The Anyone But Bush* Vote and Signs of another 'close race'?

[Q]

THE MANIPULATION OF POLLS

- You can see 2000 happening all over again. The signs are there if you care to see them. The ( always questionable and surely manipulated ) numbers showing Bush* slipping and gaining but never suffering in the polls for misdeeds that would have meant impeachment for any other president.

AMERICAN CORPORATE MEDIA

- Another rerun: American media stories about Bush* as a God-fearing, moral, strong leader (and now 'war president) and the Democratic nominee is covered like a threat to national security and an enemy of the state. Blame it on ideology, greed or mock patriotism...but the American media is securely in the pockets of the Bush* Republicans.

BROKEN VOTING SYSTEM

- Even though many demanded that they be repaired...the voting system and electoral process is still in a shambles. Millions of votes won't be counted in November...to be later blamed on computer glitches, human 'mistakes' and a system with an 'acceptable' amount of errors.

YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE

- But the main reason the American media will once again be able to call November a 'close race' is because Democrats have failed to point out Bush's* illegal foreign policy and criminal behavior in the White House. This allows Republicans to vote for Bush* with a 'clear conscience'... rationalizing that if there's no smoke then there can't be any fire. The few Democrats that have taken Bush* to task on his illegal wars and executive branch felonies have been dismissed or marginalized by the leadership of both parties.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

- Yes...Democrats are better than Republicans and Kerry is better than Bush*. That's not even an issue. If you're not voting for Kerry then you haven't been paying attention to the criminal element currently occupying the WH. But it angers me to know that Democrats EXPECT my vote in November even though they're addressing few of the issues that many (if not a majority) feel are important to country and party. It pisses me off when someone EXPECTS my vote without trying to earn it.

- It's becoming clear that not directly addressing the issues of honesty, integrity and criminality and avoiding a confrontation with Bush* appears to be HELPING him in the polls. We have joined the man behind the curtain and become part of the problem when we're willing to 'overlook' executive branch domestic and international crimes for the sake of political expediency. Everyone knows that these crimes will never be prosecuted once they're allowed to fall down the memory hole. (See: Iran/Contra)

- Will the trade-off be worth it in the end? I think we'll see that the loyal opposition has allowed the Iran/Contra gang to get away...only to have them come back in 2000 / 2004 and do it all over again. But this time they've come back with revenge in mind, the media in their pocket and a goal to get rid of the last elements of liberalism in America.

[Q]

1. Excerpt - Barack Obama at the convention:

"For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are all connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper -- that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as one American family. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one."

"Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

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- But THIS is not the direction the Democratic party is taking. Instead...the new leadership of the party has chosen to emulate the Bushies by ignoring the poor and disenfranchised and use the money and influence of corporations to campaign and get elected.

- We simply can't afford to play this waiting game...as the 'vast right wing conspiracy' grows ever stronger. And it won't end with Kerry in the White House. Our very system of government has been smothered and rendered corrupt and neither party wants to admit the truth for fear of losing an election or a few 'undecided' voters.