Colin Powell aided and abetted the massacre of...well, we're still counting, aren't we. It is incredible how much it matters that the actor playing Colin Powell is a likeable favorite of the folks at home. Like Jimmy Stewart or the elder Sean Connery, one of those guys people just can't help liking. So everyone talks about what a tragedy it is that he's ending his career outside the privileged circle of power he was so long on the inside of, but it's a load of crap. A man who will get up in front of the country and lie to start a murderous war is himself a murderer. Not a soldier good, bad or indifferent. A murderer.

Right after Dawkins' words make me laugh out loud at the wonder of a logical mind that is this articulate and demanding and uncompromising, it strikes me that ignorance and superstition will always win out at the end of the day. Sad but true. Consciousness, that mystery, lies very uncomfortable on all but the brightest minds, and so fairy tales must be told, and will be believed, for a very long time. Because the fairy tales are what shield believers from their utter, abject terror at their own impermanence, they will fight bloody tooth and nail against those who do not believe -- whereas scientists are more likely to say, "Whatever. Believe what you want, I have a paper to write." So thank goodness for Dawkins, but we need another few billion of him if reason is going to win the war.

The idea that Karl Rove is expecting Diebold to come through in the clutch -- I know it wasn't meant funny and it damn well isn't funny. Electronic voting machines with or without paper trail are a nightmare waiting to happen. At least when we had paper ballots, there was someone to count them the first time, thus someone to count them the second time. With EVM's, who's gonna count the paper trail in the event of a snafu? It would take weeks, maybe months, to muster the manpower and get the job done. Much more likely the Supreme Court would step in again and settle the matter for us. Those machines scare the bejaysus out of me.

When Karl Rove doesn't appear to have a plan, be very worried. He has one, he just isn't telling anyone about it.

It's off. Too much is at stake for a humorous approach that under less dire circumstances (like, say, a high school class election) would be all kinds o' fun.

All this celebrating before-the-fact is making me VERY goddamn nervous. Let's STFU until after the election, please!

After living in fear of and disdain for the religious right for years, believing everyone who talks about Jesus to be a hypocrite who would burn Jesus at the stake if he ever showed up again--I'm so pleased to see (on 60 Minutes) this guy who really IS christian (note the small "c") and has his money right smack where his mouth and heart and soul, are. Bravo, David Kuo.

It won't happen this election. They'll work just fine one time, so that everyone comes away with a sense that, "Gee, those electronic voting machines are quick, easy and fair!" This will give rise to the rapid spread of EVM's all over the country, with local governments poo-pooing the expense of paper trails (not that paper trails would matter much -- once you stop having the manpower on hand to count the votes). Then when something really big is on the line, like the 2008 election...see where I'm going?

It does say in the article that... "Diaz said the ad was an "independent expenditure" produced by an arm of the Republican National Committee that is legally prohibited from coordinating with Mehlman. Because of this, Diaz said, Mehlman did not see or approve the ad before its release." Which is possible, I don't know the relevant campaign laws.

I only bring this up because we want to leave the cant and innuendo based on partial readings of the facts to the other side, right?

Because the Willie Horton ad WORKED!

What I loathe about Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter and the rest of them is that they give their audience permission to act like assholes. The world has always had plenty of people who spit on the sidewalk, let their dogs bark all night, drive around with bumper stickers that say "My Kid Beat Up Your 'A' Student," and take up two parking spaces with their Porsche. Societal pressures and laws keep them as under control as possible. But when there's a voice on the radio telling them it's okay to hate, to lack empathy, to laugh at other people's afflictions, it's like teacher saying it's all right to throw stuff around the classroom. And they do. And the last thing this world needs is more assholes. Thanks a lot, Rush.

One, this isn't the election where the Diebolds are going to lie. Everyone's too ready for it. This is the election where everything will go smoothly and we'll be lulled into thinking the machines are really okay, they're our friends to be trusted. Later, when the stakes are higher, that's when the machines will turn on us.

Why aren't the stakes high enough now? Because when you think about it -- do the conservatives really want to win? If rising interest rates lead to home reposessions lead to consumer non-spending lead to more unemployment lead to more home reposessions and the already-tapped-out-by-Bush-policies-and-his-dirty-little-war Federal Gov't can't do anything about it, won't it be kind of handy to have Democrats in the congress to point fingers at? Won't it be handy to say, "See? You couldn't fix Iraq, either!" in a year or so? There are so many unattractive scenarios for the immediate future, one can easily imagine the Republicans wanting to at least share the tar baby.