So CommonSenseMissouri.org just called to wake up the baby. Because that's all the stupid election recorded calls do is wake the baby.

So I looked them up to boo and hiss. And I found this little nugget. Hey, people at CommonSenseMissouri, we have this little company called Jeracor that does web work (development, QA, editing). We would have caught this little bit that Missouri is not Ohio. Just saying - I know they're both funky-shaped little states and all residing in the Midwest...



hln

Posted by: hln at 07:17 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So, elections a week from tomorrow. Heated times here in Missouri. Because the Cardinals have done so well in the baseball playoffs (and, let's face it, because I have three to four times a day when I flip on the television while feeding the child), I've been exposed to political ads like never before. How amazingly disgusting the whole process is, proponents and opponents of propositions, Democrats and Republicans. A sampling.

Senate Race
Ok, here we have Jim Talent and Claire McCaskill. First off, I'm disgusted with both of you. Attack the opponent instead of saying anything of substance is so junior high. Talent in his incumbency has brought us such lovely lifestyle changes as forcing me to get my Claritin-D by asking a pharmacy representative (because without that extra step my fellow fall allergy sufferers and I might be tempted to produce large quantities of meth?). And, ooh, pink my Arch. Without that, NO ONE WOULD KNOW BREAST CANCER KILLS. But that "awareness" thing is another post.

McCaskill - a Democrat - also purports to be a Catholic (if membership in a Catholic church satisfies that requirement). Yet she supports "stem cell research" (which I'll get to - in other words she supports embryonic stem cell research/application which requires the destruction of human embryos). Last I checked, the Catholics - the most vigorous pro-lifers on the pro-life circuit - don't favor the destruction of embryos for the promise of THE PANACEA that may be years off or may never come. But what do I know? I digress into the next topic.

These two individuals have spent millions flogging each other on picky points and almost non-sequiturs. Attack one's character with harsh music, praise the other with green grass, lots of natural light. Endorse the message. (And don't forget smiling senior citizens). Next. You have McCaskill beating up Talent on his record in the Senate. You have Talent slogging insults about McCaskill's nursing home audit record and her husband's property tax returns. I'm disgusted with you both and the money you spend on your opponent thrashing.

"The Stem Cell Initiative"
Crafty, crafty. That's what I have to say about this. The Post-Dispatch sums up the ads for me nicely. So I won't bother beyond conclusion. Let's play "deceive the public." Too bad the opposers of Proposition 2 are not clearer in their argument. Vote this thing down. If I have to sum it up in one sentence that doesn't divide the pols: "It's about funding."

The Tobacco Tax
If you've ever read this blog, you know where I stand. ANYTHING to get rid of/reduce tobacco products around non-tobacco users. So, yeah, hike it up. Brian, though, is good to point out the bad side of "where is government going to replace that money when smokers buy fewer cigarettes." And that is a good question. I don't care.

The ads: the proponent ad is actually quite good, but I'm tired of the attacks on "Big Tobacco." They're trite. The opponents use Brian's argument as a tactic - not a whole lot of tobacco mention, more attacks on governmental spending.

Minimum Wage Increase
Haven't seen much about this other than Claire McCaskill's ads saying she's for it (and how dare anyone morally oppose it, essentially) and a few articles in the newspaper about the issue making the Sunday pulpits and people's outrage and/or support for the combination of sermon and politics. The proposed minimum wage hike is to $6.50. Federal rate is $5.15. I'm not really keen about putting a state's minimum wage higher than federal, but at the same time, the federal hasn't been adjusted since 1996. That's 10 years. Don't know about this one. A factor to consider - cost of living in Missouri is pretty low. Another - raising the minimum wage doesn't help with personal responsibility.

So, there's the Missouri round-up of the hot contests (the ones with television ads). Please let this thing be over.

hln

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Time this week mentions that on November 3rd the winner will need to unite the nation he helped to divide. I ask you, though, looking at the electoral votes that are locked in, perusing the red and blue, and then comparing that against 2000 and Bush/Gore, where's the the major change in these past four years. How do you define a "divided nation"?

The majority of the states that were Bush states in 2000 are Bush states in 2004. No real time to research the flippers, but I know New Hampshire is a Kerry state where it was previously a Bush state.

The middle of the country does seem to think - as a whole - differently than the coasts. Is this new? I'd say not. Perhaps a better argument would be that the vehemence with which we adhere to our respective standpoints as Kerry or Bush supporters may be heightened when in comparison to presidential political following in years past (voter turnout is a good metric for that), but dividing the country? Naa - I'm sure that happened long ago but was less in the front and center.

I offer the same thoughts to a Bush presidency as I would to a Kerry presidency. May the next four years be fruitful, peaceful, and full of growth and promise. May our enemies be fearful and silent.

hln

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Drudge Report states that Senator Kerry may have had "notes," specifically against the agreement for the debate.

Whether or not this is true (I'm going to stipulate it's a big no), this quote from the Kerry insider is equally bad.

"Kerry did not cheat," said the Kerry insider. "This is more lies from Republicans, who are hoping for a quick change of subject away from the president's performance, and the new polls."

Posted by: hln at 06:25 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dick Cheney and his speechwriters sure got me to laugh last night.

On Iraq, Senator Kerry has disagreed with many of his fellow Democrats. But Senator Kerry's liveliest disagreement is with himself. His back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends a message of confusion. And it is all part of a pattern. He has, in the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act and against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and against it. He is for the Patriot Act and against it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual — America sees two John Kerrys.

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The convention is C-SPANNING between Brian and me on our friendly eMac. I can't help but notice (I'm working, really I am) while working that the "filler" speakers aren't getting much response to their speeches, even in scripted supposed-to-be enthusiastic moments.

The last excitement I heard was when Lt. Gov Steele had the podium.

I believe it's a conspiracy. The protestors have drugged the delegates and replaced them in order to heckle and tomato VP Cheney when he takes the stage. Just you watch.

Can you spot the liberals in the crowd? I challenge you.

hln

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Can someone explain to me the protesters of the convention? I just really don't get it. The Convention's part of politics and part of democracy as we know it, no? Are these people protesting democracy? I scratch my head at them. Can't they save their hard-or-not-so-hard-earned dollars to protest more worthy event if those protest needs are unfulfilled?

hln

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I got an e-mail from Cycling Forums, a place I occasionally visit but don't post on, and one of the threads pertained to political leanings. The poll was of about 200 people, and, surprisingly, President Bush had 42.27% of those "votes."

Considering that all of my cycling friends appear to lean a bit or a lot left, I was surprised with how close this is. I remember once at a gas station rest stop on a ride, someone brought up gun control, and I pifflepoffled it and obtained lots of surprised looks. Probably mentioned something to the effect of knife control, and then the moment passed.

If the roadies are for the most part supportive of President Bush...

hln

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I just walked by one of the muted big TVs at work, and the CNN headline flashed "Garrison Keillor backs Al Franken Senate run."

Wha...huh?

I can't find anything in the search engines about Franken and senate that's newer than May, though. CNN seems to be indicating a need to save your carpet scraps.

On the Keillor note, I guess I missed the release of this.

hln

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Gene McNary is running for County Executive of St. Louis County. Who's he, you ask (well, some of you might)? He's the former St. Louis County Executive; he held the job before Buzz Westfall, who passed away last year or the year before.

Again, why is this important? Well, if you've done any recent work in the Human Resources field, it's likely you'll recognize McNary as the former Commissioner of the INS. Yes, immigration and naturalization services. He served from late '89 to '93, so all of those pesky employment forms bore his signature.

News about the candidates. McNary has unsuccessfully run for what the paper calls "Congress, Senate, and governor."

McNary, 68, makes an unabashed appeal to nostalgia at campaign appearances, reminding audiences of the good times during his 15 years as county executive from 1975 to 1989. Before that, he served two terms as county prosecutor.

"You have heard everyone, almost to a person, say St. Louis County is in bad shape," he said in May at a candidate debate in Webster Groves. "Maybe it's time for Gene McNary to be county executive again. We ran a tight ship. It was a good place to live and work and raise a family. It is still a great place."

Odenwald says, however, that McNary is trying to get by on platitudes alone.

"St. Louis County is a very different place in 2004 than it was in 1974, when he was first elected," Odenwald said. "I think Mr. McNary does a great disservice to the electorate when he says all we need to do to make things better is return him to office. . . . It was easy to be county executive in the '70s and '80s when there was thousands of acres of open land and people were fleeing the city."

Posted by: hln at 07:49 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Good morning! I just took the Political Compass test again, and I scored very close to what I scored before, probably 4 or 5 months ago. (And thanks to Robert Prather for referring to the site on his blog)

I scored thus:
Economic Left/Right: 3.25 Libertarian/Authoritarian: -.31

I consider myself to be a bit more libertarian than that, but some of the questions that would score me that way, naturally, were a bit too narrow.

Why on earth am I posting this at 6:38 a.m.? Well, I got some interesting e-mail that pushed this post further up into the queue.

The e-mail states thus:

"I'm sure with the proper facts, you'd be a lot more left...it's what happened to me."

Naaaaa.

First, it's horrible, I know, but it's such a hanging curveball, and I have a bat in reach. What are "the proper facts"? I'm puzzled.

Second, this put me into thinking mode quite early in the morning, and I penned a response, though, sadly, it was in Hotmail, and so I don't have a copy.

But, here's where I stand on eight different issues.

1) Environment - individuals should do what they can. Corporations shouldn't be given loopholes to circumvent laws. Lots of shoulds, no? Brian and I are recycling fiends, throwing away basically only non-recyclables and cat litter. I despise litterers, too. I have a whole post on litter waiting for merely the inspiration to offend a few people. It'll come.

2) Abortion - in all honesty, keep it legal. It's not morally right, in my opinion, but the simple fact remains that, despite its status as legal or not legal, it will continue to happen. And you cannot legislate morality anyway.

3) The war - I refer you to here since this is already written.

4) Racial issues - Yes, there is racism in America. No, I don't believe the attitudes that affect racism can be legislated. Ideally, treat everyone as individuals; get to know all you can about other cultures, and broaden your perspective. I have met racists of many races. None is right. I glossed over this; I know. I believe that some people are better than others - by their ACTIONS, not their origins.

5) Social Security - privatize it immediately for those who are willing to accept the responsibility for the money they pay into the system.

6) Legalization of drugs - I waffle on this and can see good and bad coming from it. I voted "no" on the question within the Political Compass test.

7) Personal responsibility/lawsuits - I am disgusted by people who make excuses for their bad actions instead of accepting responsibility. Good example: Chante Mallard. Just about anything on Overlawyered.com. Obesity, blaming "someone/something else."

Gun Control - we have laws. We likely have too many gun laws, but not being too particularly interested in either direction, I don't have an exact number. The recent CDC survey stated that it was unsure the effect of gun laws on violent crime. I grew up with guns and know that they are merely tools. If guns were illegal, there'd still be guns on the streets in the hands of criminals. But not in the hands of the common man.

I know I just picked a few, but I do have to get to work. I am most closely aligned with the Republican party, though I do cross party lines and decide on an election-by-election basis for whom I vote.

I have some issues with the Libertarian platform. Basically, it fails to recognize that people (en masse) are sheep. Unthinking, but, thankfully docile at most times. Sheep don't take personal responsibility to better their lives and are poor examples of adult behavior. These are the people for whom disclaimers like "do not paint your face with house paint" are made. Go read Overlawyered.com if you're still skeptical.

The left is fond of taking responsibility away from individuals for their actions. Oh, person X "couldn't help himself" because of BLAH. And I can't stand for that. I've said it before - if you take away my responsibility, you take away my accomplishment.

And that's disgusting.

hln

Posted by: hln at 07:12 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Brava!!!!!

Posted by: Susie at October 09, 2003 04:34 PM (0+cMc)

2 "You can't legislate morality" sets off the "leftist" alarm on a fair number of detectors, you know ;-)

Posted by: hans at October 10, 2003 01:56 PM (CWwGn)

3 Funny, I think of it more as the libertarian part in me. Perhaps I should've said "you can't legislate behavior." hln

Posted by: hln at October 10, 2003 03:23 PM (g+waq)

4 You state:The left is fond of taking responsibility away from individuals for their actions.And, I agree. However, if I may be bold, the left is more fond of taking away individual freedom.

Posted by: Interested-Participant at October 11, 2003 02:09 AM (0SrUW)

5 The left is generally more fond of taking away individual economic freedom, while preserving social freedom. I'd love to see compass placements for contemporary US politicians. Presumably, they'd have to be measured by a third party, but could still be accurate enough to be interesting.

Posted by: hans at October 12, 2003 10:29 AM (SSLGd)

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Johnny "Mouth Should Be Taped" Depp made some interesting comments recently, and they hit the news today. I was going to give my thoughts, but I find others have done a far better job than the post that I envisioned, so here's some linkage.

Rachel Lucas gives you the whole "news" story and then some goodies.

And, Big Arm Woman gives us 67 cents worth as well. My favorite part?

I'm conflicted about the Deppster. I usually enjoy his movies, because he's very good at being someone else. I like the Else-Depp, and would be perfectly content to forget the Real-Depp, particularly when, every time he opens his mouth, something banal or inane or childish comes out. I mean, really, Johnny--"a dumb puppy?"

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