Third Party & Independents

Whitehouse Failures Permeating Media

Forget media bias. Look at the sources in the stories and links below. The data flowing out in news this week is coming from highly credible sources and demonstrating failure after failure of the Bush administration. Sure, those on the right can spin a tornado into a butterfly's wing flap, but, any objective reading of the following stories begs the question, why is Bush leading in the polls?

Lets Get Ready to Sound-Bite

With the first presidential debate just a day away, I went through the trouble of reading the much-talked-about 32 page “memorandum of understand” between the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Here are some provisions of note:

Candidates may not ask each other direct questions

Substance over Style Please, Hold the Spin

I have to admit, I am jaded with the politics of the current presidential election as well as the upcoming debates. I believe both men are equally suited for the job on qualifications but the tone of civility our nation’s leaders have demonstrated as of late, leave me wanting for a reset button on the whole political process.

Intel. Reform - The Enemy Within

It is difficult to tell if the enemy within being discussed in the Senate’s intelligence community overhaul bill is terrorists or the Committee itself. There is no question from a reading of the 9/11 Commission’s report that intelligence overhaul is necessary. But a key component of the Commission’s report is dangerously absent from the Senate’s overhaul legislation coming to a vote on the Senate floor: checks and balances.

No Exit

Last week, George W. Bush rose to speak before a mute audience at the United Nations General Assemby. There was a certain irony in Bush's speech--Bush represents a political party which is seeking to do as much as it can to dismantle the U.N.'s status in the world. Last year, the U.S. launched the invasion of Iraq with flagrant disregard to the anti-war sentiment within the U.N. Security Council. Now, Bush was appearing before the U.N. saying the war was undertaken to support U.N. Security Council objectives. No one was fooled.

The Real Election Issue Won't Be Debated

In 1992, we went from 6% budget deficits to 2% surplus in Jan. 2000. Due in no small part to the reductions in defense spending, the Clinton administration and Chairman Greenspan of the Federal Reserve Board, saved our nation from potential economic demise in the years 2000 to 2004, when our society underwent huge shocks to our economic system.

Iraq: Reality Check Please

Can any rational, reasonable person even keeping half an ear on the news out of Iraq possibly believe that the country is on the road to democracy? Violence grows on a daily basis with U.S. military official announcing that four Marines, from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, were killed Friday in three separate incidents while "conducting security and stability operations," in al Anbar province, while at least seven Iraqi’s lost their lives in the ongoing battles in and around Al- Falluja.

Rumsfeld Is Once Again Inserting His Foot into His Arrogant Mouth

I thought the political handlers inside the Bush Administration had been successful in silencing our over bellicose, politically inappropriate, and all too frequently arrogant, condescending Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. But this week he has been back in the news with a vengeance, this time further perpetrating the administration’s lie about Iraq with his own unforgettable and often straight-shooting, short sided, dim-witted style.

Group Wins Battle Against Bush Admin. Secrecy

What could be worse than a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant in the US of A? Very little. So the public should expect that securing nuclear plants should be Job No. 1. The Bush Administration, in what is becoming all too commonplace, has tried to keep important information on this matter from the public.

Public Citizen, a citizen's rights advocacy group, has just won an important victory against the administration's secrecy tactics which prevent government accountability to the people.

Bush's UN Speech Analyzed

President Bush's speech to the United Nations Assembly this week was remarkable. His speech was far more subdued than in the past. But, his words brought a host of images, questions, and implications to mind given the context of current events. It is worth reviewing some of the phrases and concepts in the speech for a glimpse of what may have crossed the minds of delegates attending the UN assembly on that day, as they crossed mine.

What's Up With America

On almost any day, my news reader produces dozens of stories that force me to ask if this is still the America I was born and raised in. Here are a few stories from today that make me ask, What's Up With America?

Bush’s Speech Before the U.N. Had (Predictably) Little Basis in Reality

After listening to President Bush’s speech before the U.N. yesterday I wondered to myself: is this guy on the same planet as the rest of us? Does he not care that his and the country’s credibility before the world will continue to slide if his administration continues to deny and ignore what the rest of the world sees so clearly: mainly that Iraq and even Afghanistan are slipping from U.S. control, spiraling down in a blood soaked orgy of violence?

Nader In Arkansas

In Little Rock Arkansas last Friday, Circuit Judge Timothy Fox listened as two parties argued their cases. The Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against Ralph Nader just days before citing petition fraud on behalf the Populist Party of Arkansas. Today Judge Timothy Fox ordered Nader and Camejo to be stricken from the ballots in Arkansas. The decision was made based on evidence that the Populist Party failed to follow proper Arkansas election procedures. The following is a breakdown of the three hour court case.

Taxachusetts

I have been hearing the term "Taxachusetts" being thrown around with increasing frequency during this campaign. Clearly it is intended to convince the audience that Kerry is a tax-and-spend Democrat and he is personally responsible for the unconscionably high taxes in his home state. There are two false premises in this pejorative: that Massachusetts has a very high tax burden; and that John Kerry (or more traditionally Ted Kennedy) is responsible for this burden.

Where do we go from here?

The Turkish government confirmed this morning that 10 of it citizens were kidnapped Friday in Iraq. They are of course just the latest in a recent upturn in such abductions, which saw 2 Americans and a British national also taken only to later show up on tape with guns pointed to their blindfold clad heads. And this on the heals of a severe up-tick in violence in Iraq in the last week that has left some 100 dead and scores more wounded. Where is this all leading?

Is God Voting For Bush?

Four years ago, God likely noticed that George W. Bush wasn't too bad as Texas Governor despite his love of death penalties, and he too was a 'born again'. So, God was surely pleased to see George become President with a little help from the Supreme Court, though it was touch and go there.

Fox Uses More Anonymous Sources in Coverage of Kerry

While reporting on the controversy surrounding John Kerry’s military service in August, Special Report with Brit Hume on Fox News relied on a greater number of anonymous sources than ABC, CBS and NBC in their evening news broadcasts. At the same time, the overall tone of the coverage of this issue was more negative on Fox than on the networks .

Election About Bankrupting America

On November 2, you can vote for Sen. John Kerry and bankrupting America. Or, you can vote for Bush and bankrupt America twice as fast. This is according to new research and reports from government agencies and other institutions who are adding up the numbers of Kerry and Bush campaign promises. In the final analysis, if Bush wins, our national debt will reach over 11 Trillion dollars and under Kerry about 9 trillion dollars, so far.

September Thirteen

“At least 37 people were killed in Baghdad alone Sunday. Many of them died when a U.S. helicopter fired on a disabled U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle as Iraqis swarmed around it, cheering, throwing stones and waving the black and yellow sunburst banner of Iraq’s most-feared insurgent organization.”

Why This Election Can't Be Predicted

Polls simply cannot predict this presidential race. Below are comments from voters that demonstrate why that is. Two examples from Republicans follow:

"We were given the idea that there were weapons of mass destruction, but where are they? They said they were so sure. When I was over there I looked. I was on an intelligence gathering team, we all looked. We found nothing. It was just a lie. That wasn't a proper use of American troops. It wasn't a proper use of my life, my friends' lives, or the Marines I saw die around me."-- Lee Buttrill, Sergeant, USMC, Iraq War Veteran

Republican Party Extinction?

The dinosaurs reached a zenith just prior to their extinction. It occurred to me we may be witnessing the same pattern with the Republican Party. As a minority party during the last part of the last century, Republican conservative views served our nation well on a host of issues. They acted as American conscience regarding debt and deficit spending. They acted as an ethical check on runaway cultural norms moving toward "anything goes". And they served as a check on encroachment of state’s rights by the federal government and bloating federal beauracracy.

Bush/Cheney: Do NOT Do As We Do, Please!

al-Queda viewed western influence as a threat to their way of life. Thus, they preemptively struck the N.Y. Tower in 1991, the USS Cole, and the Twin Towers, Pentagon, and airline passengers in 2001. Seemed like a good strategy to President Bush and Dick Cheney. The President said we knew Iraq had WMD, and following al-Queda's preemptive strike policy he ordered our military to invade and occupy Iraq.

Thoughts From A Week After

It has been one month and four years since Governor George W. Bush took the stage in Philadelphia to accept the Republican Presidential nomination. The U.S. has seen a few changes since then though. Despite all that, the same archetypical images were present in this year’s convention as were present before. Each speech was filled with bloated patriotism and motivational lines like Bush’s statement, “This young century will be liberty’s century.” The flags and signs still waved support and the crowd still hummed with excitement. The red, white, and blue ribbons and balloons were everywhere in sight. On top of all that, the expenses for the convention were estimated at a phenomenal $64 million for the four nights.

1000 Servicemen Dead: For What?

So here we are, the milestone, surpassing 1000 American dead and countless more Iraqi men, women and children; do we know how many of them have died, do we care? Add to this madness over 7000 wounded Americans and how many Iraqis(?). Question: is it, was it, worth it? Is it worth the death, carnage, destruction, destroyed lives, and shattered dreams, not to mention the withering away of America’s leadership and creditability in the world? Is it worth the soul of two nations?

Kerry Borrowing From Nader?

For decades eminent domain has been used to throw homeowners and businesses off their properties, purchased by court order of governments and tax payer dollars, only to be given free to corporate entities like General Motors. Corporate socialism has grown and prospered in the United States. Bailouts of corporate interests using tax dollars have been prevalent also since those years of the Chrysler bailout, airlines bailouts, and corporate farming subsidies.

Vote for Change, or Vote for Worse

The month of August was a robust month for political campaigning in America. Many of us were focused on what the candidates and campaigns had to say. Though more difficult, it is as instructive and educational for making a rational vote to listen for what isn't said. What isn't said is usually what campaigners want to hide from voters.

A Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican

Here is something I ran across—thanks to my lovely wife—and I thought I’d share it with the world, so to speak. The article is called A Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican and it illustrates in stark detail how no man stands alone, and that the theory of individualism, the self-made man is really illusionary in nature. No commentary by me, the piece speaks for itself:

Can Kerry Win?

Well its official, Bush got the bump in the polls (11 percent) everyone anticipated Kerry would receive, but didn’t. The bump Bush wasn’t supposed to receive because he is the incumbent, but did. And it’s beginning to look as though Kerry will loose this election, unless he does something to set himself apart from Bush and show himself to be the leader, the visionary, the President people need him to be.

The Tide Has Turned

Several pundits have suggested that the presidential race will not stay as close as it has been for some months now, indicating that either candidate could be the one to open up a significant lead. Current polls indicate that this may be beginning to happen as President Bush comes out of the Republican Convention with a majority of voters choosing him over Senator Kerry. Has the tide turned? What did it?

Kerry Lashes Back

With President Bush getting a little “bounce” in the polls from the convention, John Kerry has apparently decided that it is time to get a bit more aggressive in campaigning. I admired him for his earlier restraint, but his step up in criticism of his opponent is not a turn-off yet. The debate seems now to be centered on fitness to hold the office. Who wins that one?

The Dichotomy of a Presidency

George W. Bush’s speech last night was a perfect microcosm of his presidency. He laid out an ambitious and praiseworthy foreign policy based on principles of democracy and freedom. Conversely, he expounded on a domestic agenda that sells out small government ideals in favor of increasing the size of the federal government- all without specifying how we will pay for these give-aways.

Bush Accepts Nomination

Who coined the phrase “soft bigotry of low expectations?” George Bush was a beneficiary of the concept as observers complimented him on a speech that was part fear-mongering, part idle promises and all ho-hum. I wish one of the candidates would give me something to vote for.

PT Barnum Accepts Presidential Nomination

Well, I was impressed; truly, very impressed with Bush's speech tonight. He overwhelmed my mind with thoughts of the greatest showman on earth, PT Barnum. The thought of reincarnation even occurred to me. He was not just the greatest showman, but, magician as well. President Bush took one of the greatest tragedies to hit the U.S. in the last 60 years which occurred on his watch, and hid that fact from view while impressing everyone with the statement that he will not allow such an event to happen on his watch. Wow! Now that is true circus, true showmanship, and master magic.

Bush in Translation

In this election season with the charges of John Kerry flip-flopping on the issues, it seems surprising that President Bush has apparently done some of the same thing, the week he is to accept the nomination as the Republican Presidential nominee.

Zell Miller: A Hateful Speech

Fire can be hot and destructive or warm and sustaining. So much of what Zell Miller had to say tonight was distortion, misrepresentation, out of context, and demonstrated his deep and abiding disappointment with the Democratic Party that gave up support for its conservative wing decades ago.

Zell Miller on John Kerry

I can always respect the opinion of a dissenting party member when they cross partisan lines to speak against their "own" party's candidate for President. Zell Miller, Georgia's retiring self-professed Democratic senator, has given his opinion of Democratic Presidential candidate John F. Kerry:

Kerry-Bush Both Win!

Kerry wins popular vote, Bush wins Electoral College! It is really starting to look like this is going to be the headline on November 4, 5, 6, or 7. It won't be on November 3 due to likelihood of protests over vote counting and allegations of voter fraud. There are 7.2 million Americans living overseas and more of them are likely to vote this year than in 2000. That will delay results a bit as well.