The troops don't support our troops....
Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 05:52:36 AM PDT
How will the GOP spin this? Why do the troops oppose our troops? Why do thay hate America so? Don't they know you can't support our troops if you oppose the President?
http://www.wcnc.com/...
Military shares public's declining support for Bush, war
10/28/2005
Associated Press
More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is handling his job and the war in Iraq.
Katherine Harris would get crushed by Nelson
Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:57:40 AM PDT
With the latest poll showing Katherine Harris losing to Senator Bill Nelson by a whopping 57-33% margin, we can only guess what Rove and company will do to try to replace her as a Senate candidate.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x12942.xml?ReleaseID=829
Harris is huge drag on the ticket and she turns Bill Nelson's vulnerable seat into a safe seat. This race could develop into a landslide instead of a toss-up. Maybe installing Bush in the White House wasn't such a great career move after all.
Claire McCaskill makes it official.....
Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 12:17:04 PM PDT
This isn't news to most here, but until now it was just highly educated speculation.
Now Claire is officially entereing the US Senate race and Jim Talent's days as US Senator are numbered.
http://www.claireonline.com/news/releases/083005release.asp
Missouri has voted heavily "red" as of late, but Claire came close to winning the Governor's mansion in 2004 after unseating the standing Governor in the primary. Meanwhile Missourians are feeling a bad case of buyer's remorse with their GOP Governor and Herr Bush, not to mention the Talent-less Jim Talent (elected in 2002). This is now a top tier race.
Iraq: the Case for Withdrawal....
Fri Aug 26, 2005 at 07:12:43 AM PDT
I am attempting to write an opinion piece on Iraq--the case for withdrawal. here is a rough draft. the feedback of the kos community would be much appreciated so that this will be of a quality that my local newspaper will print. So please criticize or applaud (or both) as you see fit....
I am issuing a fatwa against Pat Robertson
Thu Aug 25, 2005 at 12:45:58 PM PDT
On behalf of Venezuela's working poor, I am offering up a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon and 15 dollars in non-sequential bills to whomever ices Pat Robertson. I call it a pre-emptive rapture of the church. We just push Pat to the front of the line.
On second thought I will renounce violence and offer the same deal for whomever can convert Pat Robertson to Wiccan first. A cold six of PBR and some cold cash awaits you should you accept this mission.
And now that I got your attention, a little primer I wrote on the Christian Right in the extended copy....
Neo-cons, Paleo-cons and other con jobs....
Thu Aug 25, 2005 at 06:39:10 AM PDT
For those who wish for more clarity on the different ideological factions within the right wing, here is an article I wrote for our local
Peaceworks Monitor, which focuses on the political spectrum. For many kos readers this may be fairly elementary, but I welcome any feedback from fellow kos-sacks on this, and whether or not you find this diary useful or just taking up space.
The entire issue of our newsletter can be found here http://peaceworks.missouri.org/monitor/2005/fall/4.html
The article on the neo-cons and paleo-cons is in the extended entry...
Flashback to March 2003
Wed Jun 29, 2005 at 02:35:17 PM PDT
Remember when everybody thought it would be a cakewalk?
Many support Gulf war, Bush
The Associated Press
Published Sunday, March 23, 2003
Public optimism that the war against Iraq will be successful and short has grown in the past week, now that the war is under way, a new poll suggests.
A CBS-New York Times tracking poll released yesterday suggested that 62 percent believe the war will be quick and successful, and that 33 percent think it could take a long time and be costly.
Kenny Hulshof's hyperbole on Iraq revisted
Mon May 02, 2005 at 08:22:02 PM PDT
In case anybody forgot all the hype that led us to war, compare my Congressman's remarks in late 2002/ early 2003 with the remarks of his constituents like me at Mid-Missouri Peaceworks from the same time period. Maybe instead of listening to Rumsfeld and Bush, Hulshof should have listened to us.
Judging by his remarks he isn't familiar with real threats like WWII fascism and he never heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis. You want hyperbole...it was there. Don't ever let these Republicans say they never implied Iraq was an imminent threat. My congressman sure as hell did.....
My Earth Day speech Columbia Missouri
Sun Apr 24, 2005 at 09:19:11 PM PDT
Got to give a 7-8 minute speech between bands today at Columbia, Missouri's Earth Day celebration. Here is what I had to say (almost verbatim, but since I didn't read as I spoke it was slightly different and probably included some "umms" and other imperfections :-). The speech is below. Feedback is welcome even though its already been spoken....
Christian terrorism...
Fri Nov 12, 2004 at 08:27:38 AM PDT
I don't intend to bash Christianity as a whole but for the folks who think terrorism is a uniquely Islamic malady, you had better ignore the Lord's Resistance Army (A Christian Terrorist group in Uganda).
In sheer numbers, these fellows got Al Queda beat twentyfold....
Excerpted from the US State Department report no less...
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35388.htm
The LRA is responsible for killing an estimated 120,000 persons in the past 17 years, kidnapping more than 25,000 children, attacking religious leaders, destroying and stealing church property, and causing more than 1.5 million persons to flee their homes and move to makeshift refugee camps.
And lets not forget the NLFT in Tripura, India and thirteen years of bloody Christian terror. The who? what? oh, I guess Fox News and NBC haven't been following this....
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/thirteen_years_of_killings_in_tripura.htm
Election bright spot: Melissa Bean in Illinois....
Wed Nov 10, 2004 at 01:32:04 PM PDT
I haven't seen a post-election diary on this yet, but I think we should draw some attention the fact that a standing Congressman who had served since 1969 in a partisanly Republican District (in fact--the most Republican District in the state) that leaned 57-43% GOP, went down in flames.
Melissa Bean defeated the longest serving member of the house GOP in suburbs that tilt right (but are shifting gradually our way as ideopolis suburbs).
This is a major victory that got lost in our collective grief over other results.
Credit an assist to Obama for releasing volunteers to help Bean down the stretch.
We did manage to push one "giant killer' to victory.
Welcome to Congress Melissa Bean...
http://www.melissabean.com/
Predictions of Election Day Surprises?
Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 02:17:49 PM PDT
The good surprises:
Mongiardo beats Bunning
DeLay gets taken down by Morrison in a shocker! (out on a limb)
Kerry carries Ohio and wins the White House
Bean defeats Crane in Illinois
The bad surprises:
Thune edges Daschle by less than 500 votes
Bush takes Wisconsin
Bush's war on terror
Tue Aug 31, 2004 at 01:46:52 PM PDT
Nader fails to qualify for Missouri ballot...
Wed Aug 18, 2004 at 12:50:53 PM PDT
I don't have a supporting link yet, but I inquired as to the status of the Nader petition drive with the Missouri Secretary of State's elections division today and was informed that
Ralph Nader failed to collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the Missouri ballot.
He turned in over 14,000 {update: apparently he only turned in 12,800 signatures. Nader's campaign incorrectly reported 14,000 in there earlier press release} signatures but apparently had a dreadful validity rate. Apparently, in St. Louis County more invalid signatures were counted than valid ones (this particular tidbit is second-hand information but I believe the source to be valid).
Smear Factor: John O'neill and Open Secrets...
Tue Aug 17, 2004 at 05:05:39 PM PDT
Like a chain mail narrative, Swift Boat smearer John O'neill tries to play it off as if he is just a regular independent guy and not a partisan hack, but thanks to Open Secrets and a little research we can call BS on that!!!
http://www.davidlimbaugh.com/
snip
But John O'Neill himself denies that he's a Republican
Yeah he is just a non-partisan concerned Patriot. Right!!! But what about this...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200405040004
O'Neill was a creation of the Nixon administration, as Joe Klein detailed in the January 5 issue of The New Yorker.
or this....
In the late 1970s, O'Neill clerked for Rehnquist; in 1990, according to an October 7, 1991, report by Texas Lawyer, the former President Bush considered O'Neill for a federal judgeship vacancy.
And look who he has donated to....
Gratuitous late summer Tribute to Dean Democrats...
Sun Aug 15, 2004 at 08:20:37 AM PDT
Out of the smoldering embers of the Dean Presidential campaign, 1000 points of light are emerging nationwide. It was just over a year ago that the Democratic Party leadership stated that we wouldn't be able to retake the US house until 2012. Now suddenly the Party is imbued with a new spirit of optimism. Why? Because, that cold day in Iowa when the DLC and the Republican right-wing breathed a sigh of relief as the Dean campaign went down in defeat--few people noticed that the Dean movement continued to fight on undaunted..
County Republicans haven't updated website in 2 months...
Mon Jul 12, 2004 at 08:29:20 AM PDT
I live in a county that Gore carried by a mere 0.6%. In 2000, It was Gore 48.3%-Bush 47.7%.
However, I think the Republicans in our County are either complacent or in disarray. they have become almost invisible. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that the County chair resigned a year ago over the Iraq war...
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/walters1.html
Whatever, the reason the Democrats opened up the County headquarters months earlier than in the past. By contrast, the local Republicans haven't updated their web site since May 13th?
Here in the middle of Missouri it looks like the GOP is taking a nap in the summer of an election year.
http://www.boonecountyrepublicans.com/
Are they really that unmotivated? Time will tell, but I hope we bury them here in 2004.
1000 US Soldiers dead in Iraq/Afghan wars....
Tue Jul 06, 2004 at 09:37:53 PM PDT
Without media fanfare, the death toll in the two Middle Eastern conflicts hit 1000 on George W. Bush's birthday.
129 soldiers have died almost without notice in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. the latest being 20 year old Julie Hickey of Galloway, Ohio.
http://icasualties.org/oef/
Four marines were killed in Iraq today, bringing the Iraq death toll up to 871 US GIs
http://icasualties.org/oif/
1000 American troops. Countless Iraqi and Afghan civilians.
Just another bloody day in the Middle East and more grieving families losing a son or daughter in the Midwest.
There are two Americas--one that fights and dies overseas and one that gets big tax breaks and doesn't have to sacrifice in blood. The latter group I call the elite--Bush calls them his base.
