FactCheck.org – Annenberg Political Fact Check
Holding Politicians Accountable

FactCheck.org should have bipartisan appeal. Their goal is to investigate various political claims and report on how true or false those claims are. mjh

OverseasVote.com – Absentee Vote in 2004 U.S. Presidential Elections

Have your voice heard in 2004 by
Telling an American Living Overseas to Vote!
Use this site to send voting instructions to your U.S. friends living overseas.

”Have you been to this Democratic Undergournd blog? Lotsa interesting people,
lots of reasoned discussion. It’s refreshing to just flip through the
discussions and feel as though one is living in a sane and responsible
society for a few minutes. Then, back to work … KLONK! J.”

Democratic Underground

FBI Petitions for Broad Wiretapping Rights By Sebastian Rupley

The Bush Administration has asked the Federal Communications Commission to require broadband service providers to introduce new architecture in their networks that would facilitate eavesdropping by law enforcement officials. The 85-page proposal was filed March 12 by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Experts are saying that if it is approved, it could dramatically hinder both emerging and existing technologies. [mjh: not to mention its impact on our freedom and privacy] …

The proposal specifically calls for giving police easy access to all forms of “switched” Internet communications, including communications conducted over Voice-over-IP (VoIP) systems, instant messaging systems, and communications taking place over cable modem and DSL networks. The language of the proposal, which is posted online, implies that backdoors should be integrated in networked systems to allow law enforcement officials eavesdropping rights.

You may recall ”Carnivore”, a Big Brother snooper from the Clinton administration. Though it was renamed to something less honest, it was a system that would be put in place on a specific ISP to spy on specific suspects (so they said) under a wiretap warrant. Now the Feds want to read every single byte you and I exchange. Every single byte — no warrants; just trolling for whatever they want. I’m not at all sure that getting rid of Asskraft (sic) or Bush will stop this, but keeping them means much worse intrusion in the future. mjh

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: March 07, 2004 – March 13, 2004 Archives

How soon we forget…
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), said Kerry should apologize for a comment ”outside the bounds of where people who want to hold the highest office in this country should be making.”

Washington Post
March 11th, 2004

Bush, standing on a stage outside of Naperville North High School, pointed reporter Adam Clymer out to his running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Then Bush described Clymer using a common obscenity.

”There’s Adam Clymer, major-league asshole from the New York Times,” Bush said.

”Oh, yeah, he is, big-time,” Cheney responded.

Houston Chronicle
September 5th, 2000

A major-league Santorum …
— Josh Marshall

Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey:
”Santorum? Is that Latin for asshole?”

USATODAY.com – National and International News

USA Today’s Politics page changes daily with new headlines about the campaign.

Below are links to recent USA Today polls, which show changes in responses over time. mjh

USATODAY.com – Poll finds pessimism about U.S. direction By Susan Page and Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY

Americans are increasingly gloomy about the state of the economy and the direction of the country, a Gallup Poll has found. That state of mind is a warning flag for President Bush as his re-election campaign begins in earnest.

In the poll, 60% said they were dissatisfied with ”the way things are going in the United States at this time.” Except for a survey two weeks before the invasion of Iraq a year ago, that is the most negative reading since 1996.

Gallup Poll results

Right now, do you think that economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting better or getting worse?

                     better worse Same N/A 
2004 Mar 8-11   44    47    7    2 
2004 Feb 9-12   53    40    6    1 

USATODAY.com

USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll results

Bush Seeks to Stem Damage From Spain

White House Spars With Kerry Over Foreign Support

Richard C. Holbrooke, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration, came to Kerry’s defense last night. ”The Republicans are just having fun with this,” he said. ”They know it’s correct. . . . The overwhelming majority of foreign leaders and leadership want a change in American leadership.”

Holbrooke said Kerry ”committed candor” and Republicans were jumping him because of it.

Spousal Benefits for Gays at U.N. Challenged By Colum Lynch, Washington Post

A bloc of more than 50 Islamic states, backed by the Vatican, sought today to halt U.N. efforts to extend spousal benefits to partners of some gay employees.

The initiative came less than two months after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan moved to award benefits to partners of gay employees who come from countries where such benefits are provided, such as Belgium and the Netherlands.

The same group is also preparing to oppose a resolution, sponsored by Brazil and supported by the European Union, at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva that calls for nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, diplomats said. The Vatican and other conservatives maintain that the Brazilian resolution and Annan’s new benefits policy would provide gay people with protections never envisioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This struggle is an international one. Please notice who is with Bush and who is against him. Bin Laden and Bush probably agree on more than one issue. mjh