Why I could never be a Republican Part II...

I've been accused of making sweeping generalizations about Republicans. While sweeping generalizations are my forte, I also back up said comments with real evidence. If anyone bothered to click the links in the post directly below this, they would find stories about the immense voter fraud that is occurring in the states I point out. But they are a lot of link and they all add up to a single point, so let me set it out a little clearer.

The links I point out all point to the same company that is suspected of tearing up Democratic voter registration forms. It has set up registration drives in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Nevada and is accused of the same things in most of these states, so far. The organization is called Voters Outreach of America AKA America Votes (run by Republican consulting firm Sproul & Associates).

Now here's the part where one would say "well that's only a handful of Republicans and you can't say that of the party as a whole." Except for the fact that YOU CAN SAY THAT ABOUT THE PARTY AS A WHOLE!

KLAS-TV, Las Vegas:
"The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee."

Help wanted ads for Voters Outreach of America say "Paid for by the Republican National Committee".

The Republican Party is funding these efforts. The link is direct and unambiguous.

The links someone posted anonymously to prove that Democrats are also involved in such shenanigans? A Puerto Rican organization sends in fraudulent registration forms. Democrats send out a flyer trying to encourage voter registration with an error on it. 501(c)(3) groups are spending money on political ads (that's right, the same type of group as the Swift Boat liars, which were made possible by a law signed by Bush). None of these links show any involvement by the Democratic Party in anything as malicious as tearing up the registration forms of those you disagree with.

People can try to turn the story into how awful it is that we have become so partisan as a nation, but that little bit of misdirection will not block the fact that deny people the right to vote is a hideous crime. This is something all Republicans need to know. You need to look yourselves in the face and ask how you can support a party that is so blatant in its disregard of democracy.

I don't think I am the one who needs to change his beliefs.

Why I could never be a Republican...

In Colorado, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Florida, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Nevada, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Ohio, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Oregon, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In West Virginia, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Minnesota, Republicans do not want people to vote.

In Wisconsin, Republicans do not want people to vote.

George Bush repeatedly talks about the need to spread freedom around the world. However, here at home, his own campaign has engaged in a nationwide effort to keep people from casting votes. Democrats on the other hand have done massive voter registration drives to increase the amount of participation.

The Democratic Party is the party of inclusion. The Republican Party is the party of disenfranchisement. Who are you going to vote for?

Third strike and you're out...

The results of the third and final debates major news polls are all declaring Kerry the winner.


CBS News Poll
Kerry 39
Bush 25


CNN Focus Group
Of 24 on the panel
Kerry 10
Bush 7
Undecided 7


ABC News
Kerry 42
Bush 41


Oh what is that? ABC is a little too close for your liberal liking? Well unlike CBS's polling of undecideds, ABC's polls were of a mixed part make-up. 38% GOP, 30% Dem, 28% Independant. The voters are skewed and we still won!

But of course we did. America already trusts Kerry more on domestic issues. he was clam and collected. A Zen Master of political debate. Bush spent the night saying the answer to everything was education. If you are unemployed, uninsured,or discriminated against, it's because you are stupid. Well for someone who once called himself the education president , it's funny how many people got stupid under his watch. I wonder if it happened around the time he refused to fund his education initiative and left thousands of kids behind.

If Bush hoped to look presidential, his smirking ways and bad jokes killed his chances. Bush looks downright juvenile next to Kerry. Overeager, bad jokes, inappropriate smiles. And the height disparity doesn't do him any favors. Bush looks like he's looking up at Kerry when he talks. Maybe he should.

We all should.

What's a "flaty" anyway...

What does one do with this thing?

Besides burn it, I mean.

Just kidding.

But what about Reba...

Conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group is forcing its stations, which reach nearly one-quarter of the country's TV households, to pre-empt their programming days before the election to air a film that attacks John Kerry's anti-war activism.

That's the same conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group which refused to air an episode of Nightline because Dan Rather humanized the events in Iraq by having the gaul to read the names of all the dead American soldiers last spring. Sinclair officials said the program "appeared to be motivated by a political agenda."

Could this pre-emption decision by Sinclair possible be motivated by politics and therefore prove this station of hypocrisy? Well, let's see. The producer of the film, Carlton Sherwood, formerly worked for Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, whom George W. Bush later appointed as the first Secretary of Homeland Security. The Bush administration has selected Sherwood to create and manage a new federal website aimed at first responders (police officers, firefighters, etc). While working as a Ridge administration official, Sherwood directed then-Gov. Ridge's award-winning broadcast TV and radio operations in Harrisburg.

So the former right-wing propaganda flunky is airing a right-wing propaganda "news program" (that's how they are deciding to classify it) favoring the right-wing candidate just days before the election. That bad taste in your mouth right now, ladies and gentleman is called Carol Rove.

Today a filmmaker behind a new pro-John Kerry documentary offered it to Sinclair Broadcasting-- free of charge -- to see if the company is interested in showing its viewers a balanced presentation of the candidate. "My argument," says Paul Alexander, director of the critically-acclaimed "Brothers in Arms" film, which examines Kerry's experience in Vietnam, and casts him in a favorable light, "is if they're going to air 'Stolen Honor' then they should run my film, and preferably in the hour right after it. I'm sending them a letter tomorrow demanding that."Earlier this week as the controversy brewed, a Sinclair spokesman told the New York Times the company would consider running a Kerry documentary from a different perspective. Alexander's offer may effectively, and publicly, call Sinclair's bluff.

I'm all for free speech. And free speech means expressing our outrage when a major corporation with a history of right-wing bias tries to change the outcome of an election by airing a slanted, inaccurate documentary. Ther such a thing called the equal time rule in the broadcast regulations that says you must give an equal amount of time to all candidates if you give any time to either. Sinclairs license should be revoked if they blatantly break this rule because of some right-wing partisan decision.

So we have to tell them that we disagree with this decision. Contact their advertisers You can look them up locally here. Don't let these guys get away with this. Demand that they stop controlling the facts and let all sides be heard. This is a terrible abuse of OUR public airwaves and we will not stand for it.

Superman...

Christopher Reeve died yesterday. I just found this out this morning as I woke up. I'm at a complete loss. It's very difficult to explain what that means to me.

I'm a comic book lover. Every Wednesday I go to the comic book store and purchase my funny books about the X-Men and Batman and many more. Above all else, though, I need to get my Superman fix. Superman has always been my hero (though I've always wanted to be Lois Lane more than anyone). Maybe it was the iconic nature of the character. Maybe it was the mild-mannered reporter side. Maybe it was the Superman Underoos. Whatever it was that resonated with me, it hasn't stopped to this day. Chris Reeve's portrayal of Superman in the movies went a long way to solidiying that heroic image in my head as a young kid. (Even Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is good for a laugh.)

When he fell off that horse and became paralyzed due to spinal cord damage, that was a tragedy. But he turned that around and became such a heartfelt and courageous activist while working hard to regain movement. And little by little he succeeded in small but significant ways. According to most medical professionals, he wasn't suposed to be able to get where he ended up.

In addition to his amazing physical achievements, he fought hard to advance medical breakthroughs through stem cell research. This was a man who when he left his home he had to bring with him an enire caravan of equipment. What would take a normal man half an hour, could take Reeve because of his condition half a day. But he was out there speaking to people suffering with similar injuries, lobbying Congress for stem cells, and talking with the media about his experiences. I keep thinking of that commercial where, through computer imagery, he was shown getting up out of his chair. I always thought how magnificent that would be if he was actually able to accomplish it. Instead, a man who could not walk yet refused to stop running has passed on. I just hope there are others willing and able to pick up the baton.

If anyone deserved to a second chance by spinning the world on it's axis in reverse to turn back time, it was this guy. You'll be missed.