Election Season:In a room with pre-schoolers....... and how to make it better!

Have you ever been in a room with pre-schoolers? It's soooo difficult.

Pre-schoolers are ALL after each other. Every kid in there is pointing their sticky little finger at another kid: he's mean! She won't share! They won't play nice with me! It's horrible and will drive any sane person INSANE!

Well, that to me was this election season. Except to me, it's lasted since the last election in 2000 (with a little good behavior for time off around 9/11. But not for long.)

So now we are back to square one. Back to the future.

Both sides are waiting for the night of Tuesday. Depending on the votes, we will have an outright winner or we will watch the beginning of the end of this Republic litigated in the courts.

"He's mean! He wouldn't let me vote! Your vote doesn't count because the postal date is wrong!

Why can Afghanistan get through an election with minimal cheating and we can't?

Our voting methods are developed by bureaucrats that have one eye towards gaming the system for their party's benefit. It is porous, and prone to scandal. I thought the 2000 debacle would teach us that we needed a new way to vote. I thought someone would crawl outside the present box and do something that would make it right. Our American civilization cannot work without voting that is BELIEVED to be RIGHT. If America has no confidence in the system, we are lost..... It will only be a matter of time before our system falls apart into anarchy.

So to be changed, we have to go one way or another.

We have to be super simple, like the 3rd world, or super high tech.

The super simple would be very easy to do today. We basically keep it like it is, but require a fingerprint on the voting roll book when you go to vote. By the way, the ink used, should be permanent ink that won't come off for at least 24 hours. That's what they did in Afghanistan to make sure there was no double dipping. That ink was worn like a badge of honor. If a Taliban terrorist would have caught you with that ink stain, there are reports that you would have been killed (especially the women).

The other way is the super high tech way. I believe the way to vote is via ATM machines. It is a proven technology that BANKS have perfected for over 20 years. Banks do not loose money. They know where every fraction of a penny is located. These machines MUST have the confidence of the people that they will work and be dependable. The banking system rests on that confidence. So this is how I think it should work:

• You register to vote
• An ATM Voter card is sent to you
• A PIN number is sent separately (Just like a "regular" ATM card)
• You call in and "activate" the card.
• When it is time to vote, you can use any ATM machine or special ATM machines brought in to you district
• You put in your card, tap in your PIN
• All the candidates and issues that you need to vote on, appear on the screen
• You vote
• A screen pops up asking for confirmation of your choices
• When you are done, a "receipt" pops out for you to keep, to confirm your voting choices

The ATM method can have a national "800" number to help with problems such as needing a PIN reset for forgotten numbers, as well as reassurance that your "vote" registered. If your confirmation slip show a discrepancy on how you thought you voted, the 800 number people can void the transaction, and you can do it over.

Both systems virtually eliminate multi votes. Maybe both systems should be combined? Even if you vote via ATM, your thumb must be dyed.

I pray that on Wednesday morning, we have a President Elect, without the "help" of lawyers. I also hope we look into better voting systems, before the confidence in it collapses, and we become a new 3rd world nation.

He's BAaaack!

Well, he's back...... back from the dead; back from hell, where he should be now. That fun loving fascist in a headdress is back.

I mentioned him as probably dead in Tora Bora this morning's post, then he comes back in a tape to prove us wrong...... As with most arrogant, megalomaniacs bent on world domination, he had some lovely pearls of wisdom for America. Chief among them, condemnation of George W. Bush, via the talking points from the Michael Moore wing of the Moonbat Democrats. He taunted Bush for not leaving the children's class when the attack on the Twin Towers had started and suggested that Bush stole the Florida election. Nice. I'm sure that Michael Moore is glowing with pride at this moment. Really. His "documentary" couldn't have been more successful. The imprimatur of UBL just sealed it.

What did candidate Kerry have to say about this turn of events? Well first, he spit out the pre-canned statement that he has been saving for this special occasion, in case it arrived. It actually wasn't bad. But then he had to keep talking..... And that wasn't very good. He used this occasion to tell voters that if he were president, he would have been more effective, and insinuated that hew would have already finished off UBL. Really? I can't imagine that John Kerry has ever really finished any job he started. He left Vietnam early (he had 3 purple hearts you know). He then went on to protest the very same war and become a nationally recognized leader in the movement. He left 5 months after acquiring the leadership role, even though the war was still in full swing. Have you noticed he doesn't talk about his Senate career? That's 20 years on the resume. Trust me, if I were interviewing for a job and the last one had lasted for 20 years, I better be ready to talk about some sort of accomplishments. He hasn't. He keeps going back to Vietnam. Didn't we as a country MoveOn from that....... In many ways, he hasn't done his job there because he hasn't attended that many sessions and committee meetings. It's hard to accomplish something when you aren't there.

But I digress......

Now, the UBL Devil has returned. What is his next move? I don't know what it is, but there are a lot of very dedicated, very smart and talented people out there working hard to find out and foil his plans. I can't help but pray for them, and hope you do the same. Whatever UBL’s plans are, they are evil and involve death to innocent Americans.

And there will be other Americans that will think we deserve it...........

Commander In Chief

It's Halloween. Want to get scared? Say this three times:

• John Kerry, Commander in Chief

Not scared? Doesn't matter? Well, to quote Yoda, "You should be. You Should be!"

If Kerry becomes President, he becomes the Commander in Chief. His entire campaign has revolved around saying he isn't George Bush. That means critisizing Bush for having allies to do the heavy lifting in Afghanistan. Oh, you didn't hear that? Didn't you hear how Kerry has gone on and on about Bush "outsourcing" the fighting in Tora Bora? That's because we had the Northern Alliance fight with us. One historical note; no other civilization has been able to defeat the Afhganis. The British had their hind ends handed to them and the Soviet Union couldn't "pacify" them either. (Side note: no one has been able to pacify the Pashtun tribe. Still haven't been able to. They make up the "Tribal Area" of Pakistan. But at least the Pashtuns are in Pakistan and not Afghanistan.) It was a brilliant move to work like this given what we DIDN'T have in place. By the way, how do we know if Osama bin Laden did escape Tora Bora? He may be buried in the bottom of a bombed cave. Kinda hard to get out press releases threatening the great infidels when you are DEAD!

Krauthammer has a great article outlining the great victory of Afghanistan and the triumph of the elections. Haven't heard much about it have you? Why would the Main Stream Media and Kerry say nice things about Bush? Please. You haven't figured that out yet?

All campaign Kerry has droned on and on about the mistakes of "this President". Well, in doing so, he has been criticizing the military's performance.

Let's take, for example, the Al Qaqaa example that the New York Times reported. Kerry has gone on and on about how Bush screwed this up. What? Since when does the Commander in Chief make decisions about securing facilities? When does the CIC go out and secure facilities? The Commander in Chief trusts the decision-making ability of his troops to do the right thing. And they did.
This is just the most recent example.

Now imagine if Kerry does win. He will now be the Commander in Chief to the very same troops he has insulted either knowingly or unknowingly. At a time in our history, that we REALLY need good competent troops.

Now for a more personal example. I had a chance to go to West Point in the second female class. I declined to do so, in part, because of the negative reputation of soldiers. It is a decision that I now, largely regret. Now I realize that being associated with some of the greatest people in the world, our American Soldiers, would be an honor, not a disgrace. Who was largely responsible for this negative reputation? That would be John Kerry. You know, his testimony in Congress where he likened American Soldiers to be the inheritors of the war tactics of Ghingas Khan.

To paraphrase that soldier testifying in congress, "how do you ask a soldier to fight for your mistake?”

Life Just Came Crashing In.........

A lot of us go through our lives in our regular, hurried manner. This election is very heated and very difficult to keep paying attention to. I am tired of hearing Kerry go on and on about Bush and his incompetence. What he doesn't realize is that the things he is criticizing Bush for, he is de facto, criticizing the troops all the way up and down the command structure.

Bill Gertz, once again, has a blockbuster report on the Al Quaquaa munitions "dump":

• Russia moved the munitions
• Russia did this BEFORE the Americans invaded Iraq
• Russians shredded documentation evidence of the WMD program
• The removal included not only the high explosive material the IEAE had identified, but WMD

Yeah, that's right, the same WMD that Bush LIED about....... The same WMD that made Iraq the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place that Kerry drones on and on about. Oh, by the way, Foxnews has an aerial photo showing tractor-trailer trucks next to the dump BEFORE the war. Thank God for Foxnews!

Also today in the "good news" category, the authorities have reportedly authenticated the most recent Al Quida tape. Azzam the American warns the U.S. that the "streets will run red with blood" and that 9/11 was only the beginning. Foxnews has part of the video on its site. Again, thank God for Foxnews!

Well, I just got off the phone with my brother. He is a fire fighter for the Port of Houston. Without trying to be too melodramatic, he is very apprehensive. He will be on duty on Friday and Monday before the election. He asked me tonight to promise him that if anything happens while he is on duty, to forget about contacting him or waiting for him and instead to grab my family and his, and get out of Houston. I promised that I would not leave town without his wife and daughter.

Pretty heavy conversation on a Thursday night. Makes things, like an election, focus a little more.

Kerry would think of this as an "inconvenience". Trust me, this kind of conversation is a hell of an inconvenience...........

PS Disclaimer: My brother does not have any special information from the Port of Houston and/or Homeland Security. He just reads the news and listens to the radio like I do. Given the attack on Spain on the eve of their election, he and I are apprehensive about the coming days. We can't do a thing about it, but be careful and prepared and PRAY!!

The Foreign Policy Rorschach Test

Kerry: Inconvenience

Bush: Act of War

Why Vote for Bush?

It is a question that needs answers and meaning and done so very quickly......

For me it is simple. Bush will execute the war on terror. Kerry will do so as a response.... He views terror as an "inconvenience"....

Here's a great article written by a young women with dual citizenship (Great Britain/US) who will be voting for Bush. She runs in those circles that admitting such a thing, would constitute "betrayal" by the rest of the class.

She speaks elegantly and from the heart.

She starts the article set in a high class/high dollar party with the social/economic elite of New York:

When the metrosexual chap standing next to me confides that urban sophisticates prefer Kerry because "you have to have a low IQ to appreciate Bush", I know I am making the right decision.

Then she gets to the heart of the matter:

My decision is based on a straightforward proposition: I do not want the global jihadists and women-hating fundamentalists to be celebrating Bush's defeat. They do not deserve to win, even if Bush deserves to lose, a position I am not quite willing to concede.

Then she states what I think so many Democrats find so scary:

On foreign policy, Bush is the idealist and Kerry the conservative, afraid to disturb the status quo.

The Democrats view themselves as revolutionaries. See Civil Rights, War on Vietnam, Vietnam protests. Unfortunately, they have not found further revolutions to espouse. They rest on their laurels. In a lot of ways, they are the conservatives: they want to "conserve" what they have done and progress no further.

What has decided this more than anything is the timing of the terrorists. IF 9/11 happened on 9/11/94 or 9/11/96, the Republican/conservatives would STILL be going on about the heroism and skill of President Clinton, along with their brethren Democrats. Yes, really.

President Clinton was a lot of things, but having his own opinion was not one of them. He did whatever the polls dictated. If 9/11 happened on his watch, we would be celebrating the new democracies of Afghanistan, Iraq, IRAN and Syria....... He would have done it because he would have had the backing of both Democrats AND Republicans.

The problem with many is that the War on Terror landed on Bush's watch. It is the timing of inconvenience to Democrats that irk them so much. Bush is a revolutionary and they are not on that side....... And they hate him for that!!!!

A Child of "Fair Game"

It has taken a few days, but the calculated mention by Kerry of Vice President Cheney's daughter during the Presidential debate, has received attention.

Mary Cheney was mentioned by name by Vice Presidential Candidate, John Edwards during his debate with Cheney, as well as Kerry.

Mention of someone by name twice in one week by the same campaign; not a coincidence.....

It was a blatant attempt to stir up Bush's base against him. At least in the mind of the Democratic operatives, the Republican/Conservative/Christian fundamentalist logic would be:

• Mary Cheney is a Lesbian
• Lesbians are bad
• Lesbians hate God
• Dick Cheney is Mary's Dad
• Dick Cheney is bad and hates God
• Dick Cheney is Bush's Vice President
• OH NO: Can't vote for Bush because of that Evil Dick Cheney!

What Democrats don't understand is that Republicans love their families, first and foremost.

Maybe a few people might have such flawed biased logic like this and vote for Kerry or stay home. But I don't think many exist.

I think it has struck a lot of people the wrong way because this was a low blow.

After the debate, Mary Beth Cahill commented to Fox News that Mary Cheney was "fair game". Oh really, the discrete Ms Cheney is to be hunted down and used against her father? Yeah, that's fair if you are fighting with Darth Vadar!

I won't even mention the arm chair psychology being espoused by John and Elizabeth Edwards..... I wonder how they would have felt if Bush said something that would tie legislation that Kerry voted against with any particular situation within their family? (Note: That would make me very peeved with Bush as well.)

But I digress.....

The thing I wonder is how is Mary Cheney doing? I hope she is surrounded by lots of loving friends and family now. She needs to be. If I were being used against my father or mother, it would absolutely destroy me! That's what I think is so cheap about this. Mary Cheney, by all accounts, loves her father and he loves her. How devastating this must be to be placed in the middle.

No wonder no one will want to run for office!!!

P.S. Mary, we all love you! You have done nothing but support and love your parents. You have been a very classy example that any child should be proud to emulate!!!! Keep your chin up!!!!!!

Krauthammer Hammers Away

As I mentioned before, Edwards did his best impression of Jimmy Swaggart, and promised that the lame would walk again, if only his buddy Kerry became President.

Krauthammer has an excellent column on this. He addresses the political demagoguery and the medicine behind it. But he also has a personal side to this. I didn't know this, but Krauthammer is a paraplegic. He apparently had some sort of accident while he was in medical school.

He also addresses some of the background into the current research on stim cells. He can do so with authority because he also sits on the President's Council on Bioethics.

Read. Learn. Enjoy.

This is a good one, Mom is Right on this one!

Is There a Republic in our Future?

The thin veneer of our society runs on assumption:

• People generally obey laws
• There will be food and supplies when you need them, at the store
• News reporters would not lie

We are so spoiled. We run through our lives in a frenzy doing one remarkable thing after another, without realizing it. Everything from the most mundane, like turning on a light, to the expected, stopping at stop signs, is remarkable because of technology and/or civility.

The problem is, we don't appreciate how fragile these systems are in reality. Electricity out? How many things don't work. A robbery, the cops will turn out.

We assume so much in this society, much to our detriment.

I can understand after the 2000 election, wanting to be sure that there are no irregularities in the voting process that could disrupt the system we enjoy.

But to wreck the system in order to win, is disgraceful!!!!

I have said for a very long time now that I hope whoever wins, wins big. Our Republic can't take much more of this kind of turmoil. It erodes the quiet confidence that we depend on to make our society work. If the confidence is gone, our country will be too.

Noted: "The Note" and the Gang of 500

In history, there is always a time, usually identified in hindsight, that is labeled as "historic", "important" and/or revolutionary In today's vernacular, that would be the "tipping point".

We are living in so much history, it is hard to recognize it as it happens.

Who would thought:

• 5 years ago, George W Bush would be a President of the United States
• 4 years ago, George W would win the electoral College and lose the popular vote
• 3 years ago, that 9/11 would not consume every waking thought and action of every American
• 2 years ago, that successful elections in Afghanistan would be held
• 1 year ago, that Iraq is governing itself and elections are a few months away

Right now, the next thing that will be part of the "who would have thunk it" moment will be the reorganization of the MSM or Mainstream Media. (Ex: ABC, CBS, NBC, New York Times, Los Angels Times.... I think you get the picture).

I don't think I have to go through the litany of failures and frauds perpertrated by these institutions. They are legion. And that's just what we are aware of at this point....

I feel like we are now approaching the "tipping point".

Once the election is held, I believe there will be some sorting out that will need to be done. It may come because the shareholders demand it. But, the electorate should demand it!

We depend on information to make choices in this democracy. We need the right and truthful information, not what is thought to be right or what we need to know. Let us decide that. If the information is given to us in a skewed way so we make skewed choices, that is a SCANDAL!!

Who appointed these people to be god? What gives them this right to choose for me?

That brings us to this little demi-god.... Mark Halpern. He is the Political Director of ABC News. That's right, the POLITICAL DIRECTOR of ABC News. Now, this may be an unfortunate title, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but do any of you question why does a NEWS ORGANIZATION have a Political Director? Aren't they supposed to be unbiased? Truthful? Honest? Do all the other MSM outlets have a Political Director? Again, I digress.....

As the Political Director, he posts on the Political section of the ABC website something called "The Note" which is considered very good in telling you a whole lot about what's going on out there in politics. Interesting. But he addresses the "Gang of 500" from time to time. Who are they? Don't really know. Supposedly, it is satire. Another answer is that the Gang of 500 is the Washington Press Corp. (Side Note: if it is the Washington Press Corp, is it for ABC only and/or the entire Press Corp for every outlet? If it is the latter, then would that come under anti-trust violations? Entities are not suppose to communicate goals and intentions to each other with the intention to coordinate.) Call me suspicious, but I think we should know, even if it is joke......

Today, I learned a little more about Mr. Halpern. It is just as I suspected as a member of the great unwashed flyover country: he is an elitist snob that came into his position via his pedigree.

Even if he isn't, that's what it looks like......

My good Catholic mother used to tell me:

Don't just avoid the sin, but avoid the appearance of sin

That little ditty will keep you clean EVERY time!

Lileks for Senator

I mentioned yesterday that Lileks should be running for President instead of Lurch.

I felt that he had, at least, an explanation of what stem cells could do to make everyone walk using Jedi technology. At least he didn't sound like:

a) A Jimmy Swagart impersonator
b) A skilled trial lawyer "softening up" the jury for a large monetary award

But I digress.

It looks like Lileks is being drafted for Senator. So I was a couple of offices off. It shows to some of us (I'm sure a great many of us) that Mr. Lileks is very smart, sharp and cool under pressure. He can express himself. This country needs him.

Go Lileks! We need someone with real imagination in the Senate!! I would look forward to watching you Bleat and Screed away, even if the senator were empty!!!

The Late Great Britian

I know, a lot of previous articles miles long on how The Continent, is going downhill fast.....

But this article got my attention..... Are these people suffering from mass delusions???

I am a person of faith. But sometimes, I regard myself too much. While I believe in the evil one's existance, I don't linger on it. Sometimes, that kind of thinking will allow you to forget that it is there.

The kind of incidents in this article remind me of pre-WWII Nazis. I don't banter that word around much. I'm tired of being called a Nazi and tired of the other side calling everything short of their orthodoxy, a Nazi. But where is Europe going??? where will this end up? especially with large Muslim populations?? For the first time in a while, I am getting if not outright scared, at the very least, alarmed...... As the writer took great pains to show, this is not Bush's fault. It was there long before then, festering. 9/11 and the war on terror has brought it out from the shadows.

Bush has the worst timing (not his fault), but because of inheritance:
Recession
Terrorist Attacks (9/11)
Anti- Americanism

These were all there prior to his administration, but he gets the blame, of course. Well, at least if Bush loses, Kerry will fix this, right????

The Apostle

Those not in the legal field wonder why "trial lawyer" is such a nasty term. If they were paying attention, they got a good lesson yesterday on why. Our favorite trial lawyer, John Edwards, did his best Jimmy Swagart impression with this nice little quote about a Kerry presidency:

People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again with stem cell research."

I bet he is pissed this morning that he didn't get any money from that jury, I mean crowd.

I like how Lileks intepreted this for us:

I could talk about John Edwards’ comments on stem-cell research, but really it’s very simple. Stem cells will be injected into the bloodstream, where they will act like Star Wars Midichloridans, and help the quadrapalegic to use the Force and stand erect.

Why isn't HE running for president? His expaination makes much more sense. Isn't "Jedi" now considered a religious designation in Great Britian?