"Jesus speaks through the Republicans" or: how some Christians use politics to self-destruct their own religion

Nope, this ain't from The Onion and don't think that I didn't mistake it for parody either 'cuz at first I did. Boyz and goylz, this is legit... unless this was some disgruntled anti-Bush person who took this route to make Bush supporters look ridiculous. After THIS election I'll concede that ANYTHING is possible, that the bar is now so low that there's nothing that people on either side won't do to destroy the other. Anyway, this is from The Morning Call newspaper out of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Here's the direct link if you be so lacking in faith that this is legit. But just in case that link goes down I'm gonna cut-'n-paste the full letter right here:

Jesus speaks through the Republicans

I hope the election of George W. Bush is seen as a wake-up call to all the liberal Democrats who oppose God's will.

It is His doing that George W. Bush is still our president. Millions of born-again Christians helped win this election through our prayers and votes. Jesus speaks through the Republicans.

The Democrats will not be able to win elections until they renounce their sinful ways and stop encouraging abortions, gayness, and trying to take away our guns.

Earl Balboa
Washington Township

Ummmm... no Earl, it wasn't God's will that George W. Bush was elected and if you believe that it was, then you are destroying a bedrock foundation of your own faith because by stating that the outcome of this election was God's choice then it logically follows that there is no free will or choice at all on the part of the individual. And if the individual has no free will then it follows that a person cannot choose whether or not to turn away from sin. Therefore, it logically follows that there was no reason for Jesus Christ to have come... or worse, that He did come but His sufering and death were ultimately meaningless and served no purpose at all. Which lends itself toward only four possible conclusions that can possibly come from what Earl is suggesting here: (1) Jesus Christ was not the Son of God but was a lying ordinary human being, (2) Jesus Christ was not the Son of God because He was terminally insane, (3) God exists and He is insane, or (4) there is no God.

GOD DID NOT DIRECT THE OUTCOME OF THIS ELECTION TO SUIT THE REPUBLICANS. And anyone who suggests that He did had better accept that God made the German people vote in Adolf Hitler or (some will shudder at this) that God decreed that Bill Clinton would be the American President from 1993 to 2001. No doubt that God could have done so, given that He's all-powerful, but He couldn't do that in this situation without violating everything that is in accordance with His nature. Just as He gives each person the choice of whether they will serve Him or not, God gave we the people of the United States the free and clear choice to govern ourselves... which more often than not directly correlates to how much we allow Him to govern our own hearts. But we still have the final choice of determining how this plays out. That does NOT mean that we can make God's plans go awry though: as my best friend beautifully put it to me a few years ago, "you can't mess up with God no matter how bad you do something." Whichever way we screwed this election up - and we're going to screw up regardless of outcome so long as we remain good little slaves to the two-party kleptocracy - God's plans are going to win out in the end. And without anyone, much less a political party, playing a role in it "lest it should boast."

Did God know the outcome of this election (whatever outcome that may turn out to be) beforehand? Given that He's omnipotent, of course He did. But if anything, He allowed it to happen... meaning that He's letting us live with the consequences of our own choices and actions... instead of directly intervening to tilt things one way or another. I mean, c'mon: does anyone not a few cans short of a six-pack seriously believe that Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, Architect of the Heavens, Delver of the Depths, Maker of All Things Great and Small, Sovereign of the Visible and Invisible, Final Arbiter Between Good and Evil, Perfect and Righteous Judge of the Living and the Dead, the Authority From Which All Authority Derives, the Glory Defying Comprehension, the Peace Beyond Understanding, the Wisdom Surpassing All Human Foolishness, the Justice Without Question and yet the Love Without Bounds, the Lord of All That Is Or Ever Will Be... what need or interest could God possibly have with the Republican Party?

But if some people would rather that we wait for a puff of white smoke to come out of the chimney of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to indicate that God has chosen a new President, I guess we can change the Constitution to allow for that too, huh?

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The only thing I intend to say about the death of Yasser Arafat

All I'll say is that Yasser Arafat was by admission a very devoted disciple of his "uncle" and that those beliefs are what no doubt played the central guiding role throughout most of the decades of his life. Understanding that, it became very difficult for me to judge the man without the harshest subjectivity.

A Google search for the "grand mufti of jerusalem" string should readily provide everything that you need to know, if you want to know what I meant by all that.

(And for any other historians/students of the occult out there: what Dietrich Eckhardt was to Adolf Hitler, so Hajj Amin Al Husseini became to his close relative Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat As Qudwa al-Hussaeini... better known as the late Yasser Arafat.)

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Iris Chang - author of "The Rape of Nanking" - dead at age 36

Hardly anyone in the western world had ever heard of Nanking, or cared about what transpired there during 1937-1938 when the Japanese invaded the city. Then came 1997 and the release of The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Suddenly it seemed like everybody was talking about it. The Rape of Nanking became to those of us in our college's history department what Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was to the residents of Savannah: if you asked one of us "have you read it?" they would instantly know what "it" was referring to.

In a lot of ways Chang's book evoked the same time-delayed reaction that started happening about twenty-five or thirty years after the Holocaust in Europe: it wasn't until people were confronted with the fact that, yes, this REALLY DID HAPPEN that the full brunt of the horror was felt. That's not to suggest that the Nanking occupation was intentionally ignored by those of us in America and Europe, but the sheer weight of firsthand accounts on our own soil about the Nazis' atrocities simply overwhelmed - and unfortunately so - those of the other horrors of World War II. And it took a pretty long while for even all those eyewitnesses to open up and start confronting the rest of us with what happened.

What literally millions did in bringing the Holocaust to the fore of western conscience, a mere handful of scholars did the same to make people aware of what happened at Nanking. And it must be said with very little argument that none did so much to accomplish that as did Iris Chang. She was young - only 29 when The Rape of Nanking was published - but already a dedicated researcher and model historian. In pulling together the story of Nanking she revealed herself to be a master of the narrative. Stephen Ambrose - author of Band of Brothers and other WWII books - described Chang as "maybe the best young historian we've got." And if I might add with all due and sincerest honesty, Iris Chang was a very beautiful woman.

I didn't hear until a little while ago that Tuesday she was found dead - by self-inflicted gunshot to the head - inside a car along a California highway.

Here's the full story that got sent to me with the details. I know that there's a zillion other things in the news right now that are gobbling up everyone's attention, but I felt really compelled to make a note of her passing, and lament the loss of one of the very few of my own generation's greatest historical minds. Thoughts and prayers going out to her family today.

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A hearty hello to all the good folks making their way to this blog from Democratic Underground

I just hope this doesn't put the brakes on any of the friendships I still have with a lot of the good folks at Free Republic.

It ain't easy being me, I'm tellings ya...

Hey guys, please remember that I'm like Michael Corleone in The Godfather before he pulls the gun out of the toilet and shoots Sollozzo and that scumbucket police captain: I'm "a civilian". The whole war for power is something I don't want a piece of action in. And I'm gonna be friendly with anyone no matter their affiliation. Just don't want either side gunning for me is all :-)

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A picture so funny you’ll choke on your haggis

Had a friend in college who was a nut for Scottish history and heritage. Every Saturday at noon he and his roomie (who was an Irish nut: what are the odds that Campus Housing could put two guys like that together) would crank up Braveheart on their VCR and spend the next three hours getting all liquored up drinking Scotch while watching William Wallace crack open English skulls. Drew's dorm-room closet had at least three swords, a couple of daggers, a mace and – no joke – a flail: history professors used to come by his room to ogle his armory. The title of his history thesis – arguing that a well-known index of Scottish tartans is inaccurate – was "The Good, the Plaid, and the Ugly". And every Saint Patrick's Day Drew and his roomie, and usually about two or three other guys that he conned into the gag, would run around campus wearing Scottish kilts.

Drew kept asking me if I wanted to wear a kilt, and I never took him up on it: I would have probably looked too "dude looks like a lady" if you know what I mean. So I guess that I'll never know what it was that I was missing by not wearing one...


...on second thought, maybe that's a GOOD thing. Sheesh, what can be said but "God save the Queen."

(Click here for the full story about the above picture.)

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If Chevy Chase is praying for a career comeback, now's the perfect opportunity...

We now take you live to the news desk of NBC's Weekend Update at Rockefeller Center Plaza in New York City...

"Our top story tonight is this breaking news: Yasser Arafat is dead! No, we're now getting further word: Yasser Arafat is alive! Excuse me, this has just been handed to me: Yasser Arafat is dead again! And this is now coming across our desk: Yasser Arafat is still alive! And now we've been given a further update: Yasser Arafat is dead again! And in further developments it has just hit the wire services that Yasser Arafat is alive! More information now coming in: Yasser Arafat has died! We'll of course keep you fully abreast of the situation as it develops. Back to you, Jane!"

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WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION?! CLICK THIS LINK LIKE YOU GOT A PAIR YOU SCUM-SUCKING MAGGOT!!

If you want to partake in something real real funny that is.

"And that's a fact, Jack!" :-)

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Thank goodness we're going after the REAL terrorist threats: Megatron and Starscream

It's a serious news story but a friend sent along this link and I just had to bring some attention to this pic they made for the story...

Personally, I think everyone's will see how big a wimp he REALLY is when he refuses to say that Unicron is part of the "axis of evil".

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CRAP ON A CRUTCH!! E-voting errors plague too close to home

Okay, NOW it's personal. Guilford County is where we live and a 22,000 vote difference is a MAJOR fraggin' thing. From The Charlotte Observer (registration required) a few days ago...

Winner so far: Confusion
Agriculture, education races change as counties fix vote-tally errors
MARK JOHNSON
Raleigh Bureau

RALEIGH - Winner so far: Confusion Agriculture, education races change as counties fix vote-tally errors Mark Johnson

RALEIGH -- For a few brief hours on Wednesday, N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Britt Cobb saw his Tuesday election loss turn to a win.

By Thursday, he was losing again.

"These results are changing. They are going up and down," said Cobb's spokesman Marc Siegel. "We don't believe any of it until we get the final, confirmed results." That won't be until later this month.

The roller coaster of fate was caused by vote-counting glitches in at least five counties besides Mecklenburg. Foul-ups ranged from stubborn levers to a computer error that changed some results by 22,000 votes and, in Carteret County, 4,500 votes that were lost and may not be recovered.

Two statewide races are at issue: agriculture commissioner and N.C. superintendent of public instruction.

Democrat June Atkinson switched from loser to winner, for now, in the public instruction race.

"Things like this have happened before, but not to this magnitude and level," said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections. "There are more things at stake because there are closer races than at any other time."

Bartlett's staff is working with county officials to resolve problems. Election results won't be certified until Nov. 23, so county and state officials have more time to correct errors.

Mecklenburg officials released corrected vote counts Thursday night that changed the totals, but not the winner in either the agriculture or public instruction race.

The biggest change in vote totals outside Mecklenburg was in Guilford County, which includes Greensboro. The computer that tabulates the totals choked when officials uploaded the early voting numbers, which was a particularly large batch of data.

"So it just threw some of (the votes) away," said Guilford County elections director George Gilbert.

Before the votes were retallied, Cobb, who looked like a loser on election night, had won by 1,500 votes, according to the elections board's Web site. Gilbert, though, had backup tapes that contained the vote tallies.

When he retrieved those numbers and gave the corrected figures to the state board of elections, Cobb had an additional 4,000 votes and his Republican opponent, Steve Troxler, another 13,000. Troxler was the apparent winner again.

The new Guilford numbers boosted Atkinson's votes by nearly 12,000 in the superintendent's race, putting her ahead of Republican Bill Fletcher, who got 3,000 more votes in the update.

The Guilford totals didn't change President Bush's win in the state, but did shift the vote total by 22,000.

(snip)

And electronic voting is supposed to be mandatory everywhere by 2006?

In a sane world, someone would have been dragged out into the street and shot for plotting something like this. What with all the other reports coming in, there's just one thing that really comes to mind if we're going to maintain any semblance of democracy in this country: hold new elections for those places with electronic voting, this time with auditable paper ballots. To Hell with getting sworn into office in December or January or whenever: there's a lot more at stake here than when some politician gets Two Men and a Truck to drop off the furnishings for a swanky D.C. congressional office. This is now something way past "Democrat versus Republican", and to suggest that it is - in my book anyway - suggests the worst kind of treason: selling out America for political partisanship. And if the Powers That Be cannot respect the sanctity of our votes, then We The People are no longer under any moral or even legal obligation to respect the Powers That Be, at all.

Parse that as you wi... on second thought, I'll spell it out: if our own government has grown so corrupt as to artificially massage voting tabulations, then the American people hae the ethical duty to overthrow those people in government who are responsible. By any means necessary, if worse comes to worst. Seriously. This is an abrogation of the authority that God gave this nation's citizens over their own country and if we allow THAT to happen, we live in defiance of God. Sedition laws be damned: if government is revolting against us like this, we've the right to revolt against it.

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The Incredibles review

The Incredibles is Alan Moore’s Watchmen as conceived by Ben Edlund (creator of The Tick comic and cartoon). Too bad next year’s Cars will be the last project Disney and Pixar Animation collaborate on, ‘cuz the House that Mickey Built has NEVER before released an animated feature with so much mindless death and violence. I hope they do it again.

Leave it to Pixar to shed the light on the dark side of superhero life: a torrent of lawsuits from the very people saved from a trainwreck, government regulation and an obsessed fanboy who just won’t take “no” to being a sidekick for an answer. The only way out is a fate worse than death: consigned behind a desk as an insurance claims adjuster, damned to watch muggings and bank robberies from an office window but forbidden by law to use superpowers to make a difference in the world. The only thing allowed to be fought now is an ever-bulging waistline.

Welcome to the existence of Bob Parr (voice of Craig T. Nelson). Once the zenith of heroic fortitude as Mr. Incredible, he was forced to hang up his tights after the people he rescued from various disasters turn over-litigious and start costing the government millions of dollars in settlements. When superheroes are outlawed as a result his family gets relocated. He comes home every day to his beautiful wife Helen (Holly Hunter), the former Elastigirl (think Plastic Man doing Mr. Mom) and their three children: fast-as-Flash Dash (Spencer Fox), Violet (Sarah Vowell) - who closes herself off from the world behind a force-field almost as much as she hides from it by turning invisible - and baby Jack-Jack, who hasn’t developed superpowers… well, not yet.

You’d think that kind of homelife would be excitement to no end, but Bob is bored out of his skull. Enough so that after work while Helen thinks he’s gone bowling he’s really sneaking out with fellow former hero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) to don ski masks and fight crimes. But then a mysterious offer comes to Bob, which happens to coincide with the disappearance of several other retired heroes. Before you can say “Shazam!” Bob is back in the saddle again… or at least the tight spandex. What happens after that becomes a threat not just to the safety of the entire world, but his marriage also.

My wife and I caught The Incredibles yesterday and after seeing all the other Pixar flicks, we thought this might be the funniest thing they’ve done yet. The appeal for me was that the movie taps into that same off-kilter humor that The Tick was known for: superhero action-comedy that’s NOT played for in-your-face gags. Think of the funniest moments in the two Spider-Man movies and make a full-length feature like that. If that’s the kind of thing that makes you laugh, plus if you want to see SERIOUS kick-butt computer animation and one of the most refreshing American-produced cartoons to ever hit theaters, go see The Incredibles this weekend. If you’ve seen it already, see it again. Then, see it a zillion more times. Or perish in flames. It’s your choice, but not really.

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My e-mail to Jerry Falwell: "a more evil person than any 'liberal'"

I've noticed that quite a few "Christian leaders" are barely containing their glee in the wake of this past Tuesday's elections. Even the ministers on the local "conservative Christian" AM radio station have sounded more upbea... no, not "upbeat". "Swaggering" is more like it. If - as the Bible says - all the angels of Heaven rejoice when just one human soul cries to God for forgiveness, there's a lot more rejoicing from many professing Christians when just one Republican gets elected to office over an evil Democrat.

You'd think that must be anyway, 'specially after reading the Revrund Jerry Falwell and his article "Christian voters triumph over Hollywood left" that's up at World Net Daily this morning. "Dear Lord, PLEASE have mercy on America if THIS is the kind of pride and arrogance that we have to look forward to for the next four years." Because if God will look kindly on a people that repent and humble themselves, THIS kind of mindset isn't going to score any points toward this nation's longevity. Go read it if you like, but I hope people understand that this kind of attitude is NOT what we're called to engender as Christians.

So I wrote Falwell an e-mail, and called him out on a few things. I'm posting it here for public consumption...

FROM: Christopher Knight
TO: jerry@falwell.com
SUBJECT: Falwell, there's no way you really serve Christ after this piece...

...on World Net Daily. You spent most of the time patting yourself on the back and dropping other people's names who also spend too much time patting themselves on the back.

But that's not the worst of it: you don't even pretend to hide your hatred of people you don't like. To you, being a "conservative Christian" is carte blanche to toss aside Jesus's instructions that we are to love one another, ESPECIALLY our enemies.

And that's STILL not the worst even: you do NOTHING in this piece to introduce Christ to people who are sincerely wanting and needing Him. The problem is, they look at people like you and what you're doing and they CAN'T find Christ in your life... because He's not really there at all.

All you care about is putting Republicans into office, making sure Bush looks like God's anointed on Earth that can do no wrong, and condemning those sinful liberals. Well, I'm going to let you in on something that maybe nobody's ever informed you of: there isn't a hair's breadth of difference between you and any other "Christian
conservative" and those liberals that you relish destroying so much. You *and* they are after the same damnable goal: power in this world over other men. Both of you differ only in your methods. And in *your* case you believe that God has put His stamp of approval on your lust.

That last one makes you a far more evil person on this earth than any "liberal" in my book.

If you want to commit the sin of hatred, don't justify yourself for it by acting like one of the Lord's anointed. Because you're only proving to the entire world that you're not... not to mention that you're making it harder for those that DO love others as they love Christ. Your pride is destroying the testimony of real Christians more than you can imagine. If you even CARED about that at all,
anyway.

There's a word for people like you, Mr. Falwell: "Pharisees". They used their ecclesiastical positions to keep other people in their power also. And when Someone arrived who refused to play their silly games of domination, they conspired to have Him killed.

Jesus Christ - and those who TRULY follow Him - would and will refuse to play YOUR silly game here and now. Considering that I seriously doubt if you have any understanding of that, I can't help but wonder if you and the rest of the "Christian Reconstruction" crowd might someday start nailing those of us who will serve the Lord only to crosses - no doubt planted on the White House lawn outside of Bush's window - for refusing to whore ourselves as you have to the god of this earth.

You do more damage to the cause of Christ than you know by lusting for power as you do. Please, stop this now, repent of this madness and turn your heart back to the Lord... instead of keeping it faced toward that which also comes appearing as an angel of light.

Stop using the name of Jesus Christ as your ticket to power. He's our personal savior, not your personal nightstick.

In Christ,
Christopher Knight

This partly came out of some very troubling discussions I've been having with a number of people during the past few days. Every one of them echoed the same concern that's been growing in my own mind: that we may finally - and in defiance of almost all serious consideration that it could possibly happen - be witnessing the rise of Christian Reconstructionism in America. And if THAT ever comes to hold full sway over this land, you're gonna see things happen that will positively make the camps at Auschwitz look like an excursion to Disney World by comparison.

I'm going to write more on this later. But in the meantime, if the Reconstructionists ARE starting to take over, heed this advice: get a gun. Even if you don't believe in guns, get a gun. Learn how to use that gun. Thank God that your conscience won't let you use the gun to take the life of another human being without justifiable cause. But understand also that you may have to use that gun all the same. The Jews of the Warsaw ghetto held out against the Nazis for a month in 1943 with only a handful of rifles and pistols. There's a lesson to be learned from them.

I'm a Christian and a historian. Man's capability of inflicting on his brother such cruel horrors in the absence of God from his heart is something that I thoroughly understand. Well, there are some people in this country today that really don't have God in their hearts, and they're a lot less honest about that than the Nazis were. And they're going to be inconceivably WORSE than the Nazis ever were, should they someday take control over this country.

When that day comes, love your family. Love yourself. And love the freedom that God gave you and that thousands died to protect for you. Don't let them take control.

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Star Wars Episode III teaser IS ONLINE!!!

Being a subscriber to StarWars.com's Hyperspace service, the Revenge Of The Sith teaser trailer was available for me to see before it's made available for most people later on this evening (if yer a die-hard Star Wars geek, Hyperspace is well worth the twenty bucks per year, I can safely say).

Well, what can be said but... DAAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!

The Duel. 'Nuff said.

And surprisingly enough, the trailer has the "reveal" of when Darth Vader is shown in armor for the very first time.

Okay, I gotta run: I still haven't cleaned off the spooge from my keyboard after seeing this. Trust me guys, this thing will make your head explode like that guy in Scanners, it's so mind-blowingly cool!!!!!

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Doesn't this concession by Kerry seem almost half-hearted...

...especially given that his running mate is John Edwards?

Say what you will about trial lawyers, but Edwards has consistently been among the best of them. By all rights he should be frothing at the mouth before the cameras while ranting and raving that "it's not over" until ALL the ballots from Ohio and Florida have been counted. That's what he promised in the wee hours of the morning anyways. Now Kerry is making his concession speech at this very moment and Edwards, who committed his entire future political viability for a chance to be Vice-President of the United States... is doing nothing?

No speculation at all, folks: it's only an observation. It's just that I'm finding this to be more than a little out-of-character for John Edwards. But two possibilities do come to mind, although I'm reluctant to invest lengthy consideration toward either but the first: that being that the decision to concede has been Kerry's alone to make, probably after conferring with Democratic Party leadership and though they may not be happy with it, they're going to abide by Kerry's wishes to the letter, and that goes for Edwards also, as much as this is probably killing him deep down.

The other possibility, and it's a wildly remote one - but one that would be perfectly in-keeping with Edwards' style - is that conceding this quickly was something that Edwards suggested. Why that would be, I've no idea. But trial lawyers are a particularly clever lot and Edwards is already well-known for his adeptness at legally maneuvering out of nowhere to lock up a case when it sometimes seemed a lost cause.

Concession speeches aren't legally binding agreements, by the way.

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Ahh geez... not THIS again!

It's 2:10 AM on November 3rd. And shaking my head at what's coming down all over the place.

Folks, for the longest time I've had a feeling in my gut that this year's election would become a fiasco that would trump the nonsense in Florida four years ago. So many factors figured into that thought: proliferation of electronic voting, the polarisation and animosity between each side, a few other things.

Well boys and girls, here we go fast and furious...

And there's some positively scary things running through my mind about what might come down the pike next. But first, something from earlier tonight and guess what? It's about those bloody Diebold machines.

About 11 PM last night a friend sent me this link to Oliver Willis' blog. This is a screengrab that was made as live election results were coming in earlier this evening from Hamilton County, Ohio. Whoever this David Keith Cobb guy is, he was not only beating George W. Bush but he managed to get tie John Kerry ballot-for-ballot at the same time...


Now, I'm juste a mite curious enough to ask aloud: What the Hell is going on here?! May be worth noting that, apparently, Hamilton County was using Diebold equipment to vote on.

Maybe it's just a minor glitch. Or maybe it indicates data management of a more intentional nature. Hey, Diebold's CEO promised in August 2003 that he and his company were "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Was he being literal about that?

It's definitely something to be investigated, if for no other reason than to make the hardware and software more reliable for future elections... if electronic voting devices are used for future elections at all. And if an investigation yields evidence that the voting tabulation was "massaged", well... heads should roll. Anybody got an axe?

Anyhoo, right now Ohio is looking at an 11-day interim before they can open up what might be as many as 300,000 provisional ballots that could tip this thing in either Bush's direction or Kerry's. We also gotta keep an eye on Florida: 2 million absentee and provisional ballots haven't been counted there yet. That's two hotspots at least that have flared up this election... and no telling how this is going to end.

Meanwhile, somewhere high above the darkened landscape of the American prarie, an airplane loaded with Kerry/Edwards lawyers is hurdling through the night sky toward Ohio...

On the plus side of things, Dan Rather's wit has never been so rapier-sharp as it is this morning :-)

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"Eminem is the WHAT?!?!"

Something occurred to me last night: Eminem is the 21st Century's answer to Thomas Paine!

Think about it: Paine stirred the American people to action with his pamphlet "Common Sense" in the 1770s. Just as Eminem is doing now with his "Mosh" song and video.

Juxtapose that lil' analogy in yer head: "These are the times that try men's souls" has found a worthy heir in "Mr. kisses ass crack, he's a class act Rubber band man, yea he just snaps back".

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I stood up to be counted today...

...And in the end, I voted for John Kerry.

There are three names for President on the North Carolina ballot: Democrat John Kerry, George W. Bush from the Republicans, and Michael Badnarik representing the Libertarian Party. And had Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party been a choice on the ballot, my pen would have unhesitantly hit the screen next to his name (this was also the first time I've ever used a computerized voting system).

I think that the so-called "third parties" suffer from the system being rigged against them. The two major parties never worry about the hurdles that the third parties must jump... not when it was they who set up the hurdles to begin with. There should be a leveled playing field for all the parties, and any unaffiliated individuals for that matter. As it stands now America is run by a kleptocratic duopoly without an effective counter because (a) the two major parties have conspired with each other to render null any real threat to the status quo, (b) the mainstream press is too lazy to even want there to be anything beyond the two parties because it would complicate their lives as journalists if other parties gave them more news than they could cover and still get into all the cocktail parties, and (c) our present political system is based on the assumption that the American people are too stupid to think for themselves. Unfortunately we don't do ourselves any favors by complying with that demand.

Sometimes I envy the Russians who endured living during the Soviet era. At least their government was honest with its people about their lives being dominated by the state. The Communist Party did have enough confidence about itself that it didn't have to pretend it wasn't one party by putting forth a two-faction farce. For all that our Russian friends went through with severe shortages and less freedoms than we used to have here, their government had a lot more integrity than the one we have comprised by the RepubliCrats.

I'm a firm believer in the third parties: they're the only real source of new ideas and principles that could possibly compare to the two major ones. I'm going to still believe in them... but I'm not naive enough to believe that a third party candidate is going to win this round for President. I've lots of reason to believe that the Constitution Party can be a serious powerhouse by 2012 if not 2008 even, and enough of one to threaten the two-party stranglehold... but not today in 2004.

And like a lot of people are fond of pointing out, "every vote counts." We hope so anyway :-)

There's a lot of things that this pro-life born-again Christian disagrees with about John Kerry. But after studying the man at length these past several weeks on my own, with no one else to define him for me, I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that however it is that he stands on an issue, that Kerry at least considered the notion thoroughly before committing himself to that stand. I may not agree with him on something... but I've got to respect that it was something he came to on his own. We could use a lot more considerate minds like Kerry's in Washington D.C.

There wasn't a Michael Jackson's chance of keeping his hands in his pockets at a Cub Scout convention that I would have ever voted for George W. Bush. And having not voted for him twice now, my conscience is feeling pretty clean and wholesome about rejecting him. Yeah yeah, I've talked about what Bush did to me four years ago but my loathing the thought of him living in OUR White House stems from a lot more than that. For one thing, I'm my own person, the one that God made me to be. And I refuse to be like a lot of other people - including many Christians - who see Bush as the anointed carnal mouthpiece and vengeful fist of the Almighty. You know the kind I'm talking about: they NEVER question whether the things that Bush has done are right or wrong, or even stop and wonder if some of those things haven't been downright evil. These people are under a strong delusion, and I want no part of it. As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord... and not a spoiled fraternity brat who can't decide if he wants to play the Lone Ranger or Winston Churchill.

Bush has done more to take America into the realm of blatant fascism than any other President in our history. I won't hate the guy - I never want to hate the guy - but he must be stopped and stopped now. And I'm having a very hard time seeing Kerry continue a lot of the fear tactics that Bush has held over the American people. If my vote can possibly, in even the least bit, help take the reins away from Bush, then I've definitely no problem in trusting it with a man if he happens to be John Kerry.

Which is why I voted John Kerry for President of the United States.

It was a pretty mixed ballot for me, with a generous mixture of Democrats and Republicans and Libertarian candidates. Barbara Howe got my vote for governor: I don't know that much about Patrick Ballentine and as for Mike Easley... well, let's just say that when I was a reporter in the western part of the state some years ago that I saw just how dirty Easley can get. I've never met either of those guys but I've met Barbara Howe - a Libertarian - a few times and she's a nice and astute-enough lady that I had no problem choosing her.

It's my personal policy to never vote a straight-ticket, and to never vote in a race where I know very little or nothing at all about its candidates. I also voted against Amendment 1, which would give local governments here in North Carolina the option to issue bonds without approval via public referendum. The thing is being pitched as a fast-track way to create jobs here in the state... how they figure that, I've no idea. But it's not a good idea at all to give local governments unrestrained bond power when a lot of them can't even manage paying off the ones they've issued already.

There was a MASSIVE turnout when I went to the poll, but the workers there told me that it had been far bigger early this morning: they were expecting it to pick up again as the evening approached. My wife's school is a polling location (the voting machines are set up in her classroom!) and they reported having a much higher turnout than usual when I called over there late this morning. Goes prety much hand-in-hand with everyting else I've heard: that this election is shattering records for turnout. Not even the one in 1992 - with the race between George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot - generated THIS much voter participation.

Anyhoo, however this tale goes, my small part in it is finished. All that's left is to lay back, relax, and watch what's sure to be a very wild evening unfold. Too bad for us that it can't really be called "entertainment" though, huh?

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Okay, after the Diebold machines, THIS will be today's biggest FUBAR

This just in from Yahoo!

Court OKs Voter Challengers at Ohio Polls

9 minutes ago

BY LISA CORNWELL, Associated Press Writer

CINCINNATI - Giving a pre-dawn Election Day boost to the GOP, a federal appeals court early Tuesday cleared the way for political parties to send in people to challenge voters' eligibility at Ohio polling places. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to step in.

Overturning the orders of two federal judges, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 early Tuesday that the presence of Election Day challengers was allowed under state law. It granted emergency stays that will allow Republicans and Democrats one challenger per precinct each.

Plaintiffs' appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court were unsuccessful. Early Tuesday, Justice John Paul Stevens, who handles appeals from Ohio, refused a request to stay the 6th Circuit decision.

Republicans say they wanted challengers in many polling places because of concerns about fraud. Democrats have accused the GOP of trying to suppress Democratic turnout. Hundreds of thousands of voters have been newly registered in a state President Bush and Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) both say they need to win.

(snip)

Pardon me for asking this if it's already been asked, but... who the hell do the Republican Party think they are to confront average Americans like this?

Come to think of it, who the hell are the Republicans and Democrats to believe that God gave THEM authority over America? 'Cuz that's exactly what the Republicans are assuming right now: that they have sovereignty over the franchise of the ordinary citizen.

Now, this is a "dirty trick", boyz and goylz. There've been riots in places because of things like this happening, and more than once in American history.

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