Shofar, so good...

Sundown tonight marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. It's one last appeal to G-d (ya like that one, my Hebrew friends?) to demonstrate your repentance and make amends before his judgment is sealed into the Book of Life. Many Jews who do not observe any other holidays will fast in observance of Yom Kippur.

This year I am fasting.

No, I'm not Jewish. Though there are times when I sort of wish I were. Judaism is such a people oriented religion, as religions go anyway. They don't try to change minds, or banish non-believers to hell for being different. They don't care about sexual orientation. They treat women equally. They don't abuse children and hide the culprit in other youthfully populated churches. If there is such a thing as "the chosen people" I can see why He would have chosen the Jews.

Besides my appreciation for all things Jewish (have you ever had a good brisket? I mean a real good brisket?), I am fasting because I am going on a Jewish excursion with my boyfriend to the very holy land of Boston. There we will fast till we are guilt-free and famished. Oy! Then we shall partake in some of the delicious Jewish delicacies till we are full.

What do you say to someone observing Yom Kippur in lieu of a "Happy birthday" or "Merry Christmas?" I've been asking around all day to figure it out. I'm going with "Have a thoughtful atonement."

Well color him surprised...

One year ago today Richard Perle said at an American Enterprise Institute conference:

A year from now I'd be surprised if there's not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush.

I must have missed the construction of the brand-spanking new Horrible Failure Plaza and Lying Drunk Park. Or maybe they just haven't built it yet.

Perhaps between the beheadings and the ass-piles, they can do some civic planning with a look towards green space and horticulture.

Funny cause it's true...

John Kerry appeared on David Letterman last night, and though I missed it, I listened to as many of the audio clips I could find on Das Internet. (That's German for the Internet, Sharyn.) Kerry was actually funny!

How are the debates shaping up? Dave asked for some clarification. Not direct quotes but the jist from what I've heard.

LETTERMAN: You wanted to stand and Bush wanted to sit, is that it?

KERRY: "I didn't care either way. I did want Edwards to stand and Cheney to sit, though.

LETTERMAN: And they compromised by their both agreeing to squat?

KERRY: It’s been decided that Bush will sit on Cheney’s lap.

The man called Bush a puppet right there on national television. Don't listen to the mainstream media people. Kerry is on the attack. He later delivered the night's Top Ten list mocking Bush's inept and callous administration. Funny stuff.

Top Ten Bush Tax Proposals:
#10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. Presidents.
#9. W-2 forms are now Dubya-2 forms.
#8. Under simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.
#7. Reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.
#6. Attorney General Ashcroft gets to write off U.S. Constitution
#5. Texas Rangers can take business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.
#4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa to cover the whole damn thing
#3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent
#2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it “nuclear” instead of “nucular.”
#1. Bush gets deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

Now that's comedy!

Why can't it just be about gays, like with me...

It's always about gays and God with these people. (And sometimes guns.)

Another dirty tactic of the RNC.

Campaign mail with a return address of the Republican National Committee warns West Virginia voters that the Bible will be prohibited and men will marry men if liberals win in November.

The literature shows a Bible with the word "BANNED" across it and a photo of a man, on his knees, placing a ring on the hand of another man with the word "ALLOWED." The mailing tells West Virginians to "vote Republican to protect our families" and defeat the "liberal agenda."

Is there any sort of nasty lying stunt these fear-mongers won't pull? There is no question that Democrats will not try to scare and manipulate people like this. We don't stoop to this level.

I have to believe this will pay off.

48% of everyone reading this won't care...

As I write this, the Harris poll is showing 48% Kerry, 47% Bush; Pew shows a 46%-46% tie; Gallup shows 55% Bush, 42% Kerry. What the f@$#%?!?!?!?!?!

If you are anything like me, you have been obsessing over every single poll that comes out during this highly charged political season. For the sake of your sanity, I hope you are not. These polls can drive the most passive observer to fits of rage and hair-pulling. Some of them come out and show the presidential election in a dead heat, while others declare Bush up by huge points. That is quite a disconnect and it's very disheartening when the cable news networks only tout the polls that show a wide margin between candidates. It's the lazy, "let's get this over with" reporting style of the major news companies. A poll stating how close the race is isn't very new. A poll showing an incredible surge for the incumbent however is something new and different. Too bad it's also deeply flawed.

The polls (Newsweek, Time, Gallup) that show a commanding lead for our uncommanding commander-in-chief use a methodology of partisan identification that heavily favors republicans. The sample of people they poll breaks down as 38% Republicans, 31% Democrats, and 31% Independents. By asking a huge margin more of Republicans how they would vote because pollsters have arbitrarily decided that more Republicans will come out to vote is not only misleading, it is against actual information. In the last 2 presidential elections, Democrats have shown up more at the polls than Republicans 39%-35%. So why count more Republicans this time? Doesn't make any sense. But if you weight the data in these types of polls, then the results correct themselves and they show a dead heat.

The new CBS News/New York Times poll, conducted September 12-16, gives Bush an 8 point lead (50-42) among RVs--but also gives the Republicans a 4 point edge on party ID. Reweight their data to conform to an underlying Democratic 4 point edge (using the 39D/35R/26I distribution from the 2000 exit poll) and you get a nearly even race, 47% Bush, 46% Kerry.

Nearly even. That goes along with the 46%-46% tie in the Pew Research Center poll (which gave the Democrats a 4 point edge on party ID without weighting) and the 48%-48% tie in the Gallup poll (once weighted to reflect an underlying Democratic 4 point edge). Not to mention the two other recent national polls (Harris, Democracy Corps) that show the race within one point.

Perhaps all this is just a coincidence, but the pattern seems striking. Once you adjust for the apparent overrepresentation of Republican identifiers in some samples, the polls all seem to be saying the same thing: the race is a tie or very close to it.

Though I still can't see how Bush can even be considered a viable candidate by half the country.