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That video Bek posted makes me feel good about Wisconsin's voting laws. I forgot some states' registration deadlines are already past. We can register up until Election Day, even at the polling place (with proper ID & proof of residence, or by another registered voter vouching for you.) No electronic voting machines, either - we use the complete-the-arrow optical scan ballots. I dare say, we've got perhaps the best statewide voting system set up out of most states.
However, I'm afraid we have a potential Florida/Ohio-esque situation brewing that could taint our otherwise-reputable conduct of elections here in the Badger State...
In the 2006 elections, Wisconsin elected Republican J.B. Van Hollen - who fashions himself to be "God's Cop" - as our new Attorney General. He's the first Republican to hold the office in at least a decade. Van Hollen is suing the state General Accountability Board (which has jurisdiction over election conduct) over alleged violations of the 2002 Help America Vote Act. He wants the GAB to remove any voters whose information doesn't match what was in their database as of Jan 1, 2006.
If he wins his suit, which won't even be heard until a week before the election, thousands of registered voters (many legitimately) could be purged from the rolls. Some say up to 1/5 of voters could be vulnerable - the sitting lieutenant governor isn't even "legitimately" registered under what Van Hollen seeks. Which could be a major hassle. Example scenarios where voters could be purged from the state's HAVA-mandated database: having changed addresses since 1/1/2006; other state databases' information not matching the GAB's information in a cross-check (especially troublesome since, for example, April O'Neil is in the DMV database as "April O'Neil" whereas she's "April ONeil" in the voter database.) Keep in mind, he's essentially looking to strike thousands of voters in a state that Gore carried by 6K & Kerry by 12K votes.
Van Hollen says it's not political, but... 1. the state GOP tried filing a similar suit against the GAB this spring, which was dismissed 2. the Department of Justice filed suit against four states this year for non-compliance with HAVA - and Wisconsin was not one of them 3. the state GOP had a meeting with Van Hollen the week before he filed the lawsuit through the AG's office, and he won't release any information about the meeting 4. Van Hollen just happens to be the state co-chair for the McCain campaign
His suit is unlikely to succeed, but scares me nonetheless.
Best quote ever! Obama: "Mccain is right. There are alot of things I don't understand. Like I don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 911." GObama!
The early polls show Obama winning the debate 39 -27. Pretty much means a tie with no one changing anyone's mind, IMHO. Good news for Obama.
And I went to drop off some voter registration forms at the Election Commission on Monday (the last day to register in TN) and there were lines out the door. Lots of people registering and most seemed to be Obama fans. Still TN is one of the lopsided McCain state with polls showing McCain by 20.
I hate living in a deep red county in a red state. Makes campaigning very demoralizing. I'm 0-11 on campaigns I've put substantial time into. But I guess it builds character.
That video Bek posted makes me feel good about Wisconsin's voting laws. I forgot some states' registration deadlines are already past. We can register up until Election Day, even at the polling place (with proper ID & proof of residence, or by another registered voter vouching for you.) No electronic voting machines, either - we use the complete-the-arrow optical scan ballots. I dare say, we've got perhaps the best statewide voting system set up out of most states.
However, I'm afraid we have a potential Florida/Ohio-esque situation brewing that could taint our otherwise-reputable conduct of elections here in the Badger State...
I just barely made the deadline, but I registed a few weeks ago and got a notice back that I am offically a registed voted of NJ :-)
Om another note, when I was on my way out from seeing the Racounters, a guy stopped me and said "Dude, you have the same shirt as me!" I then had to take a picture of this moment, not just because we had the Obama same shirt, but the fact we were in Texas. Enjoy!
It looks like the Obama campaign is buying half-hour time blocks on the major networks October 29th, or at least talking to the big four, with some official statement coming tomorrow. That's the anniversary of the 1929 crash. Interesting.
Just released that a bi-partisan ethics board in Alaska found Palin guilty of ethics violations for forcing staff to fire her ex-brother in law.
The board had a few good points- She had every right to fire or hire executive staff such as the state police commissioner but like all states the front line staff-police, social workers......, does not serve at the discretion of the Governor. She went wrong by the multiple phone calls to have the ex brother in law fired. They also pointed out that there was no proof of him threatening any body or the her and her family was at danger. It was discovered that she dismissed most of Governor security detail and told them they were not needed. Now we just have to wait and see if charges are pressed. I am unsure of Alaska but most states she can be dismissed but more then likely she will be censored.
Hey guys, long time no post, but I came across this gem and figured some of you would find it to be a good read. I know I did!!
This is Your Nation on White Privilege
September, 14 2008By Wise, Tim Tim Wise's ZSpace Page Join ZSpace
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull. For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com Wise is featured in documentary: “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible,” by filmmaker, Shakti Butler.
Bush has been the worst president ever and I think it is causing people to support Obama without question ... to the degree that we are jumping on people who bring up things about him.The only news station who questions him is Faux News - and we all know how fair and balanced they are not.But the sad truth is neither is CNN or MSNBC or ABC News. When Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's half sister says "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim" - I worry. When Obama said on 'This Week' "My Muslim faith" and had to be corrected - by the interviewer -who is a dem - I worry. When I see proof that he doctored his birth certificate so that it would not reflect his name (Barry Soetoro) and that it listed him as Muslim - I really do worry for our country. But the thing that really gets me worried is that to even question him and his history is to be labled as an idiot or a McCain supporter. Where do I fit? I question authority and always have.I now question whoever is holding the blinders. We need to question things - that is how we become better ... I just don't want us to become the 58th 'state' that Obama spoke of. I welcome education on what I have said. I want to believe in Obama and I want change.But it scares me how people who are not on the Obama wagon are evilized and no one is questioning that!!!
Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
First, we have to get over this fear of Muslims. Being a Muslim does not equal being a terrorist, anti-American or anything else.
But then to your points. Obama is definitely a Christian. In all of his speeches, he is very comfortable with talking about how he's a Christian. His father was raised a Muslim, but his son was not raised in any one particular religion. Then in the mid 80's, Obama joined the United Church of Christ and has considered himself a Christian ever since. So at least in my opinion, that makes him more Christian because he chose the faith as an adult and after being exposed to many other beliefs. It was his work as a community organizer that got him to see the works that the ministers were doing and he felt a connection with the religion.
As far as his birth certificate, I had never heard that, but after just a few moments of internet searching, I found this:
So yes, it is good to question the candidates. Question his economic theories, his health plan, his views on how to deal with Iraq. That's what's important. Not false rumors about his religious beliefs or what's on his birth certificate. If what you're hearing sounds just a little ridiculous, then it probably is.
And of course people are turning to the Democrats because they are sick of Bush and it's making them hate all Republicans. That not unique to this campaign.
But even more people are backing Obama because they believe in what he stands for and feel that he has a better plan for our country. Or they listen to what McCain and either don't believe what he's saying or just don't like it.