In the GLBT community we often muse about the gay basher's need to destroy what they fear most. It's not actually us that scares them, rather it's the part within them that seeks to be like us. (A short hand version is "closet-case.")

The last several weeks has seen multiple diaries touting Hillary's inherent evilness and unelectability. She engages in the politics of personal destruction. She divides the party on race and gender lines to advance her campaign. She betrays every progressive ideal. She will drag us to defeat due to her unelectability.

Confined to the noise of recommended diaries, this was annoying and hurtful but at least barely tolerable. Tonight however, it infected the front page

I agree with Markos that the Red State Dems are in a bad spot. Though I firmly believe that they could have fought Alito on separation of power grounds. Still I doubt I could find an opponent who could win in their state so for now they are off my radar screen.

But I grant no such quarter to Western, New England, and Mountain state Democrats and so-called moderate Republicans. I want them gone. The same goes for their enablers like NARAL and Beltway consultants. All of them betrayed their natural constituents.

However, I also want them to see my (and others) fingerprints all over their future losses

The military needs to begin a massive airlift and rescue operation in New Orleans and other Gulf States. They cannot continue to do minimal fly-overs where they drop off too little food to too many people. People will begin dying soon of disease, starvation, and lawless activities. They cannot wait for any "further orders" because clearly none are forthcoming.

It's clear that the White House, Congress, and whatever passes for the Democratic party (apologies to Governor Dean) has failed the people of New Orleans and with it, the country. That's a terrifying thought because that's why we have a government, it's supposed to handle the big stuff. But what we have been screaming about in response to the Iraq war (i.e. sheer incompetence) has infected all levels of this country's political infrastructure.

As a peacenik, it frightens me to call on the military to take that much power. But frankly they are the only institution with the resources and discipline to carry it out. (And no, not ALL of them are in Iraq so it's doable.)

As others have more eloquently pointed out, the assorted screw-ups of the Bush administration have reached critical mass. We have Republicans attacking them on Iraq, 9-11 widows ripping Rove for his continued politization of the attack, and the disaster formerly known as Desert Storm II seeping into everyday consciousness. It's like watching the first drops of water fall on the Wicked Witch at the end of Wizard of Oz.

But I'm noticing a markedly dispirited response from many liberals and progressives. Instead of glee, they either angrily respond with "what took them so long" or they sadly point out that "it always look like we will/should win, but we don't." Most fall in the former category. But many of those still cross into second camp as they detail the real financial sacrifices they made last year to support the Democrats.

[Note that many of these folks don't live on the blogs (unlike many of us) so they don't see tremendous infrastructure built out of last year's efforts.  Instead they see a White House/Legislature/Court System/Press owned and/or controlled by GOP.]

Having slogged through fall out over Pie Ad and the abortion posts preceding it, I feel compelled to post the following

At it's core, feminism stands for the radical notion that women are people too. That means women should get paid the same for equal work, have sex only when and with whom they want, and enjoy the right to fully participate in the political process.

Although we have made tremendous progress in the US and Western Europe, it's an outright lie to claim full equality exists. One need only talk to women working low wage jobs in the service industry, immigrants who lack full English skills, or women in the trades who first integrate a construction site to find out what sexual harassment (degredation) means. Or perhaps one could spend time with teenage girls who are bombarded with positive sexual messages but denied access to birth control or abortion.

Nor can we forget the plight of women in the developing world, where mass rapes are an accepted tactic in war. (Nor should we ignore our own service women who apparently face a similar gauntlet at the hands of their fellow soldiers.)

Ultimately cutting the legs off Frist and saving the filibuster for the Supreme Court vote was more important than losing a few appellate slots.

Don't forget, the appellate judges sit on panels of three judges. In turn those three member panels can be overruled by a representative sampling of the whole court (en banc).

That means that yes, Rogers-Brown and Owen will probably get appointed. However, given their temperments and (now national) political baggage they will suffer the fate of many old liberal judges still sitting on panels. They will get ignored.

That is especially true for judges "who don't play well with others" -- like legislators they have to be able to work a deal for the two votes. It doesn't matter if the other judges share your political beliefs if you insult and belittle them for not being pure enough. Watch how the other Supreme Court Justices treat Scalia.

For anyone who still doubt's Ratzinger's contempt for the modern world.

The Observer reports that in 2001 Ratzinger demanded that Catholic bishops keep secret the allegations of child sex abuse for ten years after the child turned 18. Further he ordered that only fellow priests could conduct the investigations and trials.

This would allow the church officials to escape criminal and civil prosecution (due to statute of limitations running out).

The only (ultimate) good that could come out of this letter if someone decides to push the conspiracy charge against the Roman Catholic Church for an ongoing coverup. Given the shape our current federal government, I don't see that happening.

However, I do see the insurance companies using this letter as proof of why they don't need to make payments for the settlements.

How appropriate that the week that we celebrate a litany of reactionary terrors like Hitler's birthday, Waco and Oklahoma City, we also get this one.

My first encounter with the name Ratzinger came almost twenty years. At a low point in my life, I tried to return to the church because I thought it would provide a more productive outlet for my social conscience. Amazingly enough, I managed to pick the time period where he released the encyclical describing homosexuality as an "objective disorder" and noting that violence against homosexuals, while deplorable, was certainly understandable. Although I had not fully sorted out my feelings on my sexuality, I instinctively understood "run away."

So maybe (indirectly) I owe him.

The LA Times reported today that the Bush administration is setting the stage to prevent private litigants from enforcing the Federal Voting Rights Act. In other words, only Ashcroft would get to decide whether to bring suit on behalf of voters. Further Ashcroft will be stationing federal employees to serve as "poll monitors" at certain voting locations. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-votesue29oct29.story

>>However, all three courts that ruled on the matter rejected the administration's broader view that voters may not sue state election officials in federal court.

Still, the issue may resurface and prove significant next week if disputes arise over voter qualifications. Some election-law experts believe the administration has set the stage for arguing that the federal courts may not second-guess decisions of state election officials in Ohio, Florida or elsewhere.<<

I know most Kossacks have suspended discussion of anything but election, but we cannot afford to let that be our "only" focus. (1) Yes we must get GOTV, (2) yes, we must remain focused but (3) no we cannot ignore the world community's reaction to Iraq. Nor can we afford to let our own responsibilities to hostages and political prisoners everywhere slip.

The latest outrage in Iraq is the kidnapping of Margaret Hassan (a well respected and longtime resident of Iraq who, like many other Europeans, has always fought for humanitarian causes abroad). http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/22/iraq.kidnapping/index.html Apparently the video has her begging and pleading for her life as noted below

"Please help me, please help me, these might be my last hours.... Please help me, please British people ask Mr. (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair to pull the troops from Iraq and not bring them to Baghdad.

"Please, please I beg of you, the British people, to help me. I don't want to die like (Kenneth) Bigley. I beg of you, I beg of you."

I just got the nicest note from Jet Blue, explaining that they do not use partisan media like Sinclair. See below. It also turns out they sponsor the Presidential Debates.

Yes, I know that they turned the names over to Homeland Security. But here they are doing the right so let's give them points.

Dear Ms. Daly,

"Thank you for your email concerning Sinclair Broadcasting.  We apologize that we initially confused your note with our sponsorship of the Presidential debates and sent you our previous response in
error.

"JetBlue has never advertised with Sinclair, nor do we intend to, hence our mistake in response.  We understand your concerns and do not support partisan media such as Sinclair.

Yes, we can party like it's 1992 but we should push that it's 1980 all over again.

Bush's inability to tell even simple truths will bury him with most Americans. It also gives us the opportunity to reach across the proverbial "aisle" to folks who don't want to admit they were wrong on the war, SUVs, abortion, etc.

Here's a sample letter I sent local papers.

Once again, Bush demonstrated that he cannot accept reality that contradicts his beliefs. In the first debate he lied about our levels of allied support, during the second debate he could not think of --much less admit to--making even one mistake, and tonight he flatly denied ever saying that Osama Bin Laden was not a problem, even though videotape proves otherwise.

Pundits and viewers are expressing surprise over Kerry's seeming inability to articulate clear answers to domestic issues. Most expect him to trounce Bush with clever sound bites that highlight the Republican's many failures. For many Kerry's unwillingness to exhibit this behavior raises the specter of the inarticulate intellectual that plagued both Al Gore last election and Kerry during the primaries.

This reasoning not only dishonors Kerry's long record of public service, it underscores the polarization that threatens this country's future. As a lesbian feminist but also a recovering Catholic it pains me to admit that many folks have genuine concerns over issues like abortion, same-gender marriage and family planning access for teenagers. I will never agree with them and will always resist their attempts to restrict other's rights but I cannot pretend they don't exist. Instead I have to find a way, as Kerry tried last night, to communicate with them. Like him, I expect I would stutter and stumble but ultimately end up in the same place with "I am sorry but it comes down to the greater good."

Due to our physical size and isolation, our greatest enemies have arisen from within our shores. Our history is replete with campaigns against internal enemies, (1) native Americans were godless savages; (2) Japanese-Americans were all traitors; and (3) Communists were hiding underneath our beds during McCarthyism.The fact that base desires, such as seizure of land or power, drove those campaigns is not relevant. Each seized advantage of America's vast distances and differences among its peoples to fracture the country. Although all three campaigns inflicted horrible damage during their time, each has come to be discredited in the eyes of most rational Americans.

Tonight Kerry sliced and diced Bush, but the pundits missed it. However, the audience members in St. Louis didn't. You could watch them wincing as Kerry repeatedly slapped Bush down: (1) Missouri would be the third largest country in coalition if you all went; (2) when he repeatedly invoked other Republican's who criticized Bush (3) or when he looked Bush directly in the eye when he confronted him on his mistakes around war and economy.

Here is the letter I sent to local papers through Kerry campaign website. It's not great but it's something. Go forth and do the same:

"President Bush, our proverbial "boy in the bubble" had to encounter real people with actual questions tonight. And, much like a deathly ill child encountering germs for the first time, the results were not pretty.

Tonight's debate further highlighted the Bush administration's isolation from reality.

Cheney's snarling performance illustrated the "smallness" of a small but vocal minority in this country. This minority(1) pontificates about military valor and sacrifice as long as others do the dying, (2) excoriates government except when it offers them a job or a no bid contract for their company, and (3) dismisses evidence of their mistakes by repeating lies previously found out.

In times of peace and prosperity we can ignore these cranks. Hence it didn't matter that the sitting Senator from Wyoming voted against Head Start and Meals on Wheels for seniors.  We can make him a caricature and laugh about it.

Courtesy of a friend in the UK.

Check out  this:

David Hackworth describes how Army command dismisses concerns of female rape victims. What's chilling is that involves all the players from the Abu Graib story. Only here Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski is leading the charge for female soldiers against Sanchez.

I used to practice employment law. This type of behavior, with varying degress of seriousness, occurred in almost every industry where women broke into the ranks. Prior to women, racial minorities or other different groups faced similar treatment.

It only stopped after industries got sued by the private attorneys and/or government agencies. But here we have the military, which is almost immune from outside pressue due to its own legal system.

In a bitter irony, Vietnam tripped up President Bush tonight without the word AWOL surfacing.  Tonight Kerry played a cool Alan Alda to Bush's blustering Larry Linville.

Vietnam spawned the long-running comedy MASH, which dealt with the serious issues of life and death through broadly drawn characters and situations. As the show evolved almost all the characters grew more complex - with one exception, Frank Burns. We always knew he would run his mouth off with racist conspiracy theories, wave a gun around that he could never use and splutter his way through losing arguments with Hawkeye and Trapper John. Eventually the show had to retire the character because knocking him down became like shooting fish in a barrel.

Like Hawkeye, war's horrible impact shaped Kerry's character and courage. And like Burns, war (even today) has not penetrated Bush's fantasy world.

Sigh, I know I'm supposed to play nice with the press. But today's so-called analysis from Carla Marinucci was a bit much.

She wrote:

>>A few short months ago, Democratic Sen. John Kerry brought audiences to their feet when he wound up campaign speeches by boldly challenging President Bush and the Republicans to "Bring it on.''

And they have. In the past month, Kerry's campaign appears to be flailing, his poll numbers softening in critical swing states and his messengers outflanked by GOP operatives lobbing political grenades from all sides.
<<

So I fired off this response:

Ms. Marinucci's recent "analysis" of John Kerry's campaign rivaled even Orwell's wildest nightmares for its indifference to both facts and journalism. It would almost be humorous if our continuing losses in Iraq weren't so devastating as shown by the other lead article.