an eye trained

As the dust continues to settle and the dander starts to once again rise, "liberal conspiracy theories" from outside the mainstream media (with the exception of Keith Oberman) continue to surface with increasing frequency concerning the voting discrepencies in North Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, among others. Now, whether or not you believe that these discrepancies are great enough to have swayed the outcome of the election, the fact remains that there are major problems with the election process here in the "greatest democracy in the world". Not only do we have an electoral college where the votes of less populated states weigh more than the that of the heavily populated, our polling places are overcrowded, and our voting apparatus is an incongruous mix of machines, most of which have no means of assuring the accuracy of their count. These problems need to be addressed. Election reform is essential to a nation based on the principle "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it". The greatest legal means of acting on this Right being our vote.

The time may have come to let one eye off the election and refocus on the "news". With a renewed sense of urgency the administration has gone head strong into a place from which the likes of Hungary and Doctor's without Borders are pulling out. That place, Iraq. In what could be the biggest offensive since the "mission" was "accomplished", our troops, some 10,000 strong, have gone back into Falluja, the world's new Guernica. As "he" stands and speaks of mandates and "capital", men, women, and children die. His mandate hasn't stopped Putin from signing "the Kyoto treaty 'he' decided to neglect". It didn't stop jobless claims from jumping by 20,000, and it didn't stop the conviction of 5 executives in the trial of "his" buddy kenny boy's company. All may not be lost. There is the ruling that Guantanamo Bay "war-crime trials" are unconstitutional and must halt immediately. There are some small victories, but with "finishing the job in Iraq", drilling in ANWR and the anti-gay marriage ammendment on the top of "his" priority list again there's gonna be a tall mountain to climb.

So scream in the streets of Seattle and march around the tank in L.A., smile big and purty when you flip ashcroft the bird, all the while keeping an eye trained on his replacement.

"Sir, attorney general, with all due respect, your personal belief is not a law." -- Sen. Dick Durbin

dave