Punkvoter Lies
Revealing the lies, inaccuracies, and ignorance of
punkvoter.com.
Punkvoter trying to scare people over Moore censorhip issue
If you read Punkvoter's May 6 post then you would think you lived in an Orwellian nightmare. Don't let Punkvoter's paranoid and uninformed political knowledge fool you. Conspiracy theories cannot win in a debate with facts.
The whole post inferred that major corporations were trying to block any all liberal viewpoints from being expressed in media. The post even ended with a typical paranoid exclamation, bolded capital letters and all: "THIS IS HAPPENING TO OUR FREE SPEECH EVERY WHERE!"
Well, point for point:
* "First CBS last fall yanked 'The Reagans' miniseries and aired it on Showtime instead. CBS executives said they did not cave to right-wing pressure but pulled the show because it portrayed the Reagans unfairly and had a liberal bias." -- The movie wasn't biased, it was mostly not factual. The movie did not air due to many complaints by ORDINARY CITIZENS (right-wing or otherwise).
* "Then Howard Stern gets kicked off the airwaves and fined to death for being anti-Bush!" -- Nice try Punkvoter, but Stern was removed from Clear Channel radio stations (maybe other stations too, but certainly not every single radio station in the country) for being indecent. Everyone knows how crude and obscene his show is, and right now the FCC is on an anti-indecency binge. You'll just have to go elsewhere for your anal sex jokes and on-air lesbian kissing. Sorry.
* "Last week, Sinclair Broadcasting dropped ABC News Nightline program last Friday because they dedicated the show to reading the names of the soldiers who died in Iraq war!" -- I too was disappointed that they dropped that broadcast. There isn't even anything anti-Bush about it. But regardless, Sinclair Broadcasting has the right to broadcast and not to broadcast what they want. Otherwise, if they were told what to broadcast, that wouldn't be freedom, would it?
Finally, the whole point of the May 6 post was to illustrate Michael Moore's latest issue as another example of "the man" trying to stamp out dissent. If you haven't heard about it you can read it here. In short, Disney is refusing to allow its subsidiary Miramax to releave Michael Moore's new film about the Bush administration. Disney claims it deals with a polarizing issue such that they don't want to alienate some of their audience.
Like Sinclair Broadcasting, Disney has a right not to distribute Moore's film. However Punkvoter is following Moore's claim that Disney would be endangered by the tax breaks offered to them by Florida governor Jeb Bush. This is just more conspiracy theory nonsense. Why would Jeb Bush try to block a movie that is going to be released anyway? The reason that Disney gave makes sense: They don't want to get caught up in partisan politics and lose some of their audience.
Punkvoter, stop trying to scare the kids. This is not an Orwellian nightmare, this is America.
How about blaming the terrorists for once?
We're at war in Iraq with terrorists, and if those terrorists attack us or let's say they set off a car bomb that kills the head of the Iraqi governing council, can you please just blame the terrorists? If terrorists hijack planes and fly them into buildings, can you please blame the terrorists instead of the president?
Not Punkvoter. This is an example of Punkvoter's lack of vision. They can't identify who the enemy is because they are so blinded by rage for Bush.
Overtime issue revisited
Back in Nov 2003 Punkvoter tried to scare people into thinking President Bush had eliminated overtime pay from everyone in the country. The wording was so vague that unless you weren't familiar with the issue you wouldn't have realized that it only applied to government employees. But as it is, government employees have cushy enough jobs. They receive a tremendous amount of benefits and have almost complete job security.
Now, the Washington Post reports that nearly 2/3 of such government employees received bonuses or monetary awards in 2002. I think that more than makes up for the lack of overtime.
It still is unfortunate that overtime pay isn't available, but maybe it can be budgeted if there were LESS employees. The government is unnecessarily bloated as it is. However Punkvoter wants to make it worse by having government take over health care and other social issues, increasing the size of government even more. (When is the last time someone said "What a great job government has done with social security!" How can you want the government to do the same to health care?)
Bush cuts youth employment programs... good!
Punkvoter is mad that President Bush cut a third of a billion dollars from youth employment programs in the last 2 years.
I didn't even know such programs existed. Stupid me, all this time I've been counting on my own skills to get a job. Yes it's tough to land a job and keep it when you're young but no one should be entitled to one. Entitlements for one person always hurt somebody else.
You don't need to pump $300,000,000 into a program to help teens to get a job. Wouldn't that money be better spent elsewhere, or given back to the taxpayers?
It is programs like this that are a drain on the tax system and a burden on the taxpayers. Government shouldn't be helping citizens when citizens can help themselves. It is unnecessary and an insult.
So Bush is evil for not helping people when they can clearly help themselves. That is the mantra of ultra-radical anti-capitalists like Punkvoter.
Punkvoter, why Bush, and not Clinton?
The unstated purpose behind Punkvoter is to defeat President Bush in the 04 election because of his conservative ideology, not anything that he has actually done in office.
If it were otherwise then Punkvoter would have been started 10 years ago as an anti-Clinton website.
The issues on which Punkvoter challenges Bush are things that Bill Clinton has also done:
* Clinton ordered air strikes against Iraq (a couple of times) plus invasions of Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti, all without UN consent.
* While Clinton was president terrorists bombed the World Trade Center (killing 6, injuring thousands), Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia (killing 19 Americans, wounding hundreds), the USS Cole (killed 17), and US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Tanzania (killing 258 people total, injuring thousands). The only action taken was a strike against a suspected terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. (BTW Richard Clarke was the terrorism advisor at the time.)
* Punkvoter blames Bush for letting 9/11 happen but it was the Clinton adminstration that made it harder for domestic agencies to investigate terrorism.
Don't take this as an anti-Clinton post because it's not. But if Bush is horrible in the eyes of Punkvoter then Clinton should have been the antichrist. Punkvoter would have been established 10 years ago if they really cared about these issues.
Punkvoter blames Bush for 9/11, not the terrorists
I read Punkvoter blaming President Bush for 9/11 but they have not expressed any outrage against the TERRORISTS who EXECUTED the attack. Instead I see outrage at Bush for not having taken precautions... precautions that Punkvoter is OPPOSED to anyway.
So how could Bush have prevented the 9/11 attacks? It would have been impossible to uncover the details of the attack beforehand because even the terrorists involved didn't know their mission until the last minute. But if we could have stopped them, what would Punkvoter say about detaining 19 Arab-Americans whose only crime was attending flight schools?
Bush would have had to attack the very heart of Al Qaeda, such as a PREEMPTIVE attack on AFGHANISTAN. Preemptive action? Punkvoter is opposed to that based on their position with the Iraq war. (BTW check out this article titled In a parallel universe if 9/11 never happened... about what reaction Bush would have received if he did preemptively attack Afghanistan.)
Bush would have needed new laws to allow better surveillance and the ability for the CIA and FBI to share information. That is what the PATRIOT ACT does, and Punkvoter has already shown their dissent for it.
To back their claim that Bush was not effective against terrorism Punkvoter quotes former White House terrorism advisor Richard Clarke. Clarke has recently accused Bush of showing no interest in combating terrorism in a new book that he authored. However Clarke is not a reliable source because there is evidence against his claims. Also, under previous presidents Clarke advised on domestic and foreign terrorism but under Bush he advised on CYBERSECURITY terrorism (not exactly in the loop on Al Qaeda). He is also on record having in the past PRAISED Bush for his anti-terrorism efforts.
Remember that Punkvoter is DESPERATE to get Bush out of office. It's easy to play the "we coulda-shoulda" game but it's not always worth it. Should we now blame Clinton for all of the terrorist attacks during the 90s? Do we blame the DC area police for the sniper shootings? Do we blame the Spanish government for the Madrid bombings? Or do we blame the terrorists and the criminals?
How the economy really works
How would you like to live in a country where the economy is controlled by the government? Since our government can't even manage retirement benefits (social security) and education, the last thing I want is for them to micromanage the successes of private business.
Punkvoter.com, however, has a different opinion. Either they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for reasons to attack Bush, or they believe Bush needs to assume more control over the "free" market.
Our economy is driven by the exchange of goods. When there is a demand for a product, the companies that produce it earn more money, and then they invest the money into growing the company. This has a snowball effect as these companies in turn buy goods from other companies, thereby creating more jobs.
So what can a government do to influence the market?
1) RAISE or LOWER TAXES on companies -- Which do you think helps? (Bush LOWERED taxes and helped to usher in the current period of economic upswing, despite protest from Punkvoter that lowering taxes would not work. Bush apparently was right.) Regardless, changing the tax rate has only minimal effect on the economy.
2) SUBSIDIZE the economy -- The government can subsidize certain industries by giving them handouts. Pretty much a free loan. In other words, the government can take YOUR money (through taxes) and give it straight to companies. So instead of you willfully buying goods from a company, the government will take your money unwillfully and give it to them. Is that where you want your taxes to go?
3) NATIONALIZE the economy -- Instead of subsidizing an industry the government could own it. This is the communist solution and there is nothing "free" about it. Governments are awful at running industries because industries work best only when they are for profit.
So does the economy work best when the government is not involved? Yes.
What's the best thing Bush can do to spur economic growth? Lower taxes on businesses (in other words, LOWER government involvement). Again, Punkvoter was OPPOSED to lowering taxes.
CORRECTION: The best thing Bush can do is fight terrorism. After all 9/11 is part of the reason the economy went sluggish.
Be informed
This blog is not about promoting conservatism or bashing liberals, it is about countering radical hate mongerers who pose as intellectuals on a site called Punkvoter.com. They spread misinformation among young people who mistake the bands' statuses in the scene as proof of their credibility.
Punkvoter's intent is to influence the 2004 election results against the favor of George W. Bush, for whom they harbor absolute hate. But their hate is so great that they've fallen victim to wild conspiracy theories about him. They are these mere speculations, not fact, on which most of Punkvoter.com's arguments are based.
I do not implicate Punkvoter.com for having a different political idealogy. It would have been something respectable if they actually argued their philosophy versus conservatism.
Instead, their site reports lies, half-truths, and speculations as fact, and scare young people into thinking the mainstream media cannot be trusted.
So if you end up voting against George W. Bush in November, I hope it will be a well informed choice, not one rooted in an unfounded, paranoid fear of our democratically elected government.
Open Letter to Punkvoter
1) If the Iraq war was waged for oil, then why am I still paying $1.67/gallon for gas?
2) If you are against campaign finance reform then how can you be such big fans of MoveOn.org, the anti-Bush/pro-Democrat site funded by billionaire George Soros who is using a loophole in campaign finance reform to donate millions of dollars to defeat Bush?
3) Will you support John Kerry if he runs against Bush, even though Kerry once firmly believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? (He said, "Why is Saddam Hussein attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don't even try? ... According to intelligence, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons ... Iraq is developing unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering chemical and biological warfare agents...")
4) Why did you try to link Bush to the Texas redistricting controversy when that was done by other people? Did you not even read the article that you posted which specifically stated the Bush administration was not involved?
5) With terrorism as our #1 issue, why do you not make an issue of it?
6) If you think the media is "mindlessly regurgitating Bush's line" (as Justin Sane of Anti-Flag says) then why do you quote them so much?
7) Why did you try to blame Bush when a Michigan high school student was disciplined for wearing an anti-Bush shirt to school? And why did you spin a similar story of an Ohio high school student who wore a Fat Wreck Chords "Not My President" shirt who was questioned by the Secret Service? Why did you leave out the fact that the student drew crosshairs on the president's face? Why did you not mention that what he did was, and always has been, illegal?
8) Why do you consider a ban on partial-birth abortion right wing zealotry when an overwhelming majority of Americans are for such a ban?
9) Why do you accuse Bush of bullying his opponents and calling detesters unpatriotic or traitors? Can you provide the exact quote? Because I've never heard him say that. Can I consider it bullying when you call him an "idiot son of an asshole", or a "gangsta", or "stupid", "evil", a "vicious idiot", or that "he speaks like he still uses a dribble cup and is fit for a bib"? Are you then hypocrites?
10) If you represents "punks", and punk is based on do-it-yourself principles, then why do you support alot of policies that give government power over individual choice (nationalized health care, campaign finance reform; and opposing tax free savings plans and individual control of unemployment benefits)?
Punkvoter attacks Bush's military record
In Punkvoter's Feb 13 post they all of a sudden care about military service even though the bands involved in this propaganda tool have a history of being anti-military, skeptical of its purpose, and for its dismantlement.
Now Punkvoter has hopped on the bandwagon of bashing Bush for serving in the National Guard during the Vietnam war. The conspiracy theory is that Bush's father, who was a congressman at the time, pulled some strings to get him in the Guard. The "theory" goes further and claims that Bush didn't even show up for duty.
This "theory" was already discounted a few days ago when Bush's press secretary presented pay stubs and dental examination records proving that Bush was paid and present for Guard duty. But apparently proof isn't enough for those who consistently avoid logic.
When you work, do you get paid? Yes. If you don't work do you still get paid? No. So if Bush got paid it means he worked, right? Yes, but apparently not so to the Punkvoter crowd, the same people who see no value in "work" anyway.
Punkvoter also included in their post Michael Moore's "Open Letter To President Bush" which also attacks Bush for his Guard service. Maybe I'll disect Moore's ignorant and conspiratorial questions some other time but just keep in mind that Michael Moore is NOT a very credible source of information. MooreWatch.com has been doing a good job of that anyway.
The mainstream media has already largely dropped this story because it has turned out to not be a story. There is NO PROOF that Bush was AWOL and there IS proof that he SERVED. But Punkvoter will do anything to discredit Bush that they'll continue to spread misinformation and accuse Bush of not participating in the military which they themselves are adamantly against.
More lies.
Punkvoter spins David Kay story
David Kay was the arms inspector assigned to find WMD in Iraq. He didn't find any and testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee about what happened and what went wrong.
Facts: David Kay initially believed Iraq had WMD. All of our intelligence showed that Iraq had it. Most of Congress believed it, including Democrats and John Kerry too!
So if there weren't any WMD, where was the failure? With INTELLIGENCE.
Does Punkvoter believe that? No! To them it's Bush's fault, not matter what, as you can tell by this post, just another attempt at misinforming the youth. They fail to mention that INTELLIGENCE is what is suspected to have failed.
Do I think Iraq had WMDs? Yes. They used to have them. As mentioned before, EVERYONE knew it. Here are some quotes from leading DEMOCRATS who knew Iraq had them (but now claim Iraq never had them):"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." -- President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has 10 times since 1983." -- Sandy Berger, national security adviser to President Clinton, Feb. 18, 1998.
"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction program." -- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry and others, Oct. 9, 1998.
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Dec. 16, 1998.
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sept. 27, 2002.
So what happened? If YOU had 8 months (the time elapsed from when the UN issued their 17th and final resolution until the US finally invaded Iraq), what would YOU have done with them?
Punkvoter gets Drake Univ subpoena all wrong
Punkvoter has made another post full of blatant misinformation. Not only do they attempt to link a reasonable law enforcement investigation to a grand conspiracy of government censorship but they try to blame President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft for it.
There was a protest recently at Drake University during which a protester was accused of assaulting a peace officer. Also some protesters trespessed onto local property at the nearby Iowa National Guard headquarters. Federal prosecutors are investigating these matters and have issued subpoenas ordering the university to turn over records on the event's organizers.
As part of their conspiracy rhetoric Punkvoter stated: "These court orders and secret investigations are being conducted to scare you into conforming – do not let them fool you!"
Now after reading the FACTS that I have posted (which were pulled from the very articles that Punkvoter linked to), does it sound like the government is stifling dissent, or simply conducting an investigation of CRIMES that happened at the protest?
Where are Bush and Ashcroft in this? They are not involved. Punkvoter is IGNORANT for saying "Wake up to what Bushcroft is truly doing to your brothers and sisters who are speaking out!" (BTW these protesters are not my brothers and sisters. Some of them are criminals, that is the purpose of this investigation.)
The geniuses at Punkvoter either did not bother to read the entire articles OR they purposely left this information out. Once again, more misinformation from Punkvoter.com.
John Feldmann NOT targeted by Patriot Act
In his punkvoter column John Feldmann of the band Goldfinger recounts the story of how the FBI raided his home searching for evidence linking him to an act of vandalism. It appears that Feldmann was wrongly suspected for graffitti that was tagged on the house of an LA animal shelter manager Jerry Greenwalt. Feldmann is an outspoken critic of Greenwalt whom he accuses of killing "50,000 innocent puppies and kittens every year for $150,000 a year salary, paid by tax dollars."
It's too bad that this had to happen to Feldmann but he accused the Patriot Act of giving the FBI authority to do this to him. The article's purpose is to attack the Patriot Act and US Attorney General John Ashcroft (the piece is titled "Personal Encounter with Ashcroft's FBI"). However, this had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PATRIOT ACT! This is what the FBI does. They do it all the time. It's just too bad they had a bad lead in this case.
(Credit goes to Dr. Balls for pointing this one out. His site is hysterical and he points out stuff like this alot. He even did a really good analysis of the Patriot Act that I recommend for people not familiar with it.)
How well off America really is
Punkvoter paints a picture of a disasterous economy and massive unemployment. But right now the unemployment rate is at 5.6%. Compare that to the rest of the world and you'll see just how well off we really are:
(As of Jan 04)
Spain: 11.2%
Germany: 11%
France: 9.6%
Canada: 7.4%
US: 5.6%
Don't let punkvoter fool you by stating how many jobs have been lost in the past 4 years. In January they quoted an article stating "America has lost 2.2 million jobs since 2000". But how many have been gained? In January alone 112,000 jobs were created (source).
Welcome to the Punkvoter lies...
Hi. My name is Stacey. I'm fed up with the propaganda spread by Punkvoter.com. Their objective to educate young people about politics is being muddied by their hatred for the Bush Republican adminstration. Most of the information on their website is false or misleading. The site's contributors are in or involved with the punk music scene and this is supposed to make them credible, but their statements expose how ingorant and biased they are.
In this blog I will counter Punkvoter's propaganda. I will counter their lies with facts and correct their misleading statements. I'll approach this website completely unbiased.
To be fair you should be aware of my views. I am mostly conservative with some liberal views. I was not old enough to vote in 2000 but this year I will vote to reelect Bush. I don't disagree with everything Punkvoter stands for. I actually do agree with their stands on some issues and I'm not completely thrilled with the Bush administration. However I think realistically and I know that the #1 problem right now is terrorism and unlike Punkvoter I don't believe in a massive Bush-oil-media conspiracy.
Thanks for visiting. I'll update soon.