Thursday, October 19th, 2006

Voting Machinism
It looks like the slam-dunk coming from the left side of politics for this election is not so slammy or dunky. With new election laws and electronic voting machines coming into place, the potential for voting inaccuracies is huge. And this is an election year that is hotly contested, which should drive more people to the polls-- just look at how the 2000 election revved people up for 2004. Pre-poll problems will turn people away from long lines and confusing instructions, which alone could win the race for some embattled incumbents. And even if everything goes smoothly, since there is a potential for errors, the lawyers will hold sway anywhere with a close race. And the close races are the ones the Democrats need to take the Senate and House. What's one to do? Vote early, vote often now doesn't seem like just a joke.

If I Can't See You, How Can I Know You?
Big debate in England, a country racked by the scandal of moms selling fast food through school gates to children subjected to draconian "healthy food" laws. But this one's even more convoluted. Tony Blair has come out in partial support of Jack Straw, leader of the House of Commons, who has lashed out at full-face veils worn my some Muslim women. Jack claims that while wearing them is a right, it nevertheless makes it difficult for these women to be integrated into modern society. And recently, a schoolteacher who wore a "niqab" and refused to take it off in front of male teachers, was fired for this. Excuse me if I sound like a conservative, but I have to agree with Straw. The West, and especially America, is defined by individualism and individual identity. Its hard for us to grasp that someone without a face is an individual. Then again, the internet age allows for relationships to exist without faces, so maybe there's some room to adjust here.

Bad Randy from the Past
The latest Republican scandal is a minor one, and an old one to boot. Former representative and Republican Randy Cunningham is being investigated again-- or rather, his legacy is being investigated as he currently sits in prison thanks to bribery convictions. It seems, though, that the distinguished gentleman from California had a long history of pressuring and bullying his way to landing some fat pork indeed for his constituents and friends. Yes, it's in the past, but it wasn't a very long time ago (last November). So just add that to your playsheet of bad elephants. If you're keeping track, that’s: Cunningham, Delay, Ney, Foley, Weldon...

Torture Bill Passes
The Bushinazi finally got his torture bill passed, the one that some actual GoP war vets had taken off the table to fix up. And though they did fix it, so to speak, there's the still the matter of the Executive Order that Bush gets to write to go along with it, setting the standards by which the law plays itself out. I'm no political scholar, so I don't know what sort of limitations the bill has set in stone which the order can overcome, but I do know that while one of the bill fixers, Lindsey Graham was in attendance for it's signing, another one, John McCain, was not. Maybe he was out hiding his adopted/naturalized child, who of course could be tortured according to the letter of this new law. Citizenship? What's that again?

Poor-Sport Pundits
Pundits are starting to see the writing on the wall, as poll after poll shows America's dissatisfaction with our present congress and Republicans in general. So here comes the whining. One of them was heard to say (I'm paraphrasing) "If the Democrats take seats this November, it won't be because Democrats won, it will be because Republicans lost, and that's a really big difference." Sure it is. What's your assertion prove? Remember, those of us who lean to the left are not, by definition, pro party-politics. We're pro policy. It's you neocons and your Reagan-worship that have gotten us into this mess. Your "Contract for America" turned into a juggernaut, encouraging partisanship over leadership. Shame on you.

Foley Fallout
A judge has decided that party members cannot put up signage at the polls indicating the roll of Joe Negron as Mark Foley's replacement. It is the case that Joe will get all of the votes cast for Mark, but the GoP are not allowed to put up signs indicating as much. At least not in the polls. Makes sense-- why should one candidate get his name displayed, for any reason, inside the booth? There's no such thing as bad press, they say. This is more good news for Tim Mahoney, who didn't even have a chance before the scandal hit, but who might now just pull it off.