Democrats

August 7, 2007April 18, 2020

Dems bend over for a lame duck President – again

Remember all the brouhaha about warantless eavesdropping by the NSA that President Bush kept arguing was needed to “fight terrorism”? Remember how the Democratic leadership went nuts and threatened legal action and hearings etc… etc..?

If not read this NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

Well in an about face, some Dems broke ranks and voted to approve S. 1927 that now makes such wiretapping “legal”.

The bill passed the Senate 60 to 28 (16 Democrats sold out our rights) and passed the House 227 to 183 (with 43 Democrats selling us out).

The bill allows the government to intercept phone calls and e-mails from anyone including US citizens as long as there is some thread of connection to terrorism. It also removed oversight of the taps from the secret FISA court and gave it to the Attorney General – the guys who likes to lie to Congress.

The bill, listed on the House roll call list, is titled “Protect America Act” but they left off the rest. The full title should be “Protect America Act from stupid terrorists who use common methods to transmit information about their activities”.

The point of some Democrats passing the bill is summed up in this quote:

They also appeared worried about the political repercussions of being perceived as interfering with intelligence gathering. But the disputes were significant enough that they are likely to resurface before the end of the year.
House Approves Changes in Eavesdropping

Once again the Dems bend over for a lame duck President with a 28% approval rating – amazing.

For more info on this stupid action check out:

Why I won’t contribute to the DCCC

Senate Democrats Bend Over, Hand Bush The K-Y And Vote For Warrantless Wiretaps For No Reason Other Than Craven Cowardice

July 26, 2007April 18, 2020

Courier finally uses some ink on Democrat in Mayor’s race

Sorry I am tardy on this post but I kind of overlooked the recent article on the campaign of Thomas Knopf, who is running for the now open Mayor’s office in Findlay, Ohio, against Republican Pete Sehnert in November. Sehnert beat current Mayor Tony Iriti in the recent primary.

Staff writer John Graber used about 800 words on the front page of the July 20th edition to talk about Knopf and point out that unlike Sehnert, Knopf has some actual ideas about what he wants to do in office when he is elected.

That is more ink for Knopf than I have read since the election season began. Most articles before now usually added him at the end with a kind of “oh, by the way Thomas Knopf is running too” in an article focused on Republicans.

Graber makes an interesting point:

A quick glance at the numbers do suggest that Knopf’s got a chance. Of the 26,424 registered voters in Findlay, 10,027 are registered Republicans. The Democrats have just 1,663 voters filling out their roster, but 14,734 registered voters in Findlay have no party affiliation.
Can Dems win city mayor’s office? Little-known GOP candidate giving them high hopes July 20, 2007

Local Democrats plan on a big push for Knopf after the Hancock County Fair at the end of August. I do hope Knopf doesn’t ignore the biggest event in the county. I remember as a lad that you weren’t a serious candidate unless you had a booth at the fair or at least grab hands with your presence there.

For more info:

Thomas Knopf for Mayor

June 10, 2007April 18, 2020

2008 Election Burn Out Not My Fault

A friend of mine, on an e-mail list in which I participate, asked us what we thought of the recent GOP presidential candidate debates. I made a snide comment: “There was a debate last night?”

She said that one of those men could be the next the President so I should care.

I don’t and here’s why:

I am not a member of any party so anything having to do with choosing any party ticket is not relevant to me.

My concern is from Labor Day weekend 2008 to November 2008 when the two people we are forced to choose from will be on my ballot and their final messages will be out.

I’m guessing that Hillary and Rudy will be the two evils I will have to choose from when I really want to vote for Obama since I can’t vote for Pete Stark since he is not running.

But, Doug, how do you know it is going to be Senator Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in 2008?

I’ve seen it before. The Democrats seem to let conservative “hit” men and their media lackeys pick their candidate. Back in the 2004 elections, the populist candidate was Howard Dean. He had the buzz and the money. The GOP was scared so they and their media flunkies destroyed him. They got the candidate they wanted in John Kerry.

Basically they want someone to run against who they can smear effectively. They had pretty much nothing on Dean but tons on Kerry.

In recent weeks there have been 3 or 4 books released by conservatives about Senator Clinton. All of them rehash falsehoods from the time her husband was President. The GOP HATE Senator Clinton and they know if she is the Dem nominee they can solidify their base like they did against Kerry in 2004.

Take a look at this article:

Wash. Post review misrepresents, conflates allegations in Clinton books

Until 2008 I really don’t care as it is out of my hands – right now it is all about filling time on the 24 hour news channels, in between stories about missing white women and out of control young Hollywood starlets. It seems they can’t deal with real issues that are happening in the world today that effect real people.

Like the Democrats caving to a President with an approval rating of 28% on the issue of a timetable to withdraw from Iraq.

or this one:

John Boehner- Hypocrite

November 8, 2006April 18, 2020

Yes, I will gloat in the Democrat victory

I have not hidden the fact, even though I am politically independent, I dislike the GOP so much that I will not vote for a Republican. However, I did vote for one on Tuesday and that was Joe Testa who is Franklin County Auditor.

I am pleased as punch that the GOP lost BIG Tuesday. They lost most of the offices here in Ohio including Governor. They lost the majority in the US House and are on the brink of gaining control of the US Senate.

The national victory for the Democrats is a HUGE rebuke to President Bush, the GOP, and their neo-con cronies. They were the ones who squandered the budget surplus, got us into a protracted war in Iraq on fabricated evidence, and ruined our reputation in the world community.

The wingnuts can try and spin it anyway that will help them feel better but the GOP LOST and they lost big.

The Democratic victory was also a rebuke to the cable TV and radio talking flacks who had no clue what was going on, so much so that until today kept attacking Democrats on behalf of their GOP masters.

You can stick it up your asses Karl Rove and Fox News…..

After 2004, I really thought my fellow citizens were mentally challenged but after tonight they are just slow on the uptake. It took them 6 years but they finally arrived at my conclusions and turned the bums out.

The other small satisfaction I got is in two different races related to my fight to keep church and state separate.

Deborah Owens Fink, the state school board member who was leader of the movement to force Intelligent Design into Ohio public schools, lost her election to another term. She had only 28% of the vote as of 11 PM

In Indiana, Rep. James Hostettler (R-IN) who introduced the “Public Expression of Religion Act” that was passed as the “Veterans’ Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006”, lost his House seat tonight.

November 7, 2006April 18, 2020

I voted today

I voted today, for the first time in my new district.

It was in the vestibule of my local grocery store, so while pondering all the judges running for election, I got see all the morning shoppers getting their coffee and groceries. I am use to going behind a curtain so it was a bit of getting use to.

Ohio has an ID requirement. My driver’s licence has my previous address and some news reports were saying that others had issues casting a regular ballot with a DL with an old address. Despite the fact that the law says it doesn’t matter if the address is old as long as you are in fact registered at the current address.

Did I mention there were a lot of judges on the ballot?

Those were votes I wished I made more effort to research before today.