August 26th, 2004
There are a lot of reforms that our electoral process could stand for. My wish-list of reforms would include:
1. Media reform so that Federal election candidates get free and reasonable access to the public air-ways — they are our public air-ways, after all.
2. Dump the electoral college — it’s undemocratic, and unnecessary in the 21st century.
3. Campaign reform to get us closer to 100% public financing for Federal elections (or, at the very least, the presidency).
4. Viable and true multiparty representation, so that we’re not limited to only two parties, giving us more choice — it’s the American way. Lord knows I like a Sprite every now and then, and not just Coke vs. Pepsi.
5. And, in the immediate future, more debates between presidential candidates where issues are debated; and where the media-talking-heads do their job (for once), stick to the issues and avoid the “he-said vs. he-said” scenario we all detest.
This is my wish-list. Of course, it’s not very likely to happen any time soon. However, Mr. Kerry’s proposal of conducting weekly debates between now and Nov. 2nd is certainly a good thing, if one is interested in hearing about the issues from the candidates themselves. I say let’s let them go one-on-one, Mr. Kerry has already volunteered (like he did when he chose to go to Vietnam); Mr. Bush in the other hand… well, let’s just say that Mr. Bush is AWOL, and has sent others to rebuff Mr. Kerry’s proposal.
August 26th, 2004
Mr. Bush & Co., close observers of the Bush Dynasty note, are at it again:
Any student of Bush family campaigns could have seen the swift boat shiv shining a mile away. This old family has traditions – horseshoes, fishing, bad syntax and having the help do the dirty work in campaigns as well as the kitchen. And they are very good at getting jobs done without leaving fingerprints, without compromising their patrician image and their alleged character.
read the rest here, from CBSNews.com
August 26th, 2004
Here’s the reason why Mr. Bush will not condemn the group doing his dirty little work of character assassination:
For the first time this year in a [L.A.] Times survey, Bush led Kerry in the presidential race, drawing 49 percent among registered voters, compared to 46 percent for the Democrat.
And…
Although a solid majority of Americans say they believe Kerry served honorably in Vietnam, the poll showed that the fierce attacks on the senator from a group of Vietnam veterans criticizing both his performance in combat and anti-war protests at home have left some marks[.]
Bush Overtakes Kerry in Latest L.A. Times Poll [August 25, 2004]
Mr. Bush & Co. know that gutter-politics works, in spite of how much the public complains about it; since there’s always a number of people that’s predisposed to buy the lies, no matter how baseless the charges are.
Here’s just one Associated Press article not getting anywhere near the same air time as the dirty charges made by Mr. Bush & Co., the headline reads: Navy records appear to support Kerry’s version [August 25, 2004].
Of course, Mr. Bush will not condemn the group doing his work; because he knows that there are dividends — consequences be damned. Just ask Mr. McCain. He knows how Bush & Co. operate, and the sort of dirty, nasty, stab-in-the-back ploys they use to stomp on the character of good and honorable men: just look at what Mr. Bush & Co. did to Mr. McCain during the 2000 Republican primary. Here’s Mr. McCain confronting Mr. Bush at the time.
My hat’s off to Mr. Bush & Co., however; because they’ve managed to distract us from far more important things going-on in our own time, not 35 years ago. Just today I read this: Distraught father torches self in Marine van. Florida man received news son had been killed in Iraq combat. [August 25, 2004]. About a week ago I posted the U.S. death toll in Iraq, it then stood at 936; the figure now stands at 967.
I’m hopeful that the American public will see through the lies of Mr. Bush & Co., and send him packing to his Crawford, TX, compound. Then, while Mr. Kerry gets on with the business of fixing the mess that Mr. Bush created, Republicans can focus on their own house. Perhaps they can start with the recommendations made by Mr. Buchanan in his book: Where the Right Went Wrong : How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency. [Amazon Link]
