There Is Something So UnAmerican...

...about refusing to let your child hear the President speak.

We are being taken over by the Marching Morons. It's completely disgusting.

I think Reagan spoke on closed circuit TV at least once when Leslie was in grade school. While he was far from my favorite president, no one complained about that he spoke to the kids. He was the elected president, after all.

Thursday, August 13 - Live from NetRoots Nation in the 'Burgh!

After spending some time helping run my Dad's 80th birthday, vacationing in Canada, then helping run the World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal, I'm back in Pittsburgh. My next "I'm underemployed and I'm bored!" project is working as a local volunteer for NetRoots Nation, which is here in Pittsburgh through Saturday. I've already linked up with "Drinking Liberally" and told them where they should go to drink.

I worked with another woman delivering today's tent cards to various panel rooms this morning, then helped out with Registration for a few hours. I'm now on a break, testing out the Acer WebBook in the exshibit hall.

While I have been fairly inactive on this blog for the last few weeks, due to doing work for Worldcon, I'm a proud liberal blogger and was delighted to hear that NetRoots was coming to Pittsburgh. I hope to make some contacts (beyond the "Drinking Liberally" folks!)

The Facts Don't Matter for Bush

As I've often said, I find the lack of respect for facts and reason by the current administration a real embarrassment for our country.

Here is a good example of Bush's not caring about the facts. It's a little thing; it's not about the lies he's told about Iraq or about public policy or what the Constitution says or John Kerry or anything else like that. This lie is about a painting that's hanging in the White House, given to him by supporters.

The Abridged Version of the Story

A Myth to Keep - the Full Version of the Story

Thanks to NPR for reporting this story yesterday!

Do You Want the Constitution Huckabeed?

On January 14, 2008, former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate said (and it's on tape even):


I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.


Well, great. I don't want an American Ayatollah in office. We finally got rid of Santorum; we don't need another person that out-of-touch in high office. I want people in office who have a clue about what the Establishment Clause means...and what it doesn't mean.

Jefferson and Madison would be rolling over in their graves to hear an American presidential candidate talking that way. They fought against such nonsense their entire lives.

Hilary Clinton's Much-Needed Shot in the Arm

I thought people who wrote Hilary Clinton's presidential race obituary after her loss in Iowa were overreacting. Turns out that I was right.

While people in the media keep harping on Clinton's unelectability, she's been ahead or even in many national, head-to-head polls against likely Repulican candidates. Many of us would love to see a woman president for a change.

The sexist jerks are out in full color (as usual). I've always thought she's a good candidate and would make a very good president. On the one hand, like most politicians, she's sold out to a degree, and Obama is a more inspiring speaker. Still, she's done a surprising amount of bipartisan work in Washington, during a time of severe partisanship. She's tenacious, and she very smart. I don't count her out.

I do have a concern over the idea that it's not a good thing to have the presidency change hands between two families for many years. On the other hand, while George H. W. Bush was kind of a middling president, his son W. has been an unmitigated disaster. Hard to tell if Hilary Clinton would be better or worse than Bill. She might be better - she had much more national political experience than Bill had when he ran.

So while the idea of an Obama or an Edwards presidency doesn't horrify me, I'd prefer Clinton. As I live in Pennsylvania, I don't know if I'll get the chance to vote for he in my primary. But, I hope I do!

A Call for a Presidential Debate on Science and Technology

(taken, verbatim, from sciencedebate2008.com)

Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The Environment, Health and Medicine, and Science and Technology Policy.


*******************************

Given that at least one Democratic presidential candidate, Hilary Clinton, has already made a strong statement that her administration would promote scientific inquiry and innovation, I hope the Democrats would agree to such a debate. Most of the Republican candidates are violently anti-science, particularly Huckabee and Romney. It would be something of a joke for the Republicans to engage in such a discussion.

Dick Cheney Has An Irregular Heart

This is news?

And Trent Lott is leaving early. Now, when most Senators leave the Senate early, it's either due to ill health or a scandal. Why is Lott leaving early? To become a high-paid lobbyist. The Senate changed to rules on lobbying this year to add a requirement that a member of Congress had to wait two years after leaving office to become a lobbyist. But the law does not go into effect until January.

Great, just great. This seems to be the meaning of public servant - make as much money as you possibly can.

My Cousin, The Conservative Pundit

A few weeks ago, my mother mentioned that my cousin Debbie's son Justin was a published writer. I haven't seen Debbie in years and I've never met either of her kids. But Debbie and I are the same age and spent a number of Thanksgivings together at our grandparents' house in Vermont. So while we aren't connected in the present, we've had connections in the past.

Anyway, I glanced through the URL Mom told me about, and realized Justin was a self-published writer. Not that there's anything wrong with that; most of us who write for the Web are self-published.

He's also extremely conservative. While his iUnverse bio claims:


Justin Haskins, a political science student at the University of Kansas, is an award winning poet and an up and coming political commentator. Currently the author of two books, his unique opinions and passionate commentating force readers to think outside the box and into the realm of debate. Using strenuous researching tactics and uncommonly known facts, Haskins is quickly becoming a much needed voice for a new generation of voters.

I, frankly, didn't see anything in his essays beyond the Clinton-bashing we've been seeing for over 15 years. I tried giving November in New England a read, but it was mostly too extreme.

I don't know if Justin and I will ever meet. While he was raised in New Hampshire, he's currently in college in Kansas. I know that, aside from my Mom's cousin Alice and my sister-in-law Rachel, I'm the family liberal. Justin is from my Dad's side of the family. My Dad has always been pretty quiet about his political leanings, though he probably generally votes Republican. My Mom has always been much more forthcoming about her distaste for Democrats. But, it is at least a little funny that Justin and I are at all related.

In the Second Row in Rainy Greensburg for the Kerry/Edwards Rally

I volunteered to work at the Greensburg Kerry rally. But unlike the July 6 Edwards announcement rally, where I felt like I was being more useful, I really didn't wind up doing all that much in Greensburg. I did help pass out some signs. However, the volunteer coordinator had us pass out about half the signs so early that they were complete soggy messes by the time the candidates arrived.

However...

I did wind up extremely close to the stage, so I got some photos like these:



John Kerry in Greensburg, PA, 7/31/04



Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Kerry, Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards

Yes, Ben Affleck was there, and he spoke briefly. The teenagers behind us particularly wanted to see him.



Teresa Heinz Kerry, Ben Affleck, Cate Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards (back to camera), Andre Heinz (white shirt), Chris Heinz

The speeches were fine, but we'd heard most of them before - John and John's speeches were both "Democratic Convention Lite Speeches." Teresa and Elizabeth both seemed to speak a little more off the cuff. You tend to remember the unscripted moments a little more. A member of the audience fainted in the rain and med-student Vanessa Kerry left the stage and followed a Secret Service agent into the crowd to lend a hand. And when some AIDS activists displayed some mini-banners and briefly started yelling, Kerry gave them a few moments, then worked some brief discussion of AIDS policy into his speech.

And how are the Republicans treating their rally audiences? Seeking Cheney Tickets? Sign a Loyalty Oath. This is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard. Yes, if you want tickets to Democratic rally, the office usually collects your name and adddress. They don't require you to swear to vote for the Kerry/Edwards ticket. Heck, a rational candidate wants to reach out to people who might be uncertain, not try to scare them away!

Before the rally, we grouped off into teams. I worked crowd control and signs with these other women:



Kerry, Deb, me, Jill and Terry, Before it Got Too Rainy...



The Up-front Sign Team, Nearly Two Soggy Hours Later...

I wound up standing just behind the other women, so I just missed being in some wire photos:



The Up-front Sign Team, as Snapped by the Post Gazette



Kerry, a Mosh-Pitter(?), as Snapped by the Post Gazetter

Kerry was standing on the crowd fence, leaning way over
the crowd, so I wound up literally right under him.



Front Part of the Greensburg Crowd, as Snapped by Someone for the John Kerry Web Site.

Political Compass

This is all Neil Gaiman's fault. He said he found the politics self-test at the Political Compass site fascinating. I must say, he was right. Here are the results of my test:

It's fairly close; while I do distrust government (particularly my own these days), I distrust business and other institutions more. I do seem to lean more to the left every time I take one of these tests..