Eyes Wide Open

An Event that looks interesting. It runs today through Wednesday.

[Via Covington]

I want Jimmy Carter

No offense to Global Exchange, I am glad they are coming to Ohio to observe our election, but I want former President Jimmy Carter to observe our elections, especially here in Cincinnati. People don't want to face a simple fact that we will have a mess here with an election being waged solely as a write-in contest for Prosecutor. The vote counting will be by hand. I expect the right-wingers will want to send in the Velvet Hammer to sue to prevent any counting at all and let Taft just appoint Deters to the position for life. Oh, did I type that out loud?

Edwards in Town Monday

John Edwards will be in Cincinnati for a block party on Monday.

Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator from Georgia, will also be in Cincinnati on Tuesday at the Convention Center.

MIAMI 40, OU 20

Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.

More from the Enquirer.

The Gallup Poll Tarnished

The Left Coaster outlines clear evidence that Gallup's polls are just plain wrong. They are skewed towards the Republicans in a manner that goes beyond bias to ludicrous. Their polling method has created such a twisted result as to taint the entire process, making useless every poll taken by every other group. Gallup is the 800 pound gorilla of polling firms and their results help create a perception that can influence the herd.

Mullane's Closes

Well, perception helped kill a nice resturant.

"I talked to some of my customers and people just didn't want to come downtown. They said they felt downtown was dangerous and that they had other places to go," said Cobb.

I wonder who has been helping create bad impressions of downtown?

Slam the Bigots

A group is Group disputing the validity of petitions from Phil Burress's storm troopers trying to ban gay marriage via the Ohio Constitution. It has been banned already, but with Phil if you can't beat a dead horse, you just might have sex with it. Idle hands are the devil's tool and all, ya know?

Serenity Now!

Things have been getting fairly heated in the comments as of late. I thought I might give an opportunity to everyone to let you inter self gain some....blah...blah...blah

Everybody, relax!

Iraq Failure?

This story cites "U.S. Intelligence Officials" so it has to be taken with a grain of salt, but even an amateur like me can see that Iraq is in the early stages of Civil War now, and has no signs of getting better. Iraq is looking like Vietnam more and more every day. They only think missing is another superpower supplying weapons, but the rest of the Arab world is not that far off.

How can anyone not see Iraq is now a failure? I don't know that anyone can fix it, but Bush's choices have proved to be horrible. How can anyone think this guy is good commander in chief?

UPDATE: Fixed Grammatical Error.

Pay More Attention or Just Don't Be So Damned Stupid

A letter to the Enquirer reads:

A good prosecutor makes a wise move

Mike Allen made a wise decision in resigning as Hamilton County prosecutor. He realized he was wrong and did what was best for Hamilton County but also the Republican Party.
Allen, unlike former President Clinton, was honest. We should still respect him, as his performance as a prosecutor was done well. I think that the issue was exaggerated and it was wrong to get the family involved. I hope our next prosecutor will do as good of a job as Allen.
Sarah Bolger
Bridgetown

Sarah should realize something: MIKE ALLEN DID NOT RESIGN! He is serving out his term. If he was doing the right thing, he would resign right now and give the job he will perform for the next nearly four months to someone else. He cheated on his wife with a direct subordinate for 3 years, lied about it two her, telling her it was over then continued the affair for over a year more. I guess that is real honest for a diehard Republican. Clinton is a red herring, for the billionth time. Sarah seems to read to much Bronson and has to bring in Clinton at the drop of a hat. I guess she might agree that is Bill Clinton's fault for Mike Allen having an affair and allegedly sexually harassing a woman. This is an example of ignorant human being who pays have attention to local TV news headlines and maybe reads a couple articles in the paper. This is the person that kills politics, because this is the type of stupid person politicians appeal to, especially here in Cincinnati.

Rucker V. Deters

All reports indicate that in the end the race for Hamilton County Prosecutor will boil down to Fanon Rucker (D) verses Joe Deters (R).

Deters is whining about something, that well was never covered very much by the local press, until now.

Deters' former chief of staff, Matthew Borges, and former fund-raiser Eric Sagun pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in July.

So while prosecutor he missed the fact that one of his staff was stealing money from the evidence inventory, and while Treasurer his chief of staff broke campaign finance laws. This is the guy who is leaving statewide office to come back to a lowly countywide office, and people really want to vote for him?

Rucker is getting attacked as well, but since it is from the Boycott B, I treat it with, well, just a little bit of skepticism.

One-Party Rule

Why are the Dems so weak in this county not even mount a candidate for every office? Why is Simon Leis running unopposed? Sure, the people in this country are way too stupid to actually understand the guy is a fascist, which they may in reality like, but that should not keep the Dems from putting someone up on the ballot for the hell o f it.

Some say it is because unless you are self-employed you face ruining your career if you don't follow the rule of the GOP. I don't think I face that in the big corporation I work at, but I don't think it would help me any. Also, people want money and you don't make much as a public official. Unless you have money you can't afford to run. Locally the GOP has the money and fund their candidates and the Dems don't have the bread to win, well that and people are just too stupid to know any better. With a local media that brainwashes people it does not surprise that no one understand or cares what happens as long as nothing happens to them.

Blackwell Losing Focus

Ken Blackwell had better keep a special eye on the Hamilton County race for Prosecutor.: "'There are 88 counties in Ohio, and 68 use punch cards - and I've got to make sure we don't suffer the embarrassment of Florida in 2000,' Blackwell said, referring to the recount four years ago that delayed presidential election results."A county of the size of Hamilton with a race with only write in candidates and a local GOP itching to do its damnedest to win for their Fearless Leader® should be something to catch a little extra attention from the Secretary of State. We are going to have a mess here at the board of elections. We will have to count these by hand. That is something the GOP thinks is evil after all, so we can't trust it no matter what. We need a state official observing our election. Blackwell should station a team in the county on November 2nd and oversee how vote counts and poll workers operate, assuring no fraud occurs.

Deters' Baggage

Wow, something halfway critical on Joe Deters. The main negative on Deters that should be trumpeted is this one:

He also faced a special prosecutor's investigation in Hamilton County that examined whether Deters or anyone on his staff attempted to cover up a theft from the evidence room while he was prosecutor in 1996.

Whether or not he knew about the theft, it happened on his watch as Prosecutor. His oversight of his staff is not much better than Mike Allen. No, pun intended.

Character

In reading some of the comments I come away flabbergasted that people still think Bush is some ‘honest’ guy with a 'good' character. This is so misguided it is sad. If you think Bush's choices in governance are good, then fine, but to say how he has acted in office is of good character is laughable. If you think that anyone who 'won' an election under at best less than ideal circumstances (where more people voted against him) and then proceeded to govern as if those others opinions did not exist, then I think you need to rethink what honor and character mean. Ignoring the how he was elected and acting like he won in a landslide is the clearly the least honorable thing he has done. Well, that and misleading the county into war, but if you think the ends justify the means, I guess you will love this guy.

He also did, well, a shit load of other crap, but I think people can get my point.

Now, other than being a conservative Christian, what value has Bush put on the US, that other conservatives would stand up and cheer about? Budgets are going nuts. We have more poor people (they may not care). The rest of the world hates us (they may like that). What keeps the Bush people supporting him? Simple, they want to keep power on the right. That is comprehendible, but more cynical even than me.

Voters Cheered?

I know I cheered when I heard the news, but did people really cheer anywhere?

Lt. Gov. Bradley to Replace Deters?

If this is true, then who becomes the Lt. Gov? Korte says Kevin DeWine, Mike's son and Pat's brother, may be it.

Hate May Energize GOP

It is nice to know that that hate is the biggest GOP weapon. Knowing what the other side thinks is good for any conflict. If Bush wins Ohio, I agree with Phil Burress, it will be the result of hate for homosexuals that bring out the theocratic fascists in droves.

Bronson: Screw the People!

Bronson cares not for fair elections. Bronson wants everyone to just trust his Ohio GOP to run everything and say nothing. I guess this is the same Ohio GOP playing games with the Prosecutors office? I guess Bronson trusts the white people to write in the names of Joe Deters and that those can be counted by hand, but if anyone challenges someone's handwriting, we should not question it and just let his man Joe win.

What Bronson fails to see is that the Democrats got screwed in 2000. He was happy as a peach. We were pissed. Bronson should learn that we don't trust the GOP. We don't trust Ken Blackwell and more than we trusted Katherine Harris.

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls

The Prosecutor's race gone from a middle of the road 3 ring circus to the world's Biggest Big Top. Where the hell did Joe Deters come from? I guess the GOP needed Sir Galahad to save the day. We have so many points to make this a flaming pile of pooh, that is just too juicy not to sink your teeth into.

1. Deters Moves to the county just to run for office. This is what I call Office Shopping.
2. Allen will not seek re-election, but he did not resign.
3. The Dems have not yet endorsed anyone.
4. Ken Lawson is out.
5. Jody Luebbers and Fanon Rucker are in.
6. James Rueger is in, but likely will be lost in Deters dust.
7. Melissa Powers is also in. I have no idea who she is other than "former assistant county prosecutor ." WLWT says she is a Republican.
8. Deters thinks this will affect the Presidential race. What a joke.
9. Deters is not going to resign as State Treasurer until the Prosecutor job is open? Who the hell is going to be State Treasurer if Deters wins? Are they going to try a bait and switch? Could it work? Could Deters be elected, then not take office and the GOP be allowed to appoint someone? Allen was appointed after all when Deters won the Treasurer's job.
10. I can be thankful that Deters is running and not Simon Leis. That would have been hell.
11. Few seem to be thinking about what a mess the local election officials will have with counting the ballots. Numbers will be high with the National election. This will create the need for more room for error or for manipulation. How do you write in a candidate on an electronic voting machine?

News roundup: Enquirer, Post, WCPO, WLWT, WKRC.

Enquirer Helps Build Fear of OTR

This story just helped kill business for the Main Street Area. Why should the city bother to exist if people are told to fear it every time they open the newspaper? Why don't we all just blow up downtown, blow up OTR, build 1,000 more cul-de-sac's in West Chester and live the stale bland Republican lives TPTB want.

Will we get an article soon Championing Fountain Square as the new hot spot?

County Prosecutor Race - A Mess

I have no idea who the Dems will support today as a write in candidate. We have three possibilities: City Councilman John Cranley, former Assistant Prosecutor Jody Luebbers and attorney Fanon Rucker. All I know is that by the end of the business day they will pick one.

Believe it or not but Ken Lawson thinks he could actually win, or I assume that since he announced he may run. How do you really announce you may run? I guess formed a 3 day exploratory committee, or something of the like. WKRC states he is a registered Republican (but they use a small "r"). That for some reason does not surprise me. Lawson entrance without any endorsement will split the black vote and the Dems will likely not win. The person with most ads and the smartest people who can understand how to write a candidate in will win.

Mike Allen still does not have the guts to resign and the GOP still has not publicly asked him to quit. I guess winning is more important than honor. This was the party that said only the Dems did that (yep about Clinton), so I guess the pragmatism is spread around evenly.

Cincinnati Post Gets It

The Cincinnati Post editorial gets the flap over Bush: he ducked his duties. The facts are out there and the document flap is meaningless. US News summed up the issues well and document, using basic math, that Bush did not serve all the time required by his commitment. Will people care? Not that much. The press seems to not want to show much about Bush, beyond the superficial and Bush supporters will never leave him, short of his committing murder. And then it would depend on who was murdered.

UPDATE: Just so you know that I am not going nuts, here is a screen shot from Google of the link:

Google Page Shot of Editorial Called "Bush's past is catching up" That is no long online.

UPDATE#2: I searched on the opening sentence from the Google page and came up with other Scripps Howard Newspapers with a similar editorial (reg rec'd), but I think still different, or just abridged.

Labels

Ok, I am a 'white' liberal atheistic-agnostic Miami Alumnus New York State born Guy. I generally don't say that. I sometimes call myself a liberal. I sometimes call myself a Miami Guy, or when refer to where I am from I say I am a foreigner to a person born and raised here in Cincinnati. When I got out with friends or go to an organization I usually don't say it is out of liberal guys. Conservative Christians does this all the time, like poster boy Evangelical ChristianPeter Bronson:

"I was paired up with Ben Turpin in a weekend outing of Christian guys."

Now, I have no problem with people getting together to play golf. If a Christian men’s group wants to have an outing, that fine. What troubles me is that in his description of the guys as "Christians guys." It was not a group of guys who are all Christians. It is like saying I am a white guy. I don't see myself as a white guy. I am a guy, who happens to be white. I am human being first, then all other classifications come second.

This takes on a whole new meaning with some Conservative Christians refer to and champion Christian Businesses. We get websites like this: www.christianebuy.com where you can find a Christian Quick Lube and get slogans like:

As a Christian, do you have what it takes to make in the business world? Absolutely!

It puts a label on someone, that makes it sound like all else stems from religion, and being human is merely a side-effect. Christians will say being human is being a Christian, which just layers on the sectarianism.

Bronson's column was in general good in so much that he appeared to understand that there is a middle ground on racial profiling. It does exist. It does happen. I would agree with him that those that use it to make money are likely overstating what happened, but it happens in the burbs all too often. A label on a black person is moot when the eyeball places a definition on them before the mind does. The mind must work faster than the eyes, but we must not just replace racism with another means of separation. Being human beings is more important than being part of a religion or part of a political party.

More Bias from the Enquirer

This is typical of the GOP leaning Cincinnati Enquirer, but this "news" item with a headline is about as biased without even the hint of being objective. I mean we get a headline bashing Kerry for using the Bungle reference, but we get nothing about Lynn Cheney saying:

"Isn't it called 'the Queen of the Cities?' " she said. "It's a very apt title."

It is the Queen City, not "Queen of the cities." That is an Elton John Song. I wonder if Lynn's daughter played a little funny on her mom with that reference. Constantinople was known as the "Queen of Cities." It should be an insult for the 21st Century crusaders here in Cincinnati to be linked with a city now majority Muslim. Can't have that, now can we. (cough, cough)

Ken Lucas is No Zell Miller

U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas put forth an honest and just plain true indictment of the War in Iraq:

"But I have to tell you from all the stuff that we've gotten I really feel like I was misled," Lucas said, responding to a question during the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's monthly Government Forum.

"I think people had good intentions but I feel very badly about that. Particularly with -- 1,000 young men and women who have died, and thousands who have lost body parts. I don't feel good about that," he said, trailing off as his audience listened silently.

Now, I assume the right wing response will be, "he flip-flopped." That will unfortunately be an attempt to ignore what he said, and instead try and make one who is honest, forthright, and nuanced as someone "weak." The game of having one idea or opinion and sticking to it no matter what is the kind of thinking this president has and it is type of 19th Century thinking that brought unnecessary deaths to millions of people. I hope we can bring the intellectual level of our government forward to the 21 century.

The Last Night of the Proms

I am listening to the last night of the BBC Proms an annual tradition of wonderful music. It is live on BBC 3 if you care to listen.

Bad Reporting

I will not get into the game of spin and duck on type fonts etc, but I will comment on this online story from WLWT. The story states that:

Richard Polt, a Xavier University professor, was called on to examine documents from the 1970s that could shed new light on information about George W. Bush's service in the military.

Ok, that is fine, but who called on him?? How did WLWT find out he was called upon? Later on the article states:

Several national magazines have called on Polt for his opinion.

Ok, now we have something added of merit, but WHAT MAGAZINES? National Review? Weekly Standard?

The most insane element was section, including the magazine reference:

"When you think about some of the details of the documents, it just adds up to something recently produced on a computer," he said.

Several national magazines have called on Polt for his opinion. He said the only excuse could be that the documents were handwritten and someone produced them on a computer.

How the hell does this guy know what the "only excuse" could be? That is a theory, but this guy has no knowledge or experience in what else could explain why "might" have been typed recently.

His opinions are being refuted in other places: Here and Here, and CBS is still sticking with their story and they have their own expert, Marcel Matley.

WLWT went for the local angle to this story, but failed to give any qualifications to the professor, failed to show who “called” on him to analyze the documents, and also failed to point out that he undoubtedly had copies of copies of copies of the documents, if not a higher level of distortion. Mr. Polt has done a lot of research on typewriters, but his knowledge of type fonts, seems to be limited. From his bio he appears to be a philosophy professor.

The game of claiming forgery has turned into another case of the Chewbacca Defense. There was far more to the CBS News story, than just those documents, but that doesn’t matter, when the game is afoot.

Bush's Guard Service, Or Lack There Of

I really have little to say about Bush's National Guard Service. I have no respect for him, so this just reaffirms my opinions. What I find humorous is how it compares to the bogus charges against Kerry. The media are directly pushing this one through honest and legitimate means. The Swift Boat liars use spin and conservative media outlets to create a hollow scandal.

Maggie on the Edge

Ok, Maggie Downs offically has more guts than I do. Either that or she really is a bit of a lunatic.

Dick in Cincinnati

Well, Cheney made his staged event with little worry, but rumor has it that the guy in the shades below kept Secret Service agents on their toes:

A Terrorist or "The Man" behind "The Man?"

Local GOP Is Chicken

No one in the local GOP has the guts ask Mike Allen to resign. They have James Rueger on the ballot, why are they a bunch of wussies? It is hilarious that the party of Christian values is not going to do a damn thing about the poster boy for sin running as their law enforcement champion in the county.

Questions For Dick

VP Dick Cheney and his wife are in town today for a "town hall" meeting to take questions from prescreened loyal republicans. If Dick had any balls he would take questions from someone like myself. If he is tough he could take them, but his boss reportedly is wimping out on answering people's questions too. Here is a list that anyone going to the event can feel free to steal and ask Dick:

1. Using specific examples, please demonstrate how Iraq posed a direct threat to the United States at any point in the week leading up to the start of the Iraq war in March of 2003.
2. Using specific examples, please demonstrate how Iraq coordinated any actions or efforts with Osma Bin Laden or other groups with known financial ties to the loosely defined entity called "Al Qaeda" before the United States invaded Iraq in March of 2003.
3. When claiming Iraq possessed WMD in the months/weeks/days leading up the invasion of Iraq did you, the President, and other White House decision makers play up the evidence of the existence of said WMD or did you horribly misjudge the situation?
4. Beyond the fact that the WMD's possessed by Iraq before Gulf War I (in 1991) were not accounted for completely, was there any other credible evidence that Iraq possessed WMD at any time after inspectors left in 1998?
5. Why do you refuse to list which non-governmental persons attended meetings, some call lobbying sessions, regarding the Administration's Energy Policy back in 2001. If you don't refuse to do so, then who attended those meetings? Did Ken Lay attend?
6. Why have you not required your employees (namely your chief of staff) to state under oath if they leaked the name of the CIA agent to the press or not?
7. What reports, research, advise, intelligence, summaries, data, pictures, or other information did the Office of Special Plans in the Defense Department give you, your office, anyone working for you, or anyone else in the White House regarding Iraq, WMD, terrorism, Saddam Hussein, or anything else?

That is just a little to get him warmed up. I know I would not get any answers, and since I think any honest answers are going to hurt their image, I am sure these questions would not be answered truthfully.

GOP Candidate Challenging Mike Allen

James Rueger has filed as a write-in candidate in the race for Hamilton County Prosecutor. So we now have to Republicans. Mike Allen is taking his time about bowing out. I guess he may be waiting to see who is going to try and run against him. Now that Luken is out, he might be confident he can win, even with this unknown Republican in the race.

The Dems still have not announced anyone. They have until early next week.

Spy Club Closing

I never went there. I never wanted to go to there. I never will go there, but Spy Club is closing. Something will take its place. The old owner is going to open something else, somewhere else. The fickle tendency of trendy night clubs ebbs and flows like Red Bull down the chin of a drunken club chick.

I applaud Spy Club for lasting 5 years. Club Clau is likely eating big time into their business. Can Cincinnati support two Clau type clubs?

I want a bar for news junkies, complete with TV trained on 24 hour news from around the world and a PC where I could just sit on my ass drink beer and blog running commentary on transgressions of drunk people trying to get laid. I am dreaming, but a live blog at a bar that was on the bar's website as well as on big screen in the bar, that might work. An idea that maybe Nick Spencer could use?

Hot Seat Is Dead

Sound the Death Bell for yet another locally produced TV show. I have to admit that since they moved it to 7:30 AM on Sunday, I have watched it for a long time. I did try and catch the radio repeat on WVXU when I remembered it was on.

Where will go to see local media types get face time they really shouldn't get?

QCF

Queen City Forum is back. Come on down to their party tomorrow night at the RBC on Main. I will be there with a lamp shade on.

Kerry's Speech

I did not get a chance to read it yet. Security was lax, as usual.

UPDATE: More from The Post, the DDN, WCPO, and a tidbit about the protester claiming he was assaulted.

Not Ready For Prime Time

I am showing my true stripes tonight. I had the chance to cover John Kerry's Union Terminal speech tomorrow morning, but I had to decline. I have to work. I love blogging, I love following politics, but I know who butters my bread, and it ain't in cyberspace. It lies up in Cubical Hell: Mason, Ohio.

So instead of getting a seat at a spotlight event, I will be staring a computer screen filled with numbers. Oh what a corporate stooge I am.

Plain Clothed Sheriff Deputies To 'Protect' Polls?

Why does Columbus, Ohio need Sheriff Deputies to protect polling stations? Is there any specific threat? Which locations will they cover? Why was this information released? Who in the in their right mind is really fearful of a terrorist attacking their polling station?

This is a political ploy. This serves to keep anyone fearful of police away from the polls and to bring in the highly irrational person (likely Bush voters) with highly irrational fears of terrorists and of "them," whomever that may be.

Bronson: Just Making It Up

Ok, I guess Bronson no longer has an editor with bullshit like this:

Moore claims Attorney General John Ashcroft lost his Senate race to a "dead guy.'' False. Ashcroft narrowly lost to Mel Carnahan's widow, Jean. Despite apparent voter fraud, Ashcroft refused to challenge the results.

What name was on the ballot Mr. Bronson? Where is your proof of "apparent voter fraud?" Now he just makes stuff up? Why does he not mention who his UC student contact is? Is he Young Republican? I bet he is. We can't have a Republican activist offended now can we? At least he finally is on UC, instead of using emails from Miami's GOP club as the basis of his columns.

Now, this column is just typical Bronson. All claim, and NO FACT. He can point to a "list", but can't site a single source for any of his claims. He can't even give a link for the right-wing group from which he pilfered half of his column. It is typical of him to ride on Jean Carnahan. Attacking Widows, as long as they are Democrats, is just peachy for hack conservative columnists.

Luken Out, Who's In?

Charlie Luken has ended speculation that he would run for Prosecutor. Burke, local Dem lead, states they have a candidate. Who? Cranley?

Phil Burrss, a simple man of consistency, has changed his tune on Mike Allen:

"Allen's affair with an employee and the pending sexual harassment lawsuit have critically injured his ability to lead the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office," Burress says in a written statement to be released today. "That position demands a leader whose personal moral conduct is beyond reproach."

as opposed to:

"I can't pass judgment on either of them until all the facts are out," Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, said. "We have complete compassion for her if indeed she was sexually abused. But I know Mike Allen so well that this is hard to comprehend."

I guess Phil has made a judgment on Mike after all.

Kerry Coming to Cincinnati

John Kerry is planning a speech on Iraq at Union Terminal. This comes 2 years after Bush made his infamous speech filled with either bad information Bush use bad judgment in stating or bad information Bush knowingly spewed to the public as part of a misinformation campaign. What ever the choice, I hope Kerry points out in detail where Bush mislead us into an ill planned war, still taking lives, and approaching 1,000 American dead.

Who is the Real Funnel Cake?

I guess we have a Funnel Cake Conspiracy.

Reporter for 'DDN' Murdered

Tragic news from Dayton. 47-year-old Derek Ali, a 20 year reporter for the Dayton Daily News, was killed while protecting a woman from gunfire that erupted at a party. A group of individuals was denied entry the party and reportedly opened fire on the building, killing Mr. Ali.

Thumbs Up for Bigotry!

Here I present the darker side to Riverfest. Well, there were many darker sides: mis-clothed people, drunken idiots, stupid people, and way too much Lynard Skynard. What this demonstrates is the bigotry that simmers under the surface of this country. This man was right outside one of the entrances to the Riverfest yesterday. He was registering people to vote and giving out Bush/Cheney Stickers. As I passed by, telling the guy this picture was very "blogable," I heard a woman tell the man "good job." I retorted, in my oh so witty way, "good job? Jeesh!" That fixed her wagon, let me tell you. I walked right inside and got my Kerry/Edwards sticker for a very pleasant looking non-anti-gay woman and went on my merry way.

Do non-anti-gay people who are voting for Bush really just ignore the anti-gay issues? I guess since they are not gay, they just don't care? Yes, I know there are issue that we all compromise when voting for people, and yes Kerry is against gay marriage, but he does not seek to keep Gays as second class citizens by his support for Civil Unions. Bush's admend could have supported that, if he really wanted equal rights for homosexuals. I don't think he does. I would bet this guy in the picture would not want it either.

Riverfest 2004 Waterfalls

Waterfalls

I had a great time with a tremendous view. I have to thank Mr. H for the invite to his party. I also have to retort to Wes by just pointing to the picture. :)

Riverfest

I am declaring myself the official blogger for Riverfest 2004. I am typing now live from the 24th floor of One Lytle Place overlooking the river. We are having a great little party with one of the best views of the fireworks. If you care to watch them live I suggest tuning in to channel 12. If you have not left for the fireworks, I suggest staying home. If I can I will have some pictures on here later.

Four More Wars! Four More Wars!

Kevin Drum comments on an up coming Time article (not yet online) where plans for a second term of a Bush administration indicate that "at least five or six foreign countries" are possible targets for military action.

Kevin comes up with the obvious yet often overlooked reality of this election,

A vote for Bush is a vote for more wars, and with this crew in charge it's unlikely they'll turn out any better than Iraq has.

The beloved Bush, George the Lionhearted, is planning to further his crusade against the Muslim world. How he can plan on doing this and not either create a massive push for an expanded number of enlisted soldiers or reintroduce the Draft is a mystery you will not hear anyone on the right talk about before the election.

Collins-Allen Imbroglio

The Enquirer went all out today in reporting on the Collins-Allen affair. The headline with interview based story on Collins. What followed was something that I have never seen from a newspaper, a story about a person's former tenure with that newspaper. The trifecta is completed with an acticle foreshadowing possible change with its report about the Hamilton County GOP holding a "Come to Jesus Meeting" with Mike Allen in the near future.

The spin is getting so thick we'll need to dig out the waders. I am amazed at the Enquirer's article with a headline of "While admired by some at Enquirer, Collins no stranger to office gossip." How better to get gossip in the press than to use it as a self-reflective tool showing one's own humanity. This is a smear, plain and simple.

Some in the newsroom said those efforts made her seem manipulative. Collins acknowledges she was the subject of office gossip, most of which, she says, was ridiculous. But some of that gossip is now of interest to Allen's lawyers, who want to know more about Collins' past relationships and conduct in the workplace.

Of particular interest are any relationships she may have had with supervisors.

If they are rumors, then name names. Don't put Collins out there with hints that she was one to sleep with her bosses to get ahead, without naming those bosses.

No one in the mainstream local media has picked-up with the Blue Chip Review's story about there being two other women who are or could come forth and claim sexual harassment against Mike Allen. Does Allen have other affairs? What about his days as a police officer? Where are the stories of him back in law school or back in the CPD?

Other interesting side note from the story about Collins' past at the Enquirer, it notes that Peter Bronson and Mike Allen are or were friends many years ago. Does Nate Livingston's gossip story hold up about the Enquirer holding back a Bronson column calling for Allen to resign?