John Edwards' War On Greed
Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:48:36 AM PDT
I want to like John Edwards. On issues ranging from health care to Iraq to global warming, Edwards has adopted progressive positions that are similar to mine. If you aren't familiar with these positions, it's a safe bet that at any given time, any of several recommended diaries will enlighten you on Edwards's policy stances.
I liked John Edwards in 2004, but I haven't been able to bring myself to support his candidacy this time around. For a few months, I struggled with issues of trust stemming from the fact that he seemed to be a completely different candidate from the John Edwards of 2004. I managed to get over this, and came close to calling myself an Edwards supporter earlier this week.
Another Santorum Lie
Thu May 19, 2005 at 11:07:12 PM PDT
In Thursday's Senate hearings, Rick Santorum said that the only problem the Republicans have with the filibuster is that it allows the Minority to block a nominee. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with the Democrats holding up Priscilla Owen in committee at the time because the Democrats were in the Majority at the time. He further argued that no Republican would have any objection to the Democrats' holding the Owen nomination in committee.
This is, of course, a paraphrase, because I haven't been able to find transcripts or videos of the remarks. If anyone has either of these, please post.
I was curious to see whether this was true, so I ran a few LexisNexis searches.
Bigger than Newsweek: Truthful Information Unawareness
Tue May 17, 2005 at 08:36:32 AM PDT
I was going to write a lengthy diary with a lot of analysis, but I realized that my principal subjects had already made my case pretty well, so I'll let them do much of the talking:
President George W. Bush, October 2003:
I'm mindful of the filter through which some news travels, and somehow you just got to go over the heads of the filter and speak directly to the people."
President George W. Bush at the third presidential debate, October 13, 2004:
In all due respect, I'm not so sure it's credible to quote leading news organizations about -- oh, never mind.
Let's remember what we're fighting for
Sat Mar 19, 2005 at 10:29:39 PM PDT
This afternoon, I attended my local anti-war march and rally. Marching along the city sidewalks, we'd repeat whatever anti-Bush or anti-war chant our leaders would shout out. At first, I went along with this, even though shouting was unnatural for me, contrary as it is to my quiet disposition.
By the time we had traveled a short block, I found that I could not do it any longer. Something was not right with those chants, and it wasn't that there was nobody in the recruiting office to hear them on this Saturday afternoon. These angry chants struck me as inappropriate for the occasion, the two year anniversary of the unjustifiable invasion that has resulted in the deaths of over 1500 United States soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.
The liberal media strike again: My media adventure
Fri Feb 11, 2005 at 04:20:40 PM PDT
This morning, I was relatively impressed with the Associated Press's
article on Bush's Social Security conversations. Unlike
Reuters, the AP mentioned some people who disagreed with the President and pointed out the campaign-like nature of the event:
Counting Bush's stop later in the day in Pennsylvania, the president has visited seven states since his Jan. 20 inauguration to host Social Security events, all town-hall-style meetings with a campaign trail flair.
On one side outside a performing arts center in Raleigh, men sold inauguration bears and Bush political buttons. On the other side, a boisterous group of protesters waved neon yellow, commercially made signs reading, ''Hands off my Social Security."
Propaganda Technique: The "Conversation"
Thu Feb 10, 2005 at 07:56:02 PM PDT
Thursday and Friday of last week, President Bush participated in five conversations on Social Security in five different states. Yesterday, he participated in a conversation on class-action lawsuits, and today he participated in two more on Social Security. Indeed, the "conversation" is a tool that has been utilized very frequently by the President since the beginning of this calendar year. Occasionally, the term "discussion" is used instead, but they refer to the same thing.
The conversations share a general blueprint. The President, after being introduced, enters and sits in a chair on a stage in front of a backdrop with a small group of people. The President then begins with some acknowledgments and a general speech that may have little to do with the subject of the conversation.
My (rather mediocre) State of the Union response video
Thu Feb 03, 2005 at 09:33:54 AM PDT
In my last diary, I said that I planned to create a video response to the State of the Union address before going to sleep Wednesday night.
I ran into a whole range of technical problems and I really had no idea what I was doing, but I do finally have a product (although not as soon as I had hoped). It's decidedly amateurish, but you can see it here.
At this point, I'm open to suggestions for content, but I'm hesitant to do any editing just because my experience last night and this morning did not go so smoothly. If something is too good to omit, though, I'll do it (or lose my sanity trying). Any suggestions are appreciated, even though I might not implement them all.
SOTU Rapid Response Movie
Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 06:44:51 PM PDT
Tomorrow night, President Bush will present us with his rosy vision of the past four years, the present and the future.
An effective way to counter this speech might be to put together a video contrasting the President's words against reality. My plan is to use audio clips from the President's speech along with photographs, charts, clips of documents, and other visiual elements that call into question the truth of the President's words.
For example, Bush's comments on the economy could be contrasted with a graph of the dollar's recent performance against the Euro or a clip of today's GAO report.
Bush's Backdrops: A Legacy Built from Cardboard
Tue Jan 18, 2005 at 11:28:48 AM PDT
On January 22, 2003--fifteen weeks before announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq in front of a "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner--President Bush gave a speech on his economic stimulus plan in a Saint Louis warehouse. Behind him was backdrop that read "STRENGTHENING AMERICA'S ECONOMY" over a background of cardboard boxes marked "MADE IN U.S.A."
As it turns out, there was a problem with this backdrop. It was later discovered that the boxes behind the backdrop and to either side of the backdrop were, in fact, made in China. Those boxes that were not obscured by the backdrop had pieces of paper affixed to obscure the "Made in China" labels. The White House later blamed these pieces of paper on an "overzealous advance volunteer."
Why the Senate should torture Alberto Gonzales at his confirmation hearing
Wed Jan 05, 2005 at 07:22:06 PM PDT
Obviously, Alberto Gonzales is not a prisoner of war but a Presidential nominee and is therefore not protected by the Third Geneva Convention or any related legislation. Nor is he protected by the fifth amendment, as he is not going to be placed on trial for a crime.
Our federal anti-torture statute, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C of the U.S. Code states (emphasis mine):
Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
Leave the Chimps Alone!
Wed Dec 22, 2004 at 09:37:59 AM PDT
Many users on this site like to deride our current president by comparing him to a chimpanzee. Some mockingly call him "Chimpy," others simply refer to him as a chimp, and at least one member uses the word "chimpeach".
Indeed, this trend is not unique to Daily Kos. One of the "Other Sites" linked to on the right column of the Daily Kos homepage is Smirking Chimp. Recently, a New York artist created a portrait of George W. Bush made up of small images of chimpanzees.
This comparison is, unfortunately, woefully inaccurate.
Black Box Voting confirms e-voting fraud on Tuesday
Thu Nov 04, 2004 at 08:41:40 PM PDT
From
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
Black Box Voting has taken the position that fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines. We base this on hard evidence, documents obtained in public records requests, inside information, and other data indicative of manipulation of electronic voting systems. What we do not know is the specific scope of the fraud. We are working now to compile the proof, based not on soft evidence -- red flags, exit polls -- but core documents obtained by Black Box Voting in the most massive Freedom of Information action in history.
