I tend to agree with your assessment. I believe Rove is confident in the outcome of this election with good reason. Diebold machines being just one factor. Republicans counting the vote being another. States passing laws to eliminate exit polls being another. Republican “suppress the vote” activites being yet another.

This election may well be the last chance Americans have to make a non-violent statement for regime change. If they are unsuccessful and their voice is silenced at the ballot box….well…in one of my shamanic journeys I have already seen the entire eastern seaboard of the United States in flames…

As Thomas Jefferson said some 220 years ago, a little rebellion now and then is good for the country. The 1860’s saw the civil war. The 1960’s saw the civil rights movement and associated rioting. I don’t think people will tolerate 60 years of living under a dictatorship to take to the streets again.

And there will be a bit of irony. Many “liberals” who supported gun control legislation may well be arming themselves with assault rifles, thanks to the actions of the “conservative” NRA.

2nd try on this…

Why bother to vote?

Because voting against this Administration is an act of non-violent protest.

Since flagrantly fraudulent 2002 election, in Georgia, nobody knows if their votes are even tallied, since the notorious Diebold voting machines are still used here!

Nobody even knows if the paper absentee ballots are counted, or not, because cheating in elections undermines confidence in the entire voting system as well!

Why should Georgians flock to the polling booths, to vote for the candidates of their choice, then to watch in dismay as their votes are switched mysteriously?

Why bother to vote, if someone else decides who the winners should be? And why take time off from work, to vote, if the winners already determined in advance?

Are Georgians just supposed to act like voting props, cardboard dummies, or wooden Indians going to vote like shills in a pantomime game of charades for show?

And what about the citizens of Florida, and Ohio, who have NO idea if their votes are counted honestly? And who actually in any State are assured of fair counting?

( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Stone Mountain, Georgia.)

Oh well….Let’s go Jets. Let’s go Tigers. Say hi to Jane for me. We’ll get’em next year.

Thanks. I understood your intent.

The only solace I have is the fact that in the past when Congress and the President have enacted an unconstitutional law which also purported to strip jurisdiction from the courts to hear a constitutional challenge, the Supreme Court has held that it still retains jurisdiction to hear the constitutionality.

Like you, and Mr. Olbermann, I am concerned that our government could detain anybody, alien or citizen, as an unlawful enemy combatant, and that it could falsely claim a citizen had renounced his or her citizenship status (based on classified evidence). Since the Judicial review is limited to review of law, the false claim based on secret evidence would be unreviewable. And that’s how a government does away with Habeus Corpus for everyone.

The English had to hold their King at sword-point to get the right of Habeus Corpus some 800 years ago. Will an armed insurrection be necessary to regain the liberties so many have died for in the intervening time? I hope and pray not.

Exley does a lot of copying and pasting, but he does not know how to interpret the law, nor does he have the vision to see how the law can and will be applied. And his ignorance is exceeded only by his arrogance. In a lot of ways he is like Vice President Cheney. It does not matter if he is wrong, as long as he is consistently and constantly wrong.

Thus far the Supreme Court has stricken Bush’s attempts at trashing the Constitution. Here’s hoping it continues to do so.

Comment by Exley

You are proud of an administration that on a daily basis lies to the American public
You are proud of an adminstration that has lied toget usinto a war in Iraq
You are proud of an adminstration that tortures, lied about it,then through legislative back door, tried to get pardoned for the previous war crimes and excuse any further war crimes
You are proudof an administration that has gutted the constitution.
You are proud of a President that calls the Constitution a “Goddammed piece of paper” and stated that itwould be better if the US was a dictatorship ” But only if I was dictator”

That speaks volumes for what kind of person you are Exley.

We’re bummed out, of course. In total shock. While the ending sucked big time, the game wasn’t without its good points. It was close throughout and exciting because of that. Endy Chavez robbing Scott Rolen (career Met killer) of a home run and then getting a double play out of it happens to be one of my favorite kinds of plays. But, it’s over now, and there’s nothing that can be done until next year. Time to try to enjoy what’s left of the Jets’ season.

Getting back on topic, can we get anyone who strikes out looking with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 declared an “alien unlawful enemy combatant”?

Comment by Briseadh na Faire

Which is why I am inclined to believe them. I have been reading the MCA and I notice that while it does say that it applies to “alien unlawful enemy combatants”, I am concerned that the determination of who qualifies as an “alien unlawful enemy combatant” can be made by the President or the SecDef (or their designees) and that this decision cannot be reviewed by a judge! At least, that’s the way my legally untrained mind sees it. I intend to print out the threads from yesterday to which Exley refers and read them thoroughly at home along with the MCA.

Anyway, we are dancing around the BIG topic of the day…..How are you and Jane doing????

But that’s just it, Exley. To hear the President and Vice President and all of their staff and congressional supporters tell it, they ARE the sole reason we haven’t been attacked since 9/11.

(Just to be clear, you do realize that I always post under my full name, as Jane posts under her full name. Anyone else posting under the names Wayne or Jane are different people who happen to have the same name. I don’t care if the other Wayne posts as “Wayne”. It’s his right. And as long as neither of us intentionally tries to make people think we’re the other, this arrangement should work. I only mention that because in glancing through the previous comments, you responded to the other Wayne with a reference to Keith Olbermann – who has more than one dimension to his personality – but I didn’t know if he brought up Keith first. SO I thought that you might think he was me. He is not.)

“this administration, which I support, our miliary, and our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies have to date successfully protected this country from another September 11-like attack on our country.”

This statement appears to give ALL the credit for our not being attacked to our government, and none to the other law enforcement agencies around the world that have prevented attacks (through law enforcement, I would point out, not military action.) Sure, the Brits may have stopped a plane-bombing plot, but that was them, not us. All I’m saying is don’t give credit where it’s not due.

And there was news on the radio this morning that the Iraqi Court will sentence Saddam Hussein to death on November 3. We’ll have to see if this report plays out.

And the Eisenhower Aircraft Carrier group is one day away from Iranian waters, according to earlier reports.

The President’s power is at its zenith during War. And, given the stated goals of the PNAC, many members of which are now placed within this Administration, a consolidation of power within the hands of a Unitary Executive increases their power and their ability to spread their brand of imperialism around the world.

There are those who post here who gladly support an imperialist dictatorship. They won’t realize the fallacy of their position until their world comes crashing down on them in appocalyptic fashion. Sadly, they would rather see the world destroyed than admit they are wrong.