Gun Nuts Getting Hardons

Tom Brinkman is pushing for people to have the right to carry guns into:

to eliminate as premises in which a concealed carry licensee may not carry a concealed handgun public or private institutions of higher education, places of worship, day-care centers and homes, and government buildings other than schools, courthouses, law enforcement offices, and correctional facilities;

You know you are insane when you think you need to carry a gun into a church or government buildings like City Hall, colleges, and day-care centers. Who are the crazies who really want these changes? I guess there are gun nuts, and then their are insane people like Tom Brinkman's voter base. What really sucks is that I live in the guy's district. I have some loopy neighbors.

In Honor of Rodney Dangerfield

I give him no respect.

Post Debate Spin

I was not overly impressed with the whole thing. I like Gwen Ifill in general, but I did not like how she was putting out rambling questions that where both vague and specific at the same time, creating a mess.

Cheney was being a bit of an asshole and well, a liar. I have my bias, but he was saying little and just harping. Denying he never implied the 9/11 Iraq link was the lie of campaign so far. I still have heard almost nothing about what they will do on any topic, beyond fight terrorism and the blah blah blah on what they have done. Edwards was better, but did not put forth a great effort. He seemed a bit jumpy, but that may have been just because he was sitting next to Cheney, who actually less animated than Al Gore.

I would call this one a draw, as I think most pundits. It will have little impact, and as I said before usually does not. Friday will be filled with enough tension, I think would could get some tears from Bush.

Wes has comments too. Covington Jim scores a win for Edwards.

UPDATE: Andy Sullivan gives it a big win for Edwards. I don't see it as such, but hey, I will take it.

Blackwell Looking Like Boss Hog

Blackwell dismissive after Jackson blasts voting rule. Blackwell should prepare for more criticism. He is going to get it hard if people are turned away from voting, especially here in Cincinnati.

If anyone is turned away from voting, please send their stories to me. I will print them and spread the word.

I think Ohio bloggers should be prepared to help flow news from the ground after Election Day if there are any problems. Ohio will be a focus on that issue. I have tentative plans to be blogging or at least gather lots of first hand news on Election Day and election night. I hope I report no problems. I would bet I get word of many issues.

Any Estimates on Who the New Voters Will Support?

Voter signups reportedly hit a record this year in Ohio. CW points in favor of Kerry getting the bulk of those votes, where anger at the incumbent tends to pull in new voters.

Free PR for Council Candidates

Is Peter Bronson's column today considered a contribution or just charity to 2 GOP candidates for City Council? This reads like a commercial. All except for a council candidate watching a man beaten by a gang right across the street from his place of business.

Terry Deters, also a former council candidate, runs a funeral home on West Eighth. He says the city is losing the middle class in Price Hill, and council doesn't care. "In our parish, I can go down a long list of people who've left," he said. "They say, 'I'm leaving while I can still get something out of my place.'"

Deters saw a man beaten senseless by a gang of teens across the street from his funeral home last spring. "I'm a funeral director, and I thought he was dead," he said.

I hope he at least called the cops. Going out and trying to intervene would be dangerous, but if you want to fight crime you should start with you first. I also would like to point out to Terry that we live in Cincinnati, not New Orleans. We don't have parishes, other than those who are Catholic.

VP Debate

Beyond determining which campaign has the momentum, what is the political impact of the debate?

The AP says:

Usually just a campaign sideshow, this year's vice presidential debate has taken on new life as a high-stakes showdown in a tightening presidential race.

I don't see it as mattering beyond perceptions. All of politics now is based on perceptions, so maybe I am underestimating the importance of the debate.

New Cincinnati Voters

This story has gone wide on the AP wire and includes this interesting nugget:

"They're coming in, in buckets," said Pamela Swafford, deputy director of Ohio's Hamilton County board of elections. By Monday morning, the county that includes Cincinnati had 64,045 new voter registrations on hand, more than twice the 29,178 it received four years ago.

It also made the Enquirer and WCPO. I just hope Ken Blackwell does not try to keep some of them, especially minorities, from voting.

Dismissing Abuse of Power

The Cincinnati Post appears to just want to ignore abuses of power from the Bush Administration:

Perhaps complicating Fitzgerald's mission is that it's quite likely no crime was committed, even under the most relevant statute, the Covert Agent Identity Act. But like all special prosecutors Fitzgerald has been slow and thorough, again like seemingly all special prosecutors he has gone rather far a field.

This from the same newspaper who called for Bill Clinton to resign because he mislead the public about an affair.

Ah, I wonder first how they think it is "quite likely no crime was committed." So what Scooter Libby allegedly told Bob Novak and why he did it are legal? So anyone can out a CIA agent and feel no wrath? We all know that National Security is so stellar and all, we don't need to keep strong control on who talks about classified information. If that is the case then why not release every intelligence source for who stated Iraq had WMD and had active programs to build more?

'Bad Things Happening' For Journalism

Now, this column is nothing but fluff for people who prefer white picket fences and "Leave it to Beaver" over reality and truth. With that in mind I don't read it, but the headline caught my eye "Baby gets photo with president." I thought, gee, it sounds like a PR stunt and guess what campers, it was. Low and behold it cam from a GOP politician to boot: Butler County Judge Stephen Powell. It is good to see what $5,000.00 buys you. What is a VIP section at a political rally anyway? Do they get their own George Bush fun pack? Contents include: magic beans, crazy straw, and an autographed Bible from the President himself.

Simon Leis Fit for Office?

Was it just ego that caused Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis to issue a local terror alert? The FBI knew nothing of what he was doing. Chief Tom Streicher also signed off of the alert, or did he? He is not saying much about this.

Yesterday we got a bomb threat at Tower Place Mall, luckily a hoax. I don't like to bring in black helicopter stuff, but has Leis out of his mind and making people scared on purpose, using the fear of a bomb attack on a Mall to drive fear up to meet his warnings of a threat? That is just a question, or hypothesis, not anything I could ever back up. The circumstances do give me slight pause to create a conspiracy theory.

Enquirer Bias Again?

In the print edition of Friday's paper this story of 'local voices' had only Bush Supporters in it. Where the Kerry supporters on a back page I missed? This section has them mixed up. What gives?

Bronson's Imitation

Peter Bronson tries his best to imitate Carl Cameron. At least Peter doesn't pretend to be 'fair and balanced.'

20 Questions You Should Ask About Poll Results

NCPP - National Council on Public Polls

Origin of a Lie

As I am sure most of you have read or heard, BushCo's spin from the debate is to go after the "Global Test" comment made by Kerry. For the sake of honesty, here is the full point Kerry made:

Q: What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

KERRY: The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.

No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.

Now this has been turned into this talking point from BushCo:

Today, Bush-Cheney '04 announced the release of the campaign's newest television advertisement, "Global Test." The ad contrasts the Kerry doctrine that America must pass a 'global test' before defending itself with President Bush's belief that decisions about defending America should be made in the Oval Office, not in foreign capitals.

Now, in Kerry's comment above where does it say anything about a having to go to foreign nations before defending America? It doesn't. That is how political lies are started. Misrepresent the truth, and then the usually idiots will eat up the lies like good brownshirts.

What is truly most disheartening is the lack of respect BushCo has for the telling the county the truth. What Kerry said he would do is if he were to wage pre-emptive war he would make sure that before he started it he would have ready the proof and the rationale to support his actions. That is what BuchCo is mocking. That is what I think is the most important reason Bush is a horrible President. He took us to war without knowing that what he was doing was correct. He wanted to go to war, and grabbed on to any rationale that might give him PR cover to keep us logical people of his back. You know us, the ones, like Colin Powel, who only like to wage wars where the USA is directly threatened or where an ally is directly threatened, or when we have honest purposes and justice on our side. Declaring yourself judge, jury, and revenge seeker in chief is not an honest purpose. "Gathering" threats are something that cause people to be prepared, but not to strike. If you think you are oing to be attacked by Iraq, that is just the cover some other foe would want to have when they come in to get you. But, if you goal is just to control all of the Muslim world, or at least those with oil, then he, nothing matters but the black gold and bottom line. The means are just a way to get what you want, and getting what you want is bedrock dogma for BushCo. Oh, when I say "you" getting what "you" want, you can't be one of "them" as defined by BushCo. "Them" knows what I am talking about.

Anarchists in Cleveland for VP Debate

A group called Don't Just Vote: Resist! is planning a protest at the Vice-Presidential debate in Cleveland this week. Now if these idiots cause a riot, like some will hope to, I hope everyone knows, and those who read this post will, these guys are not Kerry fans. They are frankly misguided kids, looking for attention from mommy and daddy.

As a liberal I really have disdain for people who push a neo-communist agenda hidden behind one of the stupidest concepts in political history: anarchism. These kids are not really anarchists, they are just communists, but on they just don't grasp the hate intertwined with a system of government that is forced on a populace, as was done in the USSR. They might argue that they want communism 'voted' in, but how can one give up self-determination, where you own yourself under one system and then are the war of the state and not call it forced?

What I find most hilarious is when right-wingers like to label us liberals as communists or socialists, usually by pointing to groups like the one holding the protest. When liberals point out the extremists in the GOP, like the guy running for Senate in Oklahoma for the GOP, the right wing shoots back with International ANSWER website links. When the nuts are inside the party instead of out in the streets trying to break windows, I think the comparison stops dead in its tracks. The Republican Party is run by the extremists and much of their base is on the fringe of the polite society on many issues. The Dems are and have for 60 years been a party of coalitions, where difference is not only the norm, but a necessity.

Rucker vs. Deters

Fanon Rucker and Joe Deters will face off in a debate next Wednesday at high noon at Christ Church on 4th Street in Downtown Cincinnati. Last week Eve Bolton faced off against Pat DeWine and Pat took a few hits.

Voting Irregularities

We have our first Blunder in Hamilton County voting. I hope no one will submit both ballots and thus void their votes. I hope they have a simple way to understand which ballot to use and get more time to turn in their ballot if needed.

Morning After Debate Spin

Well, I am now awake and I wading through the day after spin. The FOX News Morning show for idiots had a guy on talking about watching the debate with the sound down looking at the body language. I guess the issues just don't matter to FOX.

Also, Did Bush put forth any ideas about what he was going to do Iraq? All he seemed to do was be on the defensive. Did he say anything about what he was going to do or for that matter give any detail as to what the hell was going on? That to me was where Bush failed on the issues: no plan for the future. Kerry's plan is vague and it is limited by what Bush has already gotten us into, but he talked about it and talked about what he would have done differently. Bush just repeated phrases like a parrot. Kerry hit hard, but did it in a way to show he could do anything Bush could do and do it better.

Kerry Won

Well, from all points of view or perspectives, Kerry won the debate. He won the style points, he won the presence points, and he won on rhetoric. Bush was phoning it in. He looked very bland. He did not make huge mistakes, but he was horrid. On expectations, Kerry won his most important talking point. He was presidential. He hit hard, but avoided the blow-back.