Say No To Dirty Tricks, Voters Kept From Voting, And "Washington Business As Usual"

With many of the reports, including that provided at All Things Democrat last week by Ricky Shambles, about the dirty tricks that may have been played in the Iowa Caucuses to drive the anti-Hillary/anti-Clinton vote in favor of others, I can't say I'm surprised. But I'm far from happy.

This year, perhaps more than ANY other, we need to combine our commitment to be active, informed citizens who demand the best (and hold them to account when we get less) from our elected leaders at the same time we dearly need to elect a president honestly, fairly, and without any of the nasty stuff we've seen in previous elections, especially that of the Bush-Cheney/Republican-Win-At-Any-Cost Sleaze team (and I do not believe most normal Republicans like this kind of thing anymore than the rest of us) in 2000 and 2004.

From here on, we can't just sit back and let Washington work as it does, because we know that the way it works is pretty corrupt, pretty nasty, and pretty much slanted at billionaires and fatcat/corporate interests rather than in the "Mom and Dad America" politicians like to talk about at election time. So we're going to have to work a great deal harder to get Washington working right again and we have to be pretty damned selective about who we put there. No more "anybody but (this person)" mentality and no more dirty games.

Mind you, Democrats (and others) have pulled nasty tricks, too. But we don't want them from ANYONE. I want the people I elect (and those who help elect them) to operate better than that. You should, too.

Also, every American with the right to vote not only should vote, but should NEVER be kept from voting by dirty tricks like we saw in Florida in 2000 (and ever since) and in Ohio in 2004.

So I ask myself, as I ask you, to do your best to keep dirty tricks away from the process, even at our lowly voter level and, should you see someone kept from voting who has the right to vote, don't just shake your head and walk away. Stand up, speak out. We may not always be able to depend on Washington to behave itself so, until we can force them to do better, WE have to be the better people. It can start one American at a time. And it must.

I'm game. Will you join me?

Assassinating The Truth: Was Bhutto Killed Before She Could Warn of Pakistan Vote Fixing?

My only question here is, "Considering how many American lawmakers have profitted from Bush-Cheney voting fraud and manipulation, would they have cared when she reported it?"

From CNN:

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated hours before she was to tell U.S. lawmakers of an alleged plot to rig Pakistan's elections, sources tell CNN. Violence, ballot-tampering or intimidation could be used, according to a dossier Bhutto requested, the sources said. Pakistani officials have denied the claims. developing story

Rock, Paper, Scissors... and Politics

I have a rather uh.... um... sad ass thing to admit. I mean besides by Web host ate some of my graphics.

I understand the childhood game of "rock, papers, scissors" about as well as I do politics. I mean, I get the whole bit about paper covering rock and such. I just don't understand why anyone would possibly bother playing this.

Same being true for politics. We've made this huge, megolithic "rock, papers, scissors" bureaucracy of politics when all we need to do is bring two minds together and make a decision based on all available evidence.

So why does anyone play either?

Would Everyone Who Is NOT Corrupt, Please Disqualify Yourselves?"

OK, I don't believe for a minute that every Republican or even every Republican politician is corrupt or in favor of corruption. So why is it that in Bush and Karl Rove's GOP America, only corrupt Republican politicians stand a chance of succeeding?

From Talking Points Memo:

lWhen it comes to the GOP's culture of corruption, even the loyal GOP base has a breaking point.

When Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) was forced to give up his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee due to an acute case of Abramoff-itis, the GOP leadership had a chance to set things right by replacing him with a respected lawmaker of unimpeachable integrity. Instead the leadership tapped Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who was himself recently named one of Congress' most corrupt lawmakers.

Calvert, of course, is the subject on an ongoing FBI probe of his own. As CREW's Melanie Sloan asked, "Why would the minority choose to replace one member under federal investigation with another member also under federal investigation?"
Some conservatives are starting to ask the same question. RedState, one of the leading far-right blogs, ran an item yesterday under the headline, "An Open Declaration of War Against The House Republican Leadership." RedState recounts Calvert's many alleged misdeeds, concluding that the "House Republican Leadership just does not get it." A variety of conservative blogs endorsed the challenge.