A uniter at last

It looks like George W. Bush is finally making good on his "united not a divider" 2000 campaign pledge. A Florida correspondent writes Josh Marshall::
This was one of the most moving, meaningful days of my life.

My job is to get people to the polls and, more importantly, to keep them there. Because they’re crazily jammed. Crazily. No one expected this turnout. For me, it’s been a deeply humbling, deeply gratifying experience. At today’s early vote in the College Hill district of East Tampa -- a heavily democratic, 90% African American community — we had 879 voters wait an average of five hours to cast their vote. People were there until four hours after they closed (as long as they’re in line by 5, they can vote).

Here’s what was so moving:

We hardly lost anyone. People stood outside for an hour, in the blazing sun, then inside for another four hours as the line snaked around the library, slowly inching forward. It made Disneyland look like speed-walking. Some waited 6 hours. To cast one vote. And EVERYBODY felt that it was crucial, that their vote was important, and that they were important.

And there were tons of first time voters. Tons.

Aside from some hassles from the Republican election commissioner...I actually had an amazing experience. No, actually, in a way because of that I had an amazing experience. Because these people know that the system that’s in place doesn’t want them voting. And yet they are determined to vote.

The best of all was an 80 year old African American man who said to me: “When I first started I wasn’t even allowed to vote. Then, when I did, they was trying to intimidate me. But now I see all these folks here to make sure that my vote counts. This is the first time in my life that I feel like when I cast my vote it’s actually gonna be heard.”

To see people coming out — elderly, disabled, blind, poor; people who have to hitch rides, take buses, etc — and then staying in line for hours and hours and hours... Well, it’s humbling. And it’s awesome. And it’s kind of beautiful.

Sometimes you forget what America is.
I'm sure the Republican faithful are getting desperate.


Halloween campout
1.11.04 02:34


Journalist assaulted, arrested at polling place


Florida has made it illegal to photograph or talk to people waiting in line to vote, even in a public place. The law is obviously unconstitutional, but that didn't stop Palm Beach police from beating up and arresting a journalist who was just doing his job.

Unfortunately for the Palm Beach goon squad, the assaulted journalist is also a Harvard trained lawyer. Now, let's talk about tort reform.
1.11.04 19:49


Election 2004

It's a fluid situation, so I've waited until the 11th hour to make my electoral college prediction:

Kerry 277
Bush 261

I'm calling Florida for Kerry, but Wisconsin for Bush because the weather is really bad here right now. Bad weather favors Republicans.

I'll still be out in that bad weather tonight, going door to door with about 20 of my more progressive neighbors. We'll blanket the neighborhood with KE/2004 leaflets, and talk to as many undecideds as possible. Hope my American readers are doing the same.

And to the Brits and the Irish and Indians who read me - help is on the way!
1.11.04 23:17


Milwaukee, Wisconsin. South side. 7:45 am




I walked my daughter to school this morning. The school gymnasium doubles as the neighborhood polling place, and by 7:00 am, I was told, the lines of voters snaked out of the gym doors, around the hallways, and up the staircase to the second floor. "I've never seen this many people lined up to vote," said one teacher, who's worked at the school for five years. By 7:45 am, people near the front of the line said they had been waiting for an hour. I just sat off to one side and took it all in. Another teacher walked up to me. "It sounds like victory," I said. She smiled and crossed her fingers. We both knew the other supported Kerry. It's unspoken with most teachers.

I talked to a young man, about 26, who said he was voting for Kerry. I asked him what issues were most important to him. "Economy? Draft? Environment?"

"I just don't like Bush. I don't like is attitude," he told me.

I heard that over and over all morning. I asked my neighbor "Patty", who is 18, who she was voting for. "Not Bush," was her answer. "He, like, really annoys me." Again, no specific issue. Just an overall feeling that the President wasn't taking us in the right direction.

Here's hoping.


An election day poem

The proudest now is but my peer,
The highest not more high;
Today, of all the weary year,
A king of men am I.
Today, alike the great and small,
The nameless and the known;
My palace is the people's hall,
The ballot-bow my throne!

The Poor Voter on Election Day by John Greenleaf Whittier 


That clever liberal media

Wolcott writes:
"If the press who hailed Bush after 9/11, salivated over his aircraft-carrier landing, and immediately (erroneously) claimed the Bin Laden tape gave his campaign a last minute fillip is in the tank for Kerry, they've done of genius job of disguising it. And I admire the way every conservative blogger manages to omit Fox News, talk radio, Clear Channel, and Sinclair broadcasting from their j'accuse of media interference."


Can you spot the Republican in this photo?

Caught on tape outside a Florida pollling place over the weekend:
2.11.04 15:37


Four more years

First the good news: My homestate of Wisconsin stood up to the Republican smear machine, and voted for Kerry.

And now the bad news: It appears that Bush has been re-elected for four more years of extreme right wing governance.

Fear won.


The five stages of grief



Definitely worth reviewing at a time like this:

Denial: I'm not talking about the river that Bush will need to invade some day. My denial took the form of turning off the news, and staying off the internet for about one hour. That's a long time for me.

Anger: Then I went running. Down to the lakeshore, through the woods, with improbable visions of revenge floating through my head.

Bargaining: By the end of my run, I had worked out where the Democracts went wrong. If only we had nominated Gephardt! If only Teresa kept her mouth shut! If only Kerry shot more geese!

Depression: Back in my kitchen, I snarfed down some marshmallow pumpkins that the kids brought home from Y Camp. Then I drank coffee. Then I showered. Then I read Tara's message and ate some more marshmallow pumpkins.

Acceptance: Never!
3.11.04 14:36


So much to do

The internet is bulging with soul-searching, self-critical political prose, from left and right, most of it well-meaning, and all aimed at helping us poor liberals find our way out of the wilderness. Democrats needs to be tough. We need to talk like a real person (i.e Nascar fan). We need to understand and then co-opt the Red State Value People. We need our own Fox News.

I'm reading as much as I can these days, but withholding judgement for the time being. I haven't spend a lifetime in poliitical communications and planning, like some people have, and my Rolodex does not contain people with Washington, D.C. area codes. Still, a few truths do jump out at me.

First of all, we can't count on George Bush to include us in anything, ever again. If he wants to, fine. But let's not press our noses against the window, staring at all the pretty people having a party inside, hoping the butler will maybe send an hors 'd'oeuvre our way. Ain't gonna happen. Fox News will continue to grow, and prosper. The churches will continue to alienate and divide. The mainstream media will continue to cower and appear to bring balance to situations where none exists.

At the same time, we must resist the impulse to be vindictive. I think Andrew Sullivan struck the proper tone today (sorry, link is down) when he said George Bush deserved a second chance, as well as our constructive criticism. Bush will take that second chance about as seriously as he's taken the Bill of Rights, but at least we can say we tried.

Focus people, focus.


And how about those 501Cs?

I'm no lawyer, but the IRS requirements for charitable institutions seem pretty unambiguous to me:
To be tax-exempt as an organization described in IRC Section 501(c)(3) of the Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for one or more of the purposes set forth in IRC Section 501(c)(3) and none of the earnings of the organization may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate at all in campaign activity for or against political candidates.
And yet, Karl Rove thousands of churches across the country to spread his message of hate and fear, and support for our Dear Leader. Let's see some enforcement.
4.11.04 20:42


I was just wondering the same thing


Julie Saltman asks:
It appears that good policy, sound judgment, intelligence, and respect for others will not win in this country over low cunning. So what should we do next time round? Do we have to play this game on Rove's terms, or is it still possible for decency to prevail in America?
Perhaps the Democratic party's greatest contribution will be to prove that there is no room for Karl Rove in a liberal democracy. But we'll have to win first.


And enough with these stupid maps, please



After the 2000 election, my Republican friends said something like "Oh sure, Al Gore got more popular votes, but the US map is more red than blue." And then I'd point out that corn fields don't vote, people do, and then my Republicans friends would look at their watches and say "Oh, look at the time," and I'd leave. Montana looks like the fortress of Jesustude on a red/blue map, and what's with that long, red shanklike projection staring in North Dakota and running down to the Rio Grande? But the fact is, the population of Rhode Island is 100,000 more than Big Sky Country, let's knock it off with these maps, OK?


Hate crime round up

Orcinus has a round up of hate crime news from the past week. Here's a really dumb one:
SAN DIEGO -- A man was beaten just outside his University Heights apartment by a group of five men who believed he was from the Middle East, San Diego police said Thursday.

The victim was trying to park when the assailants, all white men, threw a beer bottle and shattered his car window just after 11 p.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Rich Nemetz said.

The assailants then knocked down the victim as he got out of his car, kicking him, yelling racial slurs and telling him to go back to Iraq, Nemetz said. The victim is of Portuguese descent.

The men took the victim's shoes and fled in a black SUV, threatening to return and kill him, Nemetz said.

The attackers remained at large Thursday, Nemetz said.

At least the assailants were consistent. Black SUVs would be the vehicle of choice for beating up Arabs. Even if they are Portuguese.


The values party

From Newsweek's election post mortem:
By August, the attack of the Swift Boat veterans was getting to Kerry. He called adviser Tad Devine, who was prepping to appear on "Meet The Press" the next day: "It's a pack of f---ing lies, what they're saying about me," he fairly shouted over the phone. Kerry blamed his advisers for his predicament. (Cahill and Shrum argued responding to the ads would only dignify them.) He had wanted to fight back; they had counseled caution. Even Kerry's ex-wife, Julia Thorne, was very upset about the ads, she told daughter Vanessa. She could remember how Kerry had suffered in Vietnam; she had seen the scars on his body, heard him cry out at night in his nightmares. She was so agitated about the unfairness of the Swift Boat assault that she told Vanessa she was ready to break her silence, to speak out and personally answer the Swift Boat charges. She changed her mind only when she was reassured that the campaign was about to start fighting back hard.
What was George Bush dreaming about all those years?


The pro-life President

Abortion rates increased under Bush. I blame the gays.


The minority party

Chris Bowers at MYDD gives us one more reason why George W. Bush has no intention of unifying anyone:
"Coming up with some unifying narrative for Kerry's coalition is not only going to be difficult, it may in fact be impossible. The fact is that the Republican Party represents the interest of the nation's white Protestant plurality, the Democratic party represents the necessarily diverse interests of everyone else. It is in this sense that we are inherently a negative party, an anti-Bush party, an anti-Republican party, and not a party that can be summed up in a quick and convenient message narrative."
I'm starting to believe that the best way to defeat the Rethuglicans is to give them everything they want, which they're probably going to get anyway. Endless war, Christian theocracy, an SUV in every garage. No nation can sustain that. Not even one that makes its own reality.
5.11.04 04:37


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