Salon.com | ‘Who cares what you think?’ By Bill Hangley Jr., Salon.com

It has been almost three years since I spoke with the president of the United States, and I still get mail about it.

It was July 4, 2001, and we were both at one of those things that the late historian Daniel Boorstin would have labeled a ”pseudo-event:” A church picnic in Philadelphia, designed to help George W. Bush promote his faith-based policies. I was working at the time for a local nonprofit that had helped set it up, but I had some serious misgivings about the president’s performance up to that point, and being a part of the whole operation had left me feeling a bit like a pseudo-person. So when I had the chance to shake Bush’s hand, I said, ”Mr. President, I’m very disappointed in your work so far. I hope you only serve four years.”

His smiling response was swift: ”Who cares what you think?”

Democrats for Bush/Cheney 2004

I am a lifelong Democrat, and yes, I do work for a Democrat in the Arizona Legislature.

I started this site after talking with a former college friend and classmate, Josh from BushBlog2004, about how I’ve just been dismayed at how my party swayed from the ideals I hold so dear. He set up the site at my request, and when I see a story in the news or on the internet that proves my point again, I bring it here to share with a small corner of the world. I’m an avowed Democrat, I voted for Clinton twice as well as Gore. If some of my fellow Democrats could get passed their absolute hatred, they would be surprised to see how central Bush’s agenda really is. Do I agree with the President on every issue? No – I’m pro-choice, and I’m not happy at many of the environmental restrictions that have been rolled back, and the fiscal mismanagement is reason to be angry. But are we better off with him at the helm, are we a safer nation because of his actions in Iraq and the war on Terror. You bet your ass we are. The next time you want to shout AWOL – remember that merely 12 years ago we were screaming at Republicans for attacking our candidate for avoiding the draft. The next time you want to scream about the War in Iraq being an act of unilateralism, remember how we backed our Democratic President for going to NATO, not the UN, to oust Milosevic in the Bosnia.

It’s a reminder of just how far the Radical Right has pushed its agenda that a Democrat can refer to Bush as a Centrist. mjh

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?”