Deep Thought

11 Comments

1. 

   Steven D on September 18, 2008 at 3:56 pm

   Here’s one thing you can do: sign up as a volunteer for The National Campaign for Fair Elections .

   LINK

   I worked with this group in 2004, and they do good work.  It’s well worth any time you can give to them.

2. 

   Arthur Gilroy on September 18, 2008 at 4:30 pm

   There is a lot of kerfuffle in that speech.

   The worst part? Where he talks about getting together with his economic advisors and then references a bunch of people who got us into this state of affairs in the first place.

   Lord!

   Will this circle jerk never end?

   AG

3. 

   shergald on September 18, 2008 at 4:32 pm

   No one doesn’t agree with the sincerity of your efforts nor the specific points made by Obama in this video.

   But, as you know, the Republicans always wins, no matter what the Democrats tell the voting republic. They get the vote.

   How are you going to prevent that from happening?

   • 

     RustyPipes on September 18, 2008 at 5:17 pm

     There’s a good editorial by Mark Crispin Miller on Bradblog about the Palin pick, the hard-right and election theft.

     In fact, the only way that Palin and her doddering partner can prevail in this election is by stealing it, as Bush and Cheney did (both times). Certainly the ground has been prepared for yet another stolen race, Bush/Cheney’s party having made enormous strides in sabotaging our election system (while the Democrats just sat there, whistling). Now, from coast to coast, it’s far more difficult (for Democrats) to register to vote, and far more difficult (for Democrats) to cast their votes, while countless (Democratic) voters have been stricken from the rolls, through purges carried out by the Department of Justice.

     Thus Bush’s government has legally diminished the electorate (the Roberts Court approving every step). Meanwhile, the regime also continues to suppress the (Democratic) vote illegally, either through voter “caging” prior to Election Day–or, far more effectively, by fiddling with the numbers electronically at every level, and/or simply dumping countless names (of Democrats) from the electronic voter rolls, and/or putting far too few machines in (Democratic) polling places, and/or disinforming (Democratic) voters as to when and where to cast their votes, and/or simply scaring (Democratic) voters into staying home.

     That is what it takes to steal elections in America–all of that, and also something else: a quick-‘n-easy explanation for the outcome. For if those final numbers are surprising, there must be some rationale that can (apparently) account for them. And that is why the Bush machine put Sarah Palin next to John McCain. By arousing the hard core of vocal Christianists, they prepared the ground for the eventual redeployment of the same canard with which they justified their last unlikely “win”: that millions of believers did the trick.

     Indeed, it was not just the choice of Sarah Palin, but the whole convention, that was clearly calculated not to pull in undecided and/or independent voters, but to get the fringe alone to stomp and holler for the ticket. …  It was strongly reminiscent of the GOP’s 1992 convention–a show that very clearly turned the nation off, and helped defeat Bush Sr.’s bid to stay in office. Team McCain decided to revive that model, not because the nation has turned Christianist since then, but as a way to motivate the fringe, and thereby make it possible to tell the pundits, on Nov. 5, that it was those Americans who turned the tide for John McCain.

     Also, we may have taken back the house, but we still need firm control of the Senate or the Democrats will continue to be undermined by Lieberman.

     • 

       shergald on September 19, 2008 at 10:42 am

       What is unbelievable is that this race has tightened up at all? If it remains that way, then certainly vote theft could make the difference in the key states, as it has in the past two presidential elections.

       Hard to believe that we are back to that again: an election based on the voting preferences of people in a few states, plus finagling at the polls.

4. 

   boran2 on September 18, 2008 at 4:49 pm

   We made another donation just yesterday.

5. 

   granitestater on September 18, 2008 at 5:21 pm

   This year seems different to me.  I think McCain is capable of making serious gaffes along the way that will be just enough to unsettle just enough voters.  Plus, the more we see of Palin, wow.

   OTH, we are on the verge of electing an African-American, a black man, to be POTUS.  Holy cow, jumpin’ jeebus…I almost can’t believe it.  As mainstream America get’s to know BO, I think his chances will improve.

   For what it’s worth, I’m in a small NH town.  We have a great town Democratic Committee and we are phone banking twice a week for Carol Shea-Porter, our Congresswoman.  We’re doing about 500 calls a night to independents.  The call lists this year are night and day different from the chaos in ’04.  The coordinated campaign has it’s stuff together.

   I’m just sayin’.

6. 

   mainsailset on September 18, 2008 at 5:35 pm

   Doing the MoveOn get out the vote with a bunch of neighbors this weekend. Since I’m working with chemo brain right now I should make for a very entertaining caller, say what?

   • 

     Steven D on September 18, 2008 at 6:04 pm

     I’m sorry.  I didn’t know about your cancer.  I hope everything works out for you.

     If the chemo brain issues continue, here’s a drug that they are testing for use to alleviate chemo brain symptoms (its an older drug used for narcolepsy) that seems to help my wife.

     Provigil

     Link to study

     Get your doctor to prescribe it for you.

     • 

       mainsailset on September 18, 2008 at 6:11 pm

       Thanks for that, I’ll ask about it.
       I had just ordered some N-acetyl cysteine after reading a new study, it’s also supposed to help.

7. 

   Mac G on September 19, 2008 at 12:18 am

   I am hitting the streets of VA. I am fired up and ready to go.