©04 the media desk
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Poll Watch
The Desk got as into election coverage as it did the Olympics. With the assistance of Number One daughter it watched the returns come in on several news services and various cable channels.
"When's the polls close in South Carolina?"
"Three percent of Indiana is in and it's still Bush."
"I can't believe New Hampshire started voting at midnight and still isn't done."
"When did they call Georgia?"
It was hours of intense monitoring of returns and second guessing the commentators on TV when some states seemed to swing back and forth over just a matter of minutes.
The comic relief was supplied by CNN who was still relying on exit polls. Notoriously inaccurate in 2000, for some reason the Commie News Network won't give it up. They projected Kerry several states and then came up off those predictions as the real numbers came in.
By Eleven O'clock the Desk was deeply into cheap bourbon and mathematical projections of how the Electoral College would end up a dead heat and the US House would elect Snoopy and Nixon.
As the polls closed in Alaska the Desk gave up and went to bed.
It was obvious Ohio was the next Florida and all those fictional people registered by canvassers (who were paid in cocaine in some cities) for an NAACP front group would decide the fate of the country.
Five hours later the Desk was back up and watching the lawyers circling over Columbus.
Nothing had been decided, provisional ballots are being pulled out of grocery sacks, some of the same old charges are being trotted out by lawyers on both sides...
"Here we go again."
Aftermath
It was almost refreshing to listen to the radio on the way to work this morning.
The idiotic commercials were for an 'everything is always on sale' furniture store, breakfast at that 'you want fries with that' place and a wireless phone carrier with a new plan. There were no politicians calling each other crooks and liars.
Wow. OK, it was refreshing, but they'll be annoying again soon enough.
Part of the wrapup of this election will be some heavy analysis of what it all means and who voted for who. And the Desk will get around to it. As soon as the lawyers have all be fed and the deal is done.
One statistic that must be addressed immediately though is this.
Nevada, Presidential Race: None of these Candidates- 3,379 votes. Came in fourth out of seven. Right behind Nader.
Nevada, Senate Race: None of these Candidates- 12,153. Second on a list of six.
What would happen if that was a choice on every ballot in the country?
DAMNIT. Straight ticket voting needs to be outlawed. Period.
You should have to push the button or pull the lever or hang the chad for Every Lousy Bum on the ballot instead of just saying 'I vote for the Whigs' and do it in one stroke.
Maybe some people would see a name (assuming most voters can read, which is a stretch in some cases) and feel their hand start to shake when they realize the candidate is a (curse spit) trial lawyer and just as the bile starts to rise, change their mind and vote for somebody else.
John Edwards needs to be taken out and pelted with fresh dog poop. Really. "We'll fight for every vote" … What is that supposed to mean?
In 2000 Gore spent gobs of money in Florida to have absentee military votes thrown out because they didn't have a US Post Office postmark on them since they were delivered by courier. And had been in every election since the absentee vote was first invented.
YES, some legal votes will be disallowed. YES some illegal votes (in Ohio, Mary Poppins among others) will be counted. YES some graveyards and freeway off ramps and homeless winos voted early and often (in Chicago and New Orleans most notably). Welcome to America.
It would seem that the entire country took a small step to the political right. And did so in spite of, or maybe Because Of, what may end up being one of the largest voter turnouts in the history of the Republic.
Eleven states now define marriage as between a man and a woman by referendum. Something that is already on its way to court by the homosexual activist community. And the will of the people will likely be overthrown by judges that legislate from the bench after the precedent of the Ninth Circuit.
Legalized marijuana failed in Alaska.
States that usually see a vast majority of Democratic votes showed record numbers of Republicans. In California it should be all over the papers that Bush got well over four million votes, not that Kerry got five and a half. In the People's Republic of Oregon, Bush lost by five percent with similar numbers in Washington State.
The Left Coast isn't safe Democratic Territory any more.
And get this picture. The state with all the aging hippies that fled the sprawl of San Francisco, Oregon, REJECTED the gay marriage referendum.
Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah also had the initiative on their ballots, and it failed in all of them.
Get Over It
Michael Moore can Go To …. france.
Face it. Mr. Moore and his America Hating friends just couldn't swing it. The more they whined and told the Germans and everybody about how stupid and bigoted Americans are, the deeper they dug their own hole. Now it is only a matter of time before Moore, like Richard Gere and the ones that promised they'd leave the country if W won in 2000, will come out and say they didn't mean it.
"Those statements were taken out of context."
Oh really?
If Mr. Moore was in Saudi Arabia and said the same things about the Al Saud royal family he's said about Bush, he'd be dead by now.
Persons violating Saudi Arabia's laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, imprisoned or even executed. Suspects can be detained, without charges or legal counsel and with limited consular access, for months during the investigative stage of criminal cases. As stated in Section 5 (CRIME), witnesses to possible criminal incidents also can be detained under similar circumstances for long periods of time. Even when released from detention, witnesses to criminal incidents may be prohibited from leaving the country until investigation of the incident is complete. … Saudi authorities do not permit criticism of Islam or the royal family.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/saudi.htmlDespite close cooperation on security issues, the United States remains concerned about human rights conditions in Saudi Arabia. Principal human rights problems include abuse of prisoners and incommunicado detention; prohibitions or severe restrictions on the freedoms of speech, press, peaceful assembly and association, and religion; denial of the right of citizens to change their government; systematic discrimination against women and ethnic and religious minorities; and suppression of workers' rights.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm
So while Mr. Moore absolutely despises America and her people, he has stayed alive and gotten richly obese precisely because he IS an American, and he had the FREEDOM to make a jackass out of himself.
And the Desk, while it wouldn't waste a mouthful of perfectly good spit on him, will defend Michael Moore's RIGHT to say what he does about the USA. Something that can't be done in Saudi Arabia.
But for some reason, the Desk doesn't believe Mr. Moore feels the same.
The View From Noon Wednesday
-or-
Beware of Radio Talk Show Hosts suffering from Acute Gloat-in-Mouth Disease
Edwards' lawyers are still claiming there are missing and uncounted ballots in Ohio. Mostly belonging to dead celebrities and fictional characters who voted for Kerry.
Since the Secretary of State in Ohio appears to be more intelligent that your average Hollywood Celebrity, it is unlikely that those so called missing votes will be counted.
W is preparing an acceptance speech.
Kerry needs to get his hair done first, then he'll concede.
Its all over but the lawsuits and Rosie's crying. And of course we have to hear something from that one Dixie Chick.
But other than that. The deal is as done as Tom Daschle's career.
You gotta love it.
[note: The Desk does not know Mr. Moore, nor does it really wish to meet him.
The Desk has never voted for a winning presidential candidate although it votes in every election. Also the desk is registered as a 'Independent Conservative Libertarian' thank you]
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