And I have a piece up at the Examiner explaining why I think today is a better national holiday than July 4 or Thanksgiving.
“Today is Election Day, which to me has always seemed to be the most appropriate national holiday for our country – better than July 4 or Thanksgiving. Today, the powerful are reminded that they serve the powerless, and another link in our intricate set of checks and balances is renewed.”
And don’t forget to check out their election predictions.
Thanks for the link to the predictions…I note one is from blogger “Captain Ed” Morrisey. Today on Glenn Greenwald’s site, Glenn recounts an interview with Tony Snow on Rush Limbaugh’s radio propoganda show where Tony says something that indicates he thinks this guy is a real military captain. You gotta read the “whole thing”:http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/ to appreciate the context:
+++
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Just in case anyone needs a reminder about who they are
The Bush administration and the Rush Limbaugh Show have all but merged this year. Rush’s Bush co-host yesterday was Tony Snow, who chatted with Rush about many things, beginning with how terrible it is that “Democrats” hate the troops:
SNOW: You know, again, so I think what John Kerry’s comments did was reiterate the fact that Democrats tend to have a view of the military that is not always fully respectful and even when they say they’re supporting them, they’re undercutting them. I mean they not only undercut them by refusing to fund the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq (remember Senator Kerry voting for it before he voted against it?) but also constantly trying to undermine public confidence in that military by describing defeat what people on the ground see as hard-won victory. These people — don’t you think, Rush, these people — deserve our respect?
After Rush agreed that “there’s been no question that [Democrats have] been impugning the troops while trying to get credit for supporting them,” Snow explained why Democrats don’t have the respect for the troops which Snow and Rush have:
SNOW: No, that’s absolutely right, and the other thing is none of these folks have really spent enough time around the all volunteer military to understand we’ve got the best educated, the best trained, and also the most professional military we’ve ever had. These folks — and I know you’ve been out there. I remember when you went to Afghanistan. These people are amazing.
It only makes sense that the war hero Snow and his comrade-in-arms Limbaugh would have such an appreciation for the military because — as Snow suggests — they have devoted so much of their lives to military service, whereas Democrats like Jack Murtha, John Kerry, Wes Clark, Jim Webb, Patrick Murphy, Tammy Duckworth, Jay Fawcett and the rest of the cut-and-run, military-hating cowards (including the anti-Rumsfeld war critic Generals) don’t understand the military the way Rush and Snow do. They hate the troops because they haven’t “really spent enough time around” the military. Rush avoided the Vietnam draft under extremely suspicious circumstances (sometimes he claims it was due to a hurt knee and other times due to an anal cyst), but he visited Afghanistan, so he knows the hard, cold realities of war.
Snow then explained that Americans have been turned against the Iraq war not because it’s failed and wrong, but only because a propagandizing media only shows the bad things and hides the good things (“what they constantly get on television and newspapers is a failure narrative. They hear body counts, they don’t hear about successes”). Americans suffer from a Marxist-type false consciousness about the war.
As a result, Snow claimed, “the war is more popular in Iraq than it is in the United States because the Iraqis actually get to see the Americans in action.” If that’s true, then the war in America must be really, really unpopular, because:
_Almost four in five Iraqis say the U.S. military force in Iraq provokes more violence than it prevents.
_ About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces . . . About 61 percent approved of the attacks _ up from 47 percent in January. A solid majority of Shiite and Sunni Arabs approved of the attacks, according to the poll. The increase came mostly among Shiite Iraqis.
And:
The State Department, meanwhile, has also conducted its own poll, something it does periodically, spokesman Sean McCormack said. The State Department poll found that two-thirds of Iraqis in Baghdad favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces, according to The Washington Post. McCormack declined to discuss details of the department’s Iraq poll.
It is a rather compelling sign of just how freely and casually Bush officials lie when Snow claims that the war is popular among Iraqis even though the Government’s own poll shows that ” two-thirds of Iraqis in Baghdad favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces” and an independent poll shows that the same percentage of Iraqis generally — from both sides of the sectarian war — actually approve of violent attacks on U.S. troops, a percentage which has increased substantially this year.
After Rush — in one of the first questions — explained that “the Democrats have lost all white voters. They’ve lost women and they’ve lost –,” Snow cut him off but then agreed with Rush’s view, and Snow then revealed where he gets his analysis about the American electorate:
SNOW: They’ve lost men. They’ve lost women. Absolutely right, and I’m glad you pointed that out. Captain Ed Morrissey was one of the guys — I don’t know if you saw that this morning, but he was going through them. There have been really big shifts going on, and I think it’s kind of the natural by-product that people really taking a look at what Democrats are doing . . . .
The “Captain” reference is superb, because it shows — again — how Republicans know more about the military because they spend more time around it — like Captain Ed. Ed Morrissey is a nice and reasonable guy, but someone needs to tell Tony Snow that “Captain” is a nickname, a plaything, a fantasy — like the President’s fighter pilot costume, Rush and Snow’s in-depth and personal military expertise, and what Snow called the “miraculous” situation we brought about in Iraq. That’s all make-believe, but they don’t see a difference.
So to recap Snow’s arguments about why we should maintain the Republicans’ monopoly on political power: The situation in Iraq isn’t just sunny and great – it’s “miraculous.” Anyone who says otherwise is “undercutting” the troops. Americans are only against the war because the media has brainwashed them with lies about how things aren’t great in Iraq, but they really are going great.
Also, Iraqis love the war so much and want to have the occupation remain forever, because — unlike the Democrats — they’ve seen the U.S. military up close and personal and just absolutely love it. Finally, Democrats hate the military because “none of these folks” have been near the military, whereas Republican war heroes like Rush, Tony Snow and their other make-believe warriors understand the realities and complexities of war and they love the war and the military (from a safe distance).
Does anyone really think that this country can withstand two more years of this?
Voted in person in San Mateo County, CA. Always do it at the same time, so I have a rough metric of turnout. I’d say this one is a medium-heavy by-election in the Bay Area.
Paper ballots, BTW, with ‘No 2 pencil’ fill-in boxes, probably optically read at end of day. There was one new electronic voting machine per precinct at our location (3 precincts combined). Didn’t take the time to determine make and model, but the one guy who used ours while I was there commented to the election workers that paper would have been faster.
It used to be that folks would hitch up the horses, ride into town, and listen to a couple of guys standing on boxes hawking out the respective virtues of their candidates. Free beer and booze would abound (provided by the parties, of course) and fistfights were not unusual. There would be candy and outdoor entertainment for the kids, and after a day of celebrating (and arguing) with their neighbors, people would pack it up and head back to the farm.
Now we all sit around watching Tom Brokaw, posting on the web, and tossing various objects at the TV. I think I liked the days with the horses better.
In the south, where corn liquor was so abundant that businessmen gave it away free to their customers, it was customary to have a giant cask of shine for each party or candidate, with the candidate’s name painted on the side of it.
This was probably an effective low-tech way to control voter fraud. A man with a strong constitution could visit two or three polling places, max, then he’d be lucky if he could even find his way home again.
Andy X,
I supported the war in Iraq, but if you had told me in early 2003 that it would have taken the number of casualties that we have so far, and accomplished the establishment of a coalition government in Baghdad by now – I would have thought you were too optimistic. I expected more trouble from the shiites than we actually got in the south and larger scale resistance from the Sunni. Casualties have been lower than I feared going in.
Overall, things are going better than I thought they would have gone, to date. I had better hopes for infrastructure reconstruction by now when we first began however.
“A man with a strong constitution could visit two or three polling places, max, then he’d be lucky if he could even find his way home again.”
ROTFL.
And if he did find his way home, good luck guessing who he voted for.
Actually voting is a lot like a combination of a kegger and the circus. There is a build up where you look forward to doing it. You plan all the events and games. While it is going on there are spectacles and amazements for everybody — elephants and donkeys dancing and singing. You certainly enjoy it while it lasts, but it’s all over too quickly. Then you wake up in the morning wondering that bunch of clowns got in charge of everything.
It strikes me as interesting, Andy X, that the right wing nut jobs you mention, Rush and Snow, are not elected officials, one isn’t a member of government at all and the other is a appointed functionary.
By contrast, all of the left wing nut jobs you mention were elected. This includes one so stupid that despite basing his entire presidential campaign qualifications on the idea that he was in Vietnam, he actually told Tim Russert that he was smuggling weapons the enemy! This is like a WWII vet claiming he parachuted into France to deliver weapons to the Gestapo. Let’s not get into what he was surely thinking at the time: “Any American who actually knows Khymer Rouge from Koumintang won’t ever vote for me anyway, so what does it matter what I say to the dunces?”
I can only conclude that morons on the right stay on the sideline, those on the left are actually considered viable and (shudder) elected!
Oh lord, I pray, if the democrats actually take congress, would you bless them with an actual plan?
Ben
Didn’t 19th century elections also include feats of physical strength? I seem to recall partisans building competing towers during election day rallies.
I’d say turnout was slightly lower in my precinct this year, but I’ve heard that pre-election voting was high. I still think there is something special about election day. I took my 5 year old daughter with me and I think she would have had a lot less interest if we had stopped by the courthouse on any other day and did something that looked like an ATM transaction. There is still a residue of energy, something about facing your fellow voters, volunteers and party captains.
Not that a little booze and circuses wouldn’t be appreciated.
Andy X said:
“a plaything, a fantasy — like the President’s fighter pilot costume,”
G.W. Bush is/was a fighter pilot with the Texas Air National Guard. Even Dan Rather knows that too be true.
If you are going to try to start a flamewar, at least try doing it without a statement so blantantly false that we get to mock so quickly.
TY.
I got to my sleepy little Virginia mountain polling place by 6:30 this morning. There was already two people outside — one guy wanted me to vote to support marriage and a lady wanted me to vote for somebody I never heard of for clerk of the court. I told both of them I didn’t want any material.
Inside, they had new touch screens, and they were getting one voter a minute (which the older ladies told me was a very high number so far). I knew what my choices were, except for one of the ammendment questions and the clerk of the court job. I figured that lady standing out in the cold desrved something, so I voted for her candidate. Everybody said good morning to each other coming and going, and the parking lot of that little church was probably a lot busier than it is on Sundays.
To me, election day is one of the most special days in the year. It’s the big game, guys.
Any thing new on Sen. Santorum?
“Any thing new on Sen. Santorum?”
How about, “good riddance”. And that goes double for Lincoln Chafee. I got extemely sick and tired of seeing the GOP pour support behind those men during the primaries to prevent young idealistic conservatives off the ballot. The really annoying thing is that they weren’t really politically triangulating; they were just protecting one of thier own.
So seeing half the prominent RINO’s in the Senate getting kicked out by Democrats who ran to thier right has a certain measure of satisfication for me. In many of the races the GOP is losing in the Rust Belt, I would have been voting for the Democratic candidate as well. It’s a win win situation for me.
Looks like the Campaign to Consolidate Half the Worlds Petroleum Reserves in the Hands of a Few Extremist Shia might have hit a wee snag.
oops.
I thought the plan was to consolidate the worlds entire oil reserve in Bush’s swimming pool in Texas? I wish you conspiracy nuts would get your theories straight.
Anyway, I guess now we get to see the Dems balance the budget like they’ve been harping about. Right? Hello?
Pelosi scares me. House Committee Chairs appear set to go to the worst of the Democrats. The next two years are going to make Clinton’s relationship with Congress look like an episode of the Love Boat. And yet…
The Republicans in Congress didn’t deserve to win. Between Dumb and Dumber, the electorate decided to give Dumber a chance.
Can’t Wait for ’08.
So, um, how are the Sunnis and their close, close allies, moderate pro-democracy Shia, going to seize control of the oil when we cut and run?
The election predictions that were linked were overwhelmingly incorrect.
Unfortunately, there is no pundit’s licence to revoke, so these guys will continue their bad punditry, with the true believers paying no attention to how detached from reality their BS is.
Aso,
“G.W. Bush is/was a fighter pilot with the Texas Air National Guard. Even Dan Rather knows that too be true.
If you are going to try to start a flamewar, at least try doing it without a statement so blantantly false that we get to mock so quickly.”
The “is” in the above statement seems to indicate some detachment from reality. GWB is POTUS, but he ended his National Guard “service” some decades ago. In common English usage, “is” does not apply to past decades, but to current conditions. Even Clinton did not try to stretch the meaning of “is” that far.
But if codpieces and flightsuits on the deck of a carefully positioned carrier held offshore for a photo opportunity with a banner reading “Mission Accomplished” work for you, PT Barnum knew that many others like you are born every minute.