March 18, 2004
Who Is Terry Coleman?
[Crossposted from the Georgia for Democracy blog.]
I thought I had a good idea. The stats tab him as the speaker of the state House. In theory, that should make him a top Georgia Democrat.
What makes me scratch my head, though, is a simple question: what kind of party do we have when the leadership pulls stunts like this?
Continued »
March 17, 2004
Is President Bush a Compulsive Liar?
Yes, by the evidence of this ad [emphasis added]:
Now that’s rich. President Bush, who has:President Bush launched a television ad yesterday accusing Democratic rival John F. Kerry of undermining U.S. troops in Iraq as the president’s campaign manager accused the senator from Massachusetts of living in a “parallel universe.”
Intensifying an effort to depict Kerry as inconsistent just five days after an earlier ad assailed him on terrorism and taxes, the Bush campaign seized on the senator’s vote against an $87 billion funding bill for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to paint him as indifferent to the well-being of American soldiers.
The ad features pictures of soldiers — who are either actors or appear in stock footage — while a narrator says that Kerry voted in October 2002 for military action in Iraq but “later voted against funding for soldiers.” Over the sound of a Senate clerk calling “Mr. Kerry,” the ad says: “No body armor for troops in combat. No higher combat pay. No to better health care for reservists and their families. No — wrong on defense.”
- Sent reserve soldiers to Iraq equipped with Vietnam-era body armor, forcing their families to raise money to buy decent protective gear;
- Let Pentagon officials argue for a pay cut for troops deployed in live combat; and
- Pushed to cut spending for veterans’ health care and for medical facilities for active-duty troops,, then attempted to block the Pentagon from offering health-care benefits to troops in the National Guard and Reserves
That’s the choice the president leaves us: he’s a liar, an idiot, or a liar who thinks you’re an idiot. Tell me: which choice makes you want to vote for him more?
March 16, 2004
What’s Goin’ On
[Crossposted from the Georgia for Democracy blog.]
Interested in following the back and forth of state politics, but unsure how to read legislation without a Berlitz phrasebook? Fear no more — you can educate yourself with this handy primer on key issues in the 2004 legislative session.
Continued »
March 15, 2004
Behind the Lines
[Crossposted from the Georgia for Democracy blog.]
Most of my Georgia-based readers know by now about the legislative district maps handed down by a U.S. District Court today. [For those with an excess of curiosity and time, you can check the maps online: Senate, House.]
The received wisdom — so far, at least — has it that the new districts pave the way for conservatives to take over the House. Before we reach for the sackcloth and ashes, though, I have one thing to say to the spinmeisters: not so fast.
Continued »
March 12, 2004
Just One Word …
Bastards.
May God have more mercy on the perpretrators’ souls than the Spanish government.
March 10, 2004
Songs for Bush/Cheney: an Update
Out at trivia tonight, my friends and I thought up a slew of ideas for Bush campaign theme songs. You don’t have to sit through all of them, but let me pick out the best …
- “You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon
- “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” the Gap Band
Continued »
March 09, 2004
They Want What on My Car?
I can live with the fact that conservatives tend to give lower importance to design principles than progressives. [Come on — compare The New Republic with National Review, then tell me I’m wrong.] That said …
… did Sonny have to hit our new license plates with the ugly stick?
Up Against the Wal
No one accuses me of having a hard time working up righteous anger. Even so, Wal-Mart, for whatever reason — perhaps the kindly aura of its founder — has escaped my ire.
’Til now, that is. Whatever you think of the bobo complaint that Wal-Marts kill small businesses, facts have come to light that make it clear that Wal-Mart has much more to answer for. Consider:
- Until a New York Times investigation provoked a change of heart, the company locked night workers into as many as one in ten of its stores. Some workers who needed medical attention had to wait for a manager to arrive to let them out, for fear of losing their jobs had they used a fire exit instead.
- Even though the company earned $2.7 billion in profits in 2003, management spends so little on benefits that over 10,000 Georgia children of Wal-Mart employees have their health insurance provided by the state. How many children did the next-highest employer in the state’s statistics have enrolled in the program? 734.
Every Campaign Needs a Theme Song …
… and I want to give one to the Bush administration, free of charge. Send me your suggestions. Let me float a few trial balloons:
Feh — I like ’em, but something tells me we need a song with more bite. Give it your best shot.March 08, 2004
Hot Legislative Action!
Curious about the latest doings in my work life? Funny that you should ask.
- We snagged a victory last week when the Senate affirmed our indoor smoking ban legislation with a 45-7 vote. The sponsor expected 30, maybe 35 votes, so to carry that large a margin blew him away.
We traded a few votes for minor exemptions — one for businesses with fewer than seven employees, another for bars. Those points aside, the bill looks set to arrive in the House largely intact.
I owe thanks and shout-outs to the student group from Salem Middle School that came to the Capitol on Thursday and worked the Senate with me. It did fabulous work — although it’s just as well for my job security that one kid backed down from popping Robert Lamutt in the mouth. [In my experience, that sort of lobbying doesn’t go over well.]
- Before the rally at the Capitol today against legislative laziness, I helped council president Cathy Woolard by unearthing a fun fact: in the 29 business days since the legislature convened, guess how many all-new bills lawmakers have managed to pass?
Seventy-eight? Fifteen? Think lower — way lower.
One? Ding ding ding! You win the prize. And the boys only have eleven business days left …
- I keep up a sidelight in desktop publishing and web design, which can come in handy when a group or campaign needs, say, a big document done. Imagine, for instance, that a group needed to produce a legislative scorecard. Could I whip one up?
Twenty hours and a copy of Adobe InDesign says I can. You can see for yourself at Georgia Conservation Voters, which has the 2003 scorecard I produced — including a lingering typo or two — available for download. Bon apetit!
An Idle Thought
You know, if Wil Wheaton ever decides to come up with a pro wrestling alter ego for his Star Trek character, might I suggest ‘Wesley BONE-CRUSHER!!’ ? Because the thought of him wearing spandex — er, different spandex — to spar with some Klingon Hulk Hogan just trips me out …
iPod Pondering
The Sony Discman that I carry in my car has started to balk — some of the ball bearings have gone missing. That leaves me with two choices: pick up a new portable music player, or trust myself to the tender mercies of Clear Channel and 99X.
You don’t need membership in Mensa to know that I’d rather go with what’s behind door number one. The catch, though, is that I don’t know how much sense it makes to buy a near-identical replacement. My Discman goes back to 1997, but my approach to music collecting has changed. Back then, CDs were my bread and butter; today, I get more and more of my music online.
What to do? I could:
- Buy an MP3-CD player, à la iRiver. Problem is, that has no mechanism to handle iTunes Music Store purchases, and still makes me go through the interim step of burning my digital files to disc. Or
- I could pick up an iPod, any of which has enough capacity to let me take most of my favorite music with me. Apple charges beaucoup d’argent, though, and I have major separation anxiety when it comes to that $249.
Quote of the Day
“If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning.”
— Warren Buffett, world’s second richest man, in the 2003 Berkshire Hathaway annual report
March 04, 2004
E-Voting Alert
By request of Madame Brushstroke: The state Senate has a bill — SB 500 — under consideration that calls for the Secretary of State to retrofit our voting machines to provide printouts by Oct. 1.
Former majority leader and GOP congressional candidate Tom Price brought the bill to the floor, along with two Republican colleagues. If I had a more cynical outlook, I might speculate that Price wrote the bill less out of public interest than out of a wish to stick it to presumptive Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cathy Cox — but that aside, we all consider the integrity of the voting process important. As Price himself said, repeatedly: “[y]ou can’t put a price on fair and secure elections.”
People have all sorts of opinions on this subject. My fellow lobbyist Jim Flowers, for one, might throw a bucket of water on the next guy to claim that the GOP stole the 2002 election. Those who want to interject their own opinions, however, have an opportunity: the bill looks likely to come up tomorrow at 4 o’clock during a meeting of the Senate State and Local Governmental Affairs Committee.
Interested? Then come to the Legislative Office Building — on Mitchell Street, just across from the Capitol — and take the elevator to Room 310. Hope to see a few of you there.
Reading the Entrails
Dean tech guru Clay Johnson — a local boy fresh back from Burlington, and a high school classmate of Jessica Harbour, oddly enough — showed up at the Dean meetup tonight, where he made an interesting comment by way of stressing the need for Democrats to work together. Alluding to the rift between Dean and his former campaign manager [of whom Madame Brushstroke is most assuredly not a fan], he told the group:
Make sure you watch the CNN documentary on Sunday night — you’ll see a lot about what was really going on.That’s a paraphrase, but it more than piqued my interest. Especially when he went on to say that Trippi — the manager — was “not an idea guy; he was good at executing other people’s vision.”
I have to wonder more than ever just how much Trippi’s single-minded focus on reinventing the process of politicking had to do with the campaign’s downfall. If I had to guess, I’d say a great deal indeed.
Johnson, by the way, says he and the other alumni of the Dean tech team plan to form a consulting firm to deploy their innovations in other Democratic campaigns. No diggity. Between them and the Daily Kos consultancy, I think this Internet political revolution just might have some life in it.
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