Current electoral vote predictor - Kerry 291, Bush 237. And that's before any post-convention polls are taken.
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Josh Marshall had a good point last night.
He said (badly paraphrasing) that the TV newsbots keep trying to make the story of the convention, "The Democrats are Angry and Scary." But there's not as much anger in the hall as we all were feeling a year ago.
A year ago everyone was furious at the DLC spineless pink tutu wearers who caved in to everything that the Republicans wanted. Sure, Democrats were angry, but they were angry at their own party as much as at the Republicans.
Since then, the spine transplant has shown signs of taking hold, and our opposition party is acting like a loyal and principled opposition. So we don't need to be mad at our leaders any more, and it's a joyous feeling.
It's really a joy to find people who say what you believe in, and say it better than you ever hoped to hear it said. And so you cheer, and smile, and feel hopeful about the future once again.
And it's all down to Dean and the netroots community. The people led, the leaders have followed. And now there's a wind at their backs.
How can we be angry, with those feelings?
The basic rules of lying are, tell as much of the truth as you can and don't embroider if you don't have to. Both of those rules make it easier to keep your story straight.
So they're lying, when they don't have to. Why?
Kind explanation - the spokesman got it wrong, there was no wet dirt, just loose topsoil.
Not-so-kind explanation - the whole story is a lie to explain the visible abrasions. "They fell for the pretzel story, let's see how this flies".
There are plenty of plausible not-so-kind alternative explanations for those abrasions. Drunken faceplant in the carpet. Getting smacked around by Laura or Uncle Karl for one of his many shortcomings in the recent weeks. Knock-down-drag-out fight with Jenna about graduation and her having to join his campaign.
I'm having too much fun here, I'd better quit.
At least this story isn't as lame as the pretzel incident or falling off the Segway.
If you're still feeling steamed at Inhofe, one way you can express your displeasure is to give to Brad Carson's campaign. He's running for the other Oklahoma Senate seat, and here's his website:
http://www.bradcarson.com/
He's an Oklahoma Democrat, which means he's rather far right of where I am. But if he wins in November, he'll have built a good foundation for the guy or gal who comes up behind him to challenge Inhofe when the voters next make their voices heard.
And surprisingly enough, he seems to have a chance, from the polls I've seen lately.
I'm from Maryland and have nothing whatsoever to do with the Carson campaign, except for the twenty bucks I just lobbed at him to make Inhofe mad.
That's my new tactic. Every time a politician makes me angry, I throw a few dollars into his political opponent's tip jar. Maybe, eventually, this might have some small effect.
And it sure does make me feel good.
I don't think he's psychologically capable of admitting he made a mistake. It's telling.
One of his less-publicized speaking gaffes was the following phrase - "You know the old saying - fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... we won't get fooled again."
He can't have forgotten the real way that saying goes, can he? All the coke-addled brain damage can't explain messing up something so simple. No, he is psychologically unable to say "shame on me". Because he believes something, it is right and good.
He probably still thinks it was a good idea to trade Sammy Sosa.
(ps - I can't recall where I stole 'pay no attention to the man behind the cretin' from, aside from Wizard of Oz, so please feel free to steal the phrase and make it a meme)
It does sound like we've found the One Righteous Man.
And all they can pull out to attack him with are ad hominems. They can't rebut him on substance. Iraq took away resources that would have been better used on the actual war on the actual people who attacked us.
The Bush administration can only keep their numbers up so long as the public "pays no attention to the men behind the cretin". Now that it's been ripped away, it's revealed to be all hot air and humbug.
I don't know a hardcore SF reader who doesn't also read widely outside the genre. Most of us insulate our houses with books.
I know some media-SF readers who don't read much outside the media genre. I'm related to them. I tried to get my brother-in-law to read the Lensman series so he'd know one of the things his favorite books were riffing on, but he gave up after a chapter or two.
There are people in this world who throw away books after reading them. Shudder.
Do you have a specific amount of pennies you ask us to add to a donation, so that they know it's from your readers? Kos adds a penny, Atrios .18.
Act now before all the good numbers are taken!
Don't forget to support your local candidates for Congress, Senate and state offices. Even if you live in an overwhelmingly thug district, you never know when an incumbant will pull a Janklow, and your guy has to be there and organized.
And if you live in a safe Dem district, I admire and envy you. But I still caution you not to be complacent - the thug smear machine is out there, waiting for our guys to make a gaffe they can blow out of proportion.
Don't mourn, organize!
Thinking healthy thoughts in your direction. Be gentle to yourselves.
It's the 'if you repeat a lie often enough people think it's the truth' strategery. They did it with WMDs well enough that a great number of people still think that WNDs have been found. So they will shout the lie and whisper the retraction. Par for the course for these bastiges.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2004 | 12 |
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