Proving the Conspiracy

     It is kinda tough, isn't it?  Well, I found some, well, evidence.  The "Name the October Surprise" contest is being sponsored by Mark Green.  Mr. Green was New York City's first, and only real (screw Gotbaum) Public Advocate, second in line to become Mayor in case of death or incapacitation.  Mr. Green ran for Mayor against Mike "That's Better Than A Blowjob" Bloomberg, the Billionaire who has been a Republican since the Democrats wouldn't let him run.

     Anywho, as you can easily imagine, Mr. Green's "Name the October Surprise" contest was a bit of an embarassment to BushCo.  On the one hand, sure, it is just a website, no one will notice.  However, as many bloggers have noted (e.g. Oliver Willis) GOP strategic svengali, Karl Rove, is planning surprises.  Could an agent of Rove's win the contest, trying to collect from both sides?  Could someone guess, and therefore prove that Rove wasn't as imaginative as he'd thought?  Could a correct contest entry somehow lead to a post-surprise investigation?

     In order to help fight this menace, they invented October Surprise blog, which now is first on Google if you try "October Surprise."  The new website studiously avoids mentioning George Herbert Walker Bush's and Ronald Wilson Reagan's treasonous deal with the Iranians, to keep the hostages until after the election of 1980.

     Although the website is pretty well done, the person responsible for the "concept & content", Camron Assadi, has no home page of their own, just a blank template.  The person who did the "Web Design & Development" has some lefty work on their website, but it is lacking any contact info, which seems odd, since it is allegedly trying to attract business.

Whew!

     At least the Republicans are looking out for me!

Negotiators Approve Big Tax Cuts for Business, By EDMUND L. ANDREWS WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 - In an act of pre-election largess, House and Senate negotiators approved a sprawling corporate tax bill on Wednesday that would shower corporations and farmers in politically sensitive states with about $145 billion worth of new tax cuts...

Some people want the media to use the word liar.  I, on the other hand, need them to start using the word BRIBE.

    Euphemized by the NY Times.

Why do I blog?

     Obviously, so people like me.  But beyond that, there is the fact that the regular press corps are a pathetic group of ignoramii or liars, I often can't tell which, and Democrats (OK, and Republicans) mostly have spines of a certain gelatinous product.  I was for Dean, certainly.  And I still think he had the best chance to beat Bush, until the press decided to fuck him in the ass.

     Today, however, John Forbes Kerry said

[T]he president of the United States and the vice president of the United States may well be the last two people on the planet who won't face the truth about Iraq.

     Today, I could stop blogging.  That's the kind of statement I have been needing to hear.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not actually going to stop.  But, at least I know we aren't going to have another jellyfish play the part.  The media will still lie, lie and lie about Kerry.  He is going to be attacked incessantly should he win.  But, hopefully, he will just tell the truth when asked, and act responsibly when given the authority.  Covered widely, here is the Reuters link.

Since This Is Sooooo Bush

     You've all read President James Madison's little conversation between the Republican and the Anti-Republican?  It is hard for me to imagine anyone reading the aforelinked, and not come away thinking that the Republican Party are the forces of Anti-Republicanism.

1,000 Page "No WMD" report released

     From the report

Well, first we didn't find anything.  Then we looked some more, and, well, we didn't find anything again.  Someone suggested we look harder, so we tried that.  Then Dave tripped over something, but it was nothing.  So, we kept looking, and we found... guess what? Nothing again.  Then there was more nothing, some people said mountains of nothing, some people a lot less.  And then someone told me I had to write 1,000 pages about nothing, so I wrote this sentence, just to take up space.  Then they said if it was very, very long, people would think it was about something, even if it isn't.  So that's basically why I wrote that sentence.  I was hoping I could use a bigger font, but they said no.  I have to use this one.  So I did.  I hope they don't notice the margins.

and on and on for another 1,000 pages.

Channeling the President

     Well, it is significant.  It's significant to me, and the people who want me to win.  Everyone is saying I didn't win the other night, so I have to have a debate by myself.

Eight Months of Lies

     For the last eight months, and more, President Bush & Co. have been promising that the (lie) "Road Map to Peace" was going ahead.  Let's ignore that the whole thing was behind schedule before it was even made public, now, Ariel Sharon's Negotiations Minister said

I believe he[Dov Weisglas, Sharon's Chief of Staff] has revealed the true intentions of Sharon. We told the quartet [of U.S.-led peace mediators] eight months ago that the Gaza plan was designed to undermine their road map

which followed Weisglas's comment, quoted in Ha'aretz

The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process[.] And when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders, and Jerusalem. Effectively this whole package called the Palestinian state with all that it entails has been removed indefinitely from the agenda.... All of this with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both Houses of Congress.

Of course, Bush has been lying for months, according to the Israelis.  This from many sources, including the Christian Science Monitor.

Too Cute

     Rush Limbaugh is getting, hold your breath, a Statesmanship Award.  Long overlooked for his mature, respected outlook, tix are $250, or $500 to breathe closer, and a table for 10 can go for anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000.  This is an honor that is long overdue for Mr. Limbaugh.  Let's all thank the Claremont Institute for their "disintereted promotion of the public good."

OPERATION: Distraction

     Yes, in honor of the imminent release of the 1,000 page report that shows that Saddam Hussein al-Majid, like many Americans, coveted nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and that he, in fact, like many Americans, had none, World Net Daily, that bastion of untruth, injustice and the GOP way, has decided to distract their mindless readers with stories of, guess what, mobile balloon filling devices.

     Thanks have to go out to PowerLineBlog for their truly excellent catch here.

A Small Request

     It's just a few days till Australians go to the polls.  Their conservatives, called the Liberal Party, have been in charge since 1998.  Their Prime Minister, John Howard, sent Australians off to fight in Iraq, peddling the same exact lies that the Bush administration sold Americans.  Far worse than in the US, Rupert Murdoch basically runs the Australian media.  Their radio is worse than Clear Channel all the time.

     So, please do me a favor, and check out an Australian political website.

     I know, you can't vote there, but you probably already know a bit about England's system, and the US/UK (You Suck?) alliance was definitely given a ringing endorsement by the douche, John Howard.

     You might also learn about Australian's voting system, called the Single Transferable Vote, which is one step up from Instant Runoff Voting, but still not full Condorcet.

Coalition of the Unwinning

Thesis: Elected Leaders who took their countries to Iraq will not be re-elected.

Source for most election data came from the CIA World Factbook, election results from the news.

The country with a blue background has the next election.
Republic: Democratically elected leader who controls foreign policy, X equals Yes
US/UK: Former possession of the US or UK, former or currently militarily occupied by the US/UK
Next Vote: Date of next elections. L means the elections are for the Legislature only, and no Presidential elections are held.
If possible it will be indicated whether the government in power SUCCEEDED or FAILED to win re-election.

One of the camps of Anti-Federalists had the rallying cry "Where Annual Elections End, Tyranny Begins!"

UPDATE:  Looks like former members of the British Empire are immune.  Probably a linguistic (culture vector->news) element.

Country	Republic	US/UK	Next Vote
Iceland	X,f		04/03	FAILED, change in Head of Government
Rwanda			08/03	Strongman Kagame wins 95% of vote
Azerbaijan	e		10/03	Son of former Soviet Commissar elected!
Marshall Islands	b	X	11/03	SUCCESS
Latvia	b		03/04	Coalition falls apart day after election, PM rules with minority
El-Salvador	X		03/04	New Leader, Same Party
Spain	c		L 03/04	FAILED
Panama	X	?	06/04	FAILED
Mongolia	X		06/04	FAILED
Macedonia	X		10/04	President dies in plane crash, same party wins in early elections
Dominican Republic	X	X	05/04	FAILED
Philippines	X	X	05/04	Arroyo, unelected Pres., wins first term
Slovakia	X		05/04	FAILED
Japan	c	X	06/04	LDP has lost majorities in both Houses
Australia	a,c	X	L 10/04	HOWARD RETURNED
Afghanistan	X	X	11/04	Karzai stays, not elected in first place
America	X	X	11/04	ELECTION FRAUD? SUCCESS
Ukraine	X		11/04	Yuschenko finally wins, had promised troop pull out
Palau	X	X	11/04	SUCCESS
Romania	X		11/04	Former Communist, Promised to Withdraw, Unseated.
Hungary	X		06/05
Singapore	X		by 08/05
Denmark	c		L by 10/05
Honduras	X	X	11/05
Poland	X		11/05
Solomon Islands	a,c	X	L by 12/05
Georgia	X		??/05
Portugal	X		01/06
Great Britain	c	X	05/06
Costa Rica	X		05/06
Italy	X	X	05/06
Colombia	X		05/06
Nicaragua	X		11/06
Bulgaria	X		??/06
Estonia	X		??/06
Micronesia	d	X	L 05/07
Turkey	X		05/07
Albania	X		06/07
Ethiopia	X		10/07
Netherlands	c		L ??/07
Lithuania	X		??/07
South Korea	X		12/07
Uzbekistan	e		??/07
Czech	X		??/08
Angola				Elections indefinitely cancelled, last held in 1992
Eritrea				Isaias national leader, elections postponed indefinitely since 2001
Kuwait				Hereditary Monarchy
Tonga				Monarchy
Uganda				Museveni in power since 1986, no elections for President

Notes:
A: A hereditary Monarch selects the President/Governor-General/Whatever
B: President is elected by the Parliament.
C: The leader of the Majority Party becomes Prime Minister
D: To even call this a "country," when it is actually run by the United States, is a joke.
E: Not a politically free society.
F: Ceremonial President which is popularly elected.

Don Rumsfeld, Ignoramus or Liar?

  Many people are currently quoting the aging Donald Rumsfeld saying "[W]hen I'm in Washington, I pull out a piece of paper and say, I don't know, because I'm not in that business, but I'll tell you what the CIA thinks[.]"

  Is that f*cking so, Mr. Rumsfeld?  So, when I read this, which says that the Department of Defense controls 85% of the intelligence budget of the entire United States of America, it really means that you aren't in the intelligence business?  Even though you have more than five times the intelligence budget of all the other intelligence agencies combined, you aren't in the intelligence business?

  Well, it is clear that you aren't interested in the defense of the United States, could someone ask you think you are "in that business?"

Bush Disses Romania

Kerry forgot Poland?

Bush claims Kerry "forgot" Poland when listing members of the group of countries that invaded Iraq with America.

UK	45,000
Australia	2000
Romania	278
Poland	200
Albania	70

Well, Poland took the opportunity to announce they were pulling their troops out next year, but what will the Romanian President do?

Some Tidbits

My joke for today: picture this, Bush standing under a banner that says "Homeland Secured."

I like Old Fashioned Patriot.  I think I just might like old things in general.

The new "oh-we-are-so-innocent, Official right-wing-shovelfull-of-shit" website is _definitely_ Powerline.  More on this tactic later.

Spotted: This Just In: The Ultimate Neo-Con Newswire(?), run by Eleana Benador, is apoplectic over the Iraqwar News Net website.  Check out the Benador-inspired shenanigans here.  Also note the weird post-dating on the article, and another.  Is this october surprise revealed?

Kerry/Bush, Debate I Wrap-Up

I'm conflicted.  I think Bush is a horrid President, but it is true that Kerry is no saint.  He's going to continue loads and loads of stupid, evil, even racist policies that are already in effect.  However, in the spirit of "We can't have that religious wing-nut in there any longer, especially since he brings along Rummy, Ashcroft, Rove, Evans, the Iran-Contra Crew, et cetera, et cetera," I bring you...what the sage saw in the transcripts.

1. Bush says "The enemy understands a free Iraq will be a major defeat [for them.]"
   • The enemy is not singular, the enemy is manifold.
   • One of Bush's main tactics is to try to lump all separtists, militants, revolutionaries, reactionaries and the plain 'ol oppressed-and-sick-of-it in together.
   • This is false.
   • There are different tactics for each, often enough.
2. Bush says "We're going to reform our intelligence services to make sure that we get the best intelligence possible.
   • This was priority one, it has been over three years.
   • Ask yourself, what could have been more valuable than intelligence?
   • What could have been more important to fix?
3. Bush says of Saddam Hussein al-Majid, "He had the capability of making weapons and he would have made weapons"
   • Bush has never shortened the phrase "weapons of mass destruction" to the three letters "WMD."
   • In his interview with Tim Russert, he once used the phrase "weapons" instead of "weapons of mass destruction" and the sentence became true (i.e. if he had been talking about WMD, he would have been lying).
   • Weapons include rifles and artillery.
4. Bush says "I certainly hope so." in response to the question of whether diplomacy will work in stopping proliferation in North Korea and Iran
   • Hope? Is it up to a coin toss?
   • No sufficient distinction is made between Kim Jong Il and Saddam Hussein al-Majid
   • Why should we believe one and not the other?
   • No explanation is given for similar circumstances and different approaches.