BUT

Now I think Kerry is in big trouble. It's one thing for Kerry to oppose the end of the Assault Weapons Ban (personally, my views are more aligned with MeteorBlades than most liberals on this issue) but to start ranting off about the Big Gun lobby and the NRA, etc is INCREDIBLY STUPID. It's damn near political suicide. Personally guns aren't just a big issue to me. I've found them to be what conservative Democrats (Feinstein) throw at liberals to appease them while she goes on being one of the more conservative Senators. And anyways, I'm sympathetic to people who want own guns and hunt. I grew up on SE Ohio. Practically everyone I know has a gun, or hunts (or someone in their family does).

And for Kerry and the Democrats to be attacking the NRA is just about the dumbest thing they could do at this point, so close to election day. Swing states - Ohio, WVA, New Hampshire, Penn, Michigan, and Florida. All big states for hunting (fishing and other such activities). If Kerry and the Dem's underestimate how important gun ownership rights are to these people, it could be the end of Kerry's campaign. I would bet it's one of the biggest issues to an influential segment of people in those states. I know several people back home who don't like Bush but don't want Kerry "taking away their guns." This will just reinforce that perception. And at the end of the day, they'll be standing in that polling booth, and the gun issue will push them to Bush. I'd say it's enough to swing WV and Ohio into Bush territory. It's sad that Kerry's team seem so out of touch with how important this issue is to people. And let's be serious, is the end of the Assault Weapon Ban the biggest thing facing us now? Really, I mean personally, I hate guns. They scare the shit out of me. And I can't fathom why people would want to own an assault weapon. But really, no terrorist is going to go to WalMart and buy an assault weapon. It just seems like a non-issue to me on the policy side of things but a huge losing issue on the political side.

RowBoat Veterans for Truth

A sample:

Friends and fellow countrymen, it's time to set the record straight. "General" George Washington is no war-hero.

He's resting his entire campaign on his so-called heroics in the Revolutionary War, and his famous Delaware River crossing.

His campaign wagons about a handful of Revolutionary veterans throughout the 13 States, and trots them out at public appearances to sing his praises. George Washington wants us to believe that these men represent all those he calls his "rowboat band of brothers."

But if bother you ask his boat mates, they'll tell you. The truth is, the man is unfit for command, and as president he would quite literally leave our young nation up the creek, without a paddle.

Rowboat Vets for Truth is here to share the real story, to correct the misleading use of our images, against our will, in paintings, woodcuts and pamphlets across the colonies.

The Rowboat Vets for Truth will counter the outrageous claims made by Mr. Washington and the liberal printing presses in Boston and Philadelphia.

Hey, before I post my message, let me kindly ask you to visit my blog and click on the ads (and buy something if the ads so move you). i have blog ads and am nearing $100 earned. once i get the check, i will be donating all of it to kerry and maybe one other campaign (fingerhut, boxer, seemann). anyways, i want to get the $100 soon because i plan on closing my blog down in the near future. my days as an amateur political pundit are nearing an end, or at least they are being put on hold while i pursue my studies.

Are you flipping serious?

This is grossly undemocratic and entirely unethical. I mean first off this is a stupid strategy because it will create a backlash and secondly, it's just downright wrong.

If Kerry can't win Ohio on his record and policy positions then he doesn't deserve to win. Ohio has suffered massive job losses and the war is a mess.

How about Democrats appeal to people through policy positions rather than cheating at the ballot box.

Well, it turns out that Bush just paid a visit there. I shudder to know that Bush has been trouncing around my hometown and speaking in the school where I used to go watch high school basketball games.

And while the schools are hurting badly for money (as is the case most everywhere in Appalachia, and the rest of the country), Bush had air conditioning pumped into the auditorium where he was speaking.

I think Atrios says it best -

Comfort the King:

[Brenda] Brum said that on Thursday one only had to look around the school to see how the expensive No Child Left Behind requirements are affecting students.
"We've got 1,200 students sitting over there in an un-air conditioned auditorium watching this (on television) with fans blowing on them to keep cool," she said. "Here, we've pumped in air conditioning for the President. I resent that. We need to first make sure there's money to provide students with an adequate learning environment."

The deaths of three Wood County soldiers in recent months also seemed to have sparked a much stronger anti-Bush sentiment than at several of his recent visits to the Mountain State.

A large throng of Democrats stood across from Parkersburg South High School with anti-war signs. One Bush protestor screamed, "You're killing my friends" before the president's motorcade arrived.

Good to see protesters greeting our King during his visit to WV.

(Am I the only one amazed that 3 people from Wood County have died in Iraq? It's not a big county and that number represents 1 in every 250 soldiers who have died in Iraq - Clearly 1 in 250 Americans do not live in Wood County)

Let us hope the darkness has passed. India's real and virtual worlds have collided in a humiliation of power.

For many of us who feel estranged from mainstream politics, there are rare, ephemeral moments of celebration. Today is one of them. When India went to the polls, we were negotiating the dangerous cross-currents of neo-liberalism and neo-fascism - an assault on the poor and minority communities.

-cut-

But even as we celebrate, we know that on every major issue besides overt Hindu nationalism (nuclear bombs, big dams and privatisation), the Congress and the BJP have no major ideological differences.
More

Kerry also told the Journal his belief in a multilateral approach to foreign affairs did not apply to Israel.

"The multilateral community has always been very difficult with respect to Israel, and we have always stood up against their efforts to isolate Israel," he said.

He added, "None of that changes my record of being wary of the way the U.N. has been used as a sort of battering ram with respect to Israel."

Kerry also backed President Bush in support for initiatives proposed by Israeli President Ariel Sharon. "Right of return is a nonstarter," he said. "We need to get a note of reality into these discussions." Likewise, refusing to recognize the permanence of some settlements is "disingenuous," Kerry told The Jewish Journal.

Kerry said he would maintain the current administration's policy of keeping Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the sidelines, "where he belongs". He criticized the Bush administration for not "seizing the moment" after the attacks of September 11, to pressure Arab states to assist in developing an alternative to Arafat.

"There was an opportunity to perhaps take advantage of their sensitivity to being hauled over the front pages of every newspaper of the world when it happened," he said. "There were some opportunities there to advance the accountability factor, the transparency factor, perhaps to get them to do a more overt effort to helping some kind of legitimate entity to emerge with which Israel could, in fact, negotiate," he said.

If elected, Kerry said, his first step with regard to the Middle East would be to consult with Israeli and U.S. Jewish leaders.
More

No multilateral approach?
Consulting Israeli leaders first rather than approaching them both simulatanously.

Oy. This is one issue where a Kerry Presidency won't be much better.

And no I'm not saying that Kerry won't be better on foreign policy. Just look at his comments on Haiti for an example of how a Kerry Presidency would be preferrable. WHEN Kerry is elected we have to pressure him to take a multilateral approach that includes the Palestinians as actors in a peace plan, not simply as passive recipients of the will of Israel/U.S.

The 365-50 roll call Thursday by which the House approved a resolution condemning the abuses of Iraqi prisoners while commending the members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq
Link

Kucinich voted against the resolution.

Why?

(reposted from my blog)

"I yearn for the days of Ronald Reagan because even he wasn't as bad as Bush..."

Sure he's speaking in jest but he was also somewhat serious. By doing this he lowers the bar to such a disgustingly low level. And he makes Reagan type policies seem "reasonable."

"Heck, Bush didn't have to talk to me, just telling Colin Powell of the plans on Iraq would have been enough..."

Again, making Powell the symbol for reason. And yes Gephardt, he should have talked to you... you were the House Minority Leader.

This kind of talk just moves the center way to the right and makes the moderate conservative the sane, or pragmatic, or reasonable position.

Just drives me nuts.

Marking Earth Day Inc.
By: Geoffrey Johnson

Welcome to Earth Day 2004, brought to you by petroleum powers, big-box developers, old-growth loggers and chemically dependent coffee companies trying to paint their public image green.

Let's start with Sierra Pacific, a benefactor of northern Nevada's celebration of Earth Day. The timber company is involved in a lawsuit aimed at weakening the Sierra Nevada Framework, which protects the region's forests. Marathon Oil is Earth Day's sponsor down in Houston. Behind closed doors in Texas, Marathon worked on voluntary emissions regulations that have helped give Houston some of the worst air quality in the country.

The Earth Day cleanup and restoration program held by the California State Parks Foundation is financed by corporations with poor environmental records in the state: ChevronTexaco, which recently agreed to a $275 million settlement over air pollution from five of its California refineries; Wal-Mart, which lobbied unsuccessfully for a ballot initiative in Inglewood to exempt a proposed supercenter from environmental restrictions; and Pacific Gas and Electric, whose illegal dumping of carcinogenic chemicals near the town of Hinkley was memorialized in the movie "Erin Brockovich."

In New York City and other areas, Starbucks has its own events, centered around its latest slogan, "More than our logo is green." Yet the company will neither label nor remove genetically modified ingredients in its products. And while it promotes its "origins" line of coffees as a symbol of its commitment to sustainable coffee farming, the origins varieties account for just a sliver of the coffee that Starbucks sells.

Some might argue that there is nothing wrong with corporations acting as a friend of Earth Day, no matter how unfriendly their everyday operations may be. Perhaps they are just showing solidarity with the millions of Americans who support Earth Day each year to combat the necessary environmental evils of their year-round lifestyles. But the reality is that sponsorship is often intended not as atonement for misdeeds against nature, but as a distraction from them.

Through concerted marketing and public relations campaigns, these "greenwashers" attract eco-conscious consumers and push the notion that they don't need environmental regulations because they are already environmentally responsible. Greenwashing appears in misleading product labels like "all natural" and "eco-friendly"; in television commercials showing S.U.V.'s rolling peacefully through the wilderness; and in the co-opting of environmental buzzwords like "sound science" and "sustainability" -- which corporate executives render meaningless through relentless repetition.

Earth Day events are select venues for greenwashers, allowing them to communicate with their target audience of green consumers. They also amount to a public relations bargain. BP spent $200 million rebranding itself from British Petroleum to "beyond petroleum." Major corporations pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for environmentally themed advertisements in high-circulation magazines like National Geographic and Time. In contrast, at most Earth Day festivities, a few hundred to a few thousand dollars will get a company marquee exhibition space and a prominent place for its logo on publicity materials.

It would be a shame to let the high-flying banners of greenwashers distract Earth Day participants from the environmental advocates, community associations and government agencies that work to protect the environment throughout the year. But it is also incumbent upon those same groups -- many of which are in the position of choosing who sponsors these events -- to adopt a strict screening process to separate the genuinely green businesses from the greenwashers. Finally, let's not forget the most charitable patron of all. Earth Day, like every day, is brought to us by the generosity of none other than the planet itself.

Geoffrey Johnson is program coordinator of the Green Life, a nonprofit environmental group.
Link

But I do have a blog and I have blogads. Each time someone clicks on the ads I make a small bit. Currently I've made about $30 because I have a small readership comprised of family, friends, and the random person who accidentally comes across it through a Google search.

Please, go to my blog and click on the ads. You're welcome and encouraged to read what I have to say. And talk shit to my one heckler (Ryan).

Once I make $100, Google sends me a check... I will donate all of my earnings to political campaigns with the first $100 going to Kerry ($50), Boxer ($25), and Jeff Seemann ($25). After I make $100, I will continue to donate all earnings to Democratic campaigns.

Please go to my blog daily and click on all 4 ads. Help me help Dem's get elected.

WaterBuffalo

Anyone interested?

Questions/Comments.

(by the way the next Wednesday A's game is May 5 against the Yankees - I don't think the deal works when the A's play the Yank's/Sox so the next one after that is May 19 against Detroit)

Give Scott Ritter a listen.

and at least one of these responses was unrelated to the questions asked.

then there is this story which was in a diary earlier. to be fair, i have no idea what this paper is or if it is it all reputable. but still...

Link

Bob Johnson,

Can you shoot me an email at mikethebuffalo at yahoo dot com.

From reading your comments, I take it you are a staffer with the Obama campaign. I'm working on an article about the campaign, and would like to speak with someone working on it.

Thanks,
Ekim