November Notes

11/30/04 - So, Where's Kerry?

Democrats should be asking where their hero is. The Ohio election is looking more and more like it may have been rigged yet Kerry still refuses to take a public position. He has some $51 million in campaign funds left - the most money ever left in a political campaign. What's he planning on doing with it? Saving it for "next time?"

Amy Goodman (www.democracynow.org) posed just this question to Jesse Jackson today. Click here for the transcript. (Or listen/watch to the entire show)

11/22/04 - Wake up campers!!! Your house is on fire!!

Democrat? Republican? Liberal? Conservative?
Do these words have any meaning in our new world order?
I don't think so.
We're in a class war now, and we, the people, aren't winning.
We been losing for a long, long time - but most of us still don't know it.
We've been hustled, we're being hustled, and we're going to continue being hustled if we don't wake up and realize our house is being robbed while we're sound asleep, cozy in our little beds.
I've been thinking about a 1965 movie lately,"A Thousand Clowns," where Jason Robards rips open the window early in the morning and shouts to sleeping New York City "Wake up campers!!! Wake up!! "
And also a story of another clown, in a parable by Kierkegaard ...

It seems so futile here in the USA. So hopeless.

But there is hope - out there. Look at Spain.

Spain had a disastrous terrorist attack, March 11, 2004. The government blamed it on Basque separatists, but it became quickly apparent that was not the case. AlQaeda was behind it. The government and the press continued to promote the lie.
As the people began to find out the truth, they took to the streets to demand answers. But the demonstrations were not reported, and the lies and distortions continued. The people turned to the alternative press to find out what was happening. Three days later there was an election and the people voted out the government.

Now look at us. We had the 9-11 Trade Center attack in NYC. Bush's administration did everything they could to stonewall an investigation. Over three years later, the people still do not know the facts. Redacted reports, distortions, and outright lies seem to be all we get from our government.
We have had large demonstrations (at the inauguration, against both wars) but they received only superficial coverage in the mainstream press if they received any at all.

Bush is still in office. Maybe even elected this time. But maybe not. So where are the demonstrations? Where is the outrage? Read the papers, listen to TV and everything is just fine and dandy. Big news last night was about some basketball players fighting with fans.

So what do the Spanish people know that we don't?

Maybe it's that the Spanish people know tyranny when they see it. The Franco dictatorship is still alive in their memory. They know what it's like to live under a fascist regime. They've lived with family members and relatives disappearing never to be heard of again. Political imprisonments, torture, death - these are all real for the them (and for so many other people around the globe). They know they must be vigilant. They know politics is not just something they watch on TV. They know "democracy" can slip away in a heartbeat, it happened to them in the 1930's.

In America, we seem to have forgotten the horrors of war. The Civil War is just a memory. The World Wars, Korea, VietNam, etc. all happened "somewhere else." We want our reality on TV.
America is "the land of the free and the home of the brave." Fascism, totalitarianism - it can't happen here!
Sadaam was connected to AlQaeda. We went to war to save the Iraqis, we're liberating them. We need to fight the terrorists over there so we don't get attacked here.
Propaganda, so many of us take as truth.

What a shame. What have we become?

The Ukraine just held elections with similar voting anomalies and distortions as we had here. But the Ukraine population was outraged. Senator Richard Lugar (Rep. Indiana) was there representing Bush as an election monitor. "Lugar told a news conference in Kyiv that he had been amazed by Ukrainians' desire for the free expression of their will and their determination to get to the truth."

Well, isn't that something.

11/16/04 - Not much to say. I do believe it's easier for me to imagine the election being stolen than to believe Americans want 4 more years of the Bush Cartel.

11/4/04 - Another post-election thought...

Maybe the election wasn't stolen. Maybe more people did vote for Bush. Maybe gay marriage, and prayer in the schools are the most important issues of the day. Maybe the majority of Americans believe Kerry would have banned the Bible, is a baby killer, and did his country a disservice by fighting and getting wounded in VietNam.
Maybe hate is love. War is peace. Night is day.
Maybe it's time to fold up this tent, get myself a banjo and a shack in the mountains somewhere and wait for the tide to turn.
Just how does one get along in a totalitarian regime, anyway?

11/3/04 - This is a day that will live in infamy.

The election was stolen. And it will most likely be years before the truth comes out.

Once again the exit polls which indicated a major win for the more benign face of our one-party system (this time called Kerry) were not matched by the vote count today.

Despite widespread voter suppression. "lost ballots", glitches in voting machines, there will be little solid evidence available in time for the Kerry campaign to mount a serious enough challenge to change the results.

How can it be? We have been screaming about the touch screen electronic voting for four years. Yet even up till election day I heard/read seemingly intelligent people saying that no one would seriously try to steal the election. What kind of craziness is this? The folks at Enron didn't mind ruining the lives of thousands of people in their quest for power and wealth. The Bush administration didn't mind lying to the the country and the world about reasons for invading Iraq - killing or maiming over 7,000 American soldiers, destroying the lives of their families, and killing maybe 100,000 Iraqi citizens. Yet the thought of these people attempting to steal the presidency of the United States, the most powerful position in the world, is somehow untenable?

These are the same folks who follow Machiavelli's teachings about the concerns of the state (and it's prince) being all important and any means used to increase it's power are justified. But we are to believe that that in the Bush's case, the electoral system would be sacrosanct?

Watching the TV electoral coverage last night was maddening. The very same pundits and faux-journalist-personalities rolled out rationalization after rationalization for the skewed results they were reporting as if their molding of the Kerry/Bush personas and their superficial presentation of the issues at hand in this election were not responsible for the election results. Unbelievably, one poll suggested that 62% of the American people thought the war in Iraq was going well!!!

So now we wait and watch for the Kerry side of the party concede to the Bush side of the party and tell us we need to "come together and move on..."

Well, as i write this, 11:15 AM I hear that Kerry just conceded. And the TV punditocracy is musing about how "the country could have moved so far far to the conservative position, and how no one could have predicted it."

Excuse me while I go throw up.

(I cross-posted this piece to Tallahassee/RedHills Indymedia. Various comments have been added. Click here and scroll down to view them and/or add your own)

October Notes

10/31/04 - Vote for Kerry
If you still need a reason to vote for John Kerry, this endorsement from the Nation Magazine I think puts it as clearly as it can get.
So vote.
And then get together with your community on November 3 and let the powers that be know we won't stand for any more of the Bush doctrine from whoever's in office.

10/26/04 - Back now. Trying to catch up... more later.

10/19/04 - Away for a week. No new posts till 10/26

I'm burnt. Tired of all the analysis... the bumps and grinds of the talk shows, the entertainment-news, the polls - and the pols.
I'm going rabble-rousing for a week. No internet access till the 26th. See you back here then.

In Tallahassee today Code Pink folks delivered a pink slip to Secretary of State Glenda Hood - hundreds of them actually - firing her.
Putting her on notice.
We're watching.
The election will not be stolen again. Not in Florida. Not without a fight.
These ladies are hot and they're not going to crawl in a corner and whimper about things not being fair.
No bumbling Al Gore concession this time.
Code Pink Women for Peace rock!!! (Click here for some photos)

10/8/04 - Not just Florida this time, my friends.

The following link is to the cover story on USA Today 10/7/04 edition.

Election warning causes anxiety
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government's warnings that terrorists want to disrupt the Nov. 2 elections have created confusion, anxiety and skepticism among state and local election officials. One Indiana county has moved some polling places from schools, Minnesota precinct judges have been urged to watch for suicide bombers, and some officials are questioning whether voters are being alarmed needlessly. (Related story: FBI to get help on Election Day plots)

What a deal. If the guy in the DemocracyNow interview is correct and there are no plans for attacks in the US up through election day, Bush and Co. have it both ways.

They can brag on how good they're doing because there haven't been any recent attacks in the US.
At the same time, they can stimulate the well worn FEAR factor and keep the voting turnout low. Less people vote, more Republicans win.

A big law enforcement presence at the polls will keep lots of folks away (ie. voting/driving/ walking/breathing while black or other minority), while fear of being blown up or shot will keep many others home on election day. The Muslim community in particular might be afraid to come out fearing they will be questioned, harassed, or disappeared by a nervous, hyped-up law enforcement.

After the first debate, it's looking more and more like there might be a regime change coming in the election.
If the election is honest.
At the same time it is looking less and less like it will be honest.
All of the intimidation factors, techniques, and devices used in the 2000 election to keep the rank and file votes suppressed are still in place and being spiffed up for a November rollout. And we've got new ones as well, having replaced the "chads" which could be recounted with touch screen electronic virtual votes which can't.

Meanwhile, every five minutes there's another negative ad on Kerry that distorts the facts. Amazingly, they continue to get mileage out of trashing Kerry's VietNam record when Kerry was the one who actually went over there to fight. Put his life on the line. Bush accepted the perks of privilege, and avoided it. He even avoided much of his alternative service. It wasn't like he had a moral position against the war. Like Cheney and others running the show in his white house, it just wasn't their priority. Moreover, it wasn't a big deal to him. After all, since when do the children of the rich and powerful have to go to war when they don't want to?

Which makes John Kerry's actions back then even more laudable. He could have blown it off if he wanted to. Instead, he volunteered and served when he believed the war was just. And he came home and fought against it when he found out the war was unjust and based on lies.

So, here we are again, 35 years later. Fighting the same war.

My country, right or wrong. Love it or Leave it. ... or,

I want my country to be on the side of right, not wrong.

That could be an honest choice in a real democracy. But what we're getting is more like "Don't like it? Up against the wall, asshole!!" As the FBI shuts down Independent Media sites around the world. And the FCC shuts down free radio stations, and universities cave in to economic and political pressures not to present speakers who might present the President in a bad light.

Shades of Scalia in 2000 writing in his Bush vs Gore opinion that the votes couldn't be recounted in Florida because they would cast “a needless and unjustified cloud” over Bush’s legitimacy.

Is this a great democracy, or what? Oops.... be careful what you say.... be afraid.... be very afraid... you too could disappear, my friend.

10-5-04 Mr. President, It's wrong...
It's wrong to take from the poor and give to the rich
It's wrong to misuse the trust given to you as a public official and mislead the people
It's wrong to invade a country and kill its people to "liberate" them and "spread democracy"
It's wrong to have 45-50 million people in the richest country in the world unable to afford health care
It's wrong to have rivers full of tainted fish that can't be eaten
It's wrong to have little children cough all day and have to suck on inhalers because they cannot breathe the bad air
It's wrong to harvest our national forests, and cut off the tops of our mountains
It's wrong to reverse the hard fought gains people have made in securing their right to live as full citizens in this country
It's wrong to detain American citizens without charges, or access to an attorney
It's wrong to torture people
It's wrong to harass groups of people for what individuals have done
It's wrong to take our country and remake it in your own image
It's wrong to be president in charge of a war that you've unilaterally declared, where young people are dying, and your children remain safe at home with their family
It 's wrong that you and your civilian war leaders who have never known war, and who don't send your children off to fight, give speeches about war using the word "We"
It's wrong to lie to us. ... about your tax cuts, your plan for social security, your strengthening of homeland security, the cost and effects of your prescription drug plan, the real meaning of your environmental bills, the reasons for going to war in Iraq, your business history, your war record, your record as governor of Texas, your (lack of) accomplishment as president, and your plans and your intentions for our future.
Your campaign promises were empty in 2000. Why should we believe you now?
As you tried to say one time, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Shame on you, Mr. President! Shame on you!

September Notes

9/30/04 - The Debateless Debate

Tonight Kerry and Bush meet in Miami for a debate where they cannot ask each other questions, speak to each other, look at each other, or even think about each other.

They will be allowed to mention the other's name and say whatever they want about the other guy. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter, as candidates can't respond to the other's answers. The questions have been submitted to each party in advance and have been thoroughly vetted to eliminate the possibility of any topics arising that might be disturbing to the viewing public.

Actually it's not the content of the little prerecorded-in-their-minds sound bytes that are even at issue here. What will be important is how they present their respective cases. The tone, the comportment, the eye fluttering, drooling, and snarling for instance will be what the viewers will be looking for.

These emotive qualities, facial and subtle body movements are about the only variables, as everything else is controlled and scripted. For example, the podiums are set at prescribed heights so each candidate will appear to be the same size, and the participants are secured in their preferred speaking positions by trusses of a sort that prohibit any movement. They have chosen an initial position, hands up or down, head tilted or straight up, etc. and are virtually locked into these postures for the duration of the program. Potty breaks are not permitted, but catheters will be installed to eliminate the unlikely but no doubt worrisome possibility of an embarrassing accident.

The TV camera will be locked into a frontal shot of each candidate, and adjusted so that each head is the same size and the same color. The cameras will stay in the same position for the duration of the performance.

Though the audience will not be televised, they will be required to sit on their hands and not utter a sound during the show. Any persons not doing so will be subject to the same type of duct-tape enforcement that was employed so effectively in both conventions. Chief Timoney and the Miami police force (of recent FTAA acclaim) will be on hand to ensure audience compliance.

The moderator(s) will not appear on screen either, and his/her voice is to be electronically modulated to a dull, droning monotone to be echoed vacantly from offstage to ensure a God-like equanimity and objectivity in the presentation of the questions.

All in all it should be an exciting event - one we have all been looking forward to - and one which may just determine the result of the election, should it turn out that we have one.

Commentaries and reports on the debateless debates will be posted as comments to this article. Please stay tuned.

Remember. Everything will be just fine, but be very afraid. We can win the war. He is winning the war. He is. We are. Sleep. Sleeeeep. They will take care of you. They will. They will....

9/22/04 - Kill Your TV

I will not watch anymore TV. I will not watch anymore TV. I will not watch anymore TV. I will not...
If I had any questions about why most Americans don't have clue about what's going on in America, Iraq, or really anywhere in the world, these last few weeks with my new TV have made it all too clear.

I gave away my last TV on February 11th of this year. I remember the date because it was a major event. I grieved the loss. I didn't know what to do with myself. I'd been a TV news junkie since the 2000 election. In fact I started WhoseFlorida.com in February 2001 out of frustration with the media coverage of the 2000 campaign and the big Florida countdown that followed. I felt there needed to be an alternative. Four years of the Bushes later, there are lots of alternatives available. But still not many on broadcast or cable TV.

If you live somewhere where DemocracyNow is available, you're in luck. I have to go online to watch it. And I do that Monday through Friday religiously. Of course there's CSPAN, and every so often Bill Moyers NOW is on. Other than that, I found comedy the best: Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Bill Mahr, and Al Franken. That's about it. And though the shows are hilarious, it's really not very funny.

The rest of the news and news-like programs remind me of a dog chasing its tail. Panting and drooling, they run around in circles trying to keep up with the latest campaign trivia. I can't believe it. They are doing a worse job on this campaign than they did in 2000.

Today, Judy Woodruff on CNN's Inside Politics broke from an interview to bring her viewers an important live statement from the Vice President. Cut. Flash. Dick Cheney standing in front of a microphone, snarling out of the side of his face that it would be very, very dangerous to vote for John Kerry at a time like this when we are so at war.

I think they had planned on staying with the shot longer than they did, but after about a minute of this bare toothed babble, they cut back to an apparently flustered and embarrassed Judy who went dutifully back to her interview.

I clicked off the TV, picked it up from its table and threw it out of the window. I yanked the cable cord out of the wall. The housing came with it, and the inside wiring ripped through the plasterboard, pulling down the ceiling. Sparks flew, and it was only a few minutes before the room was aflame. The fire spread like lightning through the apartment complex, exploding propane tanks and gas powered generators left laying around after the hurricane. There was a torrent of flames now, stretching for blocks and spreading in every direction. Thick, dark smoke was everywhere. It seemed like the whole world was in flames.

Dear friends, don't let this happen to you.
Kill your TV now, before it's too late.

9/14/04 - Well, folks, I'm about hurricaned out. But maybe there's a silver lining to this cloud.

I was speaking with a friend the other day who lives up North. He called to see how I made it through the hurricane. I told him that on the whole, Tallahassee came through it OK. No major destruction, but several storm related deaths, power outages, trees down etc.
He asked where Tallahassee was.
I tried to explain the layout of the state (the Panhandle, Peninsula, Keys, east coast, west coast, gulf coast) but he'd stopped listening. "Well just so long as you're OK" he said. Then he asked "Why do you stay there?"
I started to tell him what a great place this is, but I stopped myself, and said "You know you're right, it's really crazy to be living here. It's like living on the mouth of a volcano, or over an earthquake fault..."
I hope he tells all of his friends, and they tell all of their friends. And they in turn talk to everyone they know who moved down here, and the ones who come to the theme parks every year (but never see Florida) - and warn them of the danger.
Maybe then Disney, Universal and the rest will shut down, the developers will have to slow down, and St Joe will be forced to roll back its Disneyfication of my little piece of paradise here in the Big Bend.
Just a thought... as I wait to see whether Ivan is coming to visit...

9/2/04 - Republican Convention in NYC

For another take on the Republican Convention and the activity on the streets of NYC, DcmocracyNow.org once again presents the convention that is not covered on the mainstream media. For up to the moment protest activity in NYC, Indymedia in NYC has the latest reports (see below). Jon Stewart's daily Show has been fun on Comedy Central and at their website .

RNC Protest Coverage from New York (from indymedia.org)

An alternative media mobilisation is providing ongoing coverage of the Republican National Convention protests in New York - see: NYC Indymedia

USEFUL INFO: [ NYC IMC | Portland IMC Coverage | Grassroots Media | CounterConvention | RNC Not Welcome | RNC Watch | Transportation | Housing | Team Cascadia | No RNC! - survival | August 31 Direct Action Day ]

VIDEO: [ Paper Tiger.org | Manhattan Neighborhood Network ]

AUDIO: [ A-Noise / NoRNC Sound Coalition | Critical Mass Radio Network | Portland Indymedia Webradio | list of all radio streams and daily roundups ]

REPORTS IN SPANISH: Two Puerto Rico IMC volunteers are in New York and will post Spanish reports here | More info(ES) here

August Notes

8/23/04 - Just getting back on-line -- thanks for your patience!!

8/12/04 - Who cares what he says?

I can’t remember when it was that I stopped paying much attention to what GWBush says. It was early in his 2000 campaign though. After hearing him tout his “Texas Miracle” school system, and his Texas ecological successes, and his vibrant Texas economy I understood that we would hear nothing truthful from this man.

Maybe it was my years working in a prison system, dealing daily with world-class con men. They were extremely talented, and next to them George W was an amateur.

If you are an open, trusting person, anyone can take advantage of you once. It’s the price we pay for seeing the best in people. I personally choose to be that way. But once I’ve been had, it’s on me to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Like that old saying George W stumbled so terribly over; “Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME.” All this seems quite simple and obvious.

But it’s really not. It’s not easy to see “what is” when a narcissistic, psychopathic, borderline type person is intentionally trying to deceive you. Honest. I’ve known folks like this. They can tell you it’s nighttime in the middle of the day so convincingly that you doubt your own reality.

George W is just not that convincing – compared to one of those guys, he’s quite transparent. So I’ve just stopped listening. Instead, I watch what he does. I wish our Washington press corps would do the same.

The White House keeps the press in line by punishing what they see as hostile coverage with reduced access, enforcing what has been referred to as “message discipline.” Well, so what?

What if the press just stopped going to the White House news conferences? We all know what they serve up at those events. Any reporter still waiting for a candid response from the administration is living in another world. So what would happen if the press just stopped going? Just stopped listening to the Bush folks and parroting back to us what they heard.

Fox News would still be there. They could have the exclusive rights to provide the News from the White House. They could drop the awkward “fair and balanced” bit, and become the official state news station they already are.

The rest of the press corps would be free to ferret out what these guys in the administration are really up to. They could return to the glory days of real reporting, regain their title as the “fourth estate.” They could do their job.

8/1/04 - Democratic Convention Coverage on Democracy Now

Thanks to Amy Goodman and DemocracyNow for absolutely splendid coverage of the Democratic Convention. The highlights of the convention were presented, but always in the light of a bigger picture. The speeches were framed not only by what was said, but more importantly by what wasn't being said. The script (and the convention was highly scripted) was covered, but they also sought out the people who were not permitted to speak (people who would speak against the war or the Patriot Act or express other objections to the party platform). And there were two Kerry's as well - the acceptance speech 2004 and his 1972 anti-war speech to congress. The latter was a powerful, beautiful speech. I hope that guy is still around.

There was little room for dissent on the convention floor (or outside, for that matter). Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange was hauled off the floor in handcuffs after she tried to unfurl a pink Peace Banner. The platform was approved without discussion (before anyone was really there, actually). It was a bit like a celebration inside a prison. "You all are free to have to have a good time, but if you get the slightest bit out of line (and I can't tell what that would be...) we're going to throw you down and lock you up." Apparently this kind of behavior from law enforcement has become accepted as the norm. Just like prison.

What I appreciated the most I think were the questions Amy asked the various "luminaries" she cornered at the convention. She asked Ted Koppel whether he felt he should apologize for the way he covered the leadup to the war and what he felt about the gross imbalance between pro-war and anti-war advocates (397-3) invited to speak on TV. She asked Madelaine Albright whether she regretted her statement about the million kids killed by the Iraq bombing being worth the price. Kweisi Mfume on Bush's refusal to address the NAACP for the 4th year in a row. And so on. Good questions. Questions so many of us would have asked if we had the opportunity.

And this was just the news from inside the convention. Outside were the protests. The barbed and razor wire enclosed cattle pen of a "Free Speech Zone". The Oklahoma delegate arrested for refusing to leave when he was denied admission to the hall. The random searches of bags on the subways. Racism in Boston.

Compared to our mainstream media, watching the Democracy Now each day is like tuning in to news from another planet. But it isn't. It's ours.

Check out their archives. There were two hours of coverage each day. You can read transcripts or watch/listen to segments or the entire show. Click here.

July Notes

7-14-04 - We Have Been Where You Are Going

All around the world, people who are oppressed know they are treated unfairly by the ruling elite.
In America, the oppressed have somehow been convinced that they are themselves at fault for their economic situation. It is a mystery to me how this could have happened. I think perhaps it is because Americans no longer know their own history - much less the history of others in this world.
If you knew where you came from, how you got where you are today, you would not be so enamoured by the "rich and famous." You would not be so willing to place them in positions of power, and yourselves in positions of abuse and oppression.
America has the largest gap between rich and poor of any of the major countries in the world. And you have the biggest dreams of being able to rise from nothing to the top. Each year it becomes more of a dream and less a possibility. You are becoming a country of rich and poor, not much middle. Like the rest of us. I am sorry for that, because you used to represent at least the possibility of freedom and equality.
But now we must struggle together for a better world.
There is much you can learn from the rest of us - I hope you will be able to hear us. We have been for a long time where you are going.
The article (posted as comment here) is an example of solidarity felt among workers, and people fighting for freedom, all around the world. You should join us.
... Maria, from Mexico

7/4/04 - Their Little Secret

There are those among us who smirk and chuckle among themselves every 4th of July, when they read in our newspapers the many flowery, and self-congratulatory essays inspired by these words from our Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ..."

They understand that this document was a bit over the top, but necessary to inspire the people to take up arms against their English King George III- not an altogether popular sentiment at that time.

They understand that in 1776, these "inalienable rights" did not extend to all the population - the natives, the slaves, the women. Nor were they ever intended to.

They understand that our government was established, as most governments have been, to ensure the well-being and protect the property of the ruling class . And they know that the ruling class is much the same today as it was then. They are not just the "Haves" our would-be King George refers to as his "base." They comprise both political parties, call themselves Liberals as well as Conservatives, they run the Senate, the House, State and Local governments... They are the folks who influence and profit from the policies of governments. They know who they are.

So they smirk and wink at each other, knowing as they know, that all of this talk about equality and inalienable rights is just so much talk as is necessary to keep us, the rabble, in line. And they are reassured by the knowledge that most of us

"... are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

They know that they will give up only as much of these rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as the rest of us demand, and force by the inescapable weight of our demands.

But give it up they must. We forced the adoption of the Bill of Rights when our Federal Constitution did not ensure our rights. And then, when we found that neither the Executive, Legislative nor Judicial branches of our Government would enforce these rights, we took our demands to the streets and fought for them. The blacks fought and won an end to slavery and are still fighting for their civil rights. Women fought and won the right to vote. Working men and women fought for more humane working conditions. Gays/Lesbians are just beginning the fight for their "inalienable" rights.

And so we should, for as the Declaration continued:

... That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ..."

Yet behind their smirks and their cynicism, our rulers have a little secret. One they don't want us to know. They know all to well, that as powerful as they might be, as many weapons as they might have, they still need the approval and support of the rabble. They need us to fight their wars, purchase their products, and to reflect the image they need to project in order to achieve their ambitions in the world... And that is how, over the years, all of our battles have been won. Government has been forced to concede our rights to us little by little, either through need of an army, economic pressures, or fear of embarrassment on the world stage.

But we have a secret too. We know that in fact, these truths are self-evident, that all of us are created equal, endowed with the inalienable right to life and the pursuit of happiness. Our secret is a simple one. We know that no one can really be happy as long as another is suffering. We know that the only government that can ensure our happiness is one that serves us all. We can settle for no less.

And perhaps the author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, and some of the signers knew this as well - and rest easy knowing that the arrow they set loose 4 July, 1776 is in the air, and will not miss its mark.

7-1-04 - The Potential Felon Match List of the Florida Division Of Elections:
Check It For Yourself!

On July 1, People For the American Way Foundation received from the Florida Division of Elections an electronic copy of a list of more than 47,000 registered Florida voters who the Division thinks may be ineligible to vote because of felony convictions. This list is now a public record available for inspection and copying by anyone as a result of the decision on July 1 by the Leon County Circuit Court in CNN v. Florida Department of State. The Supervisor of Elections in each Florida county has the list, and may use it as part of the basis to purge voters from the registration rolls. The state has admitted, however, that there may very well be errors on the list. For example, the Miami Herald reported on July 2 that there are more than 2100 voter names erroneously on the list because they have received clemency and their rights have been restored. Others erroneously on the list may well never have been convicted of a felony at all.

We have urged all county supervisors to independently verify the accuracy of the list. In addition, using this website, Florida voters can check for themselves to see if their names are wrongly included on the potential felon list and TAKE ACTION. Here’s what to do:

Notes from June 2004

6/11/04 Ray Charles Dead WhoseFlorida joins BuzzFlash and others in National Day of Mourning for Ray Charles on Friday 6/11 (click here) Ray Charles remembered as best-known grad of St. Augustine school Ray Charles had roots in Florida

6/10/04 -- Ronald Reagan Dead With respect to the those who mourn the loss of a friend, I must say that the week-long lionization of Ronald Reagan in the mainstream media is making me sick. I have a much different recollection of him.

6/1/04 -- 52nd Annual Florida Folk Festival 2004