Does anyone else think we're being played?

I mean, the low poll numbers for the regime, the breaking scandals, the supposed divide in the the base - is it all smoke and mirrors?

All that really matters is election day. Rigged as it may be, they only need the illusion of a "bump" or a "miraculous turnaround" to claim victory yet again.

In the 2002 mid-terms, bush's little trek to swing states was credited with tilting things toward the repukes.

In 04, I've seen it written that the just-before-the-election osama tape gave bush the boost he needed. Think for a minute - does that make any sense at all? Why would osama, three years after 9*11 and bush promising to catch him "dead or alive" - why would a new tape from him make people want to vote for bush? Its bs.

I just don't know where the bs stops.

Are we being placated?

Are we being patronized?

Are we being set up?

I have to think it might be a possibility.

Of course, you'd have to have some belief in the theory that its all fixed, the elections and the media compliance, and has been at least since 2000.

Not quite a leap for me.

Why would 2006 be any different?

Sorry for the negative conclusion. Actually, I haven't concluded any such thing, but I'm damned suspicious.

Is it just me?

will never be up for re-election again. True, the numbers indicate public disapproval of Bush, but that does not necessarily translate into anything down the line. The big question is how damaging Bush's low approval rating will be to other Republicans come November.

the following statement true in the eyes of the most passive (disgruntled w/ w) voter: bush=republican, republican=bush.

We get that across, loud and clear, and justifiably so as well, and bush's numbers become theirs.

Combine that with Bush's low poll numbers and I'm seriously wondering who the fuck is keeping these guys in office. Either way, November is certainly going to be very interesting.

:popcorn:

No, I don't think so. The American people are getting sick of Duh-bya.

On a panel discussion on Book TV Saturday, Frank Rich said that he thought that the * regime had stopped becoming a viable political entity after Katrina. That's when the wheels fell off, and people began to see the truth.

He also said that we DUers and other Democrats are calling fellow Americans to wake up. Well, they're awake; they see the incompetence, stupidity and arrogance of this regime and how dangerous they are to our civil rights. Democrats need to reinforce this idea and move aggressively, talking about change - how we'll be different than the Republicans.
Ringo

Rove had an impressive data base set up. When the SC ok'd sodomy, Rove went wild with his notifications to the Christian Right gullible and made sure the "gay thing" was a big political issue to turn out their right wing base. Genius.

Of course, he divided America further, but I doubt he cared.

Christian conservatives to vote for him.

Where are these mysterious voters? :)

and yes, Rove, was a genius in setting up the data base between 2000 and 2004 to sucker them in.

That is certainly no secret. It was thought of as political genius and had the complete backing of the biggies, Falwell, Robertson, etc, of the fanatical Christian Right. It will probably be called the best political play of the century. Rove suckered them in big time.

They delivered their voting block. They made the grab for the Golden Ring. Dobson, Falwell, and Robrtson are the most hypocritical of hypocrits...they don't really believe their BS, but they do believe in living the good life ($) and wielding political power. The suckered were the faithful who believed these people were men of God. Some are starting to figure it out, I think. I predict a big implosion of the religious right when the people finally see how they've been conned over the past 30 years or so.

Rove isn't a genius in getting new votes; his genius is in repackaging old ones and magnefying their importance.

How many people are we really talking about?

That's what I mean.

The religious right didn't put Bush ahead of Kerry. They don't have and have never had the numbers.
Election fraud did that because there is nowhere else that Bush could get the numbers he needed to beat Kerry. Mark Crispin Miller is especially good at breaking this down, imho.

we disagree on much but you know what? that is a hell of an insight

who knows if these people even exist?

who could prove if they didn't?

no one here can stand and count millions of votes and cross-check for cheating

"somehow" voters come out of nowhere to vote for the right wing -- even after the right wing crushes the city of new orleans, the right wing wins the mayor's office again?

no way this ain't hinky

no effin way this ain't fixed

where do we go from here?

I think you're on to something..

i've passed the suspicious phase into the 'holy crap, batman' stage.

has it really fallen to an accidentally hired prosecutor to overturn our country's fascism back into a democracy? can fitzgerald afford all that weight?

i don't think so.. I think americans need to get up off their lazy butts and start speaking out now... or else in 2006 the elections will put even more repukes in office for no good reason at all... well, for the reason that they own the voting machines...

patronized or placated would mean they believed they were doing something wrong..

the sad part, is these buttheads/cheney/bush/rove, actually believe strongly they are righteous and doing the right thing.. did you see the video where Bush was confronted with his sagging poll numbers and said that was cause folks were 'unsettled' because of the war, not his poor performance... the man just doesn't get it, or doesn't want to hear that he's a buffoon that has blown everything....

It's not just you skipintro.. we are all getting more than a little 'holy crap batman' suspicious.....

They are just too embarrassed to admit they voted for a global idiot with a dysfunctional cabinet.

Nor do I think Bush cares the least about Americans, he is totally into the global process. Laura was giving a speech on how we need to help foreigners. Hey, we need our taxes to be kept here to help our own needy first and Laura needs to get her husband to get more taxes in the tax base by taxing the rich fairly. In every confrontation, it is the wealthy who has the most to lose.

Think about it. It's now MANDATORY for all states to have an electronic voter database.

Are YOU registered? Are you sure? (What easier way to get certain voters excluded than before they even show up.)

Next, HAVA shoves electronic voting down our throats nationwide. Several states are putting up a good fight, even filing lawsuits.

But, unless we fight like hell, what HAVA does is what all BushCo programs do: enrich his cronies while screwing up. In this case, it enriches the vendors that sell too much and too expensive equipment (with hidden longterm costs) to underfunded counties only to cause havoc in the new installs and to ask the average voter to just trust the guys that write the secret (proprietary) code.

Sure, we're being set up. And in plain sight.

That's what will make the difference.

"We rejected Bush for a real Republican."

But, of course, I hope you're right.

love that picture of andy....

i agree totally. we've been setup for failure in GA since 2002 ...

but the lawsuits are coming.. and boy will they pack a punch!!

keep up the good struggle SF....

We keep at 'em. There is no other way.

:hi:

We went through similar debates when the Soviets fell, lots wondered what the angle was. There wasn't one, you can only go so far with a gesture before it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. In that case they couldn't offer that many people that much freedom then just snatch it back, wouldn't have worked. Similar here, the anger among the public sure seems real enough so although they could play some games at the ballot box there's only so far they can go before it becomes too obvious. What's their motivation?

If there is an angle, I can't see it. Looks like a collapse of support to me.

W bumper stickers have been removed. The guy is a has been, leaving the taste of a bad fish in one's mouth.

I mean with the exception of Election 2000, I don't think there was a conspiracy or orchestrated effort to fix the ballot box.

I think it was more to do with poor campaign management on the behalf of democrats and underestimating Karl Rove.

A football game is 60 minutes. You can be winning for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. But you can lose the entire game in that 1 second.
That kind of game sounds like the Democrats. They are winning through practically the entire game, but they blow it in the final seconds.

It happened in '02. It happened in '04.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=55&row=2

This is just one example of disenfranchisement during the 2000 election. Did you know about this?

dance to it.

The music of the world
the music of your life
is not a hand of cards
to be played
you are a member of the cosmic music of life


Unless you feel you are victim of
being a deck of cards
or the song that has not been played
to others, that have played your cards
or can dance to your song.

For the playing of the hand or the music
is the card of life we all do.

Something stinks to high heaven, I don't trust the story cycles of late, but I'm refraining from jumping on things, good or bad, because what seems obvious rarely is with this cabal...and we have very little control over the outcome in any case.

no it's the opposite of what you suggest

they don't have to fix any poll numbers any more, they can put whoever in office that they like

any questions, look at the re-election of ray nagin in new orleans and tell me that was fair or even remotely believable that anyone would vote for the man endorsed by bush after bush helped slaughter this city

they bussed in people from other cities to vote! i mean they openly did this!

imagine the howls of outrage if a democrat tried to do this

and i mean a real democrat, not one who openly endorsed bobby jindal and george bush and who only switched registration to democrat because no GOP is allowed to run for mayor of orleans

no election is too small for them to steal

i have no hope any longer, as far as i can see it is a waste of time because even if you educate people, even if they vote "somehow" it doesn't matter

where do we go from here because we cannot be heard at the ballot box

and let us not forget, william jefferson has done yeoman's work supporting mary landrieu's senate office and bringing out the vote for her etc. -- and now they are going to destroy him

Maybe it's just you. Or maybe you are right.

But it bugs me that we attribute every little thing to Rove as if he were omnipotent or something. Nothing happens: it's ROVE!! Something happens: it's ROVE!!!

We need to stop seeing the guy as the all powerful Oz.

"one way" they steal elections. Me - I tend to think lack of diebold machines lost the race in some districts in ohio. And the other 48 ways.. including creating apathy in voters (remember USA has the worst turnout rates in the Western world... 65%).

Please don't be part of the apathy. Be part of the fight. Pick a few fronts (dispelling propaganda, stopping swiftboating, educating yourself on world trade so you can argue with freepers in a well informed way, pressuring your congressman/woman to not give in to wedges, volunteering, etc.).

Please pick a few things and act on them.