Bush, Kerry in statistical dead heat in Minnesota...

OK LET'S GO PEOPLE...THIS IS THE HOME OF HUBERT HUMPHREY, PAUL WELLSTONE AND WALTER MONDALE. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

Bush, Kerry in statistical dead heat in Minnesota, poll finds:

"The poll conducted for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minnesota Public Radio shows 44 percent of Minnesota voters would vote for Kerry, while 41 percent favor Bush. That puts the race within the poll's four-point margin of error, meaning results could differ by four percentage points in either direction."

metro housing issues....

concerning Brooklyn Park, MN, a nearby suburb, this quote shows a little "bush-like" marketing style, eventually:

"Dick Gunderson, a colorful 62-year-old sports bar owner, is the heart and soul of the city's new Density Reduction Task Force, a group exploring ways to possibly eliminate many of the 6,500 apartment units that house a large part of the city's rising minority population.
'I do not have any diplomatic skills, and I can't work with a group,' the always matter-of-fact Gunderson admitted recently. He remains certain of one other thing as well: 'We need to make changes.'
In a sign that the group's work is already stirring strong emotions, the task force voted Tuesday to change its name to the less incendiary-sounding Apartment Housing Enhancement and Dispersal Task Force: AHEAD"

It's a tough issue, but it seems to me the market dynamics have to be massaged to get the right compromise. Soliciting a few metro partners, requiring collectively that replacement affordable housing be included in the next X number of units built in those areas. Hopefully you achieve relatively little permanent relocation, you insert some job training and participation among any local citzens willing to organize themselves well and achieve a more moderate density neighborhood with a few amenities.

this is another good candidate target for federal seed money that is otherwise being given away in a ridiculous tax break and the federal deficit program of this administration.

From Bush, Unprecedented Negativity

I saw this Washington Post article first noted on TalkingPointsMemo.com:

"Scholars and political strategists say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for the liberties the president and his campaign have taken with the facts. Though stretching the truth is hardly new in a political campaign, they say the volume of negative charges is unprecedented -- both in speeches and in advertising. "

Once again, I say, those of us for change HAVE to help Kerry get out the message that TRUST and TRUTH and FAIR DEALING is what he can deliver. Not a difference in policy just to have a difference in policy, TRUST.

it's getting drafty in here...or...Time to Go!

From the Guardian :

"There is pending legislation in the American House of Representatives and Senate in the form of twin bills - S89 and HR163. These measures (currently approved and sitting in the committee for armed services) project legislation for spring 2005, with the draft to become operational as early as June 15. "

buuut, nope, can't go north.....or south, unless you go a ways.

"Draft-dodging will be harder than in the 1960s. In December 2001, Canada and the US signed a "smart border declaration", which, among other things, will prevent conscientious objectors (and cowards) from finding sanctuary across the northern border. There will be no deferment on higher-education grounds. Mexico does not appeal. "

and for the media that would keep us posted on these developments:

"All this has been pushed ahead with an amazing lack of publicity. One can guess why. American newspapers are in a state of meltdown, distracted by war-reporting scandals at USA Today and the New York Times. There is an awareness in the press at large that the "embedding" system was just that - getting into bed with the military and reporting their pillow talk as "news from the frontline". The fourth estate has failed the American public and continues not to do its job."

Back to Kerry and foreign policy for second....

This statement from the NYTimes:

"He [Kerry] argued that Mr. Bush had belatedly come to Mr. Kerry's position of giving authority to the United Nations to form a government, which he called 'a considerable shift from an administration that would never cede anything to any outside institution.' Mr. Bush's advisers argue that Mr. Bush was always willing to bring in the United Nations, (my emphasis) but the institution itself left Iraq after the bombing of its headquarters last summer. And, they argue, the United Nations is, in the words of one senior official, 'even less popular' than the United States in Iraq."

WHAT??? I was on the other side of the world and it was obvious the UN wasn't welcome in anything but a "yes" role. Have we all come down with amnesia?

Bob Herbert: America's Abu Ghraibs

This editorial by Herbert is pretty depressing. It has to make us look at ourselves and wonder what is happening in our society. It makes me wonder if what little peace people have shared over the centuries are the exception to a rule of cruelty, greed and self-interest. Can we use these horrible facts as a mirror in which to see ourselves just a little bit more humbly.

Kerry on Foreign Policy

There have been a couple of instances just recently to hear Kerry speak on and have his views on foreign policy reported in the press. This article is helpful. I'd suggest passing it on since what we lack most in trying to elect a liberal candidate is a true understanding of many of these complex issues. Granted, this is a New York Times story. more below.....

Quote of John Kerry in the Times article...: "'This administration is high on rhetoric and high on ideology and low on actual strategic thinking and truth,' he asserted. 'This administration has been almost myopic in its view on Iraq itself, to the exclusion of those things that are necessary to in fact make the world safer.'"

There's also this quote, same article,

"That could fuel one of the primary complaints about Mr. Kerry among Democrats: that his approach to major foreign policy issues is too similar in substance to Mr. Bush's, even if he promises a new style that emphasizes alliance-building."

Attempting to distinguish himself on every detail could be dangerous, and "he said she said" is too....We HAVE to help John Kerry make the point that TRUST in carrying out the assignments granted the President by the people of the United States is what is missing in this administration, and is what HE, John Kerry, will restore.

then, let 'em rip with their right wing character assasination machine...I think Kerry's up to the task. I think people are sick and tired of the mean-ness. If he can stay above it, he's in.

State of Alert

according to Bob Schieffer this morning on Face the Nation, the elevated alart status and associated showing of suspect photos in the media were a complete surprise to the Department of Homeland Defense, indeed the rest of the Government, when released by Ashcroft's office....Shieffer closed the show with the point that the Dept. of Homeland Security was created to make sure we had coordinated information! The ineptitude at every level of the administration is absolutely incredible.

If Limbaugh did Fashion

can't we all just live together, side by side, enjoying our differences? do I really have to listen to Limbaugh-style intolerance in the fashion section too????

for those of you who know me, i must step up here to defend the bow tie. please note that other than in the title, I can't find any references to bow ties at all.....wear a zoot if you want...just don't interfere w/ my bow tie!

The New York Times > Fashion & Style > The Call of the Zoot: Bow Tie, Be Gone

Where art Thou, o "Liberal Media"....

finally, some serious media introspection, along with a lot of great issues raised in this editorial by Paul Krugman

A few notable excerpts:

"People who get their news by skimming the front page, or by watching TV, must be feeling confused by the sudden change in Mr. Bush's character. For more than two years after 9/11, he was a straight shooter, all moral clarity and righteousness.

But now those people hear about a president who won't tell a straight story about why he took us to war in Iraq or how that war is going, who can't admit to and learn from mistakes, and who won't hold himself or anyone else accountable. What happened?

The answer, of course, is that the straight shooter never existed. He was a fictitious character that the press, for various reasons, presented as reality. "

We HAVE to begin to recognize just how influential the press is in painting a picture...and how easy it is for everyone to be hoodwinked by good PR. We must remain critical, yet respectful.

Next quote:

"The Bush administration, knowing all this, played the press like a fiddle."

yes, but the press, as Krugman points out, was perfectly willing to be played like a fiddle....my concern is that only in retrospect after things have gotten SO bad does the press start to question itself. what about the longer term? what about early on in the situation?

But, finally, :

"Amazing things have been happening lately. The usual suspects have tried to silence reporting about prison abuses by accusing critics of undermining the troops — but the reports keep coming. The attorney general has called yet another terror alert — but the press raised questions about why. (At a White House morning briefing, Terry Moran of ABC News actually said what many thought during other conveniently timed alerts: "There is a disturbing possibility that you are manipulating the American public in order to get a message out.")

It may not last. In July 2002, according to Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — who has tried, at great risk to his career, to offer a realistic picture of the Bush presidency — "the White House press corps showed its teeth" for the first time since 9/11. It didn't last: the administration beat the drums of war, and most of the press relapsed into docility.

But this time may be different. And if it is, Mr. Bush — who has always depended on that docility — may be in even more trouble than the latest polls suggest."

we can only hope.

Economic Equity: Combatting the Concentration of Wealth

From Al Gore.....

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: A Speech That's No Joke: "'What makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated [bold added] power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have led us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations, more than the people of any other nation.'"

the other "concentration" we really have to worry about, particularly given the behavior of this administration, is that of wealth...which buys power and influence. this is not good.

Advancing the Cause of Benevolent Global Leadership

Kerry spoke on foreign policy, according to the NYTimes, "...by accusing the president of undermining 'the legacy of generations of American leadership' with a foreign policy that has abandoned the alliance-building of the post-World War II era."

This came up (at least I brought it up this evening) in the discussion on Iraq...that is Kerry's opportunity to influence a revision of the international governance structure. We did so much for global dialogue and understanding in creating the global institutions under Roosevelt....we have that opportunity again particularly since we need to do something extraodinary to evidence trustworthiness, benevolent leadership and understanding.

Labor, Outsourcing, Our Economy

I only recently found this site, a think tank affiliated with the DLC, but on which there are a couple of good articles on outsourcing. Take a look under the New Economy link.

I think this question and the question of privatization are pretty crucial to understanding how we practice democratic capitalism and how we administrate our tax system....which then brings us to the question of economic justice. i think.

Getting started

ok people...just getting started here. there's a lot in that grey fuzzy brain that needs to be dumped and organized and poked at and so on....so give a hand when you have the time. poke & prod and question and support and discuss and so forth.