Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Jimmy Carter's full statement

can be found here courtesy of Michael Moore's site. Thank Heaven Above for the courageous, pugnacious, outspoken and honest Michael Moore!

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Monday, September 27, 2004

debate #1 to be highly restrictive

"Hoping for some zingers in the Bush-Kerry face-off? Not with these rules of engagement"
~~~~GK

You can find the report by Newsweek Columnist Gersh Kuntzman here.
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---------------oOo--------------- prophetic words from a great American President

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war"
~~~Abraham Lincoln, November 1864 in a letter to Colonel William F. Elkins

Found in a book I am currently reading, Prophecy by Sylvia C. Brown. A simple reminder to myself and everyone else: it's not a Republican thing or a Democratic thing so much as it is a Corporate thing. It is time to begin to understand the detour our political process has taken... it is time for We the People, to take our country back.

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---------------oOo--------------- Jimmy Carter questions Florida's "election reform"

Story can be found here. Are we in for an unwanted bit of 2000 election deja vu from the Sunshine State? Will some of Florida's citizens once again be robbed of their ballot count due to faulty voting machines and partisan political maneuvers?

Posted by etherealfire :: 3:11 PM :: 0 Comments:   

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Sunday, September 26, 2004

separating facts from fiction

No matter where any of us stand regarding the upcoming election, each and every one of us needs to do two things: make absolutely sure to get out there and exercise the right and obligation as a US citizen to vote on November 2nd... and equally important, to make sure while you are making a conscientious choice that we understand the difference between facts and distortions of the truth.

Whatever you decide (and let us hope and pray that each of us decides to cast our vote for the candidate that we believe will best preserve the integrity, freedom and rights of our nation as well as showing ethical and forthright and compassion when dealing with the rest of the world), at least make that decision fully understanding the difference between truth and slanderous spin.

May the force be with us all!

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Thursday, September 23, 2004

and on that note....

Michael Moore's latest open letter to the President, outlines the rest of the flippity-flop flop stances the members of this administration has made, individually and collectively throughout their careers in service to the American people.

An excerpt that sums it all up very nicely:

"And you have the audacity to criticize John Kerry with what you call the "many positions" he has taken on Iraq. By my count, he has taken only one: He believed you. That was his position. You told him and the rest of congress that Saddam had WMDs. So he -- and the vast majority of Americans, even those who didn't vote for you -- believed you. You see, Americans, like John Kerry, want to live in a country where they can believe their president.

That was the one, single position John Kerry took. He didn't support the war, he supported YOU. And YOU let him and this great country down. And that is why tens of millions can't wait to get to the polls on Election Day -- to remove a major, catastrophic flop from our dear, beloved White House -- to stop all the flipping you and your men have done, flipping us and the rest of the world off." ~~~~ Michael Moore, September 22, 2004

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---------------oOo--------------- 1984

Let's talk a little trip in the wayback machine, back to 1984, and look at a meeting between Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein. Just how far and how deeply serious do flippity-flops need to be to show how disengenuous and deceitful and utterly hypocritical, the pot is for making irresponsible claims about the kettle?

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Tuesday, September 21, 2004

the viability of polls

Check out Zogby News for a bit of a reality check on the reliability and accuracy of polls. Makes for some enlightening reading.....

Posted by etherealfire :: 1:21 PM :: 0 Comments:   

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Monday, September 20, 2004

once again... the truth about Bush's service records

here!

The truth is still the truth, regardless of the 60 minutes document source!



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Friday, September 17, 2004

the moon in tarot


You are the Moon card. Entering the Moon we enter
the intuitive and psychic realms. This is the
stuff dreams are made on. And like dreams the
imagery we find here may inspire us or torment
us. Understanding the moon requires looking
within. Our own bodily rhythms are echoed in
this luminary that circles the earth every
month and reflects the sun in its progress.
Listening to those rhythms may produce visions
and lead you towards insight. The Moon is a
force that has legends attached to it. It
carries with it both romance and insanity.
Moonlight reveals itself as an illusion and it
is only those willing to work with the force of
dreams that are able to withstand this
reflective light. Image from: Stevee Postman.
http://www.stevee.com/


Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


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---------------oOo--------------- when all else fails, go to scare tactics overload

Legum and Sirota outline the Vote Bush or Die propaganda campaign.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2004

a whole new world

European astronomers have just captured an image which may very well be a planet outside of our solar system!

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Friday, September 03, 2004

Facts Versus Political Distortions

This article is far too important not to be posted in its entirety, found at
Washington Post.com:

For the Record
GOP Prism Distorts Some Kerry Positions

By Glenn Kessler and Dan Morgan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 3, 2004; Page A01

Speakers at this week's Republican convention have relentlessly attacked John F. Kerry for statements he has made and votes he has taken in his long political career, but a number of their specific claims -- such as his votes on military programs -- are at best selective and in many cases stripped of their context, according to a review of the documentation provided by the Bush campaign.

As a senator, Kerry has long been skeptical of big-ticket weapons systems, especially when measured against rising budget deficits, and to some extent he opened himself to this line of attack when he chose to largely skip over his Senate career during his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention last month. But the barrage by Republicans at their own convention has often misportrayed statements or votes that are years, if not decades, old.

For instance:

• Kerry did not cast a series of votes against individual weapons systems, as Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) suggested in a slashing convention speech in New York late Wednesday, but instead Kerry voted against a Pentagon spending package in 1990 as part of deliberations over restructuring and downsizing the military in the post-Cold War era.

• Both Vice President Cheney and Miller have said that Kerry would like to see U.S. troops deployed only at the direction of the United Nations, with Cheney noting that the remark had been made at the start of Kerry's political career. This refers to a statement made nearly 35 years ago, when Kerry gave an interview to the Harvard Crimson, 10 months after he had returned from the Vietnam War angry and disillusioned by his experiences there. (President Bush at the time was in the Air National Guard, about to earn his wings.)

• President Bush, Cheney and Miller faulted Kerry for voting against body armor for troops in Iraq. But much of the funding for body armor was added to the bill by House Democrats, not the administration, and Kerry's vote against the entire bill was rooted in a dispute with the administration over how to pay for $20 billion earmarked for reconstruction of Iraq.

In remarks prepared for delivery last night, Kerry denounced the Republican convention for its "anger and distortion" and criticized Cheney for avoiding the military draft during the Vietnam era.

Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt defended the statements made by convention speakers, though he declined to address details beyond supplying the campaign's citations of votes. "Whether it was in the '70s, '80s or '90s, Sen. Kerry has demonstrated a general pattern of hostility to a strong national defense," Holt said.

Votes cast by lawmakers are often twisted by political opponents, and both political parties are adept at combing through legislative records to score political points. Former senator Robert J. Dole's voting record was frequently distorted by the Clinton campaign eight years ago -- as well as by his GOP rivals for the Republican nomination.

One document frequently cited by Republicans is a 350-word article in the Boston Globe, written when Kerry was lieutenant governor of Massachusetts and battling to win the Democratic nomination for senator in 1984 -- a period of soaring deficits in the wake of a huge defense buildup by President Ronald Reagan. Calling for a "strong defense," the article said, Kerry proposed to slow the rate of growth in defense spending by canceling 27 weapons systems, in part to reduce the deficit and also restore cuts Reagan had made in domestic programs.

While Cheney said Kerry opposed Reagan's "major defense initiatives," the campaign does not cite any votes against such defense programs while Reagan was president, relying instead on a campaign speech before he was elected senator.

Six years later, Kerry took part in a complex and serious debate in Congress over how to restructure the military after the Cold War.

Cheney, at the time defense secretary, had scolded Congress for keeping alive such programs as the F-14 and F-16 jet fighters that he wanted to eliminate. Miller said in his speech that Kerry had foolishly opposed both the weapons systems and would have left the military armed with "spitballs." During that same debate, President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, proposed shutting down production of the B-2 bomber -- another weapons system cited by Miller -- and pledged to cut defense spending by 30 percent in eight years.

Though Miller recited a long list of weapons systems, Kerry did not vote against these specific weapons on the floor of the Senate during this period. Instead, he voted against an omnibus defense spending bill that would have funded all these programs; it is this vote that forms the crux of the GOP case that he "opposed" these programs.

On the Senate floor, Kerry cast his vote in terms of fiscal concerns, saying the defense bill did not "represent sound budgetary policy" in a time of "extreme budget austerity." Much like Bush's father, he singled out the B-2 bomber for specific attention, saying it is "one of the most costly, waste-ridden programs in a long history of waste, fraud and abuse scandals that have plagued Pentagon spending."

Asked why the campaign was attacking Kerry for having similar positions as Cheney, White House communications director Dan Bartlett responded: "I don't have the specifics of [when] then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney was in charge of the Pentagon, but I think we'd be more than willing to have a debate on whether Dick Cheney or John Kerry was stronger on defense."

Appearing on CNN, Miller said he had "gotten documentation on every single one of those votes that I talked about."

Cheney, in his own speech, skipped over that period, going directly from Kerry's vote against authorization for the first Persian Gulf War to the post-Sept. 11, 2001, period.

Republican documents also cite a long list of Kerry votes against various weapons systems, including the B-2 bomber. But Kerry's opposition in the 1990s often hinged on his concerns about the impact on the budget deficit of congressional efforts to add money for the plane.

"We are going to build B-2 bombers even though the Pentagon does not want the B-2 bombers, even though the Pentagon never submitted a request for the B-2 bombers," Kerry said during a budget debate in October 1995.

Kerry's vote last year against the administration's $87 billion proposal to fund troops in Iraq and pay for Iraqi reconstruction has also been the focus of Republican attacks. "My opponent and his running mate voted against this money for bullets, and fuel, and vehicles, and body armor," Bush said last night.

Kerry actually supported all those things, but as part of a different version of the bill opposed by the administration. At the time, many Republicans were uncomfortable with the administration's plans and the White House had to threaten a veto against the congressional version to bring reluctant lawmakers in line.

In a floor statement explaining his vote, Kerry said he favored the $67 billion for the troops on the ground -- "I support our troops in Iraq and their mission" -- but faulted the administration's $20 billion request for reconstruction. He complained that administration "has only given us a set of goals and vague timetables, not a detailed plan."

Yesterday, the State Department said that only $1 billion of that money has been spent in the 11 months since the bill was passed.

Researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

Just another reason to look beyond sound bites and make it one's business to really find out the truth (if any) behind inflammatory statements designed to falsely discredit a candidate instead of talking about their own record and providing a detailed plan of action behind the rheteric of campaign promises ~ many that were never fulfilled in the first term.

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