Progressive Phoenix

Long Time

2010-05-15T15:18:00.002-04:00

Has it been that long since my last posting?

Much has taken place since...Personal triumphs and tragedy. More recently it has been leaning towards the tragic. These are tough times for me in my personal life but God willing things will improve. Without hope for a better life then there is not much reason to carry on is there?

More to come soon.......

Summer Approaching

2009-06-10T22:49:00.003-04:00

These days I am getting an in depth education on the process of foreclosure from inception when the lender sends a notice of intent to foreclose all the way to the point where somebody gets evicted. Its a process that takes years in most cases.

Its easy for somebody to say "The dirty banks" but as in anything in life the truth is never so simple. The banks made some bad business decisions but most of the really dirty stuff was done by brokers, who were out for nobody but themselves.

Some of these people knew they couldn't afford the loan and others are victims of bad times. Some you feel sorry for and others not so much. It is interesting though to learn so much about a "hot topic" while its hot and not faded into history. I'm on the front lines so to speak.

I haven't posted in awhile, so I cleaned up all the old posts and comments. Maybe I will get this blog going again and to some semblance of its former self. I don't have much time these days, and when I did have the time I never updated. O well.

I think I will put up some pics from the trip to Atlanta one of these days.

NY Mets Chaos

2008-06-17T16:39:00.003-04:00

I guess the Mets need to take PR lessons on how to fire people. The way they handled the Willie Randolph situation shows a profound tone deafness when it comes to PR issues. They let this issue simmer for more then a week and then let the guy fly to the west coast only to announce his firing at 3:18am EST?

How unprofessional can you get? The night of his last game Willie is throwing batting practice while the assistant GM is seen huddling with Willie's replacement? What a classless act by the Mets.

I realize that Met fans have not been happy with Willie of late, but the team is one game under .500 with more then half the season to go. The team has talent and a good road trip will bring them back home over .500

They could have waited till at least then. Having said that this team has shown very little life up to this point. They have obviously not recovered from their historic 2007 collapse. Maybe this will light the fire? It could, but it could also have the opposite effect with the team going into a rebuilding mindset. If they continue to perform at a below .500 pace then trade Delgado first. Hopefully he will be gone by the trading deadline, and ship out Heilman with him. Oliver Perez is 5-4 with a 4.98 ERA in 14 starts this year so he can go as well.

Thumbs Down For Newegg

2008-05-29T02:00:00.003-04:00

Newegg has decided to start collecting sales taxes beginning on June 1st. This is just another example of New York just sticking their fingers into peoples pockets and basically robbing us of our money. Sales Tax in New York is already averaging the 4th highest in the nation at over 8%. Yes some states have no taxes of this kind whatsoever. You go New Hamshire!

In a down economic time they talk about how important it is to start stimulating spending, well this will have the opposite effect. New Yorkers get used to this because other online retailers are poised to follow suit. I know I won't be shopping at Newegg anymore. I will shop at the places where its cheapest still and since the Egg will charge tax+shipping I am certain it won't be them.

Its not just the sales tax. New York is already one of the most expensive places in the country to live, and the closer you get to NYC the harder it becomes. Property taxes, food and fuel prices, state and local taxes. I understand fully now why this state has been losing population or that downstate people have been migrating upstate in greater numbers. How do they expect people to survive around here when they keep taking everything we have?

Billo Goes Nuts

2008-05-13T19:22:00.005-04:00

Love the new Billo video, but the remix is even funnier. His hairpiece almost falls off he gets so angry!

Another GTA4 Idiot Speaks

2008-05-05T00:11:00.003-04:00

Every so often I have watched that fucking moron Glen Beck at CNN Headline News spewing his shit over the airwaves. Isn't it amazing how many people get paid to be pricks on television? I was reading Tech news over at http://www.bluesnews.com

Anyway I read a link to a video of this idiot ranting on about how its games like this that will destroy us, bla bla bla whatever. I couldn't even make it through this morons little rant without shutting him down, the best insult you can give to a talker. If nobody is listening then their message goes nowhere.

I wouldn't deprive others of the joy his sermon may bring though so check it out if you can stomach it, O and Glen Beck? Get a fucking life.

Smackdown 2008

2008-03-16T15:30:00.005-04:00

My dog just turned five years old! Hard to believe but its true. He sure is a kind hearted soul. He's sort of camera shy so that's why he looks scared.

Here is a picture of him in all is handsome glory! Happy birthday!

So is the democratic party coming apart at the seams? Its starting to look that way. A few months back all sides seemed happy with their choices but then something happened. In a desperate bid to win Clinton decided to take the chance and go negative. Now with this primary not likely to end till June it looks like that much time being negative will have some serious repercussions come November. I am starting to hear Obama supporters say they will not vote at all or vote for McCain in November out of anger. This is the kind of thing that many people feared as this dragged on. Hope it ends soon.

Senators Clinton and Obama should back out of the September 23rd debate in Detroit hosted by Fox News

2007-04-13T06:40:00.000-04:00

Senators Clinton and Obama should back out of the September 23rd debate in
Detroit hosted by Fox News
By Joe Z

John Edwards made an important decision in this very early Democratic Primary season. He decided to back out of the September 23rd debate in Detroit hosted by Fox News.

I am calling on Senators Clinton and Obama to follow suit. Fox News has shown itself to be an organization that is little more than an add on to the Republican National Committee. In my view it would be a mistake for the Democratic candidates to participate in any event that gives Fox News any credibility as a news organization. They will use the event to explain how "Fair and Balanced" they are while using their pundits to attack Democratic candidates and positions both before and after the debate.

The time has come for the Democratic party in particular, and the Progressive movement in general, to finally take action against an organization that calls itself a news organization but is in constant attack mode when it comes to Democrats. For a decade now the left has stood by and said very little and done even less on this issue. The time of Democrats being afraid to offend Fox News in the fears of losing votes should be over. The time for taking strong positions against our political enemies is now. The message should be sent to the masses that we will no longer stand by and watch progressives being swift boated by a network that reminds its viewers how "fair and balanced" they are dozens of times each day.

The plain fact is that Senator Edwards "gets" it and he stands to benefit from taking a stand on an important issue this early in the campaign. If the others follow suit then they and we all will benefit from exposing Fox News for what it really is, the mouthpiece of the RNC

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joseph_z_070408_senators_clinton_and.htm

Iraq Study Group

2006-12-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well the report finally issued by the Iraq Study Group.

I find the conclusions interesting and odd. Why an emphasis on Iran helping out so much? In truth Iran has more to gain from Iraq in chaos then a stable unified nation that could become again a rival to its dominance in the region. A stable Iraq backed up with possibly billions of dollars a year in US military aid could not possibly be in Iran's best interest. So what is?

The splintering of Iraq. Some of Iraq's major players who are allied with Iran are calling for the division of the country and if that happens the Shiites would probably get more then half of Iraq's current territory and its oil rich south. This would leave the enemies of Tehran with control of the much poorer center and west and give Iran total and unquestioned regional dominance. Its possible that after a time the south could choose to merge with Iran, making it all the stronger. So I see little interest in Iran choosing to help us out with anything and that's assuming they could even help us out at all. The Shiites themselves seem to be splintering into competing factions and it seems the government has lost control over the very factions they are supposed to rule over.

The groups conclusions about training the Iraqi forces also is quite odd considering the administration has been saying that is its main goal for quite some time. The problem is if you are training and arming people who turn their weapons on each other then whats the use? It may be far too late to assume that a much greater emphasis on this is the answer to the problems only because they seem to have lost the ability to know the loyalties of the people they are training.

Getting out may be the only answer and it really pains me to write this. An exit by our forces will mean full scale civil war and many more dead Iraqi people, but there may be no other option at this point. A civil war that will probably lead to the partition of the country down sectarian lines. This leads me to conclude that they should start to consider the radical idea of helping to partition the country now and as peacefully as possible with some sort of negotiated settlement before we pullout. This may be the only option left sadly.

Election 2006

2006-10-24T21:18:00.000-04:00

So how many seats will the Dems pick up? Will they take back the House and/or Senate? I certainly think that this is a possibility but I would not count out Rove and his "72 hour" get out the vote effort at crunch time.

I have been reading too many predictions from Dems who are now cocky beyond all reason. I even read an article today about the Dems figuring out who will get which committee chairmanship. STOP!! Its way to early to say that the Dems will get the 15 seats needed to retake the House. Even if they do their majority will probably be very slim. The Senate requires a change of seven seats, and that's an even harder task.

Its far more reasonable to think that the Dems will get 8-12 seats in the House and 3-4 seats in the Senate. The concept of the "safe seat" has made it very very hard to see huge numbers of seats changing hands. Congress is not very good at anything but they ARE good at protecting their own jobs. This has nothing to do with party affiliations either.

Fact is a majority of Americans feel we are not going in the right direction on a wide variety of issues. The problem is we are a very divided nation, and not just a straight "red" vs "blue" but the right is split as well as the left. There are many factions in national politics at the moment and many powerful single issue interest groups with lots of cash to spend. It all adds up to one great big muddled mess, and it will get 10x worse for the 2008 election.

2006-10-12T00:02:00.000-04:00

I have not posted in a long while. I guess of late I have been too busy or not motivated to write. I will try to rectify that in the coming weeks.

I think I will start by re-visiting one of my favorite topics and that's the season 3 opener of Battlestar Galactica. This is certainly not your "parents" BSG that's for sure. This show is grim and may be the most grim show on TV, but its also honest and one of the things I love the most is that its up to us to decide the moral flaws of its characters and there are many!

I mean this episode packed a lot of stuff that's "current" and in our own news. Suicide Bombers, Terrorism, Religious extremism, references to modern war, etc. People on the Boards are comparing it to the situation in Iraq, but I think a much closer comparison can be made for the Russians in Chechnya. What is going on parrells that far more closely then what we are experiencing in Iraq.

The show has upset some over its harshness. Certainly its far harsher now then at any time except maybe for the "rape" episode of Gina. RM certainly has guts to take this show in the direction he is moving. Its darker then DS9 ever was, and that was pretty dark at times. I said it before and I will say it again, its the best show on TV period and its portrayal of humanity at its worst is the most honest of any show on TV at this time.

Beyond that half a year has gone by now at my new job. Not much to say I guess. Maybe one day I will be able to describe a day in Bronx Housing Court here, but its very hard to describe without having seen it in person. I will say this though. There are probably few places in this country like that place, and for that I am very thankful, very very very thankful. I will leave it at that.

Minimum Wage and Estate Tax?

2006-07-31T23:23:00.000-04:00

Minimum wage and Estate Taxes. These 2 things together in the same sentence? Seems kind of odd but in an election year attempt to buyoff the very poor and payoff the very rich the Republicans have decided to tie the two items together. The minimum wage goes up for the first time in a decade and the estate tax for about 11,000 wealthy families goes down.

Its beyond surprising that they would attempt such a naked election year ploy but there you have it. The poorest can only get a little more if the already super rich get richer. The ploy is obvious: Adding the estate tax provisions to the bill insures the Democrats will try to block it and so the Republicans in moderate districts can now say its the Democrats that don't care about poor people, not them.

As Senator Kennedy aptly stated "It's political blackmail to say the only way that minimum wage workers can get a raise is to give a tax giveaway to the wealthiest Americans," "Members of Congress raised their own pay with no strings attached. Surely, common decency suggests that minimum wage workers deserve the same respect."

Disgusting....

A few things to keep in mind when comtemplating this issue:

Inflation has eroded the minimum wage's buying power to the lowest level in about 50 years. Lawmakers have won cost-of-living wage increases totaling about $35,000 for themselves over that time. During the same period the gap between the wealthiest and poorest among us has grown considerably.

Munich

2006-07-04T12:45:00.000-04:00

The other day I finally got the chance to watch the Steven Spielberg film Munich. As I watched it I couldn't help but compare the conflict of the early 1970s to the conflict taking place now more than three decades removed from the tragedy the movie is based on.

Of course that's what Speilberg was trying to accomplish. To make us reflect upon how little has changed in the mind set of both sides in a seemingly never ending conflict. The cycle of violence was defined then, as now, by acts of revenge. Neither side seems willing or able to extract itself from the cycle. Sure they take little "time-outs" but the cycle always restarts. This time, as a backdrop to the movie, is the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by militants and the resulting attacks by the Israelis on Gaza and the arresting of Hamas legislators and government officials. I have often wondered why there are people, especially on the Arab side, who seem to almost want to keep the conflict simmering ad nasueam. All throughout Oslo there used to be a suicide bombing almost every time the two sides were close to any agreement. Now the circumstances are different but the mentality seems to remain the same.

In my own view an all out invasion of Gaza is probably not the answer and would be counterproductive. The real answer is a re-doubling of efforts to disengage Israel from the Palestinian areas. Finish the border fences, and increase security along it. Making Israel a huge gated community is probably not the best long term solution, but for now its the best answer. When the Palestinian thinking changes with regards to what peace means and Israel has a real partner to negotiate with, then the border situation can be reexamined.

Munich took place in 1972, but here we are in 2006 and it seems very little has changed.

Rove back to his old tricks

2006-06-08T01:29:00.000-04:00

Bush and Rove are at it again. I guess they think what worked once before should work again right? Lets try to use Gay marriage as the key to victory once more. Of course in 2004 Bush's poll numbers were not tanked as they are now. Also in 2004 there were less Republican Congressmen and lobby scum in shackles. Now for the 2006 elections lets see if the Gay marriage issue can bring the zombies to the polls one more time. Forget about the wars we are fighting and currently losing, forget social security, high fuel prices, broken health care, sky high debt, global warming, lower wages, immigration.....The list of REAL issues is endless but nooooooo. To get the zombies to the polls you can't let them think about the state of the nation, so you must mention symbolic issues they can wrap their little brains around.

The absurdity of the Government is astounding!

2006-05-06T15:21:00.000-04:00

Secure Pass....Sounds very........Secure no?

Well this little story highlights the Gov in all its usual intelligence. In this case the Gov is the State of New York.

Secure Pass is an ID card that lets attorney's and other "qualified" people go into the Courts around the State of New York without having to go through the metal detector. My ID card expired in September of 05, and needing a new one now that I am working in Court again, I went to renew it.

Up to the seventh floor of that miserable building in the Bronx called Bronx Housing Court. Ask about getting a new ID from a Court Officer. I wait in a non descript entry way for a few minutes, with not even a chair around to sit on. Out comes the Officer with my form to fill out. "Hold on", she says. "You need to give me your old ID before I can give you a new one". So I give it to her and off I go. As I left I felt something was wrong with giving it up, but could not figure out why I felt like that.

Once home I fill it out and check the "renewal" box, because this is not a first time application. It says on the back that I need two picture ID's. Not a problem I think to myself because the first time I applied I used the same two ID's that I plan on using this time. My New York State drivers license and my gym membership ID. There was no problem then, so it should be fine right?

So back into that miserable building to the seventh floor I find myself a few days later waiting again in the entry way. The Court officer comes back and tells me my application is no good. "Huh?" says I. "Well your 2nd picture ID needs to be a government or employee ID". "Well my employer has no such ID, and as for 2nd Gov ID, you TOOK MY OLD SECURE PASS A FEW DAYS AGO when you gave me my application". "They destroyed that when we gave you the application", he says dryly. One last thing to try so I explain to him that these ID's were the same ones I used last time, since this is a renewal. "Sorry, the lieutenant won't take them"

Its funny too, this is how much of the engine of Gov works. There is always somebody on a power trip, or sticking to the letter of the rules no matter how absurd they may be. That those morons destroyed the ID that I could have used only 2 days prior made me even more angry. So now I am most likely forced to spend $120 on a passport and wait 6 weeks for it to be processed.

Just wonderful! Thanks New York!

2006-04-14T01:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter Weekend! Hope you all have a great holiday..

I am sure everybody is noticing the price of gas again climbing to prices unheard of in the history of this country. Its slowly becoming worse then even 1974. That crisis was of a political nature, and an embargo caused supply to go down, prices to go up and long long lines of cars waiting to buy gas at the lucky stations that could still get supply. Now there are no lines, no supply problems of that nature and the yet the price of gas keeps going up. Every little bit of bad news of any kind out of an oil producer and the price rises. Nobody is talking much about low supplies so it leads me to believe that there is price gouging going on. Will the gov step in and take any action? Doubtful....

I am glad at this time I own no stock in Ford or even worse, GM. They bet so heavily on the SUV that it might cost GM everything. Hard to believe, but at one time GM was the most powerful American company. Now they are a shadow of their former selves. Its a shame actually, but it shows that no company is invulnerable. Microsoft should take some lessons from this affair, but to their credit they have been trying to diversify over the past few years like their entry into the console market.

I have read many articles of late about Brazil. They really have done it right with their "flex" car and truck engines that run on either ethanol or gas, your choice what you want to fill it up with. This makes any national transition much easier. For such a large and industrialized nation, they project that within a few years they will be 100% energy independent. Meaning they will not need to import even one drop of oil. Most of the fuel that goes into their cars is made from a simple substance grown in nature, Sugar. Hard to believe, but yes Brazil is probably decades ahead of us when it comes to energy.

Anyway, enough about the gas prices except to point you to a website that I am sure will get more and more popular over time. Its called Gasbuddy and the idea behind it is people report the prices of gas at local gas stations in your area to the website. Then people can go to the site and compare prices in their area to find the station with the cheapest price. Its free of course (for now)

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Its been a long time....

2006-03-29T12:28:00.000-05:00

Its been a long time since I posted. I have been busy or not inspired enough to write.

Of late I learned about something shocking going in in journalistic circles. It appears that PR firms are making short videos that mimic reports by journalists. Then they release these videos, which are little more then ads for a product or service, to newsrooms across the country. A shocking number of newsrooms have taken these little PR videos and presented them to their audiences as straight news. They don't disclose that its really PR either. This is really disturbing. You can actually see the actual videos of this practice at the following link. Just look for the April 6th headline.

http://www.prwatch.org/

So much has been going on in the world too! I hope all Battlestar Galactica fans were able to catch the end of season 2. What a shocking ending! Ron Moore sure takes risks but he has created a brilliant show. I can only wonder how they will resolve the current crisis. Its too bad that we have to wait till October to find out. I watched a movie the other night on Sci Fi called SS Doomtroopers and it ranks up there as one of the all time worst movies I have ever seen. So if you want to torture yourself for 2 hours some night go and watch that movie. The British hit show Dr. Who has finally come to US TV and its actually quite good. It feels very different then the original, as this has a lot of real comedy along with the wild stories. I can see why its such a big hit there but of course you must appreciate British humor (I do)

On the political front I should be more happy but I am not. The Republican disarray has not really crystallized a democratic plan to fix things. Sure they have stated a win in Nov and they will undue some of the worst excesses of Bush's reign like making his tax cuts to the rich permanent. The problem is they do not seem to have a plan for what they want to do, and that's what they really need if they want to clean house in November. As it is they may pick up a lot of seats, but without a plan to govern it will be hard to get the numbers they need to take back both houses.

On the homefront my Dog just turned 3 and my mom turned 70. My dad will be 78 this year. I can only hope to be in the kind of shape he is in if I make it to that age (I doubt I will) He puts men 15 years younger to shame. My writing has been sporadic but I have found a good job lead in the legal field recently. With money worries out of the way maybe it will make it easier for me to do more serious writing. At least this is the plan.....

Well cya all

Citizen Kane: Sixty Four Years Later

2005-12-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

Recently I watched Citizen Kane, the 1941 landmark movie that was written and directed by the late Orson Welles. He also brilliantly plays the leading role in this timeless classic.

This is not the first time I watched this picture, but its the first time I was able to watch it by choice. Huh? Let me explain. I was forced twice to watch this movie over the years. The first was back in high school, and the second as part of a college class. Let me tell you something straight away. Setting aside the fact that as a teenager and young adult I had an attention span that lasted as long as it took to type this sentence, being forced to watch anything gives you a different perspective then if you choose to watch.

Watching it now by choice and without the shortcomings of youth it was a whole different experience. When I think of the word "Rosebud", it suggests many things to me on an emotional and intellectual level. The search one goes through in life for meaning, the longing for simpler times, the dwelling on an event or events that were forever life altering. This man of power and wealth and influence was thinking of something so simple on his deathbed, that it staggers the mind. That sled represented the cross-roads of his life, and when you finally know what "Rosebud" means, it brings the whole first scene into sharp focus.

What would have happened to his life had he come back from playing with his sled and there was nobody to take him away? What would have become of him? I think we all face these events in life where things come into sharp focus. What would have happened if I had called her? Or if I had not fallen? Questions such as these we all face, and that's why this movie is brilliant.

It makes the timeless point about money not buying happiness. About the longing for simpler times in our lives, and about the choices me make for good or ill. Certain movies have that timeless quality about them because they don't speak only to the era they were made in, but speak more about us as human beings. Era's change, decades go by, technology changes the lives of society but humans will always be humans.

We live in an era where filmmakers believe in the theory of the lowest common denominator. Lets take generic people in to see generic films that concentrate on the eyes more than the mind. If they would only realize that the "eyecandy" is secondary to story then we would have more wonderful films. Citizen Kane succeeds and is timeless because it stimulates the brain, and makes you ask questions about your own life.

Shame we hardly ever get that from the films of today.

Manufactured Controversy: The War on Christmas

2005-12-04T19:45:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you read, hear or watch something in the media that makes you shake your head and wonder what planet these people live on. Tune in to just about any conservative radio show, Fox News or any number of other conservative websites and you can find out there is some kind of "war on Christmas".

Funny, those are the only places this "war" exists. Everybody I know and the things around town you see smacks of the holiday season. The stores, the advertising, and all that goes with it. Do people really give a second thought when they read an ad worded "happy holidays" or "merry X-mas"? I think its fair to say that the overwhelming majority of people do not ever give it a second thought. Watch or listen to people like Bill O'reilly and you would think there is some kind of leftist plot to kill Christmas. Sounds tailor made for a new animated Christmas special. We can name it "O'reilly Saves Christmas"

So what's really going on here? The answer is quite obvious. The Republican party is mired in scandal after scandal, the war in Iraq is going very badly, the budget deficit is growing ever larger and cuts are being made in student loan programs to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%. Our health care system is broken, and the people in power have no answer to the rising cost of health care, nor for the 47+ million people who can not afford coverage of any kind. The south is still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the news from the gulf region is not encouraging.

With an election coming up for Congress and Republican control in jeopardy the conservatives are trying to divert attention from the important issues that our country faces. So this month its the "war on Christmas". Fox News gives more attention to this phony war then any of the meat and potatoes issues I mentioned above. Next month it will be another manufactured war I am sure, like Intelligent Design or Gay marriage. To keep the folks on the right angry and voting the conservative talkies have no choice but to keep hitting their listeners over the head with this stuff. If you give them any time to think they may realize how bad things are and abandon the Republican party.

Will this strategy work for them? Only time will tell....

Sweeping Away the Filth

2005-11-30T20:13:00.000-05:00

Sweep, Sweep, Sweep....

Anybody else out there who feels like its time for the proverbial broom to sweep away the greedy folks who sit in the "lofty" halls of Congress these days? Certainly there have been periods in history where there has been tremendous graft. The major difference is that most of us never knew about it.

We live in an era of the 24/7 news cycle and tremendous technology in the service of the people trying to dig up the dirt. Combine that with the greed that currently prevails in Washington, and you have a perfect storm of corruption.

To add to the list of indictments, investigations and other ethically challenged behavior going on, now we have "Duke". This guy, a congressman from CA, has been on the take for years...Yes thats years....Like just about all the other investigations going on right now its connected to Lobbying. What a great and noble profession that has become. No longer around to try to get lawmakers to enact legislation important to their clients, today its mostly about lining their own pockets. Bribery, financial scams, nothing is beyond what these people will try. The fact that a large majority of Lobbyists are lawyers, sickens me. One more black stain on a profession that already has enough problems.

2006 mid-terms can not come fast enough. We need a broom to get rid of the current crop of corrupt politicians. We then need to reign in these greedy lobbyists so the next crop has less to worry about.

Miers...The Ultimate Stealth Nominee?

2005-10-05T03:29:00.000-04:00

Harriet E. Miers

Is that a name that should strike fear into the hearts of partisans? Could be, but which side? After more than 4 years of speculation and millions of dollars raised by special interests to fight over who would replace O'Conner, this is what we get. Its the ultimate anti-climax in more ways then can be listed in the time I have to write this.

So far the opposition researchers are hard at work on both ends of the spectrum trying to dig up some dirt, or some headlines, and anything that can help with fundraising. So far they seem to have come up with very little. I have read she is strongly pro life and strongly pro gay rights. Huh???

What in the world would motivate Bush to make a pick like this? At first glance its shocking but if you sit back and dwell on it for even a little it makes sense. This President runs a very very insular administration. Loyalty is rewarded and the inner circle is small. Cronyism has always been part of the culture of White House politics since the days of old but this administration seems to take it to new heights. Even after the failure of FEMA put the spotlight on it they came right back with another Crony appointment to run Customs. So this should come as no surprise I guess. This president is rewarding his friend with a lifetime appointment and considering who she is replacing its the most important appointment Bush will ever make.

Now having said all that its not like he picked some nobody off of the street either. This is an impressive woman to be sure. First female head of a major law firm in Texas, first female head of the Texas Bar. For any lawyer those are major accomplishments, but in Texas? Doubly so as Texas has not always stood out as the bastion of women's rights. She would also enter the court as the only non judge. As far as I am concerned that's exactly what the court needs, a real lawyer-not some judge who tailors their opinions to look good in the law school texts. We have enough of that already to be sure.

So I guess we will have to wait for the current Supreme Court Term to end before we start to get a feel for this new Court. Don't think you will learn much from the hearings, as they seem to be more about the Senators stroking their tremendous egos and less about the nominee.

O and to the Piels Light poster. This blog is not for those types of comments-One of these days I will set up a more suitable blog for that. When I do we can debate whether Eric is still in the gastank or the time sombody ate 160 piece bucket of chicken. This one is strictly politics, and so to keep it clean comments are disabled. This blog gets posted in enough of the "important" places where the points are debated endlessly in any event. You can even read it sometimes in various publications. It reads a little different when the editors get hold of it but you can't get all you want in life.

Chow

2005-09-28T03:21:00.000-04:00

The Real State Of The Union

After reading an online poll about whether people support capitalism or not in this country it lead me to do some delving into the real State of The Union, circa 2005. When reading the poll I was surprised that the no votes were quite high. That at least means that the wool is not being pulled over everybody eyes. First off has there ever been a time in this country's history where capitalism was fair? The answer to that is no, but there were times when we were heading in the right direction.

There are three periods in our history where real attempts were made to change things. The first was Teddy Roosevelt. His interest in busting the trusts and especially going after Standard Oil set the standard for trying to break up companies that get too powerful for their own good. Since then the results have been quite mixed, but it was a good start. The New Deal was the next great movement. So many of what we take for granted today was formulated in that period. Things like Social Security, FDIC protections, Banking Reform. It was the beginning of the modern welfare state. The 1960s Great Society was the last great attempt to move our capitalism toward a more European model, but it utterly failed. In no small part due to Lyndon Johnson's problems with the Vietnam War. The rich and powerful, using their friends in the media then began an attack on the welfare state. They managed to make even the word "welfare" a dirty word.

Since 1968 There has been a steady erosion of everything that was gained since Teddy Roosevelt decided to start shaking things up. Now in 2005 I feel we have a lot more in common with 1880 or 1895 rather then 1968. The new deal and great society is being wiped off the map one program at a time.

The labor movement was the first casualty. Today only 10% of workers are even in a union of some kind and their power in Washington is on the wane. They can not even protect their members these days from all the rules that allow companies to file for bankruptcy and screw the workers wholesale. Wall Mart workers are being forced to work off the clock, paid a very low wage, and generally are treated poorly. Who in labor is there to represent them? For the people who want to try the deck is stacked against them. They would not have gotten away with this even 30 years ago, but today it’s accepted as the cost of doing business.

Next is the gap between the top of the income ladder and the bottom. I was reading in the NY Times a while back that Manhattan now had the world’s largest gap between the top and the bottom, moving ahead of the poorest nations and even a leper colony. That’s a total disgrace and makes me ashamed to be a New Yorker. In this category we are so much like the late 19th century it’s not even funny. Look at all the rules that have come about just in this year alone. Bankruptcy filings are harder for individuals starting next month, Property rights took a huge hit with the Supreme Court ruling on eminent domain. Now if the rich developer wants your property, he can get it a lot easier and then build his big hotel. The protections of the Rich and what is important to them is becoming a huge wave sweeping over the entire legal and economic system.

The past 20 years has seen a revolution in this country in medical care but how much do the people at the bottom really benefit? Tens of millions of people with no coverage, and millions more with limited coverage. Seniors having to sacrifice other things just to get medications? It’s a total disgrace. Watch TV for any amount of time and get deluged by advertisements from drug companies pushing the "latest pill". The Drug companies get outrageous deals on Patents which limit the use of generics. Prilosec worked fine for acid reflex, but as the patent ran out what did they do? Make Nexium so they can get another patent for essentially the same drug and rack up more billions. It’s disgusting. Have assets? Then you can go into a nice and expensive private nursing home when you get elderly, while the folks at the bottom are lucky to get into a state home where we all have heard of the horror tales. Even at the very end of our lives the divide between rich and poor is evident and becoming worse year after year.

Our justice system is totally and 100% broken. If you are rich it’s far easier to get away with murder-and that’s in the literal sense. O.J. Simpson is the tip of the iceberg but it’s a wonderful example. You can buy your way out of trouble in criminal court, and in civil court the costs of litigation means the little guy gets stomped on, or forced into settlements that run contrary to their interests. I have seen that one up close and personal as an Attorney and it sickens me.

Then there is the Greed Factor. The media and Madison ave have convinced the people of this country that you are defined by how much you have relative to your neighbors. Promoting this attitude makes it far easier for the Rich to get away with the stuff I have been mentioning above. Everybody is supposed to get as much as they can in the short time they spend alive. Even the idea of giving something back when you pass on to the country that gave the rich so much opportunity is on the verge of being eliminated. The estate tax elimination will further promote the greed and hoarding of the almighty dollar.

Then we have the main obstacle to any meaningful change. The rich have access to just about the entire political system. Big corporate money flows into campaigns at a shocking rate. People are assumed to be "corruption free" if they are wealthy and do not have to take the dirty money when they run for office. Does anybody else see how moronic that seems? The filthy rich guy is going to win and then turn the other cheek? Sure tell me another one. The public is so deluded to allow all this to happen. What do you think the bigwigs are getting for all that money? Well for one thing, everything I have mentioned above and other wonderful things like Enron’s, and the moving from high level gov jobs to high paying lobbying work. As long as so much money is allowed to flow freely into the system of gov, we will never get any changes at all.

America's Dirty Little Secret Is Out For All To See Now

2005-09-05T06:39:00.000-04:00

I was talking to a friend in India today. People there are shocked by what they are seeing on TV. The media in this country, the entertainment industry, madison ave.....all of them. They promote the idea that everybody here is doing just great. People never have to face some of the awful truths that they would have to face in a country like India for example. Then disasters like this strike and the truth is laid bare for all to see.

We never see the poor in this country except when there is a disaster, and even then its more like media rubber-necking at the scene of a bad accident. Now everybody can see the poor, how they live, and what happens to them when something goes wrong. I think it has been a rude awakening to many people all over the world about the true situation in this country and the exposing of the simple truth.

That we are not special, we are not all swimming in oceans of gold and we are a super-power in name only. People have been saying over and over "this should not happen here" well why not? We treat the poor like dirt, make them live like animals all while telling them to take advantage of what society has to offer. I can only hope that this tragedy opens the eyes of the public to what really goes on around here.

There is a great article about the media response to this crisis in general at the BBC. Maybe times will change and we will get back the independent and aggressive media we really need in this country? Only time will tell

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214516.stm

To The People of New Orleans

2005-08-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

I hope and pray you will make it through this terrible night. As this "perfect storm" heads toward you I can not help but remember all the great times I have had in your wonderful city over the years. Once, on a road trip to Texas, we took a little detour to your city just so I can show my two friends the city. We did not know untill we drove into the city that it was Mardi Gras. What followed was a wonderful experience that I will take with me for all time.

I wish you all the luck in the world to get through this!

Winning the Islamic Battle of Hearts and Minds...Why We Lose

2005-08-08T08:18:00.000-04:00

This battle is the most important one in my opinion, and its more important then the Iraq conflict or the war against Bin Laden and his allies. This is a battle that I feel we are losing, and losing big.

The day will come when we will be out of Iraq but what happens then? I have had a continuing dialog with some Islamic friends in the gulf states of Oman and U.A.E. and it has become clear that going forward we are going to have an almost impossible task of convincing these people that we are not the enemy if we do not change the way we speak to them.

First off they have told me to not confuse the issue of democracy with friendship. Sure they want more freedom overall but they do not these days want to use those freedoms to get closer to the West. They do not trust our motives one bit and see the spread of our culture as a cancer. Any money donated to homegrown causes in those states that comes from western sources comes under attack right away. If we are going to promote democracy abroad (we should) we should not be promoting the western concept of a secular democracy. I am not saying that they will never get to what we define as democracy but this process has to be a natural evolution and not forced or pressured upon them by the West.

Next its clear that the culture gap is significant. We do not even know how to talk to these people in a language they understand. We have done a terrible job explaining the "war on terror" and how its not a war on Islam. The majority of the populations of the Arab countries think in those terms. They do not trust the exremists because they know the extemists want to impose their views upon them, but they also do not trust us and this makes it very hard to aid them.

All the people I have spoken to from that region are not terribly surprised over Sept 11. The reaction is always "Its too bad, BUT....." The BUT includes all the complaints they have against the West going back decades. The exploitation of their resources, the support for Israel that never waivers, the support for corrupt dictatorships, and the spread of a western culture that they view as oppressive.

If our political leaders do not learn the history of the region, gain an understanding of Islam, and an understanding of the culture of these people how can they expect to talk to them? It seems all the actions we take these days only HELPS to spread the extremist message and thats sad.

This has been a subject that has bothered me since 9/11 and watching our media you get the idea that everything is black and white, when in fact there are large shades of grey. The questions I never seem to see asked in our media: "Does the Islamic world have legitimate gripes against the west?" and "Is whats happening today partly a result of the legacy of our policies toward the Islamic world going back decades?" An ever bigger Taboo question is how our friendship with Israel possibly hurts us in the Islamic World. For a variety of reasons any action Israel takes against the Palestinians, the Islamic world sees us as complicit in those actions. These questions and more seem to be Taboo and until we really start asking them we are going to get nowhere.

The Bush administration is the worst possible type of leadership for these times. Everything is black and white, western cowboy style. No room for discussion, no room for compromise, no room for admitting mistakes and no room for anything but victory, military style. Until they stop looking at this as a military problem and not a political and cultural problem we are not going to get anywhere!All this has troubled me for a long while and what triggered this is that I learned from a friend in Oman yesterday that Fox News wants to open there to spread their "message" and I saw that as bad news as its not the "message" we need to be spreading....

Sadness for Robert Novak

2005-08-06T03:29:00.000-04:00

Sounds strange huh? A left leaning blogger expressing sadness for a conservative icon? Well yes and let me explain

Before I went to law school I met Novak in New York City where I was attending a conference on the law and politics. At the time I did not really know if I would go to law school. Novak was on the panel and afterwards he spoke to a few of us about Iran-Contra. After the others left it was just us and we proceeded to go to a bar not far from his Hotel and have a drink. Well we wound up having several and he explained to me the ins and outs of journalism and politics. I sat there wide eyed the whole time listening to this fountain of knowledge talk to me about elections he covered dating back to the Truman years.

He told me to Go to law school and to make a difference no matter what my politics left or right. He told me its not being on the left or the right that's important, those are just silly labels. Being involved is what counts, getting involved and staying involved matters most.

His words stayed with me long after we parted ways and on my law school graduation years later he sent me a nice gift with some kind words.

Novak is a genuine person and I hate more then anything to see such a long and storied career tarnished by one long, hot summer. It pains me to think he may be remembered for walking off the set and for the scandal that caused him to lose his cool.

I just hope that his image does not suffer too much this affair and I wish him well

Iraq Debacle...We Broke It We Own It

2005-07-22T18:42:00.000-04:00

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President Bush before we invaded Iraq that if we break it we "own it".

What bothers me is the notion put forth by some fringe democrats that we should just pack our bags and leave Iraq to its fate. They advance this notion with parts anger and glee. Anger at Bush for the war, anger at the administration for its policies and glee at the obvious quagmire that Bush has gotten us into.

Leaving Iraq to its fate would surely be a defeat for Bush and probably would hurt Republican election chances going forward but is it ethical to propose such a step? With the country in a state of Chaos, with the bombings on the rise, with a deadly insurgency boiling over. What would happen to the Iraqi citizens if we just abandoned them? Civil war would surely follow and mass death that makes what is going on now look tame by comparison.

Some of those folks arguing for us to leave have some noble reasons. (Politics or revenge are not among those reasons) Some want us to leave because of the terrible toll on our young people fighting there or take the view that if we leave the killings will lessen. While we are suffering a terrible toll in the lives of our young people, we as a country took this action knowing full well that this might happen. In the leadup to invasion I was arguing that invasion could cause civil war, and a terrorist buildup in the region. I take no pleasure in being right but that's not a good reason to abandon these people now.

Fact is we OWE it to the Iraqi people to leave them in better condition then when we found them. We have to train the Iraqi security forces to be able to keep their own house in order, no matter how long it takes. That's the minimal standards of decency that we owe to them. Do you think the average Iraqi would understand that some Democrats want to cut and run just because they are against Bush? Its not logical or ethical and its a sore bone of contention I have with some of my fellow Democrats.

Battlestar Galactica..Could it be the most "real" show on T.V,?

2005-07-19T12:59:00.000-04:00

What a strange premise huh? That Battlestar Galactica could be more real then a non science fiction show.

Galactica, which beams into our living rooms each Friday at 10pm has got to be the surprise hit of the past few years. Lets face it the original show had some good episodes and had some of the highest ratings for any television show in history (65 million viewers tuned in for some episodes) but it was never taken seriously. The original show never delved too deeply into the human condition and with only one real season it never had the time.

The writing on this new version of the show is dead on in this post 9/11 world. A surprise attack by religious zealots, freedom in the face of extreme adversity, opportunism, greed, lust....Its all there. Unlike Star Trek, which takes the view that if we ever got to such an advanced state of technology our species would evolve along with it, Galactica makes no such assumptions. Basically if you took 50,000 of us and put us into space you would have what they are showing us each week. That notion is totally refreshing and it looks far more like what you would expect the future to look like for humanity. All the human emotions, all our weaknesses, all our failings. They are all there for you to see and it makes you really want to root for them.

The notion that we would create an artificial species who would want to look like us and be closer to God then we are is a remarkable notion. Then to make them want to exterminate us for rejecting God is even more remarkable. Ron Moore has taken Galactica right out of the headlines and wrapped it up in Sci Fi clothing. Suicide bombings, the patriot act, the battle between civilian vs military authority, religious fundamentalism and more. Its all there and what makes it great is that the show does not preach, it justs presents what's going on and leaves you to decide what it all means in the larger scheme.

Look at all the junk on TV these days. Does anybody really think shows like the OC or desperate housewives, or most of the rest of the dramas on TV these days have any resemblance to the way things really are? Sure its more real in that it takes place on Earth but are those characters real? I certainly do not think so. You have to go to HBO or the wonderful show "24" to find the same kind of reality that Galactica serves up each week.

The show is current, meaningful, compelling and fun to watch. I know I can not wait for Fridays nights. To hell with TiVo I want to see it first run :)

The Follies of Fox "News" or How I learned to Love the Bomb

2005-07-18T14:12:00.000-04:00

As I was just channel surfing today I stopped by that... "Fair and Balanced" channel they call Fox News.

It never ceases to amaze me how this network gets away with being talking point central for the Bush administration and the Republican party in general. Its so obvious and blatant that its laughable given the lofty slogan "fair and balanced"

Today while the rest of the media is trying to get to the bottom of leakgate and trying to find out what role the administration had in the leak all you have to do to find out what the republican party is thinking on the issue is to watch Fox "news" for 5 minutes.

In the brief moments I have watched them over the last few days they focus very little on the issue that the grand jury is looking at, which is did a government official leak the name of a covert CIA operative to the media. They have spent a lot of time though bashing Joseph Wilson though. A few minutes of Fox "news" and you would think the guy is the biggest lowlife around. So its clear the politics of personal destruction is alive and well in Washington. The message has always been to not get in the way of this administration or they will roll you over. This time around a grand jury and a special prosecutor is what's keeping that strategy from being effective.

You can also learn from watching Fox that the Democratic party was behind the whole thing, or that the CIA operative leaked her own name, or that it was reporters who did all the leaking. I was laughing out loud listening to this venom being thrown around with obvious glee by the credible "journalists" who work for Fox.

After that report the Fox "journalist" asked a Dem Senator in the next piece if it was easier for Bush to nominate a woman for the Supreme Court because it would be harder for Democrats to demonize a woman. With that wonderful unbiased question I switched back to a real news network to actually learn about what was happening in the world today.....

The Disgusting State of the News Media 2005

2005-06-19T23:55:00.000-04:00

I remember the good old days in TV news. Once upon a time you could turn on CNN, MSNBC and FoxNews and actually watch them talk about news and politics. Putting aside the notion that Fox news is biased to one side of the political spectrum you could turn them on and hear them talk about the side they are biased for. Not any more though....

Who really believes for one second that the CNN of today would run 24/7 the tearing down of the Berlin Wall? Or Tanks running over protesters in China? Or the fall of the Soviet Union?

The state of the News has become something for serious concern. There was a time when it did not bother me that the major networks like NBC, CBS and ABC were cutting back on news. That's what 24 hour a day cable news was for after all. The idea was to turn on the cable news and get up to speed with the big issues of the day. That is not what's happening these days..

I like to measure things using the NY Times, the Washington Post and to keep the republicans happy the Washington Times. Use these print journalistic resources and compare the stories on paper to what you can watch on TV news. Do you know what you will find? Ten years ago you could take stories that made page one on the NY times and then watch similar broadcast pieces on TV news. No longer though. Today for example the paper may write about the elections in Iran, or civil unrest in different parts of the world or the splitting up of the 9th circuit federal court into 3 pieces. Then turn on Cable news and watch, watch some more, wait for the headlines....Did you see any pieces on the stuff that print journalism deems important? No you did not. What did you see? A story on Tom Cruise perhaps? Maybe a piece about where Michael Jackson will travel to? Or Bill Clinton having another affair? Or how much money Batman made over the weekend at the boxoffice?

There has been much talked and written about the "dumbing down" of our culture. The suits will tell you they report tabloid because that's what people want to see, but they are missing the big picture. Journalism has a responsibility to the people to report issues that matter. People can watch entertainment tonight for news about movies and starts. Our celebrity obsessed culture is taking us to the point where mass killings in Sudan is less important then Tom Cruise getting married. Something is very wrong with that.

On Saturday June 25th 2005 Capital Gang on CNN will beam into households for the last time. In its 17 year run you could always count on it to be a show that's both informative and interesting. What is worrying is that there is no replacements to shows like this. As they leave us they are being replaced by more tabloid reporting.

The state of TV news is a matter of grave concern to this country. When we as a people and the media that serves us would rather know how Michael Jackson is dressed then to learn about the Patriot Act it makes me worry for our future as a country....

Filibuster Follies

2005-05-25T10:04:00.000-04:00

Well its been awhile since my last posting...It now seems more certain then ever that the so called "moral values" voter, whatever that means, is making a power play unlike we have ever seen in recent times. This "Taliban" wing of the republican party has decided that the Judiciary is the last stronghold of those who oppose them, as silly as that sounds to more secular people.

Its being played out this week in our Nations Capital with battles over the Filibuster as well as Stem Cell Research.

It amazes me that in this climate of uncertainty, the Republicans have decided that a few right wing Judges are more important then the looming civil war in Iraq, the health care crisis, social security reform and other pressing issues. This stands as testament to how far the religious right has come in so short a period.

The Republicans have been able to get over 90% of all judicial nominees through, which is good for any president, but that is not enough for them. With the flimsy excuse of not being able to get an up or down vote on these nominees, the far right is trying to make sure that no matter how extreme or partisan the nominee they can ram them through. This is more then just a power play, its also about Majority leader Frist. He has partly tied his 2008 prospects to winning this fight, so he stands out as the big loser in the compromise that followed. The extreme right has also decided that they are the big losers in this, although I do not agree with their assessment at this point. Its too early to say in my opinion what the net effect on them will be. They certainly invested a lot of time and money in this fight, and so if you look at it from how much effort they put in, to what they actually got? Then they would appear to be losers in this.

So who wins in this fight? Well its not clear yet which side won. If the agreement holds then the Senate as an institution stands to be the big winner. The pressure from outside groups though will be intense going forward, especially when the next Supreme Court Justice is nominated. So its far from clear that this group of moderate Senators can hold the center together for long. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts going forward.

The other interesting news this this week is Stem Cell Research. Coming on the heels of the dramatic news of breakthrough in South Korea it makes me wonder if we will be having to fly to other countries in the future to get our cures. As a person with Diabetes, I know that I would go where the cure is, regardless of US law on the subject. Why should I suffer because of what the evangelical believe?

It also looks like President Bush will use his first veto to make sure that this country lags behind in this important field. It makes me very sad to see that....Many things I see these days coming out of Capital make me sad. I just hope that the rest of the country starts to wake up soon.

More to come my friends.....

The Democratic Party needs Howard Dean

2004-11-18T18:43:00.000-05:00

First among the priorities for the party is the selection of a new leader. There are three places in the Democratic Party that provide institutional leadership positions. As of now there is the leader of the DNC who heads the party, the house minority leader and the Senate minority leader.

When we take a look at the house we have Nancy Pelosi who is not an effective leader at all. The mainstream press gives her a pass most times on the issues, mostly because she is not charismatic. The other reason is that since the Democrats have very little power to actually derail the Republican agenda the media has very little use for her.

A glance at the Senate and we have Harry Reid. Here is somebody who can foil the Republicans but we have to take into account that he is a deal-maker. He is not a charismatic leader by any stretch and is highly regarded as being an insider who can help move legislation. His track record as somebody that can speak to ordinary people on the issues that count is uncertain at best.

That leaves us with the the DNC. Terry M, who was a Clinton insider, has been effective at raising money but not at shaping a message. Thats where Howard Dean comes in. Say what you want about him and his implosion leading up to New Hampshire but he has a strong message, and has strong leadership qualities. He is exactly what the Democratic party needs at this moment in time. The pary lacks a vision and a message and Dean could help provide that going forward.

Could John Kerry provide leadership? He has an institutional position in the Senate to do so. Not having a leadership position means he is free to speak his mind but we will have to wait and see what happens. The Democratic party has tended to not treat the losing candidates so well. I am certain he will not fade away for a few years like Al Gore did but only time will tell if Kerry can be an effective leader.

Where To Go From Here?

2004-11-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

For anyone who has been working to elect John Kerry today is a really bad day, but as much as its the end of something its also the beginning of something new.

As a Phoenix rises from its own ashes to fly again, so must the Democratic party do. Thats why I created this Blog and I would like it to become a small part of the debate thats to come, and mark my words, its coming......

The shock about this election is that the most important issue for the overwhelming amount of people leaving the polls was "moral values". No not the war on Terror, not the disaster that is Iraq, not even the economy. Even in Ohio, a state that has lost more jobs then any other, the most important issue for voters was "moral values".

Of the people who chose moral values as their issue of greatest importance they went to Bush by a margin of 8 to 1. Yes thats 8 to 1.

Now this is not a problem that will be going away anytime soon. Wars end, Terrorism wanes and the economy will improve but the cultural wars are perpetual. Some of these issues have been with us since this country was founded.

The problem going forward for the Democratic party is acute. Howard Dean said he wanted to get the votes of the guys who "fly confederate flags on their pickups" and that the Republicans only want to talk about "God, Gays and Guns". By now it should be painfully clear that these folks will clearly vote against their economic interests.

So how does the Democratic party expand the base to reach some of these folks without alienating their own base? Another question to be asked is what is "moral values"??? Why would so many people think that Kerry did not have strong values? A bigger question to ask is why do these people think that Democrats are not moral people?

It becomes difficult because with some of these social issues there is no room for compromise. For most people abortion is either wrong and immoral or its a right of privacy for women. People either attend Church or they do not attend Church. People either think Gays are immoral or that anything negative about them as a group is discrimination. People either think that more religion is good and should be encouraged by Government or that the two should be always kept apart. People either think that popular culture has too much sex and violence and profanity or they think that its not a problem.

One thing for sure is that for the next election Hollywood should stay home. By being out in front and side by side with the candidate they actually hurt the cause. Most people believe that Hollywood is so far out of the mainstream so when our candidates stand side by side with them we are going to lose votes in many places in this country. If "moral values" are so important then candidates are going to have to distance themselves from these people. I watched Puff Daddy or whatever he calls himself these days on TV in many interviews. I use him only as one high profile example. His job was to help bring out the MTV vote, but did they come out? No they did not. There was no large youth vote in this election. Most places define the youth vote as people ages 18-29 or 30. The youth vote has always been the most unreliable group to have as a part of any political base because they do not come out in large numbers at all to vote.

One of the things I have been rolling around in my head is that in almost every poll taken over the past year by any organization showed that a majority of people think that we are going in the wrong direction as a country. Most people, including myself, thought that meant people did not like GW Bush and where he was taking us. But is it possible that its just the opposite? In a country thats getting more "Red" could that mean that a majority of people think that we are headed toward a more secular country? Is it possible that the "wrong direction" to many people is a country with liberal ideas like gay marriage and so on? Could it be possible that in reading the tealeaves, the talking heads got what it meant all wrong?

Well this has been a depressing day but one to reflect on what has to be done. I spent many hours trying to help elect Kerry and we lost. Now its time to rebuild and there is alot of work to be done.