Not Looking Good

1:00 AM PST

Bush - 246

Kerry - 242

Looks like Ohio will go to Bush.

Nevada and New Mexico not in yet.

If Bush wins, and it looks like he will, by a slight majority, the brain dead of this country will have elected one of their own, Stupid bastards.

I'm almost ashamed to be an American right now.

Good Night.

Ohio (Election blogging)*

MSNBC says Ohio too close to call. NC and VA also.

Update: 20:00:

Ohio still too close. So's Florida. Kerry gets Vermont, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, and D.C.

Missouri too close. NC still too close.

Update: 20:10:

Obama in for Illinois Senate. Yeah!

Update: 20:25:

NC went under. Shit.

Update: 20:40:

Ohio's REAL close live results here.

Update: 20:45:

VA went to Bush too. Looks like it's split along the Mason-Dixon.

Update: 20:53:

MSNBC reports long lines in Ohio. A federal judge has ruled that people stuck on staggeringly long lines may file paper ballots. They're looking at 6 hour waits. Amazing turnout.

Update: 21:05:

Kerry gets NY (Yay!) and RI.

FL, CO, NM, OH, MO, too close.

Electoral Votes 156-112 for Bush.

21:15: The lids are gettin' heavy and I gotta shut off the laptop before I fall asleep and dump it on the floor. Been up since 3 and 4 comes awful early in the morn. I leave you in my partner Gordon's more than capable hands. I hope to wake to a victory by John Kerry. If not, I've decided to go from being a blogger to freedom fighter. See ya in Gitmo!


*At least until I fall asleep.

The Nine

Most important reasons to vote for John Kerry. From Bob Harris:



If you haven't voted yet, put down that burrito and go. NOW!

Turnout

Is outstanding in the swings. See Kos.

Melanie too.

Update: 17:50:

Zogby calls it for Kerry. Atrios.

Paper posts Bush Win

From Blue Lemur. They only forgot one little thing.....the election! Thanks again, Bubba.

A pat on the back

To all of us from one of the big fish of the Left Wing Blogosphere, Kevin Hayden at The American Street. Thank you too, Kevin.

Why You Should Vote

Molly Ivins has some good reasons why. Via Working For Change.

Look at it this way. Voting whitens your teeth, sweetens your breath and perks up your sex life. Voting is new and improved, stops the heartbreak of psoriasis and improves your gas mileage. Voting makes you feel virtuous, is your patriotic duty and entitles you, absolutely free, to four years of guilt-proof gritching about what's wrong with the country. Those who do not vote forfeit the right to complain.

Voting prevents underarm stains, ring-around-the-collar, carpet odor and dust bunnies. Exercising your franchise will firm and tone both your abs and your glutes, as well as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. Casting your ballot makes that unsightly flab on your upper arms disappear, while toning the biceps. Using your suffrage takes weight off your thighs and makes you a more pleasant person all-around. There are countless recorded cases of people whose personalities improved dramatically after voting.

Voting improves your children's manners, renders your dog more obedient and prompts your spouse to take on more household chores. Also, voting is the only way to make political ads go away.

Boy, I feel and smell better already!

A Smattering of Wolcott

James Wolcott is in rare form today. Here are some excerpts from several posts:

If the press who hailed Bush after 9/11, salivated over his aircraft-carrier landing, and immediately (erroneously) claimed the Bin Laden tape gave his campaign a last minute fillip is in the tank for Kerry, they've done a genius job of disguising it. And I admire the way every conservative blogger manages to omit Fox News, talk radio, Clear Channel, and Sinclair broadcasting from their j'accuse of media interference.

I am preparing myself for either outcome today. Should Kerry win, I will post an important statement called "A Time for Healing," or something equally noble-sounding. Should Bush win, I shall post a statement of philosophical resignation tentatively titled "Good, Go Ahead, America, Choke on Your Own Vomit, You Deserve to Die." The latter will probably require a little more tweaking.

Don't let anyone con you that New Yorkers are so tough, resilient, unphased by adversity; practically everyone I know is a neurotic basket case over this election, ready to call their mothers to see if they can have their old womb back should Bush win. My plan is, If Bush wins, I'm going to allot myself 48 hours to mope and dread--okay, 72--okay, maybe 96--but 96 tops--but after that it'll be time to get on mental war footing. If Kerry wins, do you think conservative Republicans are going to take to their beds for soul-searching? They have no souls to search, most of them. No, they'll be scheming to ratfuck a Kerry presidency, and if history is a reliable guide they'll have allies in the elite media who can't wait to start snarking over Teresa as First Lady and the timidity of Kerry's cabinet picks, whatever. Reporters and pundits who've paid scant attention to the casualties and carnage in Iraq will suddenly find their consciences tucked away in a file drawer, and start wondering when Kerry will show the strength and resolve we expect from our leaders. They will hound him about Bin Laden in ways they never did Bush.

Is this guy good or what?

Cardboard and Trash Bags For Democracy

Mrs. G and I arrived at our polling place at about 10 after 7. There were about twelve people ahead of us. I don't know if that's unusual or not as we usually vote in the early evening. Today, Mrs. G wanted to wear her "I Voted" sticker to work, so we went early. The most dramatic moment occurred when the line stalled for a minute right beside a table holding a couple dozen donuts for the poll workers. The drama ended with Mrs. G's withering look, which said in no uncertain terms: "Eat
their donut = walk home."

Our polling place is in the Truckee-Donner Public Utility District building, in the Board meeting room. A lot of local political drama takes place here and some of it is televised on our local cable access channel. Water and power is heady stuff in a small town.

We have seen a lot of stuff on TV about all the fancy new electronic voting machines and how they may all be rigged by 'Pubs or hackers. It's not going to be a problem in Truckee.

We were issued our two-page ballots in a folder along with a #2 pencil and proceeded to a voting booth. Our voting booths are made of cardboard, with half a trash bag for a privacy curtain. Nothing but the best for us! Democracy will stand for no less!

For the devil-may-care types, there were tables at which to sit, out in the open for all the world to see. I chose a booth, Mrs. G the table. She's a wild woman, I tell you!

The poll lady tore the stubs off our ballots and directed us to put the ballots in the ballot box, but not the folder. I remarked that it was like not putting the McDonalds tray in the trash along with the empty McFood wrappers. This got a laugh. These people are bored. They have to be there 'til 8pm, too. Patriots all.

There was no line when we left. We were parked next to a car with a B**h-C****y sticker. I managed to wrest control of the wheel away from Mrs. G and foiled her attempt to ram it.

We stopped at 7-11 for a fancy coffee for Mrs. G and a breakfast burrito for me.

Now the waiting. For once, I'm glad my teeth are safely in a jar. Otherwise, I would likely chew my fingernails off down to about my elbows.

Yeah!

The Mrs. and I were the 3rd and 4th people to vote in our precinct, the 'D' line all the way. We were there 20 minutes early and the parking lot was filling up as we left. All the poll workers said the same thing. They've never seen it this busy so early and they were expecting a record day. This is NY, solidly for Kerry and turnout is supposed to be record. I love it!

Election Day

I'm wound up and I can't sleep. It's 3:30 a.m. in NY and the polls open in 2 1/2 hours. The Mrs. is working from home today so we'll be waiting there when they open. I haven't had this feeling in close to 20 years. Like the balloon's just gone up. This is D-Day, the troops have been training up for four years, and all that's left is to get to it. My rifle's clean, my gear is squared away, and the straps on my 'chute are tight. We're standing in the door, ready to jump out into the night. Tally ho, boys and girls. We'll count the dead and wounded when it's over.

Apropos Of Nothing...

On my "Welcome to Dellnet powered (?) by MSN" home page today was a picture of Dubya. Right next to it, entirely unrelated, was a topic line for a news story: "Calming a Moody Toddler." Ha! I just wanted to share.

Marine Vet Sounds Off

Corporal Sean Huze sounds off after being back from Iraq for a while. From AlterNet.

I know the real transition in me happened when my eyes were opened – when I realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction. I realized that Saddam Hussein was not a threat to not just the United States but to any of the countries on his borders. That there was no tie to Sept. 11. And these were what I now believe were intentional misrepresentations and manipulation.

When you realize this, then you don't have anything to balance everything you've seen and been through. You're just stuck with it. And it hurts. You have to deal with what you've already been through – the death and destruction that's haunting you. But now you're also dealing with a sense of betrayal that you'd trusted most. That's what I was left with – what I'm still left with.

So in terms of change, I now don't have any faith in the policymakers of this administration. We all collectively as a nation allowed ourselves – and I was part of that – to fall for this "You're either with us or against us" and therefore "You're either a patriot or with the terrorists" thinking. And if those are the only two choices, then of course I'm a patriot.

So one of the things that has changed for the positive is that it helped me realize that true patriotism is questioning our leaders. That's what our country is founded on. That's what men like me put our lives on the line to defend. So protesting the war does not equate with protesting those of us in uniform. It's not unpatriotic to want to get our guys home from the war zone.

My immediate hope is a change of leadership right here in this country. I think regime change in the United States of America is the most important and critical regime change needed in the world right now.

Ask the man who's been there. Read it.

A good idea

Bring a camera.

Security moms

I got something for you whiny, 'I'm scared of my own shadow' women who are voting for Bush just because he promises to keep you safe. Shut the fuck up! That's right, shut the fuck up and quit whining. Do you think John Kerry won't keep you safe? He's killed women and children, for God's sake. He actually knows how to 'smoke folks out of their holes and kill 'em'. If you're voting for Bush for that reason, you're a fucking moron. ANY woman who would vote for this right wing, Christo-fascist agenda is a fucking moron. Do you want your womb under surveillance? In another four years, Ashcroft just might be checking around in there. Wake up and quit worrying, you're really pissing me off.

Update: 16:35:

More. Kevin T Kieth at Lean Left.

I dunno . . . some women might think they'd have more control over their lives if they had fewer children and didn't let someone else make their decisions for them . . . but those wouldn't be right-wing women.

Cronkite On Rove/Osama

From CNN Transcripts. Larry King talking with Walter Cronkite about the OBL video. The transcript is way too long to read unless you really like this shit, but here is what I think is the best part after scrolling right to it using my patented center-scan-key-words speed-reading technique:

KING: OK, Walter. What do you make of this?

CRONKITE: Well, I make it out to be initially the reaction that it's a threat to us, that unless we make peace with him, in a sense, we can expect further attacks. He did not say that precisely, but it sounds like that when he says...

KING: The warning.

CRONKITE: What we just heard. So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing. The advantage to the Republican side is to get rid of, as a principal subject of the campaigns right now, get rid of the whole problem of the al Qaqaa explosive dump. Right now, that, the last couple of days, has, I think, upset the Republican campaign.

The next few hundred paragraphs are worth reading as well, as they expand on this.

Hey, Cronkite single-handedly pointed out the futility of the Vietnam War. Age has certainly not diminished his capacity for clear thinking. Get 'em, Wally!

Republicans Fear Bush

See, there are some smart Republicans. The ones quoted in this article in The Nation are not your snake-handlin', gun-totin', trailer-trash types, either.

Also, at the top of the page you can sign a letter from some prominent American Hebrews to the Next President calling for a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They'll see my decidedly non-Hebrew name and wonder what's the goy up to. Update: Maybe you can sign it. It wasn't there when I checked the link.

If the United States had major media that covered politics, as opposed to the political spin generated by the Bush White House and the official campaigns of both the Republican president and his Democratic challenger, one of the most fascinating, and significant, stories of the 2004 election season would be the abandonment of the Bush reelection effort by senior Republicans.

Former Republican members of the US Senate and House, governors, ambassadors, aides to GOP Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush have explicitly endorsed the campaign of Democrat John Kerry. For many of these lifelong Republicans, their vote for Kerry will be a first Democratic vote. But, in most cases, it will not be a hesitant one.

"In a dangerous epoch -- made more so by a president who sees the world in stark black and white because simplicity polls better and fits into sound bites -- John Kerry may seem out of place. He is, in fact, in exactly the right place at the right time to lead our country."

"I have always been, and I still am, a registered Republican, but I shall enthusiastically vote for John Kerry for president on November 2... If the Bush administration stays in power four more years, it will pack the Supreme Court with neocons who reject the idea that the Constitution is a living document designed to protect the freedom of the citizens."

"Mainstream Republicans believe in fiscal responsibility, internationalism, environmental protection, the rights of women, and putting middle-class families ahead of big business lobbyists. Moderate Republicans should not be asked to swallow the right-wing policies of George W. Bush."

The fact is that the Bush administration might better be called radical or romantic or adventurist than conservative. And that's why real conservatives are leaning toward Kerry

If you think I overdid the quotes, it's because this article warmed the cockles of my heart. If these high-power 'Pubs are saying this kind of stuff against Bush, it must be true. They're showing themselves to be almost as smart as me n' Fixer.

*Mein Führer, mein herz . . .

It's part of a saying they taught my aunt when she was in grade school. The year was 1937, when the Nazis were just beginning to make their powerplays in Western Europe, part of the groupthink that was taking over the German people after the Nazis came to power. They were promised a better Germany should they only swear their loyalty to Adolf Hitler. This bothers me to no end.

A couple days ago we noted Chris Suellentrop's mention of the 'Bush Pledge', the loyalty oath attendees at a Bush-Cheney event in Florida were called on to recite.

I've got a question: How often is this happening? At how many events? In how many different states?

[. . .]

Scary. When people are willing to do this, they are willing to do anything. From Josh Marshall. I would also like to know how widespread this is. If this is the norm rather than the aberration, what will Rove get these people to do if they lose? **Arschlöcher.

Update: 14:10:

From Corrente:



Update: 15:25:

From WTF Is It Now??:


*My Leader, my heart . . .
**Assholes

Your country needs you

From Jesus' General. Patriotboy, the General's inner Frenchman pulls no punches:

[. . .]

The last four years have been a nightmare for me. Things I never dreamed I'd see in this country are now so common, they've become the new normal. Our government has tortured and "disappeared" people. It has betrayed intelligence agents. American citizens have been held incommunicado for years without being charged or allowed to talk to attorneys. Dissenters have been beaten, arrested, fired, spied upon, and denied access to air travel. People have been arrested for criticizing the President. The party in power is actively trying to disenfranchise people of color.

That's just the short list--the tip of the iceberg. David Neiwert writes in Orcinus that he believes a new form of fascism, an American form of fascism, is taking hold in this country. Some of you might call that hyperbole. I challenge you to read his works, Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis and The Rise of Pseudo Fascism before you pass judgment.

It's clear to me that conservatives like Grover Norquist are actively trying destroy any and all opposition in this country. We must do everything in our power to stop them.

[. . .]

More On Election Trickery

This in the WaPo.

Dirty tricks are a staple of campaigns, but election officials say this year's could achieve new highs in numbers and new lows in scope, especially in key battleground states such as Florida and Ohio, where special-interest groups have poured in to influence the neck-and-neck race between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.

The flier, distributed on bogus but official-looking stationery with a county letterhead, told voters that "due to immense voter turnout expected on Tuesday," the election had been extended. Republicans should vote Tuesday, Nov. 2, it said -- and Democrats on Wednesday. A criminal investigation has been launched.

Chris Lato, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party, called the fliers "appalling" but wondered whether Democratic interest groups might be to blame. He said circulators falsely claiming to represent the Republican Party might be trying to gin up turnout among black voters.

"First of all, the claim was false, and it seems a little obvious," he said. "We have a lot of these shadowy Democratic groups here in Wisconsin, and I wouldn't put it past 'em to do something like this to muck up the works

Oh, yeah, right, the Dems are doing it. You asshole.

Jane Platten, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, said officials have not identified who is behind the tricks. "We've never seen anything like this before, where there seems to be a concerted effort to to give voters misinformation," she said.

She must not have seen Bush's ads or heard any of his speeches or the debates. Or Faux News. Don't write to me. I know the Dems do it too, but we are rank amateurs compared to the 'Pub spinmeisters

I just hope people on both sides can see this crap for what it really is: An attempt to steal another election.

Bush damn near lost a rigged election in 2000. If it hadn't been for his daddy's judges, he would have. Now that we know him for what he really is, they've turned up the heat because they know he can't win this one. Their only hope is to keep folks from voting or disallow their votes. That's their two-pronged plan for their two-faced, twice-tongued beloved little Goatman. I love that, Goatman! Whee!