Third Party & Independents:

U.S. Shifts Stance on Nuclear Proliferation Treaty

And the arrogant disregard for the wishes of other (inferior) nations by the Bush Administration continues apace. According to the Washington Post,

…the Bush administration declared this week that it will oppose provisions for inspections and verification as part of an international treaty that would ban production of nuclear weapons materials.

Strange Candidates

People out of the loop seem to think about Nader when they hear talk of someone running outside the “2-party system”. As is typical though, there are dozens of candidates running for president in 2004. They are mostly average people it seems. Some are more well known that others. There is David Cobb for the Greens. There is Michael Badnarik for the Libertarians. There is even Michael Peroutka for the Constitution party. Then there is Leonard Peltier.

Kerry takes 5 point lead in Polls

A Zogby poll taken July 27 - July 29 shows Republicans moving from Bush to the undecided column and Kerry-Edwards increase lead over Bush-Cheney to 5%. This presumeably does not reflect what happened during and after Kerry's powerful foreign policy acceptance speech which may give him an additional 5% over coming days.

Will Osama bin Laden's Dream Come True?

In the past, when wars were won, the vanquished were as relieved as the victors, especially if their nation was vanquished at the hands of the Americans. Humbled, and even humiliated by their loss, such emotions were short-lived as the vanquished saw the restoration and opportunities for an even better and more bountiful future open before them with the assistance and even guidance of the United States. Such was the history of wars between nations and regular armies.

Campaign coverage - a tricky issue for Bush and Kerry

Campaign coverage has been a tricky issue for the two presidential candidates...

Clinton on Bush's Economic Philosophy

In his speech last night, Bill Clinton said that the Republicans and George W. Bush wanted to “leave ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on matters like health care and retirement security.” This is a common misconception about the current administration’s so-called radical conservatism on domestic economic issues. In fact, this administration has refused to take any significant steps to allow ordinary Americans to “fend for themselves.”

DNC Opening Night Hits Homerun

It was an exuberant night of brilliantly crafted speeches at the Democratic Convention capped by one of the most dynamic speeches ever delivered, in my opinion, by former Pres. Bill Clinton. Following are excerpted paragraphs (with links to the full text) from key speeches which drove the Democratic message home.

12 things I hate about you

Ralph Nader has an opinion piece in the Boston Globe noting 12 important topics in which the Democrats will be silent during the convention this week.

9/11 Report: Bi-Partisanship at its Worst?

There are organizations focusing on intense criticism of the 9/11 Report's process and conclusions. The greatest of these criticisms implies that a bi-partisan (Democrats and Republicans) commission, set as a ground rule, to exempt both Pres.' Clinton and Bush from criticism, blame or responsibility. Given that the President is the Commander in Chief of our military and intel agencies, the Commission has built a protective wall around their respective presidents in this election year.

Torn Between Conscience and Fear

I’ve heard the phrase many times in the last few years. I even say it myself every now and then. I take one look at President Bush and his smug facade or catch a sound byte of his choppy rhetoric and I just fall right out of my chair. In that instant I spill my cola and nearly choke to death on an ice cube. Before I regain composure I have reached the same conclusion I’ve been coming to for some time. Come November give me anybody but Bush!

Does Edwards have what Kerry is missing?

On the top three issues, Kerry received the most media criticism during the last six months, Edwards received much more positive coverage.

Rise up you disenfranchised!

Only a few decades ago, the electoral map showed 40 states up for grabs, demanding the candidates fight for votes in each and everyone of those states. This year only 16 to 17 states are up for grabs, called swing states. That means votes in 32 to 33 'solid' states are going to be completely taken for granted in this election cycle. In fact, your vote in any of these solid states won't even count in determining the election outcome. This constitutes a subtle form of disenfranchisement brought about by the electoral college which predetermines the race in the majority of states.

Media Favors Kerry While Republicans Attack

This report shows the sources of criticism in the media coverage of Bush and Kerry and, more important, the clear differences between the strategies of Republicans and Democrats.

DNC Platform: A dream without a plan!

The Democratic Party has released its (PDF) 2004 Platform and it is a dream. It reads like a utopian wish list to cure all of America's ills and troubles (well, most, anyway). While I agree with almost all of the goals contained within the platform, it occurred to me to look at how they plan to pay for all this utopia. So, I did a document search for the word "fiscal" and lo and behold, the Democrats still don't get it. The word fiscal only appears 9 times in the entire document and all but two occurrences appear in the section on the economy and fiscal responsibility.

Romancing the negative

This week's radio address helps us understand how the White House generates the president's aura of optimism. By a process of natural selection, the negative is suppressed and simply falls out of his analysis.

Pouting Bush Shuns the NAACP for Fourth Straight Year

George W. Bush proves once again that he is a man of the people, a President who strives to embrace all of the American people, no matter their color or political affiliation, unless of course if you call him names, then all bets are off. This is the basis for George W. Bush’s refusal to speak at the recent annual convention of the NAACP in Philadelphia. Bush, speaking of the NAACP leadership recently told reporter,

“[y]ou've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me."

Martha and Bill and Obstructing Justice

Today, Martha Stewart was sentenced to 5 months in jail, along with 5 months of home confinement, for “obstructing justice, conspiracy and making false statements”. It is interesting to remember that the same crimes that have been deemed severe enough by our nation to deprive Stewart of her freedom for a minimum of 5 months were seen by the Senate and the overwhelming majority of the American people as not serious enough to warrant the removal of our president just a couple of years ago.

We Quit! No Johns! And More...

Apparently the city hosting the Democratic Convention did not invite enough Johns. Of course Boston invited John Kerry and John Edwards, and a whole slew of other Democrat cheering members named John, Joe & Barbara. But, someone forgot to call the most important John of all. With an estimated 38,000 to 380,000,000 folks to enter the downtown area, no one called the John Company. That's right, there wasn't going to be enough port-a-johnnies by far to accommodate the crowds to be drawn by the event. City officials are looking into the matter and one hopes they come up with a solution or they will be knee deep in matter all around the convention. The next day's headline could read, Democratic Convention full of crap!

Kerry less visible in news than Gore in 2000

Senator John Kerry's media presence during the first half of the presidential election year has fallen significantly short of the coverage Al Gore received during the 2000 campaign.

What to do, what to do

I have reservations about voting for Kerry. I had reservations about voting for Nader in 92, 96, and 2000 as well. I did vote for him, however. My problem is not with Kerry himself, but rather with the Democratic Party as a whole. The democrats are no longer the liberal party that they once were. Democrats largely are. The Party is not. The party has recast itself as Republican Lite.

Media blame military and government agencies, not Bush

New York, July 13, 2004 – An analysis of the political coverage in the U.S. shows that the media delegated the responsibility for the administration's Iraq policy and domestic security crisis away from President Bush. The U.S. military, the government in general and the secret services were the most frequent targets of criticism during the first six months of 2004 in that regard.

Signature Gatherers Hide Nader's Name

Today's Charleston Gazette picks up Nader's campaign trail:

A mysterious pair of men were gathering signatures on a petition Monday outside the Kroger store on Charleston’s West Side — apparently in an effort to get independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader on West Virginia’s ballot in November.

U.S. Faces 2 Immense Ethical Dilemmas

Dilemma One: Whether to keep a President who cannot lead the rest of the world.

Dilemma Two: Whether to end Aids transmission to newborns or permit nature to govern.

Iraq Invasion led to Nuclear Proliferation

When the U.S.-led coalition invaded, the unintentional consequence may have been allowing nuclear material to fall into the wrong hands. While Saddam was in charge of Iraq, the U.N. had closed and sealed several research facilities and put them under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the 1991 Gulf War.

Investigations show No WMD

A Senate Intelligence Investigation Committee issued a bipartisan report indicating the U.N. and Europeans who opposed Bush’s invasion of Iraq based on WMD were proved right as the report states clearly and bi-partisanly, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during the buildup of American forces to invade, and the intelligence basis for invading Iraq was false. Democrats and Republicans are split on whether the Whitehouse played a role in pressuring the intelligence agencies to produce the erroneous results they led to war.

Conservative anti-universalism

Pat Buchanan provides us with yet another glaring example of the conservatives' moral relativism. Buchanan attempts to wrap his head around a contradiction between John Kerry's religious beliefs and his political praxis.

And Dubya Fiddled While the U.S. Army Burned

What will it take? What will it take before the continuing failure of leadership from the Bush Administration, and Bush personally as Command-n-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, falls upon the American people and U.S. Army and Guard & Reserve like a hurricane?

You are paid up -For Now

Interesting piece of news. Today, July 7, marks the day that the average American has earned enough money this year to pay for the cost of Federal, State, and Local governments. Due to modestly increasing earnings across the spectrum, Americans beat last years date by one day. However, with state's economies on shaky ground, and the current 7 Trillion dollar federal deficit to become 10+ Trillion by the end of the decade, look for near future dates to extend out at as far as August.

Allegiance to Serve Unless I Change my Mind

During the Vietnam War, many Americans left for the Canadian border to avoid the draft into military service. For many at the time and certainly years later, we found compassion for these men because the war was never very popular and the men were being forced to serve in the ideology war against their choice. Two former American soldiers; Brandon Hughey and Jeremy Hinzman recently deserted their units and sought asylum in Canada. Many are drawing parallel lines between the justifications but it all comes down really to personal choice and accepting responsibility.

Edwards: Pluses & Minuses

Presidential candidate John Kerry's choice of 1st time Senator John Edwards as his V.P. candidate and running mate will likely not harm Kerry's campaign any more than any other choice Kerry could have made. Edwards brings many pluses and two important minuses for those whose decision may be swayed by Kerry's choice, one way or another, by his VP choice.

Bush Flunks Math - Logic

President Bush this holiday weekend is speaking before groups around the country flaunting his lack of capacity for math and logic. In Charleston, W. Va. President Bush is reported by the Toronto Star to have said that America is safer because Saddam Hussein is in a prison cell.

Supreme Court Restores Balance to Our American Republic

The American people: 2, President Bush: 0. So the headlines should have read across the nation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decisions in (Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld and Rasul et al. v. Bush et al), which limited the President’s power to confine not only American citizens, but foreign nationals as well, without due process of law.

Saddam on Trial

The preliminary hearings today marked the beginning of what many expect to become one of the most famous trials in world history. In the courtroom, Hussein was presented with seven preliminary charges that included gassing thousands of Kurds in 1988, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the suppression of 1991 revolts by Kurds and Shiites, the murders of religious and political leaders and the mass displacement of Kurds in the 1980s, to which he suggested he had immunity as Iraq's president.

Which is interesting. Allow me to play devil's advocate.