usurping in Colorado and Texas; they've proved to themselves that nobody cares if they take over state representation.

IF Bush is elected, Governors will be recalled left and right. Senators and Representatives on the Democratic side of the Congress will be attacked simultaneously on multiple legal fronts, and will be removed from office.

IF Bush makes it, Diebold and the other voting machine manufacturers will deliver to the Republicans the ability to win any election they choose, if they choose to use the abilities already demonstrated to hack those voting systems. No one will be able to contest a rigged election, because the recount will always match the electronic totals. As a comp sci guy, I am here telling you that there is no way whatsoever to make those systems secure. Anyone who says differently is either too drunk with IT knowledge to make an accurate judgement, a member of a committee who is terrified to admit they bought a hackable voting system, or the bastards who designed and sell the cheat-o-matics.

IF Bush wins, there will never be a gay "right" to anything whatsoever. The court system and the legislatures will be hard-right radical religionists for the rest of this century. I don't see how it could be stopped, if Bush gains the White House again. I don't see how it could ever be undone, for they will also alter the educational system to to foster religious (read right-wing fundamentist) views in young people. They've already waged a twenty+ year campaign to take over school boards, successfully.

It is both the triumph and the tragedy of the Democrats that they are now the big tent. Everyone is in the tent, even those who cannot fathom the damage they do to themselves and their nation if they pursue their goals blind to the results of their campaign. This is not the time. The Right is marshalling its forces to make this issue key for their voters. It does Kerry or Edwards or Dean no good to be force to put up or else on this issue,

Can't it wait a year? Please, not now, Kato.



Sunday, January 25, 2004

Please don't throw us into the briar patch, Br'er Democrats!

I've given some noodle time yesterday and today to the Kerry upset in Iowa.

Republicans, according to some articles posted lately, are unhappy that Dean was squished in the first round. They claim that they would have loved to have taken on the insane, unstable, angry Dean. A cakewalk! A damned shame Kerry is moving forward; he'll be so much harder to beat.

On another front, I'm getting admittedly unverifiable impressions from people on the ground that a very large number of Republicans showed up at votin' time, switched party affiliation, cast ballots, and left.

Now, as Molly Ivins said, Kerry can take the excitement out of a soccer riot. Dean has energized his people as no one else has.

And we have what you can say is a armament problem when it comes to Iraq with Dean, Clark, and Kerry.

Dean said Bush lied about the reason for attacking Iraq from the beginning. As a campaign issue, he can flog Bush's lies with impunity. He's fully locked and loaded.

Clark, although suspicious and questioning from the start of the attack, still is vulnerable to a smear campaign from Bush's media which will paint him as hypocrite and a flipper. Even though the basis for such a lie is vulnerable to refutation by analyzing transcripts, as was done recently to Drudge's fabricated story by such people as Marshall on Talking Points Memo, journalists have grown too lazy to check facts when juicy stories are handed to them fully seasoned. Witness Paula Zahn, who apparently reported on the "story" using the RNC/Drudge fabrications as undisputed source material. Large numbers of people already have swallowed the lie; more will follow. Clark is partially disarmed, his Iraq gun jammed.

Kerry, though a War Hero, yes, yes, caved in to Bush early on in the Iraq propaganda blitz in '92, even though he could have read easily available analyses that refuted Bush's lie factory. He cannot use the Bush Lied to Invade Iraq campaign: he was part of the rush to war. He's totally disarmed. He was complicit. People aren't that stupid, and Rove will spend endless cash reminding people that Kerry was jingoing with the best of the Cheney team.

It's the single biggest campaign issue, and only Dean could have used the gun with impunity. The Republicans, all premeditated statements to the press about wanting Dean to the contrary, were afraid of Dean and the anger of the people who understand exactly how they were had. By bouncing Kerry to the front, they have taken the Democrat's single cannon away from them.

They wanted to be thrown into that briar patch.

Why else flood the caucuses with fake Democrats? Why else constantly tear down Dean with pictures of Dean angry, stories about angry Dean, video of Dean yelling at a pep rally? If they wanted to take Dean on, why try to destroy his electabilty?

They really don't want Clark any more than Dean, but he's a tough nut right now to crack. Kerry is the man they can take on. He lacks charisma on TV; his haircut is odd and dated. One or two smear campaigns and he would have dropped the few points he needed to win the election from Bush.

Rove wants to run against Kerry.





gsrg