I pass along this Flash animation recommended by Lisa T: God is not

a Republican (Or a Democrat.) Sojourners : Election 2004. I’ll add a link to Mark Fiore’s Animated Political Cartoons! (Fiore did the ‘god’ animation —

he has something new every week).

All this god-crap pushes me deeper into atheism. Do ‘take back your faith’ — and get it out of my

face. mjh

Opinion > Kerry and the Swift Boat Ads (6 Letters)”

Boat Ads (6 Letters)

To the Editor:

John Kerry fought in the war and then returned to try to convince our government to stop

the endless and needless bloodshed.

That was an honorable thing to do. Those who criticize him for learning from his experience in the

field and then using that experience to help the antiwar effort do a great disservice to those patriots who forced our government to end

an unjust war.

Marc J. Osterweil
New Kingston, N.Y., Aug. 22, 2004
—
To the Editor:

An Aug. 21 news analysis suggests that

John Kerry made a strategic error by not promptly rebutting the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’s attacks. But might not he have made a

principled decision to stick to the high road and to resist efforts to drag his campaign into the mud? More important is why many news

outlets reported the Swift boat veterans’ allegations as if they were true, or why tapes of veterans “speaking coolly and directly to

the camera” found their way into TV news reports.

The real problem is not with Mr. Kerry’s decision but with the fact that the press

effectively provided free campaign advertising for his attackers. Perhaps hoping to appear balanced, the press has once again failed to

investigate and report the facts.

Richard B. Miller
Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 21, 2004
The writer is the director of the Poynter

Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions, Indiana University.

Washington > Nemesis: In a New Book, Buchanan Chastises

Washington > Nemesis: In a New Book, Buchanan Chastises Another Bush

Calling the invasion “the greatest strategic blunder in 40

years,” Mr. Buchanan writes, “If prudence is the mark of a conservative, Mr. Bush has ceased to be a conservative.” …

“He has

a following in conservative circles,” said Paul Weyrich, a veteran conservative organizer. “It is not what it once was just because the

religious right is not particularly enamored with him. But it is going to have an effect.”

Left and Right, seen as polarized, in same sorry rut by David Boaz

And the No.

1 way liberals and conservatives are alike: Both think they can run your life better than you can.

Liberals want to raise taxes

because they can spend your money better than you can. They don’t believe in school choice because you’re not capable of choosing a

school for your children. They think they can handle your healthcare, your retirement and your charitable contributions better than you

can.
—
David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of ”Libertarianism: A Primer” (Free Press,

1997). This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

Bullshit, Boaz. I don’t speak for anyone but myself.

However, as a liberal, I have no interest in running anyone else’s life. I do believe there are some things best done by government and

that everyone who can should pay some share of those costs. I believe in the commonwealth. I’m certain that Duhbya has disproven the

trickle-down, rising tide, piss-on-you-Jack theory.

You may want to read the rest of Boaz’s column. He is very balanced in

discrediting liberals and conservatives; only he knows and speaks the truth. mjh

The Albuquerque Journal, like many

publications and TV news operations, attempts to be balanced in their election coverage. Often an article about Bush will appear next to

an article about Kerry. In each article, the other side will get a paragraph or two for rebuttal. Balance is measured in number of words

(or seconds on the TV).

Look at the front page of today’s Albuquerque Journal:

popup abqjoural.com’s

front page

As you see for yourself, we have a huge, flattering picture of Bush above which he is quoted in a huge headline:

‘We’re Making Progress.’ Now, to balance this, on the same page, above the fold, we also have an article that might seem to be

about Kerry — at least his name is prominently in the headline: Kerry’s Visit Costs Drivers. Read the article to learn that it

has almost nothing to do with Kerry, though the headline does manage to convey something negative about him. This article barely deserves

to be in the A section; it is certainly not front-page news.

I’m not quite blaming the reporter, who could have written a more

interesting article if he extended his story to account for what all of these political visits cost everyone. It is the editor who choses

to put this trivial article on the front page and who writes the headline (‘Security Measures Cost Some Citizens More Than Others’ is

more accurate) — it’s the editors who control what you and I see and the impressions we take away from the news.

Fair and balanced?

Far from it. mjh

Dick Cheney came to town — to

insular, conservative Rio Rancho (which could be anywhere in Arizona or Texas) — not the University of New Mexico campus. I had to say

hello with a new sign on my roof: Dick, Go Cheney Yourself! mjh

Rooftop Revolt — Overthrow Bush

Sharpton didn’t get much coverage, except to say that he departed from his

script and roused the crowd. His prepared speech is worth reading, but his departures are also important. mjh

Full text of Al Sharpton’s

[scripted] DNC speech Rocky Mountain News: Election

Tonight, we stand with those freedoms at risk and our security as citizens in

question. I have come here tonight to say, that the only choice we have to protect and preserve our freedoms at this point in history

is the election of John Kerry as the president of the United States.

I stood with both John Kerry and John Edwards on over 30

occasions during the primary season. I debated them. I watched them. I observed their deeds. I am convinced that they are men who say

what they mean and mean what they say.

I am also convinced that at a time, when there is a vicious spirit in the body politic of

this country that attempts to undermine America’s freedoms — our civil rights, and civil liberties — we must leave this city and go

forth and organize this nation toward victory for John Kerry and John Edwards in November. This is not just about winning an election,

it’s about preserving the principles upon which this nation was founded. …

We are also faced with the prospect, in the next

White House for four more years.

This is not about a party. It is about living up to the promise of America.

Ex-Kerry rivals rouse the crowd By Marc Humbert,

The Associated Press

[In his unscripted remarks, he] repeatedly slammed the Republican administration.

”Mr. President, the

reason we are fighting so hard, the reason we took Florida so seriously, is our right to vote wasn’t gained because of our age,”

Sharpton said. ”Our vote was soaked in the blood of martyrs, soaked in the blood of (civil rights activists) Goodman, Chaney and

Schwerner, soaked in the blood of four little girls in Birmingham. This vote is sacred to us. This vote can’t be bargained away. This

vote can’t be given away.

”In all due respect, Mr. President, read my lips: Our vote is not for sale.”

He drew one of the

biggest responses when he said: ”The issue of government is not to determine who may sleep together in the bedroom, it’s to help

those that might not be eating in the kitchen.”

BET.com – Sharpton’s Long Speech Left Them Jumping for Joy

and Wanting More

”Mr. President, you said would we have more leverage if both parties got our votes, but we didn’t come this

far playing political games,” Sharp said, referring to Bush’s recent remarks to African Americans at the National Urban League.

”It was those that earned our vote that got our vote. We got the Civil Rights Act under a Democrat. We got the Voting Rights Act

under a Democrat. We got the right to organize under Democrats.”

Atlanta Daily World

For the past 30 years, African-Americans have given at least 80 percent of their vote – 90 percent in 2000 – to the Democratic

nominee for president. The more the GOP has veered to the right, the less successful it has been in appealing to Black voters. Bush

Goldwater.