Us presidential election 2004

[denoir 0]

They have methods of patching it up. For that purpose they use the constitutional amendments. Besides that, they declare parts of the original constitution to be outdated (for instance parts that supports slavery) and ignore it.

Still I think they like any other normal western democracy should allow for re-writing it from scratch every few hundred of years or so.

[billybob2002 0]

This is sick....

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps....1018011

Quote[/b] ]

Defiance County man arrested in alleged voter registration-crack cocaine scheme

A Defiance County man has been arrested for allegedly filing more than 100 false voter registration forms in exchange for crack cocaine from a Toledo woman working on behalf of the NAACP’s voter registration drive.

Chad Staton, 22, of Stratton Ave., faces a fifth-degree felony charge of false registration after sheriff’s deputies said he filled out the registration forms by himself — using either fictitious names or addresses — and gave them to Georgianne Pitts, 41.

Toledo police searched Ms. Pitts’ home and discovered drug paraphernalia along with more voter registration forms. Police said that Ms. Pitts admitted to paying Mr. Staton in crack cocaine, in lieu of cash.

Ms. Pitts, working on behalf of the NAACP National Voter Fund, submitted the forms to the voter fund, which in turn submitted them to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Because the addresses on the forms were for the Defiance area, the Cuyahoga County elections board sent the registration forms to Defiance County’s elections board, with a note to check the signatures for fraud, said Laura Howell, the deputy director of the Defiance County elections board.

Ms. Pitts told police she had been recruited to obtain voter registration forms by Thaddeus J. Jackson II, of Cleveland, who is coordinating the Toledo area’s voter registration drive for the NAACP voter drive.

When contacted by The Blade this afternoon, Mr. Jackson said that Ms. Pitts was a “volunteer,†but said he had no knowledge of any fraudulent voter registration forms. He declined to comment further.

Citing the case, Ohio Republican Party spokesman Jason Mauk said in a statement this afternoon that there is “an effort to steal Ohio’s election†that is “being driven exclusively by interest groups working to register Democratic voters.â€

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.

[Bernadotte 0]

Quote[/b] ]A Defiance County man has been arrested for allegedly filing more than 100 false voter registration forms...

...

Citing the case, Ohio Republican Party spokesman Jason Mauk said in a statement this afternoon that there is “an effort to steal Ohio’s election†that is “being driven exclusively by interest groups working to register Democratic voters.â€

The Republican spokesman's comment makes no sense.  How can you "steal Ohio's election" by submitting fake registration forms?  If you really want to steal an election then you have to do what the Republican firm Voter Outreach did in Nevada and Oregon.  They simply trashed registration forms from Democrats while identifying themselves with the name of a Democratic organisation.

Speaking of Ohio, I found this interesting and amusing.  

[Colossus 2]

Speaking of Ohio, I found this interesting and amusing.  

I know, isn't it fun?  

The end is near for Bush, and I have already sent a mail 

So yet again

Go Kerry  

[Bernadotte 0]

I seriously doubt Kerry will lose NJ, NH, FL, NM, IA and MO.  Just those would give Kerry 297 vs the 270 needed to win.  AR, WS, OH and VA are also shifting to Kerry and would give him another 49.

New Jersey (NJ) => Kerry

Florida (FL) => tie

TODAY:  Kerry 243   Bush 257

Wisconsin (WS) => Kerry

TODAY:  Kerry 253   Bush 247

New Hampshire (NH) => Kerry

TODAY:  Kerry 257   Bush 247

...Another day, another state.  

Florida (FL) => Kerry

TODAY:  Kerry 284   Bush 247

[denoir 0]

I'm starting to think that Kerry actually has a chance of winning.

All things put together, I'm not sure if it is the best thing.

Bush losing would score very high on a 'feel-good' scale. It would be immensly enjoyable to see the right-wing nuts squirm. I read on a regular basis articles by various pompous right-wing columnists (think Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh etc) and I'd really enjoy seeing their dispair after a Bush loss. So on a personal level, a Bush defeat would be really nice.

Objectively from a European point of view, Bush is not such a bad choice. He is terrible for the US economy, which is mostly quite good for us. He provides a person we all can despise and through that helps a European unity. An interesting example of that is the generally EU-sceptic UK, where since the Iraq failure the opinion is more and more pro-EU. Currently, and this is quite revolutionary, a majority of Brits support the concept of a common EU foreign policy. Disagreement with America helps the European unity.

Furthermore, Bush is relatively contained. On an international scale, there is limited damage he can do. The US military is too tied up in Iraq to go invading anything else. For the actual developments in Iraq, I sincerely doubt that Kerry can bring any improvements. While it is true that internationally people don't like and don't trust Bush, it is very unlikely that they would commit troops to a failed project - regardless of who is in power. It's difficult to imagine what improvements Kerry could bring.

Then again from a less European, more global, humanist point of view, Bush is doing a lot of damage. It's a very long list, that includes everything from environmental violations to imposing religious criteria on aid to Africa (not giving money for fighting aids to clinics that perform or inform about abortions). A religiously fundamentalist America is a danger to the whole world. In addition he has plenty of lovely ideas like building mini-nukes to be actually used in the field.

So from a more responsible global position, a Bush removal is desirable. From a selfish European point of view, Bush remaining in power is good. And finally from a personal vindictive  "feel good" position, Bush should be removed.

[Blake 0]

And if Bush fails to win, we'd lose a great speaker and all the delicious rhetorics. All that hard work against evil-doers in the Axis of Evil would be no more...  

[Bernadotte 0]

You know it's a slow news day when denoir starts arguing with himself.  

[EiZei 0]

... and political satirists would actually have to start doing some real work instead of quoting chimperor`s brainfarts.

Can`t say that UK has become significantly more pro-EU because of dubya, look at the success of UKIP.

[billybob2002 0]

Jesus for Bush....  

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041019-123226-2184r.htm

Quote[/b] ]  

Evangelicals endeavor to redeem the vote

By Bill Sammon

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

    President Bush's re-election campaign is getting a boost from powerful Christian groups, which are enlisting entertainers such as actor Jim Caviezel of "The Passion of the Christ" to cajole millions of evangelicals into voting.

   One of the newest groups is Redeem the Vote, the religious community's answer to MTV's secular Rock the Vote. The group is touring battleground states with Christian rock groups and voter-registration drives that organizers say are putting the fear of God into Sen. John Kerry's supporters.

   "This is really scaring Democrats," said Redeem the Vote founder Randy Brinson. "This is major, major news that the major media have ignored because we're not liberal."

   Mr. Brinson persuaded Mr. Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson's hit film, to appear in a Webcast imploring Christians to vote. Although Mr. Caviezel never explicitly endorses the president, his message is designed to remind Christians that Mr. Bush shares their opposition to abortion, judicial activism and homosexual "marriage."

   "In this election year, Americans are faced with some of the most important issues in the history of our country," he said. "In order to preserve the God-given freedoms we each hold dear, it's important that we let our voices be heard."

   The message is hammered home in millions of e-mails that Redeem the Vote is sending to evangelical Christians, whose names were obtained from the marketing firms that made "The Passion of the Christ" a blockbuster.

   A more-established Christian group, Focus on the Family, is making a similar appeal for evangelical votes through its popular radio show, hosted by James Dobson.

   "In the year 2000, 4 million evangelicals did not go to the polls," Mr. Dobson said in a recent speech that will be broadcast next week. "Twenty-five million Christians of various stripes — Catholics, mainline, other perspectives — did not register.

   "That is an outrage," he added. "And it must not happen again."

   The grass-roots efforts by these and other Christian groups are being monitored closely by the Bush campaign, which is taking a more active role in turning out evangelicals than in the 2000 election.

   White House political strategist Karl Rove long has bemoaned the fact that Mr. Bush likely would have won the popular vote if more Christians had shown up at the polls four years ago.

   "I see a lot of parallels between the evangelical vote and the African-American vote," Mr. Brinson said. "For years, the Republican Party wrote off African-Americans, saying they were unable to make inroads, while the Democratic Party took them for granted.

   "I see a lot of that with the evangelicals," he added. "The Republicans have taken them for granted, and the Democrats write them off, saying they don't have any way to reach these people."

   Christian groups are hoping to change that dynamic two weeks from today. To that end, they implicitly are reminding evangelicals that Mr. Bush shares their values.

   "We have sat here, many of us for 35 years, while the family has been battered and bruised and broken," Mr. Dobson said. "Many of us have just let it happen.

   "But I'm telling you, now's the time to say, 'Enough is enough.' "

   The remarks, which were delivered to a cheering crowd in Colorado, will be broadcast next Monday and Tuesday to 1.5 million listeners of the "Focus on the Family" radio show.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

BTW, do you like my new Sig?

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

BTW, do you like my new Sig?  

Did you have to put the Aghia Sofia in there :/

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]BTW, do you like my new Sig?

WoW!

Edit: boooo

[DanAK47 1]

Like my sig? I tried to capture the logic in liberal thought.

He he he he.

On a more serious note, I think you summed it up in the first sentence, Denoir. "Bush losing would be high on a "feel-good" scale."

Kerry is big on promising more of this and that for us, and likes to say how much better he could make our lives. Like we aren't spoiled enough already.

[Akira 0]

Jesus for Bush....

I always found that ironic since there is nothing Christian (or having to do with Jesus' teachings) in Bush's action and policies.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Okay Akira, get ready for the laugh of the day

The new autmoated voting machine

[kerosene 0]

Christian rock sucks ass.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]I always found that ironic since there is nothing Christian (or having to do with Jesus' teachings) in Bush's action and policies.

shh....gay marriage and abortion is the secret

Quote[/b] ]

Christian rock sucks ass.

...ok

[orson 0]

*psst ... dont vote...the government always gets in

[denoir 0]

Jesus for Bush....  

I always found that ironic since there is nothing Christian (or having to do with Jesus' teachings) in Bush's action and policies.

Indeed. I think it's quite alarming what kind of interpretation these people have. "Decency" on TV - like not showing breasts on TV is an issue, while starting a war that killed thousands of people is not.

Some damn fine Christians those people are.

[orson 0]

and just to add .... either greed or religion will kill us all ... enjoy

[red oct 2]

Jesus for Bush....

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]

That picture is old and it is seared in my memory like Kerry's christmas eve story....

[billybob2002 0]

More to the coke story.....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....n_scamp

Quote[/b] ]

'Mary Poppins' Registers to Vote in Ohio

Tue Oct 19, 8:11 AM ET  

DEFIANCE, Ohio - Elections officials knew something was wrong when they got voter registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.

They notified the Defiance County sheriff, who arrested Chad Staton on Monday on a felony charge of submitting phony voter registration forms. Investigators also were looking into allegations that he was paid with cocaine in exchange for his efforts.

Staton, 22, had fraudulently filled out more than 100 voter registration forms, Sheriff David Westrick said.

"Staton was to be paid for each registration form that he could get citizens to fill out," the sheriff said. "However, Staton himself filled out the registrations and returned them to the woman who hired him from Toledo."

Staton was charged with false registration and was released without bond pending arraignment.

No other charges had been filed in the case Monday, authorities said.

According to Westrick, the NAACP's National Voter Fund had submitted the false registrations to the elections board in Cleveland. George Forbes, Cleveland chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (news - web sites), said Monday that the voter fund operates independently from his chapter.

Officers said they interviewed a Toledo woman who claimed that she had paid Staton with cocaine for the registrations. Officers said they obtained a search warrant and took voter registrations and drug paraphernalia from her home.

The woman claimed she had been recruited by a Cleveland man to obtain voter registrations, Westrick said.

[denoir 0]

Still, I think it's very interesting how the right-wing Christians in the US seem to have an original interpretation of Christianity.

I mean according to the bible, Jesus was a true hippie: all was about peace, love and understanding. Pacifism and liberal values is in the very core of the new testament.

Yet many of those that claim to follow it (specifically the likes of the Christian Coalition) are conservative, intolerant and militant. It doesn't quite add up with the original message.