Friday, August 05, 2005

Democratic Women vs. Republican Women

Pictures{1} often say more than words, that is all this Independent will say about it :)

Note:

{1} Though the above link is at a site dealing with Objectivism, my posting of the above link is not an endorsement of Objectivist philosophy.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Election Voting Fraud Revisited:

Though I have touched on it before -mainly in the aftermath of the 2004 elections and also briefly back in June{1}- it seems appropriate to revisit this subject again since new information has come to light confirming the previous intuitions of your humble weblog host. But first, it seems appropriate to remind readers of what has previously been posted to this weblog on the matter in the form of articles from the alternative media.

Those who have followed this weblog for a while know that We posted some articles on the 2004 election as well as on the 2000 election. However, such articles cannot claim to be an objective measure on these matters since to do that would involve an indepth study on the subject and not incidents in various locales which could be chalked up as anomalies rather than general trends or patterns. However, a recent non-profit and non-partisan{2} organization called the American Center For Voting Rights has put out a detailed report on the subject which was presented to the media under the following heading:

Democrat Operatives Far More Involved In Voter Intimidation And Suppression In 2004, Thousands Of Americans Disenfranchised By Vote Fraud On Election Day

Here is an HTML version of the report:

Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election

Among some of the findings in the report were the following:

In addition to recommended changes and a zero-tolerance commitment by the political parties, ACVR Legislative Fund has identified five cities as “hot spots” which require additional immediate attention. These cities were identified based on the findings of this report and the cities’ documented history of fraud and intimidation. ACVR Legislative Fund will work with national and state political parties, state legislators and local officials to create a process that supports local election officials in these cities and ensures that any effort to continue the historic pattern of fraud and intimidation in the 2006 election is exposed and stopped.

Here were the cities that they listed in order from one to five:

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Milwaukee, WI
3. Seattle, WA
4. St. Louis/East St. Louis, MO/IL
5. Cleveland, OH


Those who wondered why We at Rerum Novarum were making pessimistic predictions with regards to the Washington Governor's Heist "Election" and the obvious thievery that took place now have their answer. King County in Washington State has been a den of political corruption for a long time; ergo that they would be in the top five nationwide according to this study is no surprise whatsoever.{3} But enough on that matter for now and back to the survey itself.

The study itself can be summarized in the following statement from the "executive summary" of the report:

While Democrats routinely accuse Republicans of voter intimidation and suppression, neither party has a clean record on the issue. Instead, the evidence shows that Democrats waged aggressive intimidation and suppression campaigns against Republican voters and volunteers in 2004. Republicans have not been exempt from similar criticism in this area, as alleged voter intimidation and suppression activity by GOP operatives led the Republican National Committee to sign a consent decree repudiating such tactics in 1982. However, a careful review of the facts shows that in 2004, paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression efforts than their Republican counterparts.

The only point worth noting above is that the Republicans were merely alleged to have done this in the 1980 election; nonetheless, they took the allegations (be they true or not) seriously and publicly repudiated such tactics in 1982. By contrast, the Democrats have not only failed to take far more substantial allegations of fraud and voter intimidation seriously, but they have been resistent to approaches taken to stamp out voter fraud including (but not limited to) voters having to provide photo identification before being allowed to vote.

Not only have the Democrats not supported this measure but they have actually endorsed legislation to (i) give drivers licenses to illegal aliens and (ii) allow those getting their licenses to register to vote at the DMV. The so-called Motor Voter Bill (heavily promoted by Democratic Party legislators and signed into law by President Clinton in the 1990's) actually does not require DMV employees from asking if someone is an American citizen before asking them if they want to register to vote!!!{4} How any party which has actively supported such a measure -not to mention giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens- can be said to be serious about cutting down on voting fraud when they support legislation and practices that inexorably perpetuate fraud is a mystery to me my friends. That is not to say that the Republicans are without their problems too;{5} however, anyone who would claim that the two parties are wings of the same bird on this issue is sadly naive at best (and pathetically stupid at worst).


Notes:

{1} These are not the only postings to this weblog which have touched on the subject of election fraud. (See some of the audioposts listed in the side margin for more on the subject if interested.)

{2} The two directors of this organizations are affiliated with the different political parties (with the Democratic director once having a key post at the DNC) and they try to draw evenly from various political outlooks in order to remain non-partisan in their work. For this reason, the attempts of certain shrieking moonbats to spin this as a "Republican group" will not fly for those with a normal intact functioning brain.

{3} Sources like SoundPolitics have no shortage of things go cover as a result of the corruption in King County.

{4} Not to mention actually asking them to provide proof of citizenship before allowing them to vote.

{5} The fact that I have not affiliated myself in any way whatsoever with the Republican Party for almost nine years now would hopefully mitigate against accusation that I am somehow shilling for them here. (Those who are that misinformed are advised to check the archives of this weblog where I have had no shortage of serious criticisms of the Republicans.)

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Some people have waaaaaay too much freetime on their hands:

Who Wants To Marry A Founding Father?

Oh and for those who are interested, other than not dressing like him, having more hair (for now), and not looking like him, I am basically Alexander Hamilton.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Would you like to see
brittania rule again........my friend
All you have to do is follow the worms...


The following article illustrates well the kind of dry rot that comes from the mental disorder of extreme liberalism:

Stop and search: A tough choice

Get a load of the "guidelines" for police to follow when they raid the homes of suspected terrorists:

Leaked guidelines from the Bedfordshire force say that when officers raid Muslim homes they should remove their shoes, not use dogs and not mount pre-dawn raids because at that hour people might by 'spiritually busy'.

Yes, you have read that correctly: the bobbies are told not only not to raid at dawn but to remove their shoes before entering the houses of Muslim suspects. Those who wonder why Britain will not get a handle on the enemies within their midst need only keep in mind the kind of stupidity of "guidelines" as the ones noted above. It is the same kind of stupidity that permeates our own government policies in dealing with captured terrorists. I am left wondering when certain nitwit people are going to stop all of this politically correct drivel and recognize that (i) we are involved in a war and (ii) during a time of war, there is less freedom than there is when there is not a war going on. This is and must be the nature of things.

Recently, the United States Senate voted unanimously to make most of the Patriot Act permanent. I have no problem in principle with the Patriot Act; however, I have noted before (if memory serves) that it is imperfect and in need of some revisions. Particularly noxious to me is the idea of any legislation being considered "permanent." What is needed is sunset provisions{1} on every item in the budget and on every enacted piece of legislation. That is the only way we will ever get the federal leviathan under control and again bind it to its Constitutionally-outlined parameters.


Note:

{1} What problems do we have when government views our money as theirs and them returning to us what is ours as some "benevolent gesture"??? We need to educate these people on the truth of the fact that federal government delegated powers are limited and we need to start respecting the Constitution in reality and not just the abstract. I have a few quick proposals for going a significant way towards doing this:

---Abolish permanently the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

---Abolish permanently the modern rider option in congressional legislation methodology and replace it with the approach I will go over next.

---Enact a law that inserts into every budget proposal and program a sunset provision. The points of sunset can be staggered to some extent so the entire wheel is not reinvented at once. However, in every presidential cycle all budget items or federal programs should have to come up for renewal at least once. My proposed point for this is of course the midterm elections. (That way, turnout will be higher and of course it will keep our officials honest.)

And if the representatives do not do the latter, then we the people need to start the Constitutional Amendment process. In fact, maybe we need to start it from the ground up here. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 20, 2004)]

Monday, August 01, 2005

Miscellaneous Musings and Threads:
(On John Bolton, Etc.)

It is nice to see that the President took my advice{1} and recess appointed John Bolton to the UN ambassadorship. The reaction of the so-called "progressivists" was predictable -indeed I outlined in advance what it was and why it was so contradictory.{2} Now if only they will heed my advice on so-called "free trade" and the securing of the borders{3}, we will finally start getting somewhere. But enough on that subject for now.

According to Michelle Malkin, there is someone who actually posted a Top Ten Leftist Reactions to the Bolton Recess Appointment thread. It almost makes me repine for the days when that David Letterman schtick was still funny...but then as I seldom watch those shows anymore, maybe they have improved in recent years.

She also updates us on that waste-of-radio-bandwidth Air America and their continual financial problems and deteriorating market share -as well as of a veritable blogswarm on this subject. I doubt I can say anything new on the matter than what they have covered -and I say that having not read most of the threads of the blogswarm. However, one point bears reiteration until if finally sinks in so here goes:

If a conservative radio or TV network had gotten twice the ratings that Air America has gotten, it would have been put out of its misery a long time ago.

But that Air America continues on -despite its monumentally pathetic marketshare in most markets- only highlights yet again the double standard that exists out there.

Returning to the Bolton nomination subject for a moment, Beth at Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has weighed in with a prediction which I replicate here:

I’m calling the first moonbat conspiracy theory: who wants to bet that they say this is just to deflect attention from the Plame Game? Or, better yet, that Bushitler had King Fahd knocked off so he could sneak in Bolton’s appointment? Oh wait, I know…Bushitler appointed Bolton to deflect attention from Bushitler’s hit on King Fahd! Wheeeeee!

Don your tinfoil hats, kids, the moonbats are gonna be chattering like monkeys!

While not concurring with the expletives she utilizes in other parts of the above post, I certainly agree with her outlining of a probable moonbat conspiracy theory.{4}

In other news, Helen Thomas apparently is angry about certain comments of hers being published which she made to a journalist. Her words in a nutshell were these: "the day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself." Such thoughts are (of course) very disturbing to me...it would be better if someone put her in touch with Dr. Kevorkian so he could assist her with um...some...health care...yeah, that's what it is ;-)

Seriously though, (i) nothing is off the record when talking with a journalist that the journalist does not want off the record{5} and (ii) as a veteran in DC she should be smart enough to realize that.

Finally, SoundPolitics correctly notes where the real problems with voting in King County originate and it is not where County Chancellor Chairman Ron Sims and his little so-called "independent elections commission" think it is. But that is enough miscellany for now -though I may add more to this thread later today or perhaps tomorrow.


Notes:

{1} [W]hat can the Republicans do to avoid falling prey to the probabilities of history??? Well, I believe recess appointments are the key here. President Bush should appoint Bolton to the UN Ambassadorship in recess capacity and also appoint a bunch of the judges that the Democrats are unconstitutionally filibustering. That will ensure that they serve until January of 2007 and would make the subject of the judiciary and the UN appointment of Bolton election issues in 2006. In light of the fact that (i) most Americans do not appear to be enamoured of the judicial filibustering of the Democratic Party and (ii) in light of the general dislike of most Americans for the UN, these would be excellent election gambles for the Republicans to make. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa June 21, 2005)]

{2} On Bolton and Benedict and an Interesting Incongruity in the Positions of So-Called "Progressivists" --An Audio Post (circa April 23, 2005)

{3} These are subjects I revisited briefly (and in the case of "free trade" expounded upon in more detail) in this recent thread.

{4} And for which she wins today's "Grandmistress of the Obvious" award. When her prediction comes true (note I said when and not if), she can add a "Kreskin of the Week" Award to the trophy case too ;-)

{5} This is so obvious that perhaps it needs to be enshrined as McElhinney's Second Media Dictum presuming that the first one remains a dictum of course (and is not elevated to the scope of proverb after countless years of watching it be vindicated time and again on the part of the MSM).