Wednesday, November 24, 2004

US Dollar in Deep Doo Doo?

Check out this piece from former Labor Secretary Robert Riech, which reads in part:

Nearly all of the increase in public debt over the last four years -- some 1 trillion dollars -- has been financed by foreigners, lending us the money. But who wants to lend more and more to a drunken sailor? Foreigners are bailing out of dollars. Even the Chinese and Japanese, who have kept lending so we’ll keep buying their exports, are starting to wise up.

And in fact, the Wall Street Journal just had a big article last week on how Chinese citizens are trying to convert the dollars they once hoarded back into their own currency.

Uh oh.

Which points up one of the fallacies of the tax-cutting principles: that the wealthy who benefit will re-invest in the US economy. In fact, right now the US economy is not the best place to invest. People are putting their money in overseas banks; buying real estate abroad; and generally diversifying their portfolio right out of the US of A...

Friday, November 19, 2004

Guardian columnist bemoans liberal America's self-loathing.

Timothy Garton Ash, writing from San Francisco yesterday, had this to say, among other things, about liberals after the election:

"I 'm getting seriously worried about anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism in America, that is. Here are just a few of the things that I've heard travelling through blue, ie liberal, America over the two weeks since George Bush won the election. 'The truth is, they just are stupid." (A New Yorker, of people in the red, ie conservative, states.) 'The snakes.' 'Fascism.' 'Christian fascism.' 'I wanted to make a film about a time when young Americans fought against fascism and not for it." (A producer, explaining why he commissioned a film about the Spanish civil war.)'

While Garton doesn't bemoan the liberal self-loathing as ardently as he should have (please! let's not whine about the election but moblize for 2006), the bigger question is when are we going to see that many faith-voters, along with liberal-Democratic voters, were dupped by Bush this election? Did Bush ever mention same-sex marriage, stem-cell research, abortions, in his post-election speech? I doubt that these will be issues now that Bush has a mandate to turn Iraq into an ashcan for the sake of liberal democratic ideals.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Toronto Star - Indict Bush?

In Tuesday's Star columnist Thomas Walkom asks whether Bush should be welcomed to Ottawa or banned, citing Canada's Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act. Would Canada, or any country, risk indiciting an ex-American president for war crimes, especially after Belgium's weak attempt to that?

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1100517502971

Dawn

Friday, November 12, 2004

Whither John Kerry?

This is a snip from Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz's column:

All of which brings us to the question--what happens to Kerry now?

Does he become the party's leading spokesman in the Senate, overshadowing little-known minority leader Harry Reid? Does he start some sort of America's Future group and raise truckloads of cash from his donor lists and play the role of power broker? Does he use the fact that he got 56 million votes to lead the opposition to Bush while the '08 picture sorts itself out?

Well, maybe. But Kerry is also going to be a reminder of the huge Democratic disappointment of 2004, the failure to retire a president with a vulnerable record. More pundits are coming out and saying Kerry ran a lame campaign. Unlike the Red Sox, he will have to live with that 'L' tag forever.

The New Republic wants him off the stage:

"He's back. Actually, he never even left. John Kerry, according to reports in The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, plans to have a prominent role in the Democratic Party. Apparently he's contemplating a political action committee and think-tank to help define the party's future. And, according to those around him, he's also considering another presidential run in 2008.

"Our reaction to this is . . . how to put it? Well, here goes: No. Please. Stop."



This one is also chock-a-block with more good stuff, including a discussion of AG-pick Gonzales.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Impeachment?

I got an e-mail from ImpeachBush.org today. They made the points that we've all been making. What do you think folks? Do you think enough of us are mad enough to give it a go?

Personally, I'm all for another march on Washington . . . during the inauguration. Now wouldn't that be the hotness?! All us crazy left wingers there to protest! I think we may have something here! Spread the word!!

ONE FINAL WORD ON VALUES

In politics, Jesus has evolved from being a niche market to being THE market. Somehow I don't think he's all that impressed. After all, he's been much more than that to quite a lot of us for about 2,000 years now.

To the youth vote, I don't know what to say. You had your chance? You were the belle of the ball in '04 but decided to go home alone before the party was over. That's not entirely fair, because you did show an interest and that's a beginning. Maybe it will pan out in '08. Either way, the VOTE OR DIE slogan will be taken from its figurative meaning in the Diddy campaign to a literal meaning in '08 by the far right.

I can see it now. "My sources have spoken to the Savior and he says, if you want to go to heaven, vote for me!" Maybe Alan Keyes was on to something after all. Oh, yeah...he got his butt kicked by the guy that Jesus doesn't like. Well, these aren't hard and fast rules.

So everyone is scrambling to understand what VALUES means. What are MORALS and where can I get them? Better yet, how can I sell them? Surveys are being put together, poll questions being analyzed and I'm sure at least a dozen new think tanks and PACS have been formed to put together the '06 congressional campaign strategies.

It's really simple folks and the first hint is, it's not about religion. It's about listening to people instead of telling them what you think they should know. It's about understanding that life on the coast is different than life everywhere else and those people living everywhere else wouldn't have it any other way. Does that make them right? Not about everything. Pushing fear and homophobia isn't anything resembling Christ, but if you try to understand where it comes from you'll be able to handle it better than if you just spit out how wrong it is.

As much as people want to say God doesn't belong here or there, he's still gonna be everywhere and unfortunately, people will take advantage of that and in a lot of places, it will work.

Okay, I take it back. It isn't simple, but if the Dems try and spend these next 3 years doing more listening than engaging in self-righteous blaming, it won't be the big surprise it was this year. They really can't afford that.

From the Department of Gloating

And I quote:

"Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate."
-- Grover Norquist, Bush advisor and president of Americans for Tax Reform, cited in the Washington Post and on Meet the Press

So, are the Democrats effectively neutered?

Friday, November 05, 2004

Smart people can go stick yer heads' in the mud

Here's the IQ theory of who votes for which candidate.

A chart from 2000....


And a long analysis of why that's bunk.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

The Red, the Blue... the Purple?

Check out this vision of an America that transcends red and blue. (Okay, doesn't work that way with the electoral college... And you can't see the whole map below. To do so, click here.)


Freedom Fries

The same young woman also asked me about Freedom Fries. To that, I could only shake my head.

Do you know where you're going to?

Here at SF State - there was quite a scene yesterday -shouting, crying, cursing, walk-outs and protests. The campus republicans had a table set up on the quad. Their Bush Cheney signs upset many students and campus police stood quietly next to their table just in case.

The general feeling here is sadness, disapointment, confusion. But it is a done deal. Instead of wondering or debating about what happened - people should start thinking about what now. Whoever you support, I think most people agree that we are not were we should be.

I am sad to hear people say things will never change. It frustrates me that while many first-time voters turned out to vote for their presidential pick many still remained uninformed about the measures and propositions affecting their state and communities. These are the things that make changes we can see, in our streets at our schools.

Let's talk about the fact that Cali's 3-stikes law was NOT amended. Whether you voted Yes or No - this was an important proposotion. That is the right here - right now. We can't change the world over night. We have to start somewhere. Our own neighborhoods are a good place - don't ya think?

Sabrina Ford, Bay Area - student journalist

post party letdown

seems to me that the incentive to get the republican vote out was for the sole purpose of gay bashing and against unions of same sex couples. why should people go out in droves to deny other americans the right to health care, death benefits and the other comforts of home with a loved one.
in 4 years we can try to recoup whatever civil liberties are left to scrounge up. or perhaps during the next bushadministration (warmongering part 2) we can mobilize to get even more civil liberties solidified and provide courses and attend rallies to remind people NOT to give up their rights as citizens of this country and the world.

at present, i do not feel terribly welcome in the midwest states that voted for bush and against same sex unions. perhaps there is a way to reverse the affect by joining together on issues we can agree on; stopping the war, driving down oil prices (I for one would stop driving today if that would end the war!), improving education, funding cures for cancer, aids and just supporting the arts! it is overwhelming, but if we find commonalities throughout the country, maybe the madness will stop. til then, we have another four years. let's hope they're not all dark daze!

Post Election Party

While attending Farai's post-election party at the Dragon Bar in North Beach Wednesday night, I met a young woman from London, who just relocated to San Francisco with her fiancee. The first question she asked was how we could re-elect Bush. Yes, a good question worthy of a good answer. She told me she had a friend in Mississippi, who is also from London, who's working on her PhD (and is also a black woman who just happens to be dating a white man is having a hard time dealing with the reactions of locals). I simply told her to go to the South, spend time with her friend and talk to people there because being in San Francisco, she'll never gain any perspective on how the rest of Americans vote and think.

The way the right has used gay marriage to mobilize its base to vote in 11 crucial states is a brilliant lesson in American politics and spin. Those voters turned to vote first against gay marriage and then for Bush. The left, take note! These voters said that morals are what guided them in making their decisions. I guess that means being homophobic. What is the left going to do to correct this, to prevent this type of reactionary voting from happening in the future and further disenfranchising people?

I think this young woman, new to American, smart and interested in politics, will learn a good lesson from looking to the South first.

W's SECOND TERM

Angela Winters

I have to say I haven't been watching too much news or reading too many blogs or websites for the past week. I'd just had enough of politics, but after a good rest, I'm venturing back online and finding some interesting articles about W's second term.

This ABC News story says Bush Claims Mandate for War, Tax Agenda. Hold on a second. Doesn't a mandate have a certain percentage qualification? Yes, he clearly won this election by a record large margin, but a mandate on war and taxes? IMHO, I think that the War In Iraq and the tax plan are not the reasons he won. I think he won for likeability, the war on terror and moral issues. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I wonder if all those young voters who registered but didn't show up feel about this Reuters article. Republicans are pushing the Bush agenda in the second term. As a centrist, I'm in favor of some of Bush's policies, but last I checked, the college generation was majority pro-choice and pro-Affirmative Action, two laws the Supreme Court will be going after in the next four years. Bush will be able to appoint at least one new judge and we all know where he or she will stand on these issues. Maybe I've got the kids all wrong, but I expected these two issues, including the war, would bring them out in much higher numbers than they did.

What do you think?



Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Four More Years

Why Kerry? Why?! As a friend astutely pointed out today, if as they say every vote counts, then he should have waited until every vote wass counted! I know the Dems wanted to bow out gracefully but they really could have put up more of a fight.

I really do appreciate the blogger who set things straight about the youth vote. The great and powerful media is working faster than you think to disillusion the youth of this country by saying they didn't go to the polls in the numbers that were predicted. False!

I don't know why people aren't asking the questions I want answered. How do you get tapped to be in the electoral college? I mean really who are these people and where do they live? Do they get to vote in the popular election and cast their electoral vote? Do they talk to each other? When do they cast the electoral votes? Why is there STILL an electoral college anyway (the fact that we've always had one is not a good enough answer)? Why is there no voting holiday like other nations to ensure that all registered voters can go to the polls?

I want to know and I want to know yesterday. The way this "democracy" is operating is suspect and is leading people, well me at least, to distrust the entire system. The only two people who can effectively run as candidates for the presidency have to be tied to the two major parties, be white men, and have some serious cash of their own (not that they dipped into their own reserves to finance their campaigns).

I'm a little cynical now. Anyone see the silver lining in all this?

P.S. A random thought: Liberals leave the Midwest and South when they can because the ideologies in those places are so repressive; those states will forever be red on the map.

Words from James Baldwin

Baldwin helps me understand this country, even when that understanding doesn't make me comfortable.

I drove around today thinking about him, wondering what he would say about this moment in time. I found this quote on a
card I picked up during a wedding anniversary trip to Olema, CA:

"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster."

Jomo my blog
Washington, DC

So, the watchword of the day is "values." As in.....


From DailyKos.com:

It wasn't the war or the economy that killed us. It was the notion of "values".

Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation, yet Kerry was bad because he had "Massachusetts values" or other such nonesense.

We need to retake the language. We need to reframe the notion of "value".

That's why Obama's speech below is so brilliant. He speaks of God in a way that not just fails to offend this atheist, but inspires me. It's faith used for the purpose of living a good life, rather than faith wielded as a weapon against a whole class of people.

The wedges: gays, abortion, and guns.

Democrats have abandoned guns as an issue, and over the next three or four cycles it will prove an increasingly ineffective wedge. The NRA won. Good for them.

That leaves the two "faith based" wedges -- gays and abortion. And with great skill, the Republicans have equated those two issues with the word "value".

That's going to have to change.


=========

I've got an article on PopandPolitics.com called "It's the God. Stupid?"

It starts:

was at this thinky conference on the Northern California coast, in a resort hotel with endless views, overpriced drinks, and at least four weddings a day. On the last morning I was sipping coffee and bantering about the election with two guys I’d known for about 36 hours. We veered into Bush-bashing, the political equivalent of a sugar rush—a brief euphoria, followed by a crash.

Then one of them surprised me.

“I’m a Republican,” he said.

I said, “Oh.”

And, as if to explain his place in our small circle, he began speaking quickly. “But Bush makes me so mad. The way he’s taken over my country, the way he’s taken my flag, the way he’s taken…”

“…my Party,” I ventured.

“…my God,” he said.

My God. He’d put word to what I’d been feeling, but couldn’t express. Say you live in this country, a nation blessed by both prosperity and beauty. And say that you like the fact that you live in a pluralistic nation, where there are people of many faiths and some of none. And say, last of all, that you believe in God. What then? Where do you fit in the political debates? What if like this gentleman, you believe deeply and passionately in God but also believe, just as passionately, that your nation’s leadership is hijacking the faith you hold dear? I suspect that many Americans—of Christian and other faiths--feel the way he does. On the one hand, they’re confronted with an Administration that claims to have a red telephone to the Almighty. On the other hand…. Oh, wait: there is no other hand, because President Bush’s opponents—Democrats, liberals, and dissenting Republicans--have failed to give language to the spiritual component of our leadership crisis.



And here's the thing. I'd rather leave God out of government. I'd rather we each find our own way. But that's just not realistic. I've been hearing for years about how people want God back in the schools, God back in the law, God back in public life. And it's one thing to make a counter-argument, an argument that the best way to have a moral state is to leave religion out of things. But that, too, can have a moral component--the idea that public secularism enables private worship is powerful. Instead, most of the left has failed to make a distinction between private and public morality, and to articulate how we navigate this life.

Maybe politicians shouldn't have to bear that burden. But right now, one man--George W. Bush--is taking on the mantle of moral judge, with little opposition.

Where have all the anarchists gone?

I'm trying this for the third time after a night of not being able to connect to the internet. Conspiracy theories aside . . .

I wonder what has happened to all the anarchist, socialist, communist, revolutionary people I used to know. If ever there was a time for them to put their money, well their barter system, where the mouth is, now's the time. I mean when's the last time we saw a good act of civil disobedience? An assassination attempt? Err. . uh not that I believe in such things. I love America!

I know the older folks are mad at us younger people. P. Diddy's death threats weren't enough to turn out the youth vote. Not that he cares; he made a grip on those $30 "Vote or Die" T-shirts. A part of me wonders if it's not a media tactic to trick young people into thinking their voice didn't matter in this election (conspiracy theories back in play), though the thought that Ashton Kutcher or Justin Timberlake in a Tee was enough to move youth to the polls is equally disturbing.

There's been a lot of talk about the Dems loosing Black votes on the issue of gay marriage. Just goes to show that the media spin machine has done a great job since neither candidate supports gay marriage. All states that had marriage amendments passed them, Mississippi with 92%. For the life of me I can't understand why people care about other people's marriages. There is the other issue that the wording on the amendments was confusing (true of my Arkansas ballot), making people think that voting no is a vote in favor of gay marriage and a vote of yes is simply confirmation that marriage is between a man and a woman.

That wasn't the only issue with my Absentee Ballot. Fayetteville, Arkansas is a unique place in the state that hosts an interesting amalgamation of upper middle class hippies and red necks. The way the ballot was composed acknowledges this mix by placing Nader at the top, Bush second, the other third party candidates, and at the very bottom Kerry. Only someone looking for Kerry's name on the ballot would find it and with the hardcore liberal sentiment there, Nader was definitely a factor.

The republicans have declared themselves victorious already. We all know, well let me say I know because clearly we all don't know, the power of self fulfilling prophecy in US media and saying you've won is akin to actually winning. The Dems moderate positioning didn't seem to win them too many votes. Daschle lost. Others lost. But the beacon of light that is Barack Obama shown brightly, sweeping Illinois with nearly 90% of the vote. I hope he doesn't get shot.

Well, I'll leave on that optimistic note.

Pushing a boulder up Mt. Everest

I feel like those poor people in the Day After (1983), walking around with post-concussive despair, wondering if there really is a true tomorrow. Of course I'm being dramatic, but I'm dismayed by everything. Some things are simply true today: Bush is President and it is not a post-apocalyptic situation (although close). [I'm thinking Soylent Green here!] Karl Rove is a genius strategist (and I hate him), but he runs our country like a true pimp. Progressives and all related family members need to look in the mirror. All those red-filled States must tell you something about your messages (or lack of them). Simply not resonating with Joe Bob. And yes, youth do suck, and they'd rather watch the fucking OC than know about real issues that affect them. Madison Avenue and Viacom own them. What will I do? Party with Pop+Politics tonight. What else?!

MY TAKE

Like everyone else, I was confused by the vast contradictions of the exit polls and the actual results of this election. If I were the news stations, I would want my money back. For all the excitement, waiting and tension, somehow I fell asleep at 10:30. When I woke up at midnight, I was like "Oh hell, here we go." Then, this morning I felt a little better about it. I don't think this will drag out for another couple of months.

My sympathies to those who worked so hard for Kerry. They really did, but I think the reality is that the country is going in a clear direction. I was surprised, but it's pretty much in plain view. America is moving to the right. The White House, The Senate, The House and pretty soon, The Supreme Court is steering us in the direction of conservative values. Well, all that except for fiscal conservatism which in my opinion is the best aspect of conservativism. Bush's spending is a mess and I'm not talking about the war.

If the Democrats are going to have a chance in any upcoming elections, they have to expand their base. They can only do that by electing more moderate, likeable candidates. Obama is a good example. Regardless of the fact that he was basically running the equivalent of unopposed, the middle is their only chance. They need a candidate who can appeal to the base and not just steal Independents, but steal Republicans the way Clinton did. They need a candidate that people want as opposed to a candidate that will do as long as the other guy doesn't win. If they continue to rely on college kids and African Americans, they are going to stay where they are. The minority party.

So here we are. A President in power with the support of a little over half the people, but more than he got the last time. What are you thinking? What are you feeling? Barring something really unusual, Bush is going to win. What do you want him to do differently? What can all politicians do to quell some of this partisan hatred?

Youth Suck (Says my friend...)

The Associated Press reports:

This was not the breakout year for young voters that some had anticipated.

Fewer than one in 10 voters Tuesday were 18 to 24, about the same proportion of the electorate as in 2000, exit polls indicated. Still, with voter turnout expected to be higher overall, more young people appeared to have come out.

A vigorous push on college campuses by both parties and national mobilization drives had raised expectations that 2004 would be the year of the youth vote.

Exit polls indicated that young people who did vote were strongly supporting Democrat John Kerry over President Bush, while they were evenly split between Bush and Democrat Al Gore four years ago.


Or, as a friend put it in the header of his email, "Youth Suck."

I wouldn't go that far, but the numbers are not good. 18-29 voted at the same rate as 2000, while 30-44 was actually down.

The key: it has to be about issues, not just t-shirts or slogans.

In the post-mortem analysis, I'd like to see what messaging-only groups like Citizen Change were able to accomplish versus ones that laid out a political agenda for voters, like the League's IndyVoter.org.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Whoa, What Just Happened?

What tha? I go out to dinner for a few hours and when I come back, Bush has won Florida AND Ohio! Is this for real?

Urgh, and then I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing this voter and the guy couldn't decide between Bush and Kerry... so he left his ballot blank! Sometimes I think we live in a nation of idiots.

-Jean Chen
San Francisco, CA

Okay, you were right....

... "you" being all of my friends who said we would not know who the president was tonight.

"We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night."-- Vice Prez candidate John Edwards, doing the this-is-not-a-concession-speech.

The dealie is that Ohio will decide the election. As said before.

We'll see.

More on my election night travails... I mean, travels

Went first to a restaurant in downtown Oakland; had some snacks with friends who are reporters and politicial organizers. One of them is Jessica Tully, who works on marrying musicians with political causes. We rolled to Barbara Boxer's election-night party just in time to see her declared the winner in her Senate re-election race.

Then ended up at a loft with a beautiful view of the bay bridge, where I basically got the news that Kerry lost.

Ended up in a conversation about hijacking the Democratic Party... yes, the party that couldn't bother to win even facing a President who botched the economy, national security, and the separation of church and state.

Speaking as a journalist--viva four more years. This will be one big friggin' rollercoaster. Hear the giant sucking sound as no-bid contracts fatten Halliburton's wallet. Just watch the Supreme Court abolish abortion rights (Rehnquist is already ill; there will be a slew of new appointees) and there be hospital ships in international waters, women helicoptered from shore.... and, as my friend Ben said, thoughts like, "We've had this experiment of black people voting in America for sixty years.... and we've had just about enough of that."

The 2008 election starts tomorrow. And it's really about values. I wrote an article on PopandPolitics called "It's the God. Stupid?" about the fact that most Americans saw values as the center of their decisions. The Democratic Party has ceded the language of values to the Republicans, and it cannot continue to exist and leave that void.

==========

By the way, here's the current electoral college map.

AAAAH--- FOOOKIN' A!!!!!! OHIO!!!!

So, I've been traipsing around the Bay Area this election night. Hard to believe it's only 10pm Pacific.... feels much later.

Let me just quote an email I sent three weeks ago:

"Whither Ohio goes the nation."

It's not done yet, but it's close to done. All, for Kerry, hinges on the outcome in Ohio, a state which has rustbelt job-loss districts; corporate hubs; Christian right; and gay and lesbian communities. In other words, its demographics are as mixed as Florida's.

============== FOOK ===================

An inside source just told me Kerry lost Ohio, which means Kerry lost.

More soon.

======== UN-FOOK =========== OR SOMETHING ======

okay.... fox is calling Ohio a win for Bush, but CNN is calling it as "too close to call" because there are 600,000 pending ballots (absentee and provisional); and now Iowa is back in play b/c of voting irregularities.

So who the hell knows?

Third Parties -- Who Are These People?

I just voted and while filling out my choice for president, I noticed that Ralph Nader was not on the ballot. But Leonard Peltier was. Isn't he in jail? That's fascinating that you can run for president, but not be able to vote.

And who are Michael Anthony Peroutka and Chuck Baldwin of the American Independent Party? Or Michael Badnarik and Richard Campagna of the Libertarian Party? Is anyone going to vote for these guys?

-Jean Chen
San Francisco, CA

Kerry's Ahead By a Nose... Slate's Decision

So, meta-politics news... Slate decided to go ahead and publish the exit polls that everyone else is keeping secret, which should make them big winners today. In a race this ugly, rules were made to be broken. Scroll down to the bottom of their poll report to see their rationale for making the information public. (I don't totally buy their rationale, but I'm not against their decision.)

So, here's what they said:

Florida
Kerry 50
Bush 49

Ohio
Kerry 50
Bush 49

Pennsylvania
Kerry 54
Bush 45

Wisconsin
Kerry 51
Bush 46

Michigan
Kerry 51
Bush 47

Minnesota
Kerry 58
Bush 40

Nevada
Kerry 48
Bush 50

New Mexico
Kerry 50
Bush 48

North Carolina
Kerry 49
Bush 51

Colorado
Kerry 46
Bush 53

THE WAY IT'S GOING

I just did a round of blogs. The Left blogs seem to be doing a victory dance and the right blogs are being cautious. I would err on the cautious side. Trust me. I'm a Cubs fan and the let down is worse when you celebrate victory prematurely.

Touch-tone screens, 3 strikes, and stereo thieves!!

So today is the big day. I have to admit it, all day I have had this weird nervous-excited feeling in my tummy. After all this is the most important election of our lives right? I mean, that's what all the super-aware, first time voting, never had anything political to say in their lives celebrities have been yelling, chanting, singing and rapping to me for the past six months. But, I'm just wondering, isn't all the fuss maybe evidence that the 2000 election was pretty important too? Well, better late than never.

My voting experience went pretty smoothly. I reviewed my voter info book this morning, made myself a cheat sheet, and drove to the Baptist church up the hill from my house in Hayward, CA and voted. I know there is a lot of debate about the touch-screens but I dig 'em. I wore my black baby tee with the white house and an "approved by the 19th amendment" stamp on it. Oh yeah, I also wore my favorite earrings, because it is a special occasion. Only my second presidential campaign, I was 18 in 2000. I am still excited that I CAN vote - hope I never lose that!

Even though my car (Snoopy) was broken into last night, if the losers who did it are caught and it's their third offense they may not be punished under the three-strikes law thanks in part to my vote this morning. Not sure how I feel about that. It's like everyone is against the death penalty until a family member is killed -OR against mandatory minimums in drug cases until someone is selling to their kids. Moral of the story: we have to think about the BIG PICTURE! Sure I am pissed off at whoever molested my vehicle but do I really would I really want to put them away for life?

Sabrina Ford, student, journalist, Bay native and all around groovy chick!

vote early and often?

i voted a bit after 8 a.m. in coastal san mateo county at an elementary school. i guess the kids aren't having p.e. today, sorry!
but there was no waiting and lots of cheerful precinct workers. i usually vote mid afternoon and take my son to show him how the democratic process works. let's hope that after this presidential election, we will still have all our voting rights intact! i checked the ballot twice, maybe it was three times, the ink i used to mark KERRY was going to migrate off the page and over to Bush's name. But luckily it did not and I have now cast my vote for the president of choice, for a better future (i was so much older then i'm younger than that now...) good luck and may tomorrow be better than the previous days/daze.

Florida is Slim Shady

Florida is as shady as 2000, or, perhaps, 1954. Tons of problems right now apparently. District 19, Holla! Unfortunately, I have to monitor that wreck all day. How do you spell Florida-sized corruption? J-E-B.

What's Going On??

Ok, ok, so I haven't voted yet. But I will vote after work today. I think it'll be interesting because at 6 pm west coast time, polls on the east coast will have been closed already. Maybe we'll find out how Florida voted. Ha!

More shady business, this time in Ohio. What's up with these GOP challenges?

But the big question right now is, "What's going on??" I'm so spoiled by the media, that I demand and expect up-to-the-minute results. Who's ahead? And by how much? Where's the play-by-play commentary? I know that the networks have pledged not to make predictions until after polls close. But please!! I wanna know what's going on!

Early Voting

I voted absentee last weekend, so I've managed to stay out of the melee, but it's given me plenty of time to listen to the disheartening dispatches on the radio. Legions of lawyers have descended on swing states to file lawsuits at the first sign of voter fraud. Like everything else in this country, lawyers will decide who becomes the next president. And now people are waiting in line for an hour to vote. At least we'll have some appreciation for how long voters in places like South Africa wait to vote.

OKAY, SO I DID IT

I showed up at 10am and saw a long line, but I planned for that. I bought my book.

The good news, for me at least was that there were 4 lines separated by last name and the s-z line was the shortest. I'm not sure why this always happens at conventions, conferences, etc. The L-R line is always really long and the S-Z is always much shorter, so why don't they make it like L-P and Q-Z or something? I don't know.

I was in line for an hour, much shorter than many people who told me they had already been in line for an hour before I got there (too bad they had the wrong last name). My big gripe was this one chick in the L-R line next to me that kept whining about how long it was taking. She was grabbing every election worker that passed by and telling them how their operation wasn't working and this was unacceptable. Blah! Blah! Blah! I was glad to finally get to vote just to get away from her.

She didn't look like an idiot, so why did she think this was going to be like the drive thru at BK? Has it not been said every day on every channel, every station and in every paper or website that there would be a record number of voters today and that the lines would be longer than ever?

So, it's over for me. A Prez, VPrez, Congressman and 2 Ammendments. I'm still holding on to this dream that the election will be a blowout so the challenges will be limited. I don't think for a second we'll know who is Prez tonight, but hopefully it won't go on as long as the last one.

GOTV --- GOTV ---- GOTV --- GOTV

What the heck is going on here?

Well, we're conducting one big experiment--how to do a big group blog for a special event, in this case, election day. Hopefully this will turn out to be such a fabulous idea--with brilliant posts and insta-community--that we will do it again and again.

Here's an email we sent out to potential contributors... you could be one!

=================

Greetings:

One of the clear winners in this election--the only clear winner, for now--is technology. Election 2004 saw the rise of the blogger; the increasing use of email organizing for voter registration, education and mobilization; and the proliferation of animation, graphics, and humor distributed online.

Now it's your chance to have your say.

PopandPolitics.com has launched a live, interactive, real-time forum for telling the story of election 2004.

Check it out here: PandPElex.Blogspot.com


The whole point is your participation. You can email in your personal story or observations from going to the polls; mobilizing voters; or monitoring the election. (And if you're one of those people with a web-enabled PDA, you can do it from anywhere.)

Some of you may have received invitations to join the blog via Blogger... email is easier! But the email-to-blog function was down, now fixed just in time for the big day.

===========

Here's How You Email-to-Blog:

email the blog at: PopandPolitics.Vote@blogger.com

your header will be the header for the post

your email body text will be the text of the post

It's that simple!

==========

some notes:
1) we want to know who you are! the technology isn't going to automatically ID you. So at the bottom of your email give us an ID, like:

Farai Chideya, Berkeley, California
or
Farai, Berkeley, California
or
A California Voter Hoping for the Best

2) if you have an automatically-generated ID tag or other gunk at the bottom of your email, you can delete that stuff, or put

#end

at the end of your text, so the other material doesn't post

3) this experiment is only as good as the folks participating, so please lay off the ad-hominem attacks, profanity, blah blah blah. we're all grown-ups. (well, actually, it would be cool if kids posted too....)

4) you can also comment on other people's posts. just go to the site (http://pandpelex.blogspot.com/) and look at the bottom of the posts. You'll see how many comments each item has, and by clicking on the comment line, you can make a comment yourself. making a comment keeps similar thoughts together in a flow, rather than scattering them throughout the blog.

5) feel free to distribute this email widely. we want to hear from people around the country--especially in battleground states--and around the world.

Be well,
Farai, Jean, and PopandPolitics.com
http://www.PopandPolitics.com

Monday, November 01, 2004

Why Blog the Election?

Blogger makes a compelling case for its own services, citing, among other things, the work of Joi Ito, a technology BigThinker with a very cool home page.

I Hope I Don't Forget!!

You know when something is so obvious and in your face, it's easy to forget? That's how I feel about voting.

For the past year, all the editorial work that I have been doing has revolved around voting. Whether it's been working on a book to get out the youth vote, or churning out articles about the hip-hop generation, I feel like my life could be summed up in three words: Vote, Vote, Vote.

With the election tomorrow, I'm starting to feel totally paranoid that I'm going to wake up, go to work, come home, go out to dinner for my boyfriend's birthday, and then, just as I'm falling asleep that night, realize that I've forgotten to vote!

-Jean Chen
San Francisco, CA