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BARCODED BALLOTS AND BALLOT MARKING DEVICES
BMDs pose a new threat to democracy in all 50 states...
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VIDEO: 'Rise of the Tea Bags'
Brad interviews American patriots...
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'Democracy's Gold Standard'
Hand-marked, hand-counted ballots...
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GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal 2012...
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The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...
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![]() | MORE BRAD BLOG 'SPECIAL COVERAGE' PAGES... |
READER COMMENTS ON
"Open Thread for February 2"
(63 Responses so far...)
COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
...
STOP_George
said on 2/2/2005 @ 10:22 am PT...
I have found the first comment made by Mitofsky since the damning report by USCountVotes.org refuting his conclusions. It's a beauty!!!
update at:
COMMENT #2 [Permalink]
...
Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 11:26 am PT...
Oh, good! Thank you, Winter Patriot. Let's hope this thread spins out as well as Friday's.
Boy, Stop_George, one gets a little suspicious when people whose profession it is to be logical end up entangling themselves in tautology! I think that Brad, et.al., marveled at this paradox earlier this month. What or who is silencing the "pros?"
COMMENT #3 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 11:49 am PT...
Here's a polemic, but a good, rousing one to start off your blogging day. Keep up the good fight!
COMMENT #4 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/2/2005 @ 12:15 pm PT...
COMMENT #5 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/2/2005 @ 12:48 pm PT...
Hi everyone! Been too busy to check in on my favourite blog today until now.
See this scary article:
Proposed Social Security changes
Boy, I feel sorry for all you 55 and unders. Are there ever going to be a lot of poverty-stricken seniors in the not too distant future if these changes go through. I don't know about down there, but in Canada it's a struggle just to live day to day and I sure can't see our "youngsters" having the luxury to choose to invest in their pension plan.
I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard that in Canada in 1990 average citizens were contributing to their private pension plans to the tune of 20% of their wages. Due to the lack of wages keeping up with inflation and just plain old increases in absolutely everything, by 2002 that had decreased to 0.
I can swear that what'll happen is that not only will people be able to afford to buy a home, but they also won't have a pension when they retire.
While the rich get richer........
Scary times ahead.
COMMENT #6 [Permalink]
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Nana
said on 2/2/2005 @ 1:44 pm PT...
Are presidents required to have psychological exams as part of a yearly physical? I'm not being facetious (this time) This guy is flat out nutty, and he is getting worse from the pressure of the job, it would seem.
COMMENT #7 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 2:13 pm PT...
Hi Nana -
If there were such a requirement, * could probably define "sanity," by presidential fiat, to be whatever he decides it is. After all, "truth," "liberty," "freedom," and "torture," among many other concepts, have been transformed before our very eyes.
COMMENT #8 [Permalink]
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Winter Patriot
said on 2/2/2005 @ 2:26 pm PT...
re #6&7
He did in fact 'postpone' his most recent scheduled physical exam. Rumors on the net suggested concerns over mental health as the primary reason. But of course you can never believe what you read on the net.
COMMENT #9 [Permalink]
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cd
said on 2/2/2005 @ 4:21 pm PT...
Re: Peg C.'s #7-
The president didn't even need to proclaim by fiat, but Merriam-Webster on-line now lists the president's mispronunciation of "nuclear" (we all know what that is) as acceptable! That is the mark of an emperor or a king!! A king of Spain once upon a time had a lisp, and to avoid embarassing him, his subjects all adopted the affectation of mispronouncing "s" as "th." Today the Castillian, high class pronunciation of Spanish still includes this lisp. Let's hold the line and be clear, it's "nu-clear!" I'm contacting Merriam-Webster.
COMMENT #10 [Permalink]
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cd
said on 2/2/2005 @ 4:23 pm PT...
COMMENT #11 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 5:57 pm PT...
CD - Gag!!! Ugh!!! Yuck!!! And so, pretty soon, nobody will be permitted to have an I.Q. that's higher than his, I suppose? Or will the American Association of Psychiatrists and Psychologists award him an honorary "genius" degree? Oh no. I forgot. He's already bragged about his "C"-student status.
COMMENT #12 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 7:25 pm PT...
Isn't anyone else out there avoiding the SOTU this evening, as I am? Oh, I'll read it, maybe, but I can't stand the sound of his voice or the very sight of him. They make me physically ill. I mean, really.......
COMMENT #13 [Permalink]
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LGM
said on 2/2/2005 @ 7:50 pm PT...
I did intend to avoid it, but then I peeked. I feel disgust, hatred and revulsion when I see him. And when I hear him being applauded, I want to wretch. He did get some audible dissapproval on some of his Social Security comments. That was unexpected and surprisingly welcome. Hopefully you all caught Reid's and Pelosi's responses afterward. I may be crazy, but I laugh my ass off when I watch this musical number after seing Bush. It is incredible how life imitates art and history repeats itself.
COMMENT #14 [Permalink]
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Arry
said on 2/2/2005 @ 8:10 pm PT...
I was just pondering the "nucular" thing and wondering just how far dumbing down can go. To the moron level? To complete slobbering idiocy? Is there a limit?
I can't watch him either. He is dishonestry personified and I can't find a chink in his armor of hypocrisy. I guess part of it is also knowing that millions of people are taking it in, listening to "our president". I get queasy just thinking about it.
Well, remember, Gore Vidal thinks Social Security will be the neocon Waterloo. (One can hope.)
COMMENT #15 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/2/2005 @ 9:34 pm PT...
Nope, I made it a point to not watch. It's not healthy to have such high blood pressure just before bedtime.
COMMENT #16 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/2/2005 @ 9:57 pm PT...
Right you are, Cheryl. Nightmares attendant thereto are the least of it...
Who else besides Winter Patriot has heard a whisper of "mental health" issues. I'd love a link.
COMMENT #17 [Permalink]
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Teresa
said on 2/2/2005 @ 10:55 pm PT...
That's what I love about you all. You aren't masochists! Just say 'no' to these endless ridiculous hokey badly written and delivered speeches. An insult to intelligent life.
Really... I find other sites go like vultures to the negativity, but not you guys.
So, here's a report. I did not, true to Bradblogger form, try to endure the attempted speech. I did, however, tune in a couple of times without sound to check out the facial expressions.
Cheney looked awful trying to get up and down with all the standing O's.
There was one absolutely disgusting moment when they payed a tribute to a couple who lost a son in Iraq. While %$#!!*'s face was calm before, at that moment he took on a very peculiar expression and became visibly agitated, overpowering his meds. The other thing was that the tearful, rather ugly woman, was wearing a ""blue dress"! I thought that was odd.
The whole moment was hideous. You are most fortunate that you missed it.
Another disgusting thing was the purple inked fingertips that some of them held up in solidarity with the Iraqi suckers. Shades of purple band-aids from the Republican convention.
These people are viscerally unbearable.
COMMENT #18 [Permalink]
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STOP_George
said on 2/2/2005 @ 11:13 pm PT...
The foreign policy part of the speech reminded me of the "Mission Accomplished" charade a couple of years back.
Bush declared the major combat to be over in 2003, yet that turned out to be, at the very least, wishful thinking.
Today, Bush tried to justify the thousands of dead Iraqis and Americans by praising the fact that Iraqis voted and "freedom" has overcome terror.
Although I will agree that the Iraqis were, indeed, courageous for voting under such chaos --- I do believe they are also very naive to believe that "freedom" will be the result of casting their ballots that day.
This "wishful thinking" will turn to utter resentment amongst all Iraqis when they discover that this idea of "freedom" was merely another propaganda tool in the name of PNAC approved American imperialism in the Middle-East.
When I inevitably hear the U.S. mainstream news drool over the "powerful" image of the Iraqi woman and American mother hugging each other, I will always remember that this symbollic hug would have been infinitely more powerful and meaningful if the Iraqi mother's son had died as a result of this illegal invasion.
COMMENT #19 [Permalink]
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Winter Patriot
said on 2/2/2005 @ 11:16 pm PT...
Do you read the Illustrated Daily Scribble? This is a good one.
COMMENT #20 [Permalink]
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Teresa
said on 2/2/2005 @ 11:27 pm PT...
Yo ho ho Winter!
Sorry, please excuse me, but spreading freedom, my ass. More like spreading shit!!
COMMENT #21 [Permalink]
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STOP_George
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:30 am PT...
U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror
"United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam ... The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government ..."
- New York Times - September 4, 1967.
Check out this article from Antonia Zerbisias (from the Toronto Star). She hits it smack dab on the head.
COMMENT #22 [Permalink]
...
Teresa
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:35 am PT...
IT DAWNED ON ME TONIGHT!
And maybe some of you experts on warfare techniques can help me out.
A few days ago I heard Scott Ritter, Marine and ex UN weapons inspector say that the neocons aim in Iraq is to incite a civil war, thus seizing total control.
A bell went off in my head. That must be why they announced the attack on Fallujah ahead of time knowing that the resistance fighters would be gone. It is to their advantage to keep the insurgents alive and kicking.
I think they are shooting at all Iraqis, terrifying and inflaming them, and pretending to go after the so-called insurgents. Why do they keep killing innocent civilians and then saying, "Oops. so sorry. It was a mistake."
That's why it is so peaceful around the elections. The Americans have stopped shooting at them, so they could vote. They also forced them into voting, and the opposite for those they didn't want to vote.
The puppet government , in collusion with the US, is murdering and torturing its own people.
Demockracy. Yeah. They're going to stay the course so as to help these newly sovereign liberated friends of theirs on their march to freedom.
I wonder what part Sistani is playing in this? any ideas?
COMMENT #23 [Permalink]
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Teresa
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:52 am PT...
Oh, and don't forget the unguarded weapons cache. Left for the taking, perchance?
COMMENT #24 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:21 am PT...
Has anyone else been watching those stupid CNN polls since Nov.? I remember answering their daily question and then being amazed at the fact that every single time I answered I was definitely in the minority. Since the election my answers have been in the majority. I'm the same person giving the same answers. What's up with that?
When the question asks anything about Bush the response has been usually in the 70/30 to 60/40 against.
I'm not being very articulate here but what I'm saying is that looking at the CNN polls these days it's difficult to believe that Bush *won* based on response. Where before it was very obvious that he had good support. Interesting.
COMMENT #25 [Permalink]
...
DaWookie
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:30 am PT...
Light needs darkness.
Good needs evil.
Heaven needs hell.
The US military-industrial complex needs a bogeyman.
Otherwise, how would they be able to justify taking tax dollars from poor people (making them poorer) and giving it to rich people (making them richer)?
As an aside, how many of the bogeyman that have haunted the US since WWII have been it's bestest buddy at some point? A partial list:
Ho Chi minh (trained and armed to fight the japanese in WWII).
Saddam Huessein (ditto for Iran)
Osama bin Laden (ditto for the Russians in Afganistan)
Manuel Noriega (Before he cut out the CIA middleman and started shipping cocaine into florida for himself).
There are probably others...
Vive le revolutions, mon braves.
COMMENT #26 [Permalink]
...
cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:49 am PT...
COMMENT #27 [Permalink]
...
cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 8:18 am PT...
I think this is what Cuthbert was trying to articulate the other day. Check out Tues., Feb. 1 posting.
COMMENT #28 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/3/2005 @ 8:25 am PT...
Well, shades of Iran-Contra! Now isn't this special?
"Documents obtained by CNN reveal the United States knew about, and even condoned, embargo-breaking oil sales by Saddam Hussein's regime, and did so to shore up alliances with Iraq's neighbors."
COMMENT #29 [Permalink]
...
KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/3/2005 @ 8:36 am PT...
Anybody here able to get to "Velvet Revolution" today? I'm getting a "service unavailable" message.
COMMENT #30 [Permalink]
...
Dredd
said on 2/3/2005 @ 9:00 am PT...
stop_george #21.
Perfect. That says it all.
Thank you!!!
COMMENT #31 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/3/2005 @ 10:00 am PT...
Maureen Dowd is in fine form today. I wonder how much longer paleontology will be taught in public universities. I wonder how much longer ANYTHING will be taught...
COMMENT #32 [Permalink]
...
cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 11:33 am PT...
Hi Kes,
I have no trouble getting through to VR.
COMMENT #33 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 11:45 am PT...
Well, it sounds like the GOP may be demonstrating a few balls, but it's certainly not enough when everyone in the world knows that Bushco create the plan as they go along. If I was an American under 55 I'd be terrified about retirement.
COMMENT #34 [Permalink]
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czaragorn
said on 2/3/2005 @ 11:54 am PT...
I was just perusing pootus's SOTA and the phrase "frivolous asbestos lawsuits" caught my attention. I seriously doubt that people suffering from asbestosis or a host of other asbestos-associated diseases would deem their complaints "frivolous," especially since there are reams of evidence that the asbestos makers were all too aware of the risks long before they became public knowledge. Remember "Kent with the Micronite Filter"? That filter contained neato asbestos, even though the makers knew all about the cancer problem in the early 50s, and, in fact, long before that. So I fail to see the frivolity. But wait! It so happens that Halliburton not long ago bought a company with huge asbestos exposure! Do you suspect it might all make more sense now? I've heard it's good fun, in fact quite a hoot, to sell people a product that will kill them one day, as long as you're raking in the bucks... Disgusting
COMMENT #35 [Permalink]
...
Peg C
said on 2/3/2005 @ 12:27 pm PT...
Right, Czaragorn,
I'd read about the Halliburton asbestos problem a couple of months ago. As if they can't rake it in fast enough by ripping off U.S. taxpayers, they have to be protected from being forced to pay damages to their victims. I wonder how many extra "shower curtains" H's CEOs will be able to buy once those "frivolous lawsuits" can no longer be brought.
COMMENT #36 [Permalink]
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Teresa
said on 2/3/2005 @ 12:30 pm PT...
Even though I was raised by an oddball, revolutionary mother, there was dignity and respect in the mix. I thought that the State of the Union address by the President of the United States was supposed to be a classy, serious, and formal affair. That hideous, cornball display of cheap emotion and purple fingers last night is more than I can bear.
If your going to lie for an hour and ten minutes, can't you do so with just a little bit of grace?
COMMENT #37 [Permalink]
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Winter Patriot
said on 2/3/2005 @ 1:02 pm PT...
It seems everyone is hurting these days except the oil companies.
COMMENT #38 [Permalink]
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Jill
said on 2/3/2005 @ 1:47 pm PT...
I am interested in reading a book about US military intervention in the govt of other nations, for ex. things the US has done to S. American nations. Also, I want to read a good book about 9-11 and the case for it being an inside job. I want a well written, but easy read. Can anyone recommend any good books? I know about serendipity website, they have lots of info out there including great info on 9-11. But I do not like to read a lot of stuff on the computer, my eyes can't take it.
COMMENT #39 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/3/2005 @ 2:36 pm PT...
Okay, so the US did business with Iraq, violating UN sanctions..now they're doing business with Iran, violating US law (you can read in the article how they're getting around that - sneaky bastards).
And as a bonus, Halburton's already got a foot in the door when Israel attacks Iran on our behalf!
Haliburton Does Business With Axis of Evil
I think I need to skip national news tonight, I'm getting reality overload. I'm gonna go NOT think for awhile.
COMMENT #40 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 2:58 pm PT...
Hi Teresa #36,
You would think so wouldn't you? Although about the only thing no one can criticise this Administration for is class and/or grace.
COMMENT #41 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:06 pm PT...
Okay, this one made me laugh so I HAD to put it here. I'm not a big country music fan, but I know that there are two people you NEVER badmouth in Tennessee - Elvis and Dolly. She is one funny, feisty lady. (And yes, we really do talk like that *grins*)
The last paragraph pretty much sums it up.
Enjoy.
Dr Dobson, Be Advised - Don't Mess With Feisty Tennessee Women
COMMENT #42 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:08 pm PT...
The mother of a American soldier killed in Iraq and the daughter of an Iraqi man killed in Saddam Hussein's regime hug at the SOTU address, sparking an *electrical* moment.
Would it have been the same I wonder if Bushco had brought over the mother of an Iraqi young man killed by *his* soldiers?
COMMENT #43 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 3:12 pm PT...
Kes #41,
That's hilarious!! This line jumped out at me right away:
"Focus on the Family refers to love as "a Trojan horse".
That wouldn't be as in (Trojan) condom, would it?
COMMENT #44 [Permalink]
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czaragorn
said on 2/3/2005 @ 4:14 pm PT...
That's funny, Cheryl - I caught the same Trojan association - these folks are really repressed...
COMMENT #45 [Permalink]
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Teresa
said on 2/3/2005 @ 5:03 pm PT...
A real "electric moment" was when they placed wires on the Iraqui's testicles. For petty theft.
COMMENT #46 [Permalink]
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Peg C
said on 2/3/2005 @ 6:30 pm PT...
Teresa (#36) - Dignity and grace take a modicum of good breeding and a respect for others. * trying to look "dignified" is * appearing as he really is: a pompous, haughty, arrogant, mean-spirited fool who used to pee on car tires and now sprays all over the U.S. Constitution. And his good buddies are those red-neck hooligans in Brooks Brothers suits who just can't wait to get their hands on whatever other Americans have managed, by hook or by crook, to hold on to.
Is that a recipe for graceful behavior? *Sigh* Where has all the honor gone...?
COMMENT #47 [Permalink]
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Winter Patriot
said on 2/3/2005 @ 6:55 pm PT...
Have you read this yet?
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Republican members of Congress, carefully selected guests, and fellow Red-Staters: America this evening is a nation called to great responsibilities. And we are rising to escape them.
As we gather tonight, hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on whatever my War Cabinet defines as terror. By bringing cluster bombs to the oppressed, and delivering the violent from justice, they are making America more dangerous. (Applause.)
It goes on and on. Read The Corrected Text of the State of the Union Address if you need a good irreverant laugh.
COMMENT #48 [Permalink]
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STOP_George
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:21 pm PT...
The Ohio Election Fraud Story Continues:
Looks like ol' Kenneth Blackwell's (SOS for Ohio) attempt to punish the lawyers who charged him with election fraud has backfired:
Ohio Attorney-General's attack on election protection attorneys draws mountain of documentation on state's stolen election, including new study on exit polls
by Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
COMMENT #49 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:29 pm PT...
OMG. It would be funny Winter, if it weren't all true.
COMMENT #50 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:31 pm PT...
Hey Czaragorn!
Do you think they really didn't catch it themselves? Is it possible to be that repressed? Hard to believe...
COMMENT #51 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/3/2005 @ 7:41 pm PT...
COMMENT #52 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/3/2005 @ 8:59 pm PT...
My 12 year old and I watched the video together, and get this - he said, "Mom, I think the guy who said that (meaning Dobson) must be gay and doesn't want to admit it"
From the mouths of babes...
COMMENT #53 [Permalink]
...
STOP_George
said on 2/3/2005 @ 10:13 pm PT...
MORE ON "THE RECTANGULAR BULGE":
David Lindorf provides solid evidence that a major devastating story on the Bush rectangular "bulge" story was killed by the New York Times (and chosen to be ignored by other mainstream media) because it would affect the election results.
Read:
The Emperor's New Hump
COMMENT #54 [Permalink]
...
HARDWICKDEM
said on 2/4/2005 @ 4:06 am PT...
For another, I think more likely, explanation of the "bulge" look at this link
http://houston.indymedia...g/news/2004/12/35839.php
I firmly believe that any Rove "remote control device" would be so tiny as to be entirly un-noticeable.
COMMENT #55 [Permalink]
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Da Wookie
said on 2/4/2005 @ 7:31 am PT...
It could have been an external brain pack - the whole world knows that he needs one.
Karl Rove doesn't need an RC device, dubya couldn't put together a sentence (and I'm not even thinking of a coherent one) without King Karl's hand up his arse.
COMMENT #56 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/4/2005 @ 7:54 am PT...
COMMENT #57 [Permalink]
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Paul
said on 2/4/2005 @ 8:21 am PT...
> My 12 year old and I watched the video together, and get this - he said, "Mom, I think the guy who said that (meaning Dobson) must be gay and doesn't want to admit it"
Your child should be disciplined for speaking that way. If not, you are a terrible mother!
Brilliant speech by Bush. Thank you liberals for helping Bush destroy the Democratic Party as we know it.
COMMENT #58 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/4/2005 @ 8:55 am PT...
Get lost Paul!
COMMENT #59 [Permalink]
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cheryl
said on 2/4/2005 @ 8:56 am PT...
New update on *bogus* elections here
COMMENT #60 [Permalink]
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STOP_George
said on 2/4/2005 @ 8:57 am PT...
Just remember kiddies, that the bulge story is not just about the possibility of the president cheating in all 3 debates (or having a major health problem). It is also about the U.S. mainstream media that utterly failed the American public yet again --- even after being shamed into admitting that the cause of the illegal Iraq war was largely due to them.
The bulge story was different, though. You only needed 2 eyes and the ability to ask a question: "What is it?" And then to have the integrity to ask a tough follow-up question --- especially after being blatantly lied to. The press did not have to worry about the partisan nature of the question. It was the most objective issue of the whole 2004 campaign.
The way the mainstream media handled this simple (but important) story was direct proof that something is extremely rotten with the 4th estate.
If the big media can't even handle something this clear-cut then there is no hope for other more sophisticated issues.
That is why that David Lindorf article is so important.
COMMENT #61 [Permalink]
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Winter Patriot
said on 2/4/2005 @ 9:14 am PT...
lol @ # 58
COMMENT #62 [Permalink]
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KestrelBrighteyes
said on 2/4/2005 @ 3:31 pm PT...
lol @ #57
Ah, I sooo love the smell of ignorance on a cold winter's day....smells like..well, ignorance *L*
Paul - No dear, I taught my son to think for himself, and to be honest - which means he'll NEVER be a good Republican. But, thanks for trying, normally one would have to seek out a redneck in a beer hall to get your level of parenting advice - and since I don't do beer halls (or rednecks)....
Head south, little boy, this southern lady needs to teach you some manners!
COMMENT #63 [Permalink]
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STOP_George
said on 2/4/2005 @ 10:28 pm PT...
Hey, Paul:
Still watching your daily diet of Fox News?
MISTRUTH: Anne Coulter Believes Canada Sent Troops to Vietnam