Election 2008

Triggered by a debate I've been engaged in over at Ed Cone's place about the current Russia/Georgia conflict, I decided to go ahead and publish some thoughts I've been processing on Elizabeth Dole's relationship to the Military Industrial Complex and the rule-the-world Neocon chickenhawks.

Fads trump election transparency.(electronic voting?). Since North Carolina passed its paper ballot law, its been harder to mess up the vote. So here comes Instant Runoff Voting, which is hardly transparent. NC tested IRV in 2007, and found a "creative" 100 plus steps method to count IRV on touchscreens.This may get a test again in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Why bother working for verified voting when it gets undone so easily?

While there have been substantial reductions in our nuclear arsenal over the last few decades, we still maintain a massive stockpile of nuclear weapons, ranging from the little SADM's up to the monster ICBM's. And even though the threat of world-destroying exchange of hundreds (if not thousands) of missiles between us and Russia is of little concern to any but the most paranoid of tacticians, this arsenal is still considered a key to our defense. (hat tip to my son Steven for bringing this to my attention)

I have very recently felt compelled to throw water on the raging fire of criticism that has been directed at our Governor over at The Dome, as it seems that virtually any story about him lately inspires a feeding frenzy of contempt and vitriol.

The mad rush to experiment with Instant runoff voting in North Carolina has created some very bad news for the supporters of NC's paper ballot law.

Anything goes in North Carolina, or Welcome back Diebold and gang.

Thursday the House Election Law Committee passed the bill SB 1263 which extended the IRV pilot program for 3 years. It goes to the House Judiciary I committee next Tuesday.

See NCVoter's website on HOW YOU CAN HELP . PLEASE TAKE ACTION BEFORE THIS TUESDAY JULY 8TH. SEE OUR WEBSITE ACTION ALERT, SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.

There is a catastrophe taking place in North Carolina right now. It's not as visible or frightening as a tornado or a flood, but the end result of this catastrophe will be very similar: thousands of our fellow North Carolinians steeped in despair and struggling to find a place for their families to live.

This is not just a case of voter supression. This is a political hot potato that some media and even some voting activists won't talk about or report on because it offends some of their base. But wrong is wrong! SIX days ahead of the North Carolina primary a "Jim Crow" effort was aimed at supressing the African American vote. A group called Women's Voices Women's Vote (WVWV) has been placing robocalls to voters across North Carolina that leads voters to think that they are not registered to vote. The North Carolina NAACP has filed a complaint and also alerted the Department of Justice.

While her latest endorser is out making slurs against the gay community, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-$109 Million)employs a southern accent (so we'll understand her) to tell an audience in North Carolina what a tough life she's had.

Jed, over at the Jed Report, has made a video of Hillary's speech showing how she is just like all of us.

Watch the VIDEO of If you'd had my life, you'd be tough too click HERE
Trust me, its well worth clicking on.....

Jed says:

I had the honor of representing Jim Neal at the Alamance County Democratic Convention today, and luckily, he showed up just in the nick of time so I could avoid the public speaking aspect of my surrogate duties (whew).

I'm sure I would have done just fine, but since I actually live in Alamance County, it's not like I could just fade away and never come back if I tumbled over a chair ala "America's Funniest Home Videos" or accidentally dropped an F-bomb while speaking. While they may not be as horrific as the nightmare where you show up at school naked, these things were playing in the back of my mind, nevertheless.

Here's our glorious and recently face-lifted courthouse where the Convention took place:

The North Carolina 10th District Democrats hosted a straw poll yesterday at the Newton-Conover Civics Center, and the results are posted here.

As we head into the final month before the N.C. Democratic primary as a preparation for the upcoming general election, I thought I would take a few minutes to comment on an emotion that we all share in one form or another: fear, and the way it influences our reasoning.

Sniper Fire over North Carolina - Hillary Clinton tells media Obama doesn't want NC to Vote

Hillary Clinton's latest tall tale is that Obama doesn't want North Carolinians to vote. She went on TV obfuscating to local media and North Carolina Voters. The Wall Street Journal, owned by Clinton's friend and fund raiser Rupert Murdock, further spread the Clinton fairy tales.
She claimed that she just didn't understand "why Senator Obama and some of his supporters didn't want you to be able to vote."

Is Obama's message of Hope adverstisement "Branding", or is it Real?