Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise
and songs to Alma Mater raise
While our hearts rebounding thrill
with joy which death alone can still.
Summer's heat and winter's cold
the season's pass, the years will roll,
time and change will surely show
how firm thy friendship
OOOO---HHHHIIII----OOOO!!!!!!
Carmen Ohio
Ohio State 37 Michigan 21 November 20, 2004
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
11/17/2004
Yeah, I know. I haven't posted in almost two weeks. As I've said before, I'm lazy! STFU already! Besides, I'm still recovering from my Open Letter from the previous post.
So. What's going on in the world.
The Bush Davidians (credit to www.horklog.com for that term) are busily working to remove everyone who might possibly raise the slightest disagreement with their policies. Colin Powell is out, replaced by Condi Rice. Apparently failure is rewarded, success is not. Meanwhile, King George the W (credit to Jim Hightower) is continuing to treat his miniscule one percent majority of votes received as an overwhelming mandate.
It's not.
The Republicans repeatedly trumpet the fact that more people voted for Duhbya than any other president. Left out is the fact that more people voted for John Kerry than any other opponent to a sitting president. And I still want to know WHY Diebold was still allowed to place a voting machine within ten miles of any polling place in America.
(In case you're wondering why I say that, just go to Google and put in the words "Diebold deliver Ohio bush". Note: I got over 34,000 hits!)
Meanwhile, the right has created a response to www.sorryeverybody.com. It's called iamnotsorry.com. One picture shows a woman in front of a confederate flag, just to give you some idea of the mindset of these people.
Oh, and in case you doubt how stupid they are, the first text you see on the website is:
"Does it Look Like Were Sorry?"
That's not a typo! They misspelled "we're"!
How in the HELL did we EVER lose to these morons?!!!
So. What's going on in the world.
The Bush Davidians (credit to www.horklog.com for that term) are busily working to remove everyone who might possibly raise the slightest disagreement with their policies. Colin Powell is out, replaced by Condi Rice. Apparently failure is rewarded, success is not. Meanwhile, King George the W (credit to Jim Hightower) is continuing to treat his miniscule one percent majority of votes received as an overwhelming mandate.
It's not.
The Republicans repeatedly trumpet the fact that more people voted for Duhbya than any other president. Left out is the fact that more people voted for John Kerry than any other opponent to a sitting president. And I still want to know WHY Diebold was still allowed to place a voting machine within ten miles of any polling place in America.
(In case you're wondering why I say that, just go to Google and put in the words "Diebold deliver Ohio bush". Note: I got over 34,000 hits!)
Meanwhile, the right has created a response to www.sorryeverybody.com. It's called iamnotsorry.com. One picture shows a woman in front of a confederate flag, just to give you some idea of the mindset of these people.
Oh, and in case you doubt how stupid they are, the first text you see on the website is:
"Does it Look Like Were Sorry?"
That's not a typo! They misspelled "we're"!
How in the HELL did we EVER lose to these morons?!!!
Friday, November 05, 2004
An Open Letter to George W. Bush
Dear President Bush,
I did not vote for you in 2000, nor did I vote for you this year. The way I currently feel, I would not vote for a Republican presidential candidate if Jesus Christ himself were on the ticket. The days of the great Republican presidents seem to be long in the past. You and your cronies are nothing like them.
You did, however, apparently convince a majority of Americans to vote for you. You may be tempted to think that your re-election to the presidency by that miniscule majority is a signal to you that your disastrous domestic and foreign policies should not only be continued but also be expanded upon. On this point, I’m afraid I must disagree.
You see, you did not win this election because Americans overwhelmingly support your policies and admire your record of achievements. You won this election through a combination of factors: your constant propping up of America’s irrational fear of terrorism, your constant stream of attack ads that bordered on slander and libel, your use of surrogate groups to constantly fling mud at your opponent, your shameless pandering to your base’s fear of homosexuals, non-Christians, and anti-gun activists, and your constant repetition of lies and half-truths. I also suspect, though I will probably never prove, that you had a little help from fraudulent voting machines. When the CEO of Diebold, the maker of many vote-tabulating machines in Ohio and elsewhere, sends out a letter in which he declares his intention to deliver Ohio for George Bush, what else can I think?
Your opponent did the honorable thing by conceding the election, even though he could have dragged the process out for days or even weeks. He has done the honorable thing for his entire life, despite your efforts to convince everyone otherwise. But this election is by no means the end. Yes, one battle has been lost. But the war is far from over. The fight will go on. Let me tell you why.
Over the past four years, you have systematically worked to destroy this country. Your economic policies have shifted the bulk of the tax burden to those who can least afford it, while ensuring that ninety percent of the wealth remains under the control of ten percent of the population. Your lack of a coherent health care policy has caused millions of people to lose their health insurance benefits, and millions more to have their benefits greatly reduced. Your education policy has caused those schools and students that need help the most to receive the least amount of that help. Your environmental policies have given polluters free reign to despoil our country in exchange for short-term profits. Your lax regulatory policies have allowed some of the largest corporate scandals in history to take place. Your scientific policies have ensured that research that could be vital to the eradications of several horrifyingly debilitating diseases is likely to never take place. Your security policies have ensured that no American citizen can ever feel free to protest your actions without inviting intense government scrutiny.
These offenses, however, pale in comparison to your disastrous foreign policies. From the moment you took office you began alienating our allies by dismantling many of the treaty agreements forged by your predecessors. After September 11th, 2001, however, dozens of countries all over the world were united in their support of America. You could have used this opportunity to forge alliances that would have lasted for years. Instead, you used this opportunity to initiate a war against a sovereign country that had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of September 11th, thereby alienating those very same countries that will now have a hard time ever trusting us and who will be reluctant to help us in our fight against global terrorism. Worse yet, you justified that war with reasons that were flimsy at best and outright lies at worst. To make things even worse, this war has cost the lives of over a thousand American soldiers, as well as the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, to say nothing of the thousands wounded. Our military is badly overstretched, enlistments are down, our troops face equipment shortages, and their morale is low. Worst of all, there will likely be no end to this fiasco anytime soon. You claim to be the candidate of strong moral values. How can you make that claim when you are constantly working to put more and more of your citizens in poverty and to send more and more of their sons and daughters into an unjustified war. Where is the moral value in that?
Despite all your mistakes, however, you have another four years to correct them. What, you may ask, can you do to fix what you have broken? Well, I have a few suggestions.
For starters, you can put an end to your policy of giving large tax cuts to those who need them the least. You can work to reduce the cost of health insurance to the point where everyone can afford it You can use the vast bargaining power of the federal government to force the drug companies to provide their drugs to everyone at reasonable prices. You can work to ensure that poor schools are given the funds they need to improve their facilities and hire quality teachers. You can force polluters to repair the damage they have done to the environment, before it becomes irreversible (if it hasn’t already). You can force corporations to clean up their act by instituting a strict series of accounting and accountability rules, with harsh penalties when those rules are broken. You can work to ensure that our most brilliant doctors, scientists, engineers, and other talented people have access to all the resources they need to work the wonders that they are capable of. You can eliminate policies that bring down government scrutiny on people who have done nothing but voice their objections to your actions.
But most importantly, you can appeal to our former allies in other countries to help us in our efforts to stabilize Iraq to the point where our soldiers no longer face death every hour of every day. And you can also enlist the help of those countries in bringing to justice the man who instituted the largest single attack ever to take place on American soil. THAT should be your number one priority. You should also work to change the image of America in the eyes of the world. Currently we are looked at with a mixture of fear and hate. That is a dangerous combination, and one that will spell even more trouble down the road.
In other words, you should do everything that you promised to do when you first ran for the presidency!
Do I think that you will do any of these things? Of course not! After all, you didn’t do any of it during your first term. Why should things be any different in your second term?
Well, listen up. I’ll give you a good reason why they should be different.
Your party now firmly controls both the executive and the legislative branch of the federal government. There is no one to stand in your way. You are free to do just about anything you want. More importantly, however, there is also no one else to blame for any future failures. You can’t blame the other party for anything else that goes wrong (although I’m sure you will try.) You can no longer blame September 11th for all the problems we face today (although I’m sure you’ll try that too.) Fortunately for you (and for us!) you can no longer run for re-election (Thank God!) and in the end you will answer to no one but your own conscience, if you have one (which I sometimes doubt.)
But you will also have a far harsher judge evaluating your actions: History. History will be watching you. History often looks favorably on great achievements. But more importantly, history is not kind to failure. Your name will forever be part of history—that is an inevitable consequence of the office you hold. It is up to you to decide whether you want future generations to view you as an example of an effective leader to be emulated or a disastrous failure whose mistakes should never be repeated.
For now, we will be watching you. You have at least two years of complete control of the government. If you screw things up too badly in that time, you will suddenly be faced with a popular revolt from the people. We will unite to force your Republican cronies from congress, replacing them with people who believe in policies that make sense.
And don’t think you’ll be able to get away with more of the same. You may have tamed the major media outlets, but the vast Internet community will be ready to spread news of every mistake you make and every lie you tell. The Internet is the one tool of free speech that no one can control, and more and more people gain access to it every day. And while it’s true that probably eighty percent of “news” on the Internet is either a lie or a distortion of the truth, you have proven that lies and distortions can take a person pretty far in the world.
If you don’t start working to fix your mistakes, we are going to do our best to make your life miserable for the next four years, and to ensure that history views you as the monster you are. Consider it payback for the last four.
(In)Sincerely,
Eric Johnson
November 5, 2004
I did not vote for you in 2000, nor did I vote for you this year. The way I currently feel, I would not vote for a Republican presidential candidate if Jesus Christ himself were on the ticket. The days of the great Republican presidents seem to be long in the past. You and your cronies are nothing like them.
You did, however, apparently convince a majority of Americans to vote for you. You may be tempted to think that your re-election to the presidency by that miniscule majority is a signal to you that your disastrous domestic and foreign policies should not only be continued but also be expanded upon. On this point, I’m afraid I must disagree.
You see, you did not win this election because Americans overwhelmingly support your policies and admire your record of achievements. You won this election through a combination of factors: your constant propping up of America’s irrational fear of terrorism, your constant stream of attack ads that bordered on slander and libel, your use of surrogate groups to constantly fling mud at your opponent, your shameless pandering to your base’s fear of homosexuals, non-Christians, and anti-gun activists, and your constant repetition of lies and half-truths. I also suspect, though I will probably never prove, that you had a little help from fraudulent voting machines. When the CEO of Diebold, the maker of many vote-tabulating machines in Ohio and elsewhere, sends out a letter in which he declares his intention to deliver Ohio for George Bush, what else can I think?
Your opponent did the honorable thing by conceding the election, even though he could have dragged the process out for days or even weeks. He has done the honorable thing for his entire life, despite your efforts to convince everyone otherwise. But this election is by no means the end. Yes, one battle has been lost. But the war is far from over. The fight will go on. Let me tell you why.
Over the past four years, you have systematically worked to destroy this country. Your economic policies have shifted the bulk of the tax burden to those who can least afford it, while ensuring that ninety percent of the wealth remains under the control of ten percent of the population. Your lack of a coherent health care policy has caused millions of people to lose their health insurance benefits, and millions more to have their benefits greatly reduced. Your education policy has caused those schools and students that need help the most to receive the least amount of that help. Your environmental policies have given polluters free reign to despoil our country in exchange for short-term profits. Your lax regulatory policies have allowed some of the largest corporate scandals in history to take place. Your scientific policies have ensured that research that could be vital to the eradications of several horrifyingly debilitating diseases is likely to never take place. Your security policies have ensured that no American citizen can ever feel free to protest your actions without inviting intense government scrutiny.
These offenses, however, pale in comparison to your disastrous foreign policies. From the moment you took office you began alienating our allies by dismantling many of the treaty agreements forged by your predecessors. After September 11th, 2001, however, dozens of countries all over the world were united in their support of America. You could have used this opportunity to forge alliances that would have lasted for years. Instead, you used this opportunity to initiate a war against a sovereign country that had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of September 11th, thereby alienating those very same countries that will now have a hard time ever trusting us and who will be reluctant to help us in our fight against global terrorism. Worse yet, you justified that war with reasons that were flimsy at best and outright lies at worst. To make things even worse, this war has cost the lives of over a thousand American soldiers, as well as the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, to say nothing of the thousands wounded. Our military is badly overstretched, enlistments are down, our troops face equipment shortages, and their morale is low. Worst of all, there will likely be no end to this fiasco anytime soon. You claim to be the candidate of strong moral values. How can you make that claim when you are constantly working to put more and more of your citizens in poverty and to send more and more of their sons and daughters into an unjustified war. Where is the moral value in that?
Despite all your mistakes, however, you have another four years to correct them. What, you may ask, can you do to fix what you have broken? Well, I have a few suggestions.
For starters, you can put an end to your policy of giving large tax cuts to those who need them the least. You can work to reduce the cost of health insurance to the point where everyone can afford it You can use the vast bargaining power of the federal government to force the drug companies to provide their drugs to everyone at reasonable prices. You can work to ensure that poor schools are given the funds they need to improve their facilities and hire quality teachers. You can force polluters to repair the damage they have done to the environment, before it becomes irreversible (if it hasn’t already). You can force corporations to clean up their act by instituting a strict series of accounting and accountability rules, with harsh penalties when those rules are broken. You can work to ensure that our most brilliant doctors, scientists, engineers, and other talented people have access to all the resources they need to work the wonders that they are capable of. You can eliminate policies that bring down government scrutiny on people who have done nothing but voice their objections to your actions.
But most importantly, you can appeal to our former allies in other countries to help us in our efforts to stabilize Iraq to the point where our soldiers no longer face death every hour of every day. And you can also enlist the help of those countries in bringing to justice the man who instituted the largest single attack ever to take place on American soil. THAT should be your number one priority. You should also work to change the image of America in the eyes of the world. Currently we are looked at with a mixture of fear and hate. That is a dangerous combination, and one that will spell even more trouble down the road.
In other words, you should do everything that you promised to do when you first ran for the presidency!
Do I think that you will do any of these things? Of course not! After all, you didn’t do any of it during your first term. Why should things be any different in your second term?
Well, listen up. I’ll give you a good reason why they should be different.
Your party now firmly controls both the executive and the legislative branch of the federal government. There is no one to stand in your way. You are free to do just about anything you want. More importantly, however, there is also no one else to blame for any future failures. You can’t blame the other party for anything else that goes wrong (although I’m sure you will try.) You can no longer blame September 11th for all the problems we face today (although I’m sure you’ll try that too.) Fortunately for you (and for us!) you can no longer run for re-election (Thank God!) and in the end you will answer to no one but your own conscience, if you have one (which I sometimes doubt.)
But you will also have a far harsher judge evaluating your actions: History. History will be watching you. History often looks favorably on great achievements. But more importantly, history is not kind to failure. Your name will forever be part of history—that is an inevitable consequence of the office you hold. It is up to you to decide whether you want future generations to view you as an example of an effective leader to be emulated or a disastrous failure whose mistakes should never be repeated.
For now, we will be watching you. You have at least two years of complete control of the government. If you screw things up too badly in that time, you will suddenly be faced with a popular revolt from the people. We will unite to force your Republican cronies from congress, replacing them with people who believe in policies that make sense.
And don’t think you’ll be able to get away with more of the same. You may have tamed the major media outlets, but the vast Internet community will be ready to spread news of every mistake you make and every lie you tell. The Internet is the one tool of free speech that no one can control, and more and more people gain access to it every day. And while it’s true that probably eighty percent of “news” on the Internet is either a lie or a distortion of the truth, you have proven that lies and distortions can take a person pretty far in the world.
If you don’t start working to fix your mistakes, we are going to do our best to make your life miserable for the next four years, and to ensure that history views you as the monster you are. Consider it payback for the last four.
(In)Sincerely,
Eric Johnson
November 5, 2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
What's in a name? PLENTY!
So. Yesterday morning I walked into my polling place. I stood in line for about a half-hour--nothing to complain about--and got my ballot card. I went to the table and carefully filled in my ovals. I then put my completed ballot in the privacy folder and walked up to place it in the Tabulating machine.
What I saw when I got there froze my blood colder than a welldigger's feet:
DIEBOLD
Yes, the tabulating machine was made by the Diebold corporation.
Now, as you may be aware, I live in Ohio. And you may also be aware that I've mentioned previously in this blog that the CEO of Diebold last year sent out a fundraising letter saying he was committed to delivering Ohio for George W. Bush (just Google the words "Diebold", "deliver", "Bush", and "Ohio". I got 7,300 hits. Some were even non-porn sites.)
Diebold's electronic voting machine was rejected by my county. But apparently it's optical scan tabulator was not.
So, in light of all the exit polls that came out favoring Kerry, just how did they get it so wrong?
Was it just poor polling, or did Diebold really come through on its promise to deliver Ohio for Bush--by any means necessary?
Even though Kerry has now conceded, I'd still like all the provisional ballots counted. I have a hunch that they will tell a different story. Just don't let the Diebold machines count them!
What I saw when I got there froze my blood colder than a welldigger's feet:
DIEBOLD
Yes, the tabulating machine was made by the Diebold corporation.
Now, as you may be aware, I live in Ohio. And you may also be aware that I've mentioned previously in this blog that the CEO of Diebold last year sent out a fundraising letter saying he was committed to delivering Ohio for George W. Bush (just Google the words "Diebold", "deliver", "Bush", and "Ohio". I got 7,300 hits. Some were even non-porn sites.)
Diebold's electronic voting machine was rejected by my county. But apparently it's optical scan tabulator was not.
So, in light of all the exit polls that came out favoring Kerry, just how did they get it so wrong?
Was it just poor polling, or did Diebold really come through on its promise to deliver Ohio for Bush--by any means necessary?
Even though Kerry has now conceded, I'd still like all the provisional ballots counted. I have a hunch that they will tell a different story. Just don't let the Diebold machines count them!
Welcome to my nightmare!
I don't think you're gonna like it!
Once again, this U.S. of A. has demonstrated that it suffers from terminal head-in-ass disease.
This is truly a nightmare come true. Think about it:
Bush in his second term--now accountable to no one but his corporate buddies.
Firm Republican majorities in both houses.
One Supreme court justice certain to retire within a half year. At least two more likely to leave. Possibly three or even four.
A war in Iraq that looks like it may never end.
The administration already talking about Iran the same way they talked about Iraq before the invasion (if you think Iraq is a mess, just wait and see what happens when we invade Iran!)
The world's most dangerous terrorist still alive, well, and healthy.
(Remember him?!)
Soldiers still dying every day.
The continued pollution of our environment.
So long, America. It's been nice knowing you.
Once again, this U.S. of A. has demonstrated that it suffers from terminal head-in-ass disease.
This is truly a nightmare come true. Think about it:
Bush in his second term--now accountable to no one but his corporate buddies.
Firm Republican majorities in both houses.
One Supreme court justice certain to retire within a half year. At least two more likely to leave. Possibly three or even four.
A war in Iraq that looks like it may never end.
The administration already talking about Iran the same way they talked about Iraq before the invasion (if you think Iraq is a mess, just wait and see what happens when we invade Iran!)
The world's most dangerous terrorist still alive, well, and healthy.
(Remember him?!)
Soldiers still dying every day.
The continued pollution of our environment.
So long, America. It's been nice knowing you.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Today's the day!
So. Today is the day when millions of Americans will make the most important decision of their lives.
No, I'm not talking about whether to choose Miller or Bud Light. Grow up, ya yutz!!!
I'm referring to the Presidential election.
I've already voted. Went in first thing this morning. Now other Americans have to decide what they want.
Do they want four more years of massive budget deficits? Huge tax cuts for the wealthy? Skyrocketing health care costs? American soldiers dying in unjustifiable wars? Living in a constant state of fear of terrorism?
I sure as hell don't!
Vote early. Vote often. Just VOTE!!!
No, I'm not talking about whether to choose Miller or Bud Light. Grow up, ya yutz!!!
I'm referring to the Presidential election.
I've already voted. Went in first thing this morning. Now other Americans have to decide what they want.
Do they want four more years of massive budget deficits? Huge tax cuts for the wealthy? Skyrocketing health care costs? American soldiers dying in unjustifiable wars? Living in a constant state of fear of terrorism?
I sure as hell don't!
Vote early. Vote often. Just VOTE!!!
Monday, November 01, 2004
All the pieces are in place...
On the Democrats' side:
* A record number of new people have registered to vote.
* Osama Bin Laden produces a new tape mocking Bush and encouraging Americans to vote for Bush.
* "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been out on video for more than three weeks.
* News stories every day tell of more dead soldiers in Iraq.
* The Washington Redskins lost their final home game before the election (always bad news for the incumbent party! Don't believe me? Check here: http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/election.asp)
On the Republicans' side:
* Electronic voting machines--manufactured by large corporations that owe a lot to Bush
* 40,000+ absentee ballots mysteriously "lost" in Democratic Broward County, Florida.
* A record number of Republican vote suppres--"poll challengers" in place.
* Bad weather predicted for tomorrow--always bad news for Democrats.
* The incumbent is still commander in chief of the military...
On America's side:
250,000,000 people who have the nearly unmatched power to peacefully change the entire government every four years, IF we'd just get off our lazy asses, turn off the idiot box, and VOTE!!!!!
* A record number of new people have registered to vote.
* Osama Bin Laden produces a new tape mocking Bush and encouraging Americans to vote for Bush.
* "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been out on video for more than three weeks.
* News stories every day tell of more dead soldiers in Iraq.
* The Washington Redskins lost their final home game before the election (always bad news for the incumbent party! Don't believe me? Check here: http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/election.asp)
On the Republicans' side:
* Electronic voting machines--manufactured by large corporations that owe a lot to Bush
* 40,000+ absentee ballots mysteriously "lost" in Democratic Broward County, Florida.
* A record number of Republican vote suppres--"poll challengers" in place.
* Bad weather predicted for tomorrow--always bad news for Democrats.
* The incumbent is still commander in chief of the military...
On America's side:
250,000,000 people who have the nearly unmatched power to peacefully change the entire government every four years, IF we'd just get off our lazy asses, turn off the idiot box, and VOTE!!!!!
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