Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) Rocks

"This land is your land.
This land is my land.
From California.
To the New York Island.
This land is red land.
Paid for by blue land.
This land is paid for you by me....

"We pay for farming.
We pay for mining.
We get back nothing.
But we're not whining.
They elect the president.
We get to pay the bills.
This land was paid for you by me."

When A Lead Is Not A Lead

In Washington state, Christine Gregoire now leads Dino Rossi. Or so the media would convey it to you.

What I'd like to know is how she was ever behind. Isn't it the case that when all the votes are in, the outcome is determined, and the order in which the results are presented should be irrelevant? Trouble is, we have a media which treats elections like football games.

The difference is subtle, but it definitely frames how people think about elections. Let's face it--as it stands, Republicans will cry that they were robbed. Were they? Who would be robbed if the votes were not properly counted? And don't get me started on the will of the voters; Florida Jews for Buchanan from Y2K is still a farce.

Is it just me, or does it seem like it is always Republicans who are trying to stop votes from being counted?

And is it just me, or is something really screwed up when we cannot get this right the first time? We can complain about Diebold machines all we want, but how hard is it really to put together voting kiosks that print receipts of votes so that the user can verify the transaction and then hand in the paper trail to the election officials? You'd have it all online and offline. You could do a bunch of random integrity checks to make sure nobody is cheating. Why is it so hard for this country to get a simple election done properly?

And, again, is it just me, or does anyone else find it comical that the US can go into other countries as an observer of their elections? Exactly what expertise do we really have, given today's technology, to show others how it is done right the first time?

People Don't Know What the ACLU Does

Here is what the ACLU does:

ACLU link.

Yet my wingnut friend (who, honest to God, is just fine in person) says, "I thought the ACLU only attacked schools that had manger scenes."

I'm a public school teacher, yet I must confess that my friend is a shining example of the failure of the American public school system. If you want to argue that the public school system works well, I present Exhibit A to refute your claim. You can argue that most public schools are effective, but then I merely point to the POTUS and his All Children Left Behind "policy."

In any case, since we are stuck with incorrect beliefs about the ACLU, a question arises. In short, how can its image be recreated such that it is viewed as the beacon of freedom that it is? It seems to me that it will take a lot of time--a generation, perhaps--to get this done. Where to start?

Economics Frame

http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3446249

How is it that the Republicans can get a free pass on their stewardship (or lack thereof) of the economy? What is it that is in the minds of voters that lets them believe that the Republicans are remotely competent in terms of running a country like a business?

Is it possible that since the Republicans have laid claim to being "pro-business" that they get to lay false claim to competence by mere association?