BUSH WATCH...2006 Elections
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Perfect Storm: Voter Revulsion, Bernard Weiner
Ten findings on the clean-sweep GOP defeat in the midterm:...To the Victors Belongs Impunity: Of Incorrigible Transgressors, Tacit Complicity, and Lady Justice’s Conspicuous Absence, Jason Miller
So, despite the stark reality that the Democratic Party is simply another vehicle of corporate interests which has spawned as many malefactors as the Republicans:1. A Democratic Congress is going to right the wrongs of the Bush Regime and make the world “safe for democracy” once again?
2. Nancy Pelosi is going to oversee the restoration of a semblance of ethical conduct by the US government without even attempting to impeach men guilty of virtually innumerable crimes against our Constitution and against humanity?
3. Our “savior Dems” are going to bring the troops home from Iraq when they insist on framing the mistakes of the Bush Regime in strategic rather than moral terms?
Business As Usual? New Faces, Same Agenda, Stephen Lendman
The political firmament shook briefly post-November 7 raising hopes change would follow the Republican's drubbing at the polls and the Democrats regaining control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the GOP sweep in 1994. Presumed new House speaker Nancy Pelosi stopped the tremors making it clear no substantive change will be on the table when the 110th Congress convenes on January 3. Instead, she announced to those paying attention it'll be business as usual (as it always is) as she intends to work with the president in a spirit of bipartisanship and not be "obstructionist" even though Republicans for past 12 years never returned that courtesy or even made a pretense of doing it.Democracy Won? Direct Democracy Lost in Florida and Colorado, Joel Hirschhorn
The passion among voters to move power from one major party to the other should be expanded to restore American democracy, something that neither mainstream politicians nor the mainstream corporate press want to discuss or what you to discuss. We need is to expand, not shrink, opportunities for direct democracy. Better than being bipartisan, direct democracy is non-partisan or perhaps anti-partisan. That corporate interests are working so hard to curb direct democracy should be all that is necessary to motivate Americans to expand it. It is a vital way to give power to the people. [Some examples of the problem: ...]Lame Duck: Bush's Post-Election Session With His Shrink, Bernard Weiner
Bush visits his psychiatrist and reveals a tormented soul. He's torn between staying-the-course in his political-policy decisions and making accommodations with the Democrats. Watch him squirm.Election Fraud: And Now What?, Ernest Partridge
Why, if the Rove gang could have fixed this election, didn’t they do it? Because this time it was just too risky. One can pull a scam only a few times before the “marks” (i.e. the public) get suspicious, then angry. That’s why confidence men move on from town to town. Perhaps Rove, et all, were beginning to smell the tar and see some feathers floating by. For this time, despite the blackout of election fraud coverage in the mainstream media, the public was getting suspicious.Big Bush Lies: Throwing Rumsfield Under the Bus, Lawrence R. Velvel
having said until a few days ago that Rumsfeld will remain, no sooner were the election results in, then Bush decided that Don must go. Don would be thrown under the bus for what Bush himself allowed and stridently supported. For Bush to throw Rumsfeld under the bus was very dishonorable. Dishonorable -- there is no other word for it. It was also typical of Bush...Dem Program: Top Twenty Actions Dems Should Take, Jerry Politex
Now that both the Senate and the House are in the hands of the Democratic Party, it's time to kick Republican butt. What are the top twenty actions the Dems should take in the next two years? Send your top, one-sentence action here. Thanks.1. Rescind that part of the Bush Martial Law: HR 5122, section 1076, that makes Bush and future Presidents dictators. --Jerry Politex
2. Rescind the Bush Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122), that allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder," making Bush and future Presidents dictators. --Jerry Politex
3. Force Bush to follow the perfectly adequate FISA law and stop illegal NSA spying on innocent american citizens. --Kim Anderson
4. Begin oversight hearings on 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Energy meetings, Valerie Plame, Pentagon money contracts, congressional ethics, and insert horrible event here. Pass the entire 9/11 commission recommendations and point out how it took 6 years for it to be done. --Randall Roberson, Reba Peters, R. O'Connor
5. Impeach Bush and Cheney, or at least make an attempt, to win back a little of our once good name in the world. --Ben Seni, Thomas Roy
6. Figure out some way to outlaw or curtail "signing statements," which [are being used by Bush to] effectivly circumvent the constitution and make the exective the all-powerful branch (dictator) in the US. --Karl Scott
7. Hire new inspectors and enforcement officials to replace those laid off under Bush at the FDA and other agencies. --Bob Mawn
8. Get out of Iraq as fast as possible, and restart the middle east peace process, where we should have been concentrating our efforts all along. --Cherie
9. Congress really needs to push for reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine and encourage the FCC to use its oversight to limit (if not reverse) the mass media consolidation of the last 10-25 years. --Bob Hunter
10. Ensure on a national basis that voting can be verified with paper receipts; just because Dems won - doesn't mean the voting isn't fixed. --George Lacy
11. Appoint Jimmy Carter or Al Gore as chairman of a group to clean up the environment, create an energy policy that's not a boondoggle to the corporations, and rescind all portions of relevant bills to do so.
12. Call a halt to all earmarks --REPEAT: ALL EARMARKS-- until the national debt is zero, and do likewise with whatever loopholes the bloodsucking members of Congress come up with. --Jerry Politex 13. Halt all tax cuts that are in the various Bush bills but have yet to be instituted. --Jerry Politex
14. Raise the minimum wage by a substantial amount, allow federal employees to freely unionize, and cut the interest rate on student loans. --Jerry Politex
15. Create a fair immigration policy that does not penalize the American worker, nor creates a guest worker programk, but provides greater oversight and penalties with teeth for those who hire illegal immigrants.. --Jerry Politex
16. Voting machines: get open-source code & a paper trail and whatever else the nonpartisan experts say. Put the whole process in public, not private, hands. --Gib
17. 1st thing Democrats need to do is to get rid of "No Child Left Behind", [because it's generally unfunded it does just the opposite. In fact, let's do away with all bills, like Bush's illegal immigration fence bill, that is not unfunded.] --Sahib Khalsa [and Jerry Politex]
18. The strongest support, 92 percent, was for lowering drug prices for retirees on Medicare by allowing the government to negotiate directly with drug companies. --Newsweek Poll after elections
19. Draw up and pass some sort of a bill that will put us on the road to universal health care and take health care out of the control of for-profit corporations. --Jerry Politex
20. What has been missed?
Dem Program: The Twentieth Task, Jerry Politex
In our recent list of the first twenty tasks the Dems should do, when they have control of Congress in January, we left the twentieth task blank and asked for suggestions. Here are your responses, in no particular order. Thanks for participating, either in suggesting the first nineteen or the twentieth.Repeal the Real ID Act; make the U.S. Attorney General an elected position, similar to many of our states; protect the Internet, stop the Telecom bill, maintain Internet neutrality; beef up port security; legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana; clean up campaign financing and lobbying, and beef up ethics rules; stop privatizing the military; [re #19] implement a universal single-payer health care system; leave Social Security alone; get rid of "No Child Left Behind"; rip the roof off government secercy: restore accountability via some Sen. Frank Church type hearings into govenment secrecy abuse; open the books, declassify the files going back to at least the Kennedy assaination, let the sunshine in and the chips fall where they may; restart the middle east peace process; end the blockade of Cuba: stop illega NSA spying; make voting day a national holiday...pass a bill that mandates 30mpg for all cars sold in America by 2012...did Bush Watch readers miss any major task for the new Dem Congress?
Incision 2006: On The Election Results, Floyd, Wokusch, and Mickey Z.
Dems Win? Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me, Chris Floyd Ordinarily, the elevation of a gaggle of corporate bagmen, spine-free time-servers and craven accomplices of tyranny and aggression to the control of Congress would not be a cause for rejoicing. With a few notable exceptions, the Democratic Party has displayed nothing but cowardice and cluelessness over the past five years, betraying the interests of the American people at every single gut-check point in the long march to the self-proclaimed "Unitary Executive" dictatorship of George W. Bush. Whenever it really counted – Supreme Court nominations, tax cuts for the rich, the class-warfare nuclear bomb of the Bankruptcy Bill, the appointment of sleazy, third-rate officials such as torture-enabler and Constitution-gutter Alberto Gonzales to high office, and of course, the eager goose-stepping into the war crime of Iraq (which was, let us remember, approved by a Democratic-controlled Senate) – the Democrats folded, would not even go down fighting...If anyone thinks the horrors of the Bush Imperium are somehow at an end – or will even be seriously impaired – by the results of yesterday's election, they have a harsh and bitter awakening to come....Dems Win? Mid-Term Election Post Mortem, Mickey Z.
So, the Democrats have a majority in Congress. The bad times are over. The evil ones have been vanquished. Let's go ahead and declare world peace, an end to global warming, and—while we're at it—the cancellation of The O'Reilly Factor. I mean, what could be better, right? Hmm, we could also have a Democratic president to go along with a Democratic Senate and Democratic House....Well, if you want a good idea of how things may go under the above scenario, you might want to reflect back upon the years of 1993 and 1994 because that's when President William Jefferson Clinton was enjoying the "advantage" of a Democratically-controlled Congress....There is one primary difference between the Democrats and Republicans: They tell different lies to get elected....Dems Win: Europe Applauds the US Midterm Election Results, Heather Wokusch
As a Californian based transatlantically, I can tell you that the across the board, editorials in Europe are celebrating the results of the US midterm elections. Here in Vienna, people are still irate from Bush's mid-June visit that caused an unprecedented security lockdown with huge sections of the city cordoned off so Bush didn't have to face the hordes of angry protestors. At American taxpayer expense, special limousines were flown in from the US to drive Bush and his entourage from the airport to their five-star hotel (a 30-minute ride, max), and Bush's "waste matter" was flown back to the US, just in case some evildoer wanted to chemically test it. You can imagine the subsequent jokes, with punch lines like: "too bad Bush doesn't eliminate the rest of his shit too." Today, over 200 Socialist European Parliament members issued a joint statement calling the US midterm elections "the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world." Sums it up beautifully....In his concession speech announcing the Virginia Senate winner, Jim Webb, "Macaca" Allen told his followers that they will "live to fight another day," throwing his hat into the ring for the 2008 Presidential election or looking towards a future Senate run...The concession speech was staged for television in such a way (the formal outdoor setting and the introduction by fellow-Virginian Senator Warner) that left little doubt that politics is still in Allen's future...Reporters on the scene pointed to the mean-spirited evolution of American politics, where one politician has to declare victory before the other eventually concedes..
Politex News Wire
Dems projected to take Virginia, Senate (nbc)...Dean: Dems won 1/3 of the white Christian evangelical vote...Who won the Senate for the Dems? Some say Rush Limbaugh, who mocked the Michael J. Fox pro-stem cell political ad and helped sway Missouri voters into the Dem camp...Bill Maher claims that Ken Mehlman, head of the Republican National Committee and ani-gay politician, is gay...Promises more names Friday nite...Larry King: Why would gay Republicans take anti-gay positions in public? Bill Maher: Because hating yourself is the greatest love of all....The difference between Democrats and Republicans is Dems want gays to get married, Repubs want congressmen free to play the field, reports Maher...Donald Rumsfeld has stepped down...Avoids growing drum beat from both sides of the aisle...Bush claims he's proved he can work with Democrats. Points to his time as Texas gov. Reporter: Does Nancy Pelosi look like [conservative Texas Dem leader] Bob Bullock to you? [No answer.]...Bush: "Obviously I worked harder on this campaign than he [Karl Rove] did."...Dem Tester takes Montana Senate seat, gives Dems 50 seats for tie...Virginia recount looms, Dem leads...Press Question: When will Cheney go? Bush: He won't...How will you work with Pelosi, who calls you a liar? Bush: That's just politics...Bush says he's disappointed that he hasn't been able to change the tone in D.C....Actualy he has, from tense to vicious...Bush says he'll be looking for cooperation between the White House and the Dems...To Bush, that means the Dems need to agree with what he wants to do...Ex-CIA Head and presently Prez of Texas A&M is the Bush nominee for Sec. of Defense...A long-time mover on daddy's team and buddy of consigliari Baker...Bush says Gates was going to get nominated, win or lose...His answer to the press was not convincing...Bush says he didn't want to tell the country he was getting rid of Rummy and affect the campaign...That's a first!...All of his actions are geared to win elections...So much for Bush's pre-election support of Rummy last week...When does Dick go?...Montana's Dem Tester and Virginia's Dem Webb have both declared victory, although projections have not been made on either Senate race...Look for Bush to try to slip some really bad bills through the GOP lame duck Congress before the session ends.
...Breaking News: Dems Win Virginia, Take Senate 51-49, AP (Wednesday ,8:45 pm)
...The Senate had teetered at 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans for most of Wednesday, with Virginia hanging in the balance. Webb's victory [,later projected by NBC News,] ended Republican hopes of eking out a 50-50 split, with Vice President Dick Cheney wielding tie-breaking authority.The Associated Press contacted election officials in all 134 localities where voting occurred, obtaining updated numbers Wednesday. About half the localities said they had completed their postelection canvassing and nearly all had counted outstanding absentees. Most were expected to be finished by Friday. The new AP count showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Virginia has had two statewide vote recounts in modern history, but both resulted in vote changes of no more than a few hundred votes.
An adviser to Allen, speaking on condition of anonymity because his boss had not formally decided to end the campaign, said the senator wanted to wait until most of canvassing was completed before announcing his decision, possibly as early as Thursday evening. The adviser said that Allen was disinclined to request a recount if the final vote spread was similar to that of election night....
Virginia: Repeat of Florida 2000?
Now that the Dems only need one more seat to take control of the Senate and, with the Dem House, make things very hot for Bush and his mob for the next two years, look for the GOP to get its lawyers, politicians, and thugs into Virginia in a move to imtimidate Virginia recount officials in an attempt to overturn the election in favor of "Macaca" Allen, the GOP candidate.
What are the Dems doing about it? Are they alert to a repeat of the Florida scenario? Will they sit back, as they did in 2000 and watched the unfolding events on TV, as GOP lawyers, politicians, and thugs overran Florida.
Timeline: Nov. 15, end vote canvass...Nov. 26, request recount if winner has less than a 24,000 vote lead after canvas. Webb presently leads by 7,000, and it would be difficult for Allen to gain 7,000+ votes, particularly since there are no paper ballots, so there's very little to count.
--Jerry Politex
PROJECTED: SENATE CONTROL HANGS ON VIRGINIA, DEMS TAKE MONTANA
"The fate of the Senate [,presently 50-49, Dems,] remained in doubt this morning, as the race for the Republican-held seats in Virginia remained too close to call as Election Day turned into the day after. Democrats would need the seat to win control of the Senate as well.
The race in Virginia — between another Republican incumbent, Senator George Allen, and Jim Webb, his Democratic challenger — was so close that some officials said it would have to be resolved by a recount. [CNN has Webb leading by 7,000 votes.]
That prospect could mean prolonged uncertainty over control of the Senate, since a recount can be requested only after the results are officially certified on Nov. 27th, according to the state board of elections. Last year a recount in the race for Attorney General was not resolved until Dec. 21. (nyt-politex)
Progressives Lost: What Happened Last Night?, Jerry Politex
Last night's big story is that the nation repudiated Bush's war in Iraq and, to an extent, Bush's policies, both foreign and domestic. In the exit polls, voters reported that they voted as they did based on three key issues: the economy, the war in Iraq, and Congressional corruption.A second big story, but underreported, is that the Dems won a number of key races by fielding conservative candidates, moving the Democratic Party further to the right. Example: Casey in Pennsylavnia and Webb in Virginia. The classic campaign strategy is to capture the center. Is the U.S. center conservative, or are the Dems so desperate for victory that they'll sell out their principles to win?
This excerpt from a NYT story last week sums up the problem:
In their push to win back control of the House, Democrats have turned to conservative and moderate candidates who fit the profiles of their districts more closely than the profile of the national party. One such candidate, Heath Shuler, was courted by Republicans to run for office in 2001. Mr. Shuler, 34, is a retired National Football League quarterback who is running in the 11th Congressional District in North Carolina. He is an evangelical Christian and holds fast to many conservative social views, like opposition to abortion rights.
''My guess is that if Democrats are in the majority, it's going to be because of these New Democrat, Blue Dog candidates out there winning in these competitive swing districts,'' Representative Ron Kind of Wisconsin, co-chairman of a caucus of centrist House Democrats, said in an interview. But if candidates like Mr. Shuler do help the Democrats gain majority control of Congress, it could come at a political price, which may include tensions in the party between its new centrists and its more liberal political base. While Democratic leaders have gone to great lengths to promote the views of these candidates, some, like Mr. Shuler, have views on issues like gun control and abortion that are far out of step with the prevailing views of the Democrats who control the party. On some issues, they may even be expected to side with Republicans and the Bush White House.
Democratic officials said they did not set out with the intention of finding moderates to run. Instead, as they searched for candidates with the greatest possibility of winning against Republicans, they said, they wound up with a number who reflected more moderate views. That was especially true in suburban areas and some rural districts, said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. ''As a group, they are moderate in temperament and reformers in spirit,'' Mr. Emanuel said. Instead, party veterans would remain in chairmanships and House leadership posts; several officials said they did not expect a moderate revolution to erupt or to threaten the position of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California as the Democratic leader in the House.
''But will they have an impact? Absolutely,'' Mr. Emanuel said. ''They're going to have an impact on the Congress and the caucus.'' A prime example is Mr. Shuler, who addresses environmental conservation from the viewpoint of an avid hunter and speaks of health care for the poor as a moral responsibility. Collectively, the group could tilt the balance of power within the party, which has been struggling to define itself in recent elections. The candidates cover the spectrum on political issues; some are fiscally conservative and moderate or liberal on social issues, some are the reverse. They could influence negotiations with Republicans on a variety of issues, including Social Security and stem cell research....
...Asked if he could envision a Democratic Party with, say, an anti-abortion platform, Mr. Shuler did not hesitate. ''I'm pro-life and I'm part of the Democratic Party, so I hope it's part of the platform,'' he said. ''Someone needs to lead.'' In this election cycle, the Democrats' desire for a victory in Congress has overridden concerns that candidates like Mr. Shuler are too far right for the party base. But there are questions about what will happen down the line. ''I don't think people like Shuler will be the core of the Democratic Party,'' said Mark Bloom, a writer who is a volunteer for MoveOn.org, the liberal advocacy group, at its storefront office in downtown Asheville. ''If people like Shuler turn out to not be progressive enough for my tastes, I'll work to replace him.''
In the view of Don Yelton, a Jupiter, N.C., resident, a decisive nationwide realignment is playing out in conservative districts like this one. Although the majority of registered voters are Democrats, President Bush won here by a comfortable margin. Mr. Yelton, 59 and a lifelong Democrat, said he recently changed parties, in part because he believed that the Democrats had suppressed anti-abortion viewpoints. He is running as a Republican for clerk of court in Buncombe County. ''There's going to be a moderate party for Joe Blow, and whether that party is the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, that's the battle we're seeing,'' Mr. Yelton said. ''I expect to see Hillary Clinton quoting Scripture before it's over with.''
Senate Hangs: Will Karl Rove Prove Country Stupid With GOP Win In Senate?, Thomas Friedman
"Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account. It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are."(as of noon, ct, Wednesday)
PROJECTED: DEMS WIN CONTROL OF THE HOUSE
Dems lead 226-191 with 18 seats undecided.
PROJECTED: DEMS WIN AT LEAST TIE IN SENATE
Virginia: With 99% of the precincts in, Dem Webb leads Allen by 7,000 . Recount looms.
DEM: Montana, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland
GOP: Arizona, Tennessee.
PROJECTED: Dems Win Gubernatorial Majority
Election Guides:...CNN (most complete...will update vote)...NYT...... WP......EV...
THE POLITEX CAMPAIGN WIRE...Friday through Tuesday......[TUESDAY] GOP Illegality in Maryland: "Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George's County this morning. The ballots were distributed by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware. [One] said he was recruited at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia." (wp)...In Missouri voters are being turned away for not having picture ID's although there is no rule to that effect...Dem spokesperson in Virginia reports widespread illegal dirty tricks phone calls to Dem districts warning people not to vote....State officials responded by calling in the FBI...State officials say the calls are coming from both in-State and out-of-State...(msnbc)...Programming errors and inexperience dealing with electronic voting machines frustrated poll workers in hundreds of precincts early Tuesday, delaying voters in Indiana, Ohio and Florida and leaving some with little choice but to use paper ballots instead....With a third of Americans voting on new equipment and voters navigating new registration databases and changing ID rules, election watchdogs worried about polling problems even before the voting began." (ap)..."On election eve, the rough consensus among officials in both parties was that the Democrats would win the House but come just short of capturing the six seats they needed in the Senate. There was wide disagreement, though, about how many House seats Democrats might win." (nyt)..."The key races in Congress are concentrated in the Eastern and Central time zones, so we ought to have a good sense of the trend relatively early in the evening," said Amy Walter of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. (wp)
Note: The following by Michael Collins contains the prediction that "Democrats Should Take Up To 40 House Seats And 6 In The Senate." Here at Bush Watch we disagree: reports suggest the Dems may take the House by 20, but lose the Senate by 2. In the Senate Dems need 6. They probably have 3, and they need to take Virginia, Missouri, and Montana to gain the other 3. While all 3 are too clse to call, given the history of federal elections during the Bush era, chances are a combination of voter eligibility manipulation, intimidation, fraud, and electronic manipulation could gain the GOP a Senate win. This scenario is widely suspected to be true; hence, the numerous essays on how to stop the GOP from cheating. We've seen it in Florida and we've seen it in Ohio. When it comes to elections, the rest of the world sees our voting practices as encouraging corruption. And they're right.--Jerry Politex
Election 2006: A Formula for Catching Election Fraud, Michael Collins
November 7, 2006 promises to be a watershed event in the political history of the United States of America. After six long years of the Bush Administration the public is poised to clean house and throw the bums out. These colloquial phrases represent the fervently held hopes of the 55% to 60% of the people who consistently disapprove of the Bush presidency. However, a darker horizon beckons due to the inevitable temptations to deliver the vote in ways that deny the public will.....Election 2006: Why Voting for Dems Is Required: Pre-Election Scenarios, Bernard Weiner
Bush&Co. are staying-the-course in Iraq -- with scapegoats being prepared -- and moving on the attack-Iran front. Plus, how Rove could pull off yet another stolen election. Antidote to all this? A landslide defeat [today] for the GOP....Election 2006: Bush Is A Bully, Vote Dem To Stop Him, Paul Krugman
At this point, nobody should have any illusions about Mr. Bush’s character. To put it bluntly, he’s an insecure bully who believes that owning up to a mistake, any mistake, would undermine his manhood — and who therefore lives in a dream world in which all of his policies are succeeding and all of his officials are doing a heckuva job. Just last week he declared himself “pleased with the progress we’re making” in Iraq. In other words, he’s the sort of man who should never have been put in a position of authority, let alone been given the kind of unquestioned power, free from normal checks and balances, that he was granted after 9/11. But he was, alas, given that power, as well as a prolonged free ride from much of the news media.The results have been predictably disastrous. The nightmare in Iraq is only part of the story. In time, the degradation of the federal government by rampant cronyism — almost every part of the executive branch I know anything about, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been FEMAfied — may come to be seen as an equally serious blow to America’s future. And it should be a matter of intense national shame that Mr. Bush has quietly abandoned his fine promises to New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.
The public, which rallied around Mr. Bush after 9/11 and was still prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt two years ago, seems to have figured most of this out. It’s too late to vote Mr. Bush out of office, but most Americans seem prepared to punish Mr. Bush’s party for his personal failings. This is in spite of a vicious campaign in which Mr. Bush has gone further than any previous president — even Richard Nixon — in attacking the patriotism of anyone who criticizes him or his policies. That said, it’s still possible that the Republicans will hold on to both houses of Congress. The feeding frenzy over John Kerry’s botched joke showed that many people in the news media are still willing to be played like a fiddle. And if you think the timing of the Saddam verdict was coincidental, I’ve got a terrorist plot against the Brooklyn Bridge to sell you.
Moreover, the potential for vote suppression and/or outright electoral fraud remains substantial. And it will be very hard for the Democrats to take the Senate for the very simple reason that only one-third of Senate seats are on this ballot....No matter how hard the Bush administration may try to ignore the constitutional division of power, Mr. Bush’s ability to make deadly mistakes has rested in part on G.O.P. control of Congress. That’s why many Americans, myself included, will breathe a lot easier if one-party rule ends tomorrow.
THE POLITEX CAMPAIGN WIRE...Friday through Tuesday......[MONDAY]...Drugs, gay massages, it's getting so you can't tell the protestant clergy from the Catholic priests." (Bill Maher)...Bush appeared in Florida today to boost GOP chances, but Republican Gov. candidate Crist, running for Jeb's seat, choose to stiff Bush and meet in another part of Florida with John McCain...Senate: Virginia, Missouri too close to call...Dem Tester pulls ahead in Montana...Tennessee tightening up as Ford comes back (lou dobbs)...Dems need three of four...Texas: "Big Hair" Perry (R) will beat "Unrung" Bell (D) handily, but the story is the race between Strayhorn (I--running for Gov. and spliting the R vote) and Dewhurst (R-Lt. Gov., the power in Texas, not the Gov.) in 2012, as their ads swamp all others. Kinky (I and running for Gov.) has become a sleeping dog bore for Texas libertarians..."A majority of Americans said issues such as the Iraq war, the economy and terrorism would head in the right direction if the Democrats won control of Congress on Tuesday, according to a CNN poll released Monday....A majority, 58 percent, said that a Democratic Congress would move the economy in the right direction, compared to 43 percent who said a Republican Congress would help the economy, according to the telephone poll of 1,008 adult Americans, which was carried out Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corp. Fifty-four percent of respondents said a Democratic Congress would move the Iraq war in the right direction, compared to 34 percent who said a Republican Congress would do the same.... Fifty-five percent said a Democratic Congress would move the country in the right direction on the issue of terrorism, compared to 47 percent who said that a GOP Congress would do the right thing on terrorism. On the question of taxes, Democrats bested Republicans 49 percent to 37 percent when those surveyed were asked who would do a better job." (cnn)..."On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory...This election is indeed about George W. Bush — and the Congressional majority’s insistence on protecting him from the consequences of his mistakes and misdeeds. Mr. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 and proceeded to govern as if he had an enormous mandate. After he actually beat his opponent in 2004, he announced he now had real political capital and intended to spend it. We have seen the results. It is frightening to contemplate the new excesses he could concoct if he woke up next Wednesday and found that his party had maintained its hold on the House and Senate." (nyt ed)...
Election 2006: ELECTIONS or ELECTRONS: What If Anything Will Count Your Vote, Dom Stasi
Well, Dems, it is time to become vertebrate! Because, on Tuesday, November 7th, those same voters who’ve supported you and many of those who traditionally haven’t, will cast ballots that could, if they are counted, regain both houses of congress for your party. A boatload of the loftiest Republicans should then prepare to face indictments, impeachment proceedings, and both international and domestic war crimes tribunals, the latter being a hideous thing that they, themselves, have resurrected. But the instigation of such justice will take backbone – loyal opposition backbone.Somehow, though, the incumbents remain outwardly rather blithe about it all.Perhaps – just perhaps – that’s because they know something about...Electronic voting.
THE POLITEX CAMPAIGN WIRE...Friday through Tuesday......[SUNDAY]..."Saddam Hussein Is Sentenced to Death," reports the New York Times...It's about time the Iraqi puppet government did something positive for Bush and his Republicans campaign...The question: What did it cost Bush and who will eventually pay? More American troops? More U.S. occupation months? More money?...Webb has pulled into a 1% lead over Macaca Man in Virginia...Looks like the DEMs need to take that one, Montana (tied), and Missouri (tied) to take the Senate. An uphill battle..."Polls see Republicans keeping Senate control," reports msnbc, races tighten in Montana, Missouri, Rhode Island and Virginia"..."In all, these key Senate races show the following: Two Republican incumbents in serious trouble: Santorum and DeWine. Democrats could gain two seats. Four Republican incumbents essentially tied with their challengers: Allen [Virginia], Burns [Montana], Chafee [Rhode Island] and Talent [Missouri]. Four toss-ups that could turn into Democratic gains. Three Democratic incumbents with leads: Cantwell [Wash.], Menendez [N.J.], and Stabenow [Michigan]. One Republican incumbent ahead of his challenger: Kyl [Arizona]. One Republican open seat with the Republican [pulling away], Tennessee. One open Democratic seat virtually tied: Maryland. The results show that the Democrats have a good chance of gaining at least 2 seats in the Senate. As of now, they must win 4 of the toss-up seats, while holding on to Maryland in order to gain control of the Senate." (msnbc]..."In the battle for the House, Democrats appear almost certain to pick up more than the 15 seats needed to regain the majority. Republicans virtually concede 10 seats, and a split of the 30 tossup races would add an additional 15 to the Democratic column....The Senate poses a tougher challenge for Democrats, who need to gain six seats to take control of that chamber. A three-seat gain is almost assured, but they would have to find the other three seats from four states considered to have tossup races -- Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Montana. (wp)...The present score in this group appears to be one DEM, one GOP, and two tied...Looks like Republicans have taken the Tenessee U.S. Senate seat, as DEM Ford's gap is now 12%. Observers point to the racist GOP anti-Ford ad as the turning point...The contested Montana Senate seats in Missouri and Montana are ties...the Republican has been closing the gap in Montana....Virginia's GOP "Macaca" Allen is failing...November Surprise: "Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard confessed on Sunday to a "lifelong" sexual problem, and said he was "a deceiver and a liar," in a letter read to his New Life Church." (cnn)..."I am guilty of sexual immorality," says Rev. Ted Haggard, the evangelical leader and Bush advisor wrote in a letter to his congregation. "My accuser [a gay prostitute]...has revealed the sins and sensuality in my life," he wrote, and admitted to lies he told reporters in the last few days. Nothing specific, mind you...
THE POLITEX CAMPAIGN WIRE...Friday through Tuesday......{SATURDAY]"Researchers at Harvard have looked at the youth vote (18-24) and written a short report on their findings. Briefly summarized, expected turnout, although pitiful (32%), will be better than usual, and highly Democratic. The young voters give President Bush a D+ grade on Iraq and a C- overall and think it is time for a change." (electoral-vote.com)....."Republicans seized on a drop in the unemployment rate to assert on Friday that tax cuts were invigorating the economy, highlighting just four days before the election an issue that party strategists are counting on to offset bad news about the war. (nyt)...Right, let's all cheer for the good news that in the Bush economy the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class gets eliminated..."Several days from what Republican and Democratic campaign strategists expect to be a close election, the legal machinery of a messy fight is shifting into high gear. Democrats say they are most concerned that voters will be prevented from voting by long lines or poll workers’ demanding unnecessary forms of identification. Republicans say they are guarding against ineligible people trying to vote. The parties are sending their largest concentrations of lawyers to states with the tightest races like Maryland, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Most of them are unpaid volunteers, though many from large firms are working pro bono to meet their firms’ expectation for hours of public service. On Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of the 7,000 lawyers who are working on the election for the Democratic National Committee will board planes for Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio and 13 other states....A team of lawyers for the Democratic Party has been arguing with postal officials in Columbus, Ohio, trying to persuade them to process thousands of absentee ballots that have arrived with insufficient postage." (nyt)..."The Justice Department plans to dispatch more than 800 federal observers and monitors to 20 states to protect voting rights in potentially troubled polling locations, officials announced Tuesday. That is a record number of federal officials watching polling stations in an off-year election....Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim...said he would not identify until Monday the more than 65 cities and counties to which the observers will be sent. (cnn)...At the moment, looks like the Dems can take the Senate if Dem McCaskill wins in Missouri..."Republicans entered the campaign's final weekend yesterday desperately trying to keep control of the Senate, with three or four tossup races likely to determine whether the GOP can cling to power there even as it sees its hold on the House eroding....analysts in both parties agreed that Missouri [neck and neck], Virginia [GOP "Macaca" Allen failing] and Tennessee [GOP racist ad working] are the keys to controlling the 100-member Senate, where Democrats need to gain six seats to claim the majority...With Democrats slightly favored to knock off Republican senators in Rhode Island and Montana -- and more solidly favored in Pennsylvania and Ohio -- the party that wins two of the three tossup states should prevail, the analysts said. Maryland and Michigan are conceivable Republican upsets, and Arizona possibly could fall to Democrats, but most handicappers consider such results unlikely...."The bottom just fell out," said Amy Walter, a House analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Her publication predicted yesterday that Republicans will lose 20 to 35 seats. [Elsewhere, analyst Stuart] Rothenberg predicted a 34-to-40-seat Democratic gain. "The House is gone," he said."(wp)...
THE POLITEX CAMPAIGN WIRE...Friday through Tuesday......[FRIDAY]...In a Florida House seat battle, Dem Mahoney is leading the Foley-sex sub, a Bush rubber-stamp, by 7%...Florida's Katherine Harris, who's looking like a heavier Michael Jackson these days, is down by 24% in her Senate seat run. She needs a news slogan; how about, "She's the woman who brought you Bush"?....Ohio Republican Sen. DeWine is down by 7%...What will he do? Keep disgruntled Ohio minorities standing in line for hour after hour again?...Dem Claire McKaskill leads Republican Talent by 3% for the Mo. Senate seat..."Mary G. Wilson, national president of the League of Women Voters, said identification laws, particularly ones requiring photo IDs [,genererally backed by Republicans and opposed by Democrats], are 'odious'"...According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll , only 26 percent of Americans think Bush has "developed a clear plan for dealing with the situation in Iraq." A resounding 69 percent don't believe he has a clear plan at all (not to mention a good one.)" [Dan Froomkin, WP]...Eugene Robinson (WP): "If Democrats win Tuesday, it will be because voters were not adequately roused into a state of heart-pounding, knee-knocking fear."...NYT update: "The Rev. Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals [an advisor to Bush] and one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders, admitted today, with his wife and children nearby (CNN video), that he had purchased the illegal drug methamphetamine through a gay escort in Denver, but denied that he ever had sex with the man."...Everyone knows that if you want to buy some meth in this country, you look up a gay prostitute, right?...MSNBC is running all election news, all the time...Dems need 15 seats for House, 6 for Senate...So it's Allen vs. Webb in Virginia...Two Republicans running for Senate, but Webb's turned Democrat...Count on him to join the Lieberman-Hillary Republican-lite crowd if he wins...No wonder half the Dems in the Senate don't have passing grades...Webb used to be anti-women when he was a Republican..."Macaca" Allen has a record of racisim right up to the present...And he's a Bush-class liar about it, to boot...Talking about republican racisim, there's the race in Tennessee, where Black Dem Ford is back in the race, thanks to a Republican racist attack ad...More breaking news on Rev. Ted Haggard, leader of one of the largest (30 million) evangelical groups in the country and a regular Bush advisor...He resigned his post after being accused of engaging in paid sex by a male prostitute...Reportedly, he has admitted to "some guilt"...That's not very helpful to the gay-hating Republican politicians presently running for office...Apres Foley, le deluge...pardon my French...
Election 2006: Karl Rove Wants To Sell You A Bush Cancer Stick, Thomas Friedman
...Everyone says that Karl Rove is a genius. Yeah, right. So are cigarette companies. They get you to buy cigarettes even though we know they cause cancer. That is the kind of genius Karl Rove is. He is not a man who has designed a strategy to reunite our country around an agenda of renewal for the 21st century — to bring out the best in us. His “genius” is taking some irrelevant aside by John Kerry and twisting it to bring out the worst in us, so you will ignore the mess that the Bush team has visited on this country.And Karl Rove has succeeded at that in the past because he was sure that he could sell just enough Bush cigarettes, even though people knew they caused cancer. Please, please, for our country’s health, prove him wrong this time. Let Karl know that you’re not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has — through sheer incompetence — brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.
Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.
It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are. I, for one, don’t think we’re that stupid. Next Tuesday we’ll see.
GOP Thug Violence During Campaigns, 2000-2006
GOP Thug Violence 2006: Student Attacked By Senator Allen's Thugs For Asking Questions at Campaign Stop, Mike Stark The following is a letter to NBC29 from Mike Stark, the man who was tackled for a comment he made at Senator Allen's campaign stop in Charlottesville on Tuesday.My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.
I demand that Senator Allen fire the staffers who beat up a constituent attempting to use his constitutional right to petition his government. I also want to know why Senator Allen would want his staffers to assault someone asking questions about matters of public record in the heat of a political campaign. Why are his divorce records sealed? Why was he arrested in the 1970s? And why did his campaign batter me when I asked him about these questions.
George Allen defends his support of the Iraq war by saying that our troops are defending the ideals America stands for. Indeed, he says our troops are defending our very freedom. What kind of country is it when a Senator's constituent is assaulted for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions? What freedoms do we have left? Maybe we need to bring the troops home so that they can fight for freedom at George Allen's campaign events. Demanding accountability should not be an offense worthy of assault.
I will be pressing charges against George Allen and his surrogates later today. George Allen, at any time, could have stopped the fray. All he had to do was say, "This is not how my campaign is run. Take your hands off that man." He could have ignored my questions. Instead he and his thugs chose violence. I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I'll be damned if I'll let my country be taken from me by thugs that are afraid of taking responsibility for themselves.
It just isn't the America I know and love. Somebody needs to take a stand against those that would bully and intimidate their fellow citizens. That stand begins right here, right now.
GOP Thug Violence 2000: Miami 'Riot' Squad: Where Are They Now? (Jan. 24, 2005), Al Kamen
No. 1. Tom Pyle, who had worked for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), went private sector a few months later, getting a job as director of federal affairs for Koch Industries.
No. 2. Garry Malphrus, No. 2 in the photo, a former staff director of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice, is now deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
No. 3. Rory Cooper, who was at the National Republican Congressional Committee, later worked at the White House Homeland Security Council and was seen last week working for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
No. 4. Kevin Smith, a former GOP House aide later worked with Voter.com.
No. 5. Steven Brophy, a former GOP Senate aide and then at consulting firm KPMG.
No. 6. Matt Schlapp,a former House aide and then a Bush campaign aide, has risen to be White House political director.
No. 7. Roger Morse, another House aide, moved on to the law and lobbying firm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds. "I was also privileged to lead a team of Republicans to Florida to help in the recount fight," he told a legal trade magazine in a 2003 interview.
No. 8. Duane Gibson, an aide on the House Resources Committee, was a solo lobbyist and formerly with the Greenberg Traurig lobby operation. He is now with the Livingston Group as a consultant.
No. 9. Chuck Royal was and still is a legislative assistant to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a former House member.
No. 10. Layna McConkey Peltier, who had been a Senate and House aide and was at Steelman Health Strategies during the effort, is now at Capital Health Group.
Postcards of the Hanging: Race and Sex in Tennessee, Chris Floyd
...Tennessee congressman Harold Ford Jr. stands within reach of becoming the first African-American senator from the old Confederacy since Reconstruction (or as some still like to call it, "the Yankee Occupation"). Ford's surprisingly strong campaign has exposed fault lines long buried beneath Tennessee's creeping – or rather, galloping – suburbanization, where old ways, both good and bad, are rapidly being submerged in the undifferentiated glop of modern American franchise culture. But when money and power are on the line, atavism is the order of the day: ancient fears and hatreds re-emerge – or are mightily encouraged to re-emerge, with all the subtle and not-so-subtle arts of high-tech mass persuasion stoking the flames. For the stakes in the battle for Tennessee's Senate seat – once considered a lock for the Republicans – have suddenly grown exceedingly high....Thoreau, Unjust Wars, Voting, and Impeachment, Sherwood Ross
Thoreau famously spent one night in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax, but millions of our citizens who oppose the aggression against Iraq are paying taxes. Moreover, they are sitting on their hands, waiting until the next election in the hope of voting for a candidate who will not spill the blood of children, cousins, parents, and relatives in a dishonest war....The least every American can do is to work to get out the vote in the upcoming election, hoping for the seating of a progressive, Democratic Congress whose members will change the governing culture from one that serves capital to one that looks out of the needs of the least of us and the most of us. We need a new Congress that will investigate the crimes of the Bush White House and begin impeachment proceedings for the multitude of crimes that the Bush administration has committed openly and brazenly. These include domestic spying without warrants, opening mail, lying to Congress, authorizing torture including waterboarding, authorizing renditions – (take the example of Khalidal-Masri for one), and the supreme human rights crime, waging aggressive war. When will you stand up?...A Fool For Bush: An Apology, Richard Hinds
Bluntly, this is an open letter of apology to the citizens of the Rio Grande Valley, of Texas, of this nation, and all inhabitants of this world with whom I share. For the record, if my actions, in any way, have assisted or brought forth the tragedy that has befallen this nation, and by default, the rest of the world, I am very sorry, completely, utterly sorry. What did I do that has burdened me so? I voted for George W. Bush. Twice. And I am beside myself. I do not take to self-flagellation often, yet I feel I have no choice. What else can I do but apologize? When something is as totally and completely off the mark as this administration has been, all I can do is admit that I was wrong for ever supporting Bush, and try to atone....Have You No Shame, Sir? Bush Attacks Gays To Get Campaign Traction, Andy Ostroy
Following the New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage, President Bush and the GOP hate-mongers were out in full force gay-bashing as aggressively as ever. Campaigning [last week] in Iowa for House candidate Jeff Lamberti, Bush said, "Yesterday in New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises doubts about the institution of marriage," adding that marriage was "a union between a man and a woman....I believe it's a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended." Oh really George? How come you didn't feel so strongly about the great institution of marriage last week when you took to the stage in Pennsylvania, embraced Rep. Don Sherwood--who recently admitted to having an extramarital affair, in which his mistress accused him of beating her--and declared: "I'm pleased to be here with Don Sherwood: he is the right man to represent the people of the 10th Congressional District from the state of Pennsylvania." The hypocrisy here is enough to make you sick....Virginia Election: On Lynn Cheney's Attack of Dem Jim Webb, Mad Kane
The author of "Sisters," named Lynne,Thinks her party at all costs must win.
She denies that her book
Has a lesbian hook,
And blasts Dems for their fictional sin.
2006 Election: One Last Chance for the Democratic Party, Christine Tomlinson
The pundits claim that turnout on November 7 will be everything. But will it? Well the New York Times for one is reporting on concerns of chaos at the polls on November 7.So on the evening of November 7 as the polls close across the country watch to see just how much conviction the Democratic party has as far as supporting American democracy. Remember the special election for Cunningham's house seat in San Diego county back in the spring? Whoever she was who was running as a Democratic candidate fell all over herself to concede before the results were in and it took Brad of bradblog.com to actually mount a challenge to the results. Before the election had even been certified in CA, Denny Hastert had already magically sworn in the republican candidate. Where was the Democratic party? It was a single election and not a peep out of the national party to even test their ability to respond to election irregularities.
This time starting with the closing of the polls there should be absolutely NO CONCESSIONS by any Democratic candidate unless:
1) all votes including provisional, absentee and overseas votes have been claimed by the relevant elections board to have been counted; and...
2) the results show that the Republican won by a margin of at least 5%; and...
3) no credible claims of fraud or caging and the like have surfaced
All legal procedures must be deployed to challenge any results that are closer. Even if these challenges are ultimately bound to lose they must be mounted to buy time for charges of irregularities to surface and be examined. Even if the legal maneuvers bankrupt every candidate and the national Democratic party they must be mounted. Remember that Karl Rove litigated an Alabama governors race in the 80s for a year in order to secure "victory" for his candidate. It took that long!
Concessions have been far too early by Democrats -- read Kerry -- who have assumed that the electoral system basically works, but there is ample evidence that it doesn't. Ask Jimmy Carter. Ask Bev Harrison. Ask Ion Sanchez. Even with the above a further step has to be taken. Democratic congress persons must absolutely refuse to allow Hastert and Frist to swear in or otherwise accept any Republican candidate for which the race has not be conceded by the Democratic candidate and for which the race has not be certified by the responsible election board.
The Democratic members of congress must be unified and absolutely prepared to SHUT DOWN the government. There is simply no point to pushing forward as though things will turn out O.K. in the future. There is now a TYRANNY by the current one-party three-branch government. The country can't take any more and remain anything resembling a modern democracy. If you understand this assertion then you must realize that there is no point in trying to conduct business or life as though American society still functions as it used to appear to.
So if you see a bunch of concession speeches and lack of spine in fighting after the polls close for every last vote that was cast whether it was Republican or Democratic then you will understand that the people in the Democratic party that claim to be leaders are in fact simply co-dependents in a dysfunctional tyranny.
IF the Democratic party manages to secure a majority in the House then among the many issues that require attention the absolutely single most important task is to institute real and genuine oversight hearings on all aspects of the past six years of the Bush regime. If, as many of us think, there is solid evidence of one or more high crimes and / or misdemeanors committed by Bush and Cheney then it the only order of business for the House is to impeach. The House cannot do anything else for the simple reason that if there is such evidence then it means that the affairs domestic and foreign of the United States may well be in the hands of an illegitimate regime and if that is true then it is more dangerous to the United States and the world at large to not impeach than it is to impeach.
The canard that the country can't take impeachment doesn't hold water since our Congress impeached and acquitted Clinton with little obvious damage to the country. Pelosi is correct to state that impeachment isn't the first action since it is necessary to actually develop evidence first that can sustain an impeachment; however, watch very closely to see if she and the party stand up to their obligations to the people of the country. It should be clear that if there have been high crimes and / or misdemeanors committed by Bush and Cheney then only by using the framework of the government as laid out in the constitution can the stability and integrity of the government be ensured and that means impeachment and conviction. No compromise is acceptable not for the sake of vengeance or retribution but for the sake of restoring the country to a government of laws rather than a government of men.
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