SHOPPING GUIDE

The Center for Responsive Politics put out this handy guide a few years ago, showing where retailers make their political donations.

This why everyone will receive Rite-Aid products, a bottle of Mr. Clean and Warnaco undergarments in their stockings this year from me.

[Thanks to Marjorie H. via C.D. for this!]

With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of
who we patronize relative to their 2000 Election Cycle political
donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Shopping?

* Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to democrats;
WalMart, $467K, 97% to republicans;
K-Mart, $524K, 86% to republicans;
Home Depot, $298K, 89% to republicans;
Target, $226K, 70% to republicans;
Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to republicans;
* Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to democrats;
* Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean), $22K, 100% to
democrats;
3M Co., $281K, 87% to republicans;
Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to republicans;
Amway, $391K, 100% republican;
Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% republicans;
* Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to democrats;
B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to republicans;
Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to republicans;
* Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to democrats;
* Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to democrats;
* Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to democrats;
* Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to democrats;
* Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to democrats;
* Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to democrats;
* Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to democrats.

Spirits?

Coors, $174K, 92% to republicans; (also Budweiser - sd)
Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to democrats;
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills,
Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to
republicans;
* Southern Wine & Spirits, $213K, 73% to democrats;
* Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (includes beverage business, plus
considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% democrats.

Hungry?

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% republican;
Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% republican;
* Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% democrat;
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K,
87%republican;
Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the
Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83%
republican;
* Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections),
$112K, 96% democrats;
Waffle House, $279K, 100% republican;
McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% republican;
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama
Breeze), $121K, 89% republican;
* Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to democrats;
Mariott International, $323K, 81% to republicans;
Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to republicans.

NO THANKS

The Los Angeles Times highlights what some National Guard members call shortcomings in training and equipment before being sent to assignment in Iraq.

Far from being peaceniks, they had complaints such as these:

"I'm a cop. I've got a career, a house, a family, a college degree," said one sergeant, who lives in Southern California and spoke, like most of the soldiers, on condition of anonymity.

"I came back to the National Guard specifically to go to Baghdad, because I believed in it, believed in the mission. But I have regretted every day of it. This is demoralizing, demeaning, degrading. And we're supposed to be ambassadors to another country? We're supposed to go to war like this?"

And when faced with the prospect of death on foreign soil, some of them are willing to put their status on the line, as well.

The soldiers also said they were risking courts-martial or other punishment by speaking publicly about their situation. But Staff Sgt. Lorenzo Dominguez, 45, one of the soldiers who allowed his identity to be revealed, said he feared that if nothing changed, men in his platoon would be killed in Iraq.

Dominguez is a father of two — including a 13-month-old son named Reagan, after the former president — and an employee of a mortgage bank in Alta Loma, Calif. A senior squad leader of his platoon, Dominguez said he had been in the National Guard for 20 years.

"Some of us are going to die there, and some of us are going to die unnecessarily because of the lack of training," he said. "So I don't care. Let them court-martial me. I want the American public to know what is going on. My men are guilty of one thing: volunteering to serve their country. And we are at the end of our rope."

RALL SILENCED

Edgy, satirical editorial cartoonist Ted Rall has been dropped by WashingtonPost.com after a post-election piece depicted the American electorate as a drooling idiot.

WashingtonPost.com Executive Editor Doug Feaver told Editor & Publisher: "Ted Rall does very interesting work. Some of it is not funny to an awful lot of people. We decided at the end of the day that it just did not fit the tone we wanted at WashingtonPost.com."

Vanilla, in other words, is still the most popular flavor.

TRUE THAT

Thanks to Alison S. of Los Angeles for the following quote highlighting what she called the "idiotification" of America.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

ELECTION MAPS

We've all seen the reductionist election maps that depict a sea of red states. Yet reality comes in many more shades of purple, as depicted in this series of maps Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan.

[Thanks to Kris K. for passing this along.]

FASCIST TENDENCIES

The road to facism has many road markers along the way, argues author Laurence W. Britt. Although he himself argues the historical comparisons between fascist regimes are merely "exercises in verbal gymnastics," the list of symptoms sound familiar — and frightening.

Without the supporting evidence, the list includes:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. ...

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. ...

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. ...

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. ...

6. A controlled mass media. ...

7. Obsession with national security. ...

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. ...

9. Power of corporations protected. ...

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. ...

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. ...

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. ...

14. Fraudulent elections. ...

[Thanks to Carlos M. for this.]

FLIP SIDE

The flip side to the profanity-laden rant below is this haughty, yet true, piece that ran in The Register, titled "Reach out and sneer: Dem radicals speak to the Red States."

With hard work and superb organization, you have triumphed over John Kerry and the forces of Blue-state paternalism. Congratulations. The multinational corporations that hold you in bondage remain free to profit off your sweat nearly tax free, while their overpaid senior execs continue to pay a pittance in personal income tax.

It certainly won't do much in the way of persuading any voters in the near future — or in the long-term, for that matter — but the truths feel good to hear.

Especially because we know they're true.

'SCREW YOU'

This anonymous rant to the so-called red states, titled "Fuck the South," makes a few excellent points.

From how much more the welfare-loving red states receive from blue-state tax dollars to pointing out the hypocrisy of supposed "moral values" voters for having a higher divorce rate than gay-friendly Massachussetts, the author spares no profanity.

Though I might have chosen different language, I must give props where props are due: Well said!

'HALLIBURTON HONEYMOON'

It's over.

Reminding us that second terms are jinxed, The Washington Post flags Dick Cheney's former company as the albatross around this administration's neck, regardless of fictional "mandate."

In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the oil services company said that the Justice Department expanded its investigation into Halliburton, that government probes have found that bribes may have been made in Nigeria and that A. Jack Stanley, a former senior executive, may have been involved.

The latest news about alleged shenanigans at Halliburton, some of which may have occurred on Cheney's watch, serves as a timely warning for the Bush administration: Second terms are often beset by scandal. President Bill Clinton was impeached in the Monica S. Lewinsky affair. President Ronald Reagan endured the Iran-contra scandal. And President Richard M. Nixon had Watergate. ...

Even the chief investigator faces investigation. The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section is examining whether Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, when he served in the Senate, violated criminal campaign funding laws or federal disclosure laws relating to the transfer of a mailing list to his campaign committee.

We are, after all, a nation of laws.

[Thanks to Peter O. for passing this along.]

DIVINE HELP

British tabloid journalism speaks what many people only think but dare not say in polite company. Not the Mirror, though. Its editorial pleads, "God Help America":

A self-serving, dim-witted, draft-dodging, gung-ho little rich boy, whose idea of courage is to yell: "I feel good," as he unleashes an awesome fury which slaughters 100,000 innocents for no other reason than greed and vanity.

[Thanks again to red-state denizen Jeff F. for passing along this gem.]

MORAL ICEBERG

The regressive, right-wing monster begins to rear its ugly head,
according to this USA Today story.

For a year, Julee Lacey stopped in a CVS pharmacy near her home in a Fort Worth suburb to get refills of her birth-control pills. Then one day last March, the pharmacist refused to fill Lacey's prescription because she did not believe in birth control.

Thanks to Jeff F. of Arizona for sending this one. He writes, "I fear we have only seen the tip of the 'moral' iceberg."

MARRY CANADIAN

No, I don't actually propose making a run for the border (to Canada) but some enterprising folks have taken the idea to a new level, starting with MarryAnAmerican.

This is how Reuters describes it:

OTTAWA (Reuters) — The number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration website has shot up six-fold as Americans flirt with the idea of abandoning their homeland after President George W. Bush's election win this week.

"When we looked at the first day after the election, November 3, our website hit a new high, almost double the previous record high," immigration ministry spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi said on Friday.

On an average day some 20,000 people in the United States log onto the website, www.cic.gc.ca — a figure which rocketed to 115,016 on Wednesday. The number of U.S. visits settled down to 65,803 on Thursday, still well above the norm.

WE SECEDE

Thanks to Mark H. via Pam A. in California for this!

Ladies and gentlemen, you needn't fret anymore. We have decided that we can't live in the United States anymore, because so many of you in the 'heartland' are so full of shit. We were all going to move to various other countries, but then we thought — why should WE move?

We are tired of rednecks in Oklahoma picking the leader who will Determine if it is safe for us to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

We are sick of homophobic knuckle-draggers in Wyoming contributing to the national debate on our gay marriages. So we have done the only thing we could.

We seceded.

May I present to you: AMERICAN COASTOPIA.

That's right, American Coastopia. The states of Washington, Oregon and California are joining us on one coast, and we will provide all of New England. In the middle of the country, we have taken Iowa and Illinois, mostly because we need the fine produce of Iowa's soil, and the museums in Chicago are fabulous.

The other dot is New Orleans, which you don't deserve. American Coastopia needs a place to gamble, and the locals want nothing to do with you.

Sure, you can visit, but it isn't part of your country anymore.
I can sense your worry. Who will get all the banks? You can fucking have most of them, because we're taking downtown and midtown Manhattan back, turning the whole thing into a giant artist colony replete with movie studios and progressive think tanks. Wall Street and other financial institutions will be relocated to Charlotte, which we believe will suit your needs better. Frankly, the good folks in Manhattan are sick of being a terrorist target for your benefit.

A word about our politics. Abortions will be safe and legal in American Coastopia, and homosexual men and women will be free to marry at their discretion. We will have our own currency, and trade with any countries we want. Everyone will have health care. Everyone will have an identity card. Homelessness and unemployment will be virtually unknown. We believe in a meritocracy and a huge chasm between church and state. 100% of our cars will be hybrid by 2006.

Yes, we're taking all the people that ever created everything beautiful. Yes, we're taking all the funny people too. All the sculptors, architects, surgeons, philosophers, violinists and fishermen.

You should have treated them better when you had them.

We have no pledge of allegiance, but I can say this: I am no longer From your United States of America. I belong to American Coastopia, the United States of My Friends, the Nation of Two: my wife and I. We hold our noses as we fly over you. We are sickened by the way you treat people that are different from you. The rest of the world despises America, and we don't want to be lumped in with you anymore.

Please, all of you who went to bed last night sick with worry, come to us. In American Coastopia, the light is always on, the hazelnut lattés are always hot, and we have a trundle bed for each and every one of you.

GRAPHIC ELECTORATE

Thanks to J.F. for passing along this mini-compendium of new electoral maps of how the "election" last week went.

51% 'MANDATE'?

The press is in danger of falling back into its role as Bush's lap dog, buying the hooey that Bush has some sort of mandate.

He doesn't.

As someone pointed out recently, 48 percent of Americans — an historic 55 million people — voted for Kerry, ostensibly "the most liberal member of Congress."

Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher writes:

If only 51% percent of my family or my editorial staff think I am doing a good job, I might look to moderate my behavior, not repeat or enlarge it. At the minimum, I would not assert that I was overwhelmingly popular. ...

As Doyle McManus and Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times put it, Bush aides "repeatedly" made the point that their man had won by such a wide margin he should be given full rein to institute new policies (or perhaps enact new wars). Did McManus and Hook consider this a bit overblown? No, they repeated the talking point, declaring that "Bush can claim a solid mandate of 51% of the vote."

As the Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt observed, it was "the narrowest win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916." And a Gallup poll conducted after the election found that 63 percent of voters would prefer to see Bush pursue policies that "both parties support" compared to only 30 percent who want Bush to "advance the Republican Party's agenda."

Don't believe the hype.

STOLEN AGAIN?

An increasing number of people are questioning how exit polls could've been so wrong. Greg Palast writes:

Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.

So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?" Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, "Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know.

The evidence is troubling.

STOLEN AGAIN?

An increasing number of people are questioning how exit polls could've been so wrong. Greg Palast writes:

Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.

So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?" Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, "Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know.

The evidence is troubling.

GOP SLUGFEST

Though many folks were upset on Election Day, this tough guy looks to take his aggressions out the old-fashioned way.

I would like to fight a Bush supporter to vent my anger. If you are one, have a fiery streek, please contact me so we can meet and physically fight. I would like to beat the shit out of you.

That's some personal ad.

DOOM GLOATS

L.C., a Republican, sent this to me moments ago:

I've given you the proper, respectful day of mourning you so deserve. Now, it's time to gloat!!!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

My reply:

I didn't mourn at all. A couple of percentage points in the popular vote means he has no mandate, just like he didn't have last time around — without the benefit of incumbency or the fictional "wartime president" status he created.

There won't be much to gloat about when we're less safe, our troops are even more strained under a failed iraq policy, social security is bankrupt, we're paying more in local & state taxes, prescription drugs, et cetera.

All it proves is that the politics of division and obfuscation work, something antithetical to the idea of an informed, critical electorate that understands the constitutional protections the Founding Fathers intended — church & state and balance of powers being chief among them.

HOPE REMAINS

This was a beautiful reflection on the debacle earlier this week from Viva, my friend, ex-bandmate, former high school classmate and inspiration.

hello friends and neighbors

number one: what the FUCK.

i feel compelled to reach out and share some words because today reminds me somehow of the time following 911. like a hovering anxiety, sadness, and a huge helplessness.

i see the conservative screws tightening, and it makes me afraid. for women and reproductive rights, for LGBT's in those red states, for PWA'S, for minorities, for the poor, for the continuing deterioration of our basic constitutional rights.

i am writing to say i am glad for community, glad for like minds and hearts, and as grateful for un-like minds who can agree to be so, peacefully.

so much about this today frightened and has shaken me, and made me angry. it s easy to see THEM as the enemy, then of course i have throughout the day 2 conversations with 2 latino men who so reminded me of my family , talking to me about how they voted for bush. they believe they are protecting their families by voting this way, they truly believe in the FORCE that this president is compelled to use, an eye for eye ( but its not even the right eye dammit!)
its frustrating because i felt so close to them too, like we shared so much culturally here in NYC together. its frustrating but somehow perfect to listen to them, it's hard to hate an individual person, easier to lump them all into one group, so it was weird and good for me to have had these encounters today. we are all the same, we want to be safe and cared for and they believe he will protect them.
oh my god it hurt me how huge a turnout he got from the latinos, but it makes sense to me they went his way.

but c'mon catholic latinos! jesus? was there ever a more peaceful figure, he taught unconditional love and that god is within as much as without. that guy wasnt throwing stones, he was hanging out with hookers.

what god is the president taking orders from?

i pray that bush is relieved of the voices he's hearing that guide him to war, so that he can hear the true voice of that god he claims to fully believe in, that voice that says love compassion and forgiveness.

i pray that he truly experiences the change of heart he says god granted him, the one that saved him from drug addiction, did it say now that you're sober you can feel free to kill thousands of innocent men women and children? oh my god have a drink AND a bump, please. (no, just kidding! it would make everything worse, he'd be pushing the big red button like martin sheen in the dead zone QUICK)

i pray the same for everyone that plan and decide and preach war, that they see that the truth of god is the opposite of war. this hate is taught, this hate is taught. any holy book can be used to justify any atrocity, and in my heart i know all war on every level comes about from the lovelessness children have endured. it's taught.

what can we DO?

one of my most favorite people, on halloween , on a completely unrelated topic said to me " in times of great darkness there is great light". i'm holding on to that one-

it was incredible how many people i know, personally, who were motivated to service these last couple of years. the last few weeks were astounding this way. the 911 vigils, the RNC demos, to see with my eyes , to be a part of these events and see the care and action, is heartening. it counts. we are not alone.

so the the tide has turned but you know the ocean she keeps moving and it will turn again. it's the law of nature. how is this gonna happen?

i dont know .

what can i do?

i encourage you, and i encourage me, to live our bliss, find the thing that makes you happy, whatever the hell it is. do it. do it without any doubt , now is the time, now is always the only time. everything you do in joy helps everyone and makes a difference, i believe this to be so.

some of my greatest frustration and anger was that 911 was used really effectively for bush by the only person who could appropriate it ,new york mayor guiliani. he used it to again goad people into fear and revenge.

in contrast i remembered the actual day of 911, out of the window we could see they were burning, huge black smoke pouring, we were watching the one tv channel that was still working. a firefighter crying, bawling like a baby, he had just come out of one the buildings b4 it fell, and he saw the cameras facing him, he took the opportunity to say this straight into the camera , sobbing:
"love each other just love each other"

i leave you with a prayer written by the official 911 victim #1, who was openly gay, a recovering addict , a catholic priest, and my friend.

i cant imagine he would say the answer to destruction is more destruction.

"Lord, Take me where you want me to go
Let me meet who you want me to meet,
Tell me what you want me to say,
and
Keep me out of your way.
Written by Father Mychal Judge
FDNY Chaplain

in love and light
viva

Amen.

DIG IN

It's always darkest before dawn.

Until first light breaks, enjoy this humorous film strip of the right-wing extremists' duplicity and failures.

As the site suggests, "Be sure to have flash enabled and your speakers turned on. You may also want to make sure your right wing hosebag boss is at lunch."

[Thanks, M.H.]

STARK REALITIES

The following map depicts the feelings of many of the historic high 55 million voters who sought to oust failed leadership from Washington, D.C.

[Thanks to C.D. and C.V. for this.]

TEMPORARY SETBACK

It was with the following bulletin, shortly after 11 a.m., that the campaign came to a close:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry's fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush to concede Ohio and the presidency to Bush, The Associated Press has learned.

Yes, it's surprising to see that a failed administration can invent reasons to go to war, then run on a campaign as a wartime president; preside over the first net job loss since Hoover, then claim he's boosting the economy, etc.

Don't be upset.

There is no clear mandate for the misleader, who won because he divided the nation and appealed to our worst instincts with fear-mongering, race-baiting and class divisions. This is not — I repeat, not — the vision our Founding Fathers held.

Do not despair.

We still have our jobs, we still have our families and our health, and we still have the ability to influence the world around us. It won't always be easy or encouraging, but it will be necessary to speak up for injustice, now more than ever. We will have to work to ensure that the ideals that form the foundation for the United States of America — religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble — are protected and exercised wherever, whenever possible.

America is larger than any one man.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

The killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh after making a movie critical of Islam's treatment of women highlights the dangers of religious extremism, whether here or abroad.

Dutch newspaper Telegraaf, which published a crime-scene photo of the slain filmmaker, reported that thousands turned out to protest the killing.

One thing I admire about Holland is how many people turned out for that protest, understanding that hate crimes are unacceptable and that a free society requires tolerance — something apparently lost in the U.S.

P.D. of Holland writes:

Reminds us of the murder of Pim Fortuyn, the politician. Someone calculated that the filmmaker was murdered 911 days after Fortuyn was murdered. The filmmaker was killed on November 2nd. 112 is the emergency number in Holland ...

An uneasy omen, to be sure.

COSTA RICA

Friends this week had said they would move to Canada if the unspeakable were to happen, but I think I'd pick Costa Rica — especially when the world's oil reserves run out in 10 to 20 years.

Warm climates will be muy importante!

ELECTION PROBLEMS

Although problems at the polls haven't reached the dire level of last election, they have popped up. VotersUnite! provides a handy guide to these reports, whether it's "machine malfunction" or "animosity at polls."

PARTING THOUGHTS

As I head home to vote tonight, I'm overwhelmingly positive about Kerry victory tonight.

I don't believe it will go into recounts and lawsuits, as worst-case scenario preparations have suggested. We will know tonight that Americans have rejected the regressive, reactionary, right-wing exremists tactics of fear-mongering and abject failure of Bush administration policies abroad, in Iraq, on terrorism, on a dismal economy, on tax cuts we can't afford, on privatizing Social Security, on reducing a woman's right to control her own body, on robbing our children of their education.

And so on.

At this point last time around, Gore was behind in the polls by 4 percent. This time, Kerry is tied. Once you count minorities, first-time voters, immigrants, mobile-phone users and those enraged by an administration that was appointed by a partisan Supreme Court — Chief Justice William Rehnquist aided 1962 Republican efforts to disqualify black and Hispanic voters — there is a far greater number of Americans who are outraged that they were denied their majority choice of president.

Bush has awakened the sleeping giant of American democracy, and for that he'll pay dearly.

On that note, I urge you to vote if you haven't already and provide this late-breaking development from blogger John Marshall, who cites late Gallup statistics:

According to Gallup's mega-final-ultra poll out Sunday evening, 30% of registered voters in Florida have already voted, either through early voting or by absentee. Of those who have already voted, Kerry leads President Bush 51% to 43%.

According to the Des Moines Register poll out late Saturday evening, 27% of Iowa adults have already voted. And among those Kerry leads 52% to 41%.

Both numbers seem good for Kerry — though they may mean a lot of different things.

Good night, and see you on the flip side of Election Day.

EXIT POLLS

They're not intended for public consumption, but a source inside the Democratic National Committee has passed these along:

State % Kerry % Bush

NH 58 41
WI 52 48
MN 58 41
MI 58 41
OH 52 48
FL 52 48
PA 59 40
ME 55 44

KERRY LEADS

Kerry leads just slightly on Tuesday morning, according to the Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004.

Keep watching.

MUTED 'JUBILATION'

Continuing it's grand tradition of doublespeak, soon-to-be lame-duck Bush officials struck a dour note on the campaign trail:

Bush's aides predicted victory when talking on the record, pointing to polls showing that the race remained a tossup, both nationally and in key states. But despite the insistence that all was well, the erosion in the moods of Bush's inner circle over the past two weeks was unmistakable. Several of his close advisers said they were concerned because the president had achieved no last-minute momentum, and Democratic turnout was looking as if it might swamp the Bush-Cheney campaign's projections.

A Republican official who is privy to Bush-Cheney strategy and polling said that as the incumbent, Bush should be further ahead of Kerry in polls. "Some of them have been moving in the right direction, but it isn't enough," the official said. "Karl [Rove] is a big believer in the bandwagon effect, but there has been nothing over the past week for the president to use it to turn it around." ...

Mark McKinnon, Bush's chief ad strategist, flew with him all day and said Bush was "nostalgic" about having so much of his team from 2000 out on the road with him one last time. Asked about the mood on the plane, a subdued McKinnon replied, in a deadpan voice: "Jubilation."

PUNDITS' PICKS

In a bad sign for the misleader-in-chief's campaign, CNN conservative commentator Tucker Carlson predicts Kerry will win the popular vote, the Electoral College and Florida.

Reactionary, right-wing extremist shill Ann Coulter would make a great spokesmoron for a booze company with her predictions the draft dodger would take 52 percent of the popular vote and dominate 217 Electoral College votes.

Wonkette gives Kerry a squeaker at 271 electoral votes.

Twenty-one students in a D.C. high school provide the most level-headed analysis, giving Kerry Florida and the popular vote (48 percent) and Bush the electoral votes (272). They're young. You'll have to forgive them.

DEAD HORSE

Evidence that the path to success for Iraq's new president, Ghazi al-Yawar, lies in opposing the Bush administration's bungled mess comes in this quote related in a New York Times story:

"I completely disagree with those who see a need to decide the matter through military action," the president told the daily Al Qabas. "The coalition's handling of this crisis is wrong. It's like someone who shoots at his horse's head just because a fly has landed on it. The fly escapes and the horse is dead."

UNDIGNIFIED MISLEADER

See how Bush, the world's most famous draft dodger, comports himself when he's not on the air and talks about a "one-fingered victory salute."

We'll see who gets the finger tomorrow, jackass.

[Thanks to J.H. for this.]

BANNING PHOTOGRAPHS

Freelance photographer James S. Henry of Sag Harbor, N.Y., was arrested Sunday while taking pictures of voters in Palm Beach County, Fla., for allegedly ignoring a deputy's order to move. The officer pinned the 54-year-old journalist to the ground, yelling at him and punching him.

All this because of a new law by Theresa LePore, the genius behind the so-called butterfly ballot that helped sway the 2000 into chaos, leading Bush to steal the election.

Next: Will reporting inconvenient facts will be punishable by death?

HEADS UP

This comes from a friend of a friend in Texas, who cast an early ballot via electronic voting machine and found that despite voting for the entire Democratic ticket in Austin, the machine told her she had voted for Bush. She immediately got a poll official had her ballot corrected.

Aside from the larger issue of voting machines, urge everyone you know to double-check your vote:

I called the Austin office of the Democratic National Committee, 512.637.1737, and they said that it has been happening a lot. They don't know why but the machines seem more "sensitive" this year and that every voter MUST check their summary as the presidential choice often rolls over to the Republican choice if you vote straight Democratic.

Here is there web site: http://www.democrats.org/ and their main number in Washington, D.C. is 202.863.8000.

MOBILE VOTERS

As I've been saying all along, political polls are inherently skewed. A Salon.com story picks up on a groundbreaking — but still not foolproof — polling methodology:

Will the cell phone voting bloc wind up becoming the November surprise? Zogby has just released a path-breaking presidential poll conducted exclusively on mobile phones. And the winner is John Kerry by a landslide margin of 55 to 40 percent. Jimmy Breslin and others have been complaining that traditional telephone polls just aren't capturing the new voter realities, because so many young people are only reachable by their Nokias. If the Zogby poll, which was conducted in partnership with Rock the Vote, is a reliable indicator, Tuesday night might not be such a drawn-out, nail-biter after all.

SWAY THEM

There are precious few hours until the election, and here are a few links to help sway any Bush supporters you might know to vote for Kerry. Choose one or two of the links you believe will have the desired effect, depending on who you're sending them to.

I'm Brunocerous and I approved this message.

B

[Thanks to E. for this list.]

As we all know, Nov. 2 is Election Day.

Most of the links in this list are from groups that typically support a Republican candidate, yet, for various reasons, support the Democrat, Kerry for this election.

Please take which links you think are important and send them to friends and family.

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS

Republicans for Kerry
Conservatives for Kerry
American Conservative Magazine

CHRISTIAN GROUPS

Christians Against Bush
The Right Christians
Why Evangelical Christians Must Vote Against George W.
Bush
Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W.
Bush
Catholics for Kerry
Believers Against Bush
Christians for Kerry

MILITARY and VETERANS GROUPS

Iraq Veterans Against The War
Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Common Sense
Veterans Against The Iraq War
Citizen Soldier
Military Families Speak Out
Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change

NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES

New York Times endorsement for Kerry
The New Yorker's first presidential endorsement in
its 80-year history:
36 Newspapers Abandon Bush for Kerry

MISCELLANEOUS GROUPS

More than 100 tenured or emeritus business and economics
professors speak out on Bush fiscal policy
48 Nobel Prize winners against Bush
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
ExPatsAgainstBush
Independents for Kerry
Kids for Kerry
Teens for Kerry
Librarians Against Bush
Poets Against The War
Voters Against Bush
Re-Defeat Bush
Peaks Vs Valleys

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

Republicans for Environmental Protection
Greens for Kerry
Natural Resources Defense Council

MOM GROUPS

Mothers Opposing Bush
Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush

FUNNY (yet serious) GROUPS

"please, don`t vote for our cousin!"
Billionaires for Bush

PRESIDENTIAL INANITY

Maureen Dowd once again skewers the Bush administration for its astounding incompetence:

The Bushies' campaign pitch follows their usual backward logic: Because we have failed to make you safe, you should re-elect us to make you safer. Because we haven't caught Osama in three years, you need us to catch Osama in the next four years. Because we didn't bother to secure explosives in Iraq, you can count on us to make sure those explosives aren't used against you.

You'd think that seeing Osama looking fit as a fiddle and ready for hate would spark anger at the Bush administration's cynical diversion of the war on Al Qaeda to the war on Saddam. It's absurd that we're mired in Iraq — an invasion the demented vice president praised on Friday for its "brilliance" — while the 9/11 mastermind nonchalantly pops up anytime he wants. For some, it seemed cartoonish, with Osama as Road Runner beeping by Wile E. Bush as Dick Cheney and Rummy run the Acme/Halliburton explosives company — now under F.B.I. investigation for its no-bid contracts on anvils, axle grease (guaranteed slippery) and dehydrated boulders (just add water) .

Osama slouched onto TV bragging about pulling off the 9/11 attacks just after the president strutted onto TV in New Hampshire with 9/11 families, bragging that Al Qaeda leaders know "we are on their trail."

Maybe bin Laden hasn't gotten the word. Maybe W. should get off the trail and get on Osama's tail.