They say the Christian Right put him over the top. But I have to believe the redneck Jews in Memphis and Atlanta had something to do with it. They've been voting against their self-interests for years without knowing it. They say the fear of gay marriage galvanized the right to get out and vote as never before. But 4 million new voters signed up by Democrats, unions, black organizations and new media would seem to more than offset that.
John Kerry conceded BEFORE all the votes were counted in Ohio because he didn't see enough outstanding votes to make a difference, and he wanted to save the country the divisiveness of 2000. What a sport!
What a traitor!!! Concede what?
4,000 voters in Franklin Co. (Columbus) can't be wrong, unless all those votes for Bush account for more than way more than the number of registered voters in that precinct. Why were there only 3 voting machines at the precinct servicing Kenyon College? Why were there disproportionately few voting machines in precincts that have large black, Latino and other minority populations? Why were there long lines in mostly Democratic precincts and not in Republican ones?
Why was the CEO of Diebold, the voting machine company not enjoined by court order to keep his hands off the voting process after he brazenly promised to "deliver Ohio for Bush" last Spring? Democrats didn't have the presence of mind to sue for such an order, maybe out of fear as appearing obstructionist. Why did they bother to muster a team of 15,000 lawyers to ensure a clean election, if they're not going to deploy them when needed?
Why weren't the state election chairpersons in 3 states, who just happen to be on their state Republican Executive Committees made to resign their public posts?
It doesn't take much to fix an American presidential election these days. A few key states will do it. Florida and Ohio did just fine. The fix was so deep in Florida that Democrats didn't even bother to resist. 'Splain how Gore actually won in 2000 and Kerry lost it by nearly 400,000 this time around, in spite of nearly half a million new voters in black and democratic precincts.
It doesn't take much . . . a few voting machines programmed to count backwards after a certain number for a certain candidate will do it, and skew the entire state.
It doesn't take much . . . a few voting machines that stop counting after 300 in democratic precincts will do it, and skew the entire state.
Yes, it does look like that gay-marriage thing backfired. The White House Ad Agency, run by the American National CEO Karl Rove made sure that the Bush constituency was more afraid of gay marriage than the global demonization of America from Bush Jr.'s foreign policy. Some people bought it. But the numbers don't add up.
A lot of people vote Republican because their families always have. Others do so because most of the people in their church do. Some families have at least one loud mouth, light-reading, talk-show addict who bleats the most frightening sound bites of the day until their klans buy into the fear. ("My brother-in-law listens to everything, and he says . . .")
And what about this NAACP thing? The FEC is suing to remove their 501C 3 status because they didn't endorse Bush. More specifically, some of their leaders had the audacity to criticize an administration that has decimated economic civil rights for black and low-income people at their national convention last summer. Even though the NAACP carefully avoided mentioning Bush Jr. by name, the implicit politicking offended the Bushies up and down the fed. All right then, let's be fair, bust the white suburban churches in Richmond, Charlotte and Charleston who brazenly used their pulpits to promote Bush Jr.
As a political science teacher at the community college level, I pointed out that many people vote a particular party, not out of ideology or commitment, but rather out of who gives the best parties on campus, who has more appealing color and graphics in their signage and literature and what is popular in their church, fraternity or community. Of course this cuts both ways. Idiots support morons on both sides of the aisle. (Did that sound cynical? Hmm, I must be changing as I rapidly approach middle age.)
Jewish people have been voting against their own self-interest since Ronald Reagan first bamboozled the Presidents Of Major Jewish Organizations. There is such an organization and their agenda is mystifying. Supposedly driven by concern for Israel and that deliciously disingenuous question, "Is it good for the Jews," POMJO holds sway just like the NAACP and suburban churches. Maybe they should lose their 501© 3 too. Let's review: Jimmy Carter made a historic first step in facilitating an Israeli-Arab dialogue. Ronald Reagan supported the "excesses" of Ariel Sharon's security policies and let the peace die. Bill Clinton revived the Camp David process, and delicately nurtured an historic Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. George Bush Jr. let the peace process die because he didn't want to support, embellish or even politically benefit from any Clinton achievement. Now tell me who's good for the Jews! I guess that all depends on what you mean by "good" and what you mean by "peace."
A tragic element of Israeli and American Jewish society is stuck on a suicidal bent that anything that helps the Palestinians is "bad for the Jews." The notion of a Palestinian population becoming placated by an honest truce and economic rewards is alien to them. It's like explaining basketball to someone who doesn't even understand soccer, or baseball to someone who doesn't know cricket. There's no frame of reference because its years removed from any of their understanding of modern history or political theory.
So there are Jews who actually DID vote for Pat Buchanan, despite his anti-Semitic rants, but not nearly as many as Katherine Harris claimed in 2000. At one time, Jews reflexively voted for Democrats as guardians of the Civil Rights movement. Not any more; blame it on Reagan and now, Rove. Bush Jr. is only president; Rove runs the company . . . uh, . . . country.
We live in a country run by an ad agency, run by C students. No wonder we're in this mess.
There was a time when mankind celebrated the Age of Reason and Age of Enlightenment. It signified the end of religious repression, the acceptance of logic and an openness to new discoveries in science. That was a nice ride, but it's over. The greatest nation in the world is now in the hands of a C student, and manipulated by 21st Century Crusaders. These Crusaders reject any science that doesn't serve their religious agenda, with regard to environmental issues, and healthcare. A woman's right to choose and the right to prescribe and use medical marijuana are in jeopardy because our president wants to placate the sector that doesn't want to acknowledge. States' Rights worked as battle cry for the segregationists. So why are the Fed's busting doctors and patients because of their choice of treatment, as sanctioned by state laws?
The light punishments for regulatory and environmental violations give corporations the license to kill. If a company is making billions, how much of a deterrent is a $100,000 fine for selling a product that kills people, that company's own research showed was likely to happen. Vioxx killed a few dozen people. Merck's research showed that this might occur as far back as 1996, but they suppressed this study and actually told its sales people to be "vague and elusive" when questions about cardiac side effects came up. A few dozen people died and they'll pay a few shekels as punishment. Why doesn't the FDA do to Merck what Morris Dees did to the Ku Klux Klan, shut them down and give their assets to survivors of victims?