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10:58 AM | link
2:42 PM | link
6:57 PM | link
I'm finally back from the infomercial that is the Democratic National Convention. (More on that in the days to come.) On a related note, Granny D says, "Waste your vote!"
Let's all waste our votes. Let's vote for whom we really respect, not for whom we think might win. Let's forget the idea that our vote is a short term investment in short term candidates. Let us see our votes as more important than that -- as long term investments in our long term strategy for bringing our values into action.
If we vote for the best candidates, we are voting for their ideas and we are moving those ideas forward, whether or not the candidates win. We will be building a voice that will, in the long term, have its day and elect its candidates.
Waste your vote! Vote your heart! Be a strategic, long-term voter! You will shape the America and the world of tomorrow. It is your responsibility to do so.
And in making a commitment now to vote and to vote your heart, also make a commitment to never allow your friends to say in your company that they will not vote or that they do not want to waste their votes. Kick them. Elbow them. Sit on them until they agree to join you as a strategic, long term voter who votes their heart. Friends don't let friends worry about wasting votes. If we waste our votes in this election, we begin the work of wasting the enemies of reform, of justice, of the environment, and of peace.
Waste your vote this year. Join me, and we will discover in the years ahead that we did no such thing.
3:19 PM | link
In honor of my departure for the Democratic National Convention in the morning, enjoy some Bush bashing, courtesy of Tom Tomorrow.
11:01 PM | link
Not planning on voting in November? Then read this!
I address this letter to the largest political party in the United States - the 55% of you in the voting public who are so disillusioned with politics and politicians, so sick and tired of all the broken promises, so disgusted with all the b.s. that you have absolutely no intention of voting in November. You know who you are.
AND YOU ARE THE MAJORITY!
You rule. You are the Non-Voters, all 100 million of you! Until now, you have been the subject of scorn and ridicule. You've been called apathetic, lazy, ignorant. Your actions have been viewed as unAmerican (I mean, what kind of citizen in the World's Greatest Democracy would not exercise his or her most important and cherished right - the right to freely choose your leader!).
Well, may I be the first to tell you that, not only are you NOT stupid and apathetic, I believe you are smarter than all the rest of us combined. YOU figured it out. YOU uncovered the scam. And YOU had the guts to no longer participate in a lie. Way to go! In 1996, you helped set the all-time American record for lowest turnout ever at a presidential election.
The reason you, the majority, no longer vote in America is because you, the majority, realize there is no real choice on the ballot. The "two" parties both do the bidding of the wealthy and agree with each other on 90% of the issues. They take 90% of their money from people who make over a hundred-grand a year, and then enact over 90% of the laws those contributors want passed...
So, for those of you who weren't going to vote anyway, well...what if you actually did? What if you drove down to that stinky gym where the little shell game behind the pretend curtains is taking place ("Pay no attention to the voters behind the curtains!"), walk in, sign in, take the ballot they hand you, and toss yourselves inside the booth like a political molotov cocktail...
3:57 PM | link
Looking for some bitchin' Bush campaign stickers? One of my favorites (they're all good):
3:38 PM | link
One of the most striking symbols of that new image-making was none other than the only openly gay Republican serving in Congress. Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe did not discuss his sexuality at the podium, kicking off the night’s speeches instead by talking about one of his pet issues: free trade.
But his simple presence caused concern for organizers of this tightly scripted convention amid reports that a handful of conservative delegates in the Texas delegation planned to walk out of the hall to protest his appearance on the podium. Though the walkout did not materialize, and Kolbe was warmly received by the crowd, a handful of Texas delegates bowed their heads in prayerful protest as the congressman spoke. Some doffed their hats, eyes closed. "I was praying for him and I was praying for us," said delegate Larry Stevens of Fort Worth.
The anti-gay faction of the Texas delegation had spent much of the day huddling to determine the most appropriate way to express their disapproval of Kolbe’s appearance. Nevertheless, Bush supporters left nothing to chance, as about a half-dozen men descended on the Texas delegation seating area, actively trying to block cameras from capturing the low-key demonstration as Kolbe took the stage.