Federal Power, Guns and Marijuana -

So, how much power does the Federal government have to regulate local activity? Well, when it comes to guns it has less, when it comes to marijuana, it probably has a lot more. That's my guess. So, if you are in pain with cancer, buy a gun, don't grow marijuana.

You see, it rarely has to do with the language of the Constitution. It usually has more to do with the underlying issue. Guns are OK; drugs are bad. Then you figure out the argument.

The only question that keeps sticking in my mind is why would anyone want to deny marijuana to a person with cancer if it might make them more comfortable. What kind of cruelty is that?

Kobashi Maru -

Are the Republicans Star Trek fans? Frustrated by the continuing specter of the Democrats employing the filibuster to block their conservative judicial nominees, some Republicans want to change the rules in the Senate regarding the filibuster. And, if they are short of the 2/3 majority in order to change the rules, they want the Vice-President to do it by the stroke of a pen, sending the whole thing to the courts.

Captain Kirk did it while a student at the Star Fleet Academy. No one had ever solved the Kobashi Maru war games problem, so the Captain reprogrammed the computer to get to victory. Are the President and Vice-President Star Trek fans? Would the President ignore the Prime Directive and decide to change worlds to fit with his ideas of right and wrong? Forget about the Bible; I am going back to review the original Star Trek shows to see how things are going to come out.

I was watching an MSNBC show the other night and there was the ubiquitous Coulter commenting about Dan Rather. Did she have any comment regarding Rather's retirement under the cloud of how his report regarding President Bush's National Guard Duty, or the lack thereof, could have been based largely on forged documents? Of course she did. In fact, Coulter thought that the news of Rather's retirement was the best news she had heard since the news of Arafat's death. That's when I tuned out. I don't think I will watch Ann again unless she is wearing a towel and jumping into the arms of the Vice President. I wonder if Conservative nation would object to that scene before NFL football?

There has been hysteria again due to the TV promotion that preceded Monday Night Football, itself a fine example of our culture. An actress from a popular TV show stood in front of a football player in the locker-room, she in a towel and he in uniform. If he didn’t have enough on his mind, she dropped her towel, enticed him away from the game and jumped into his arms (this has never happened to me). No, we didn’t get to see her naked, but the mere suggestion of sex was enough to rouse the moral police and out they came.

They screamed about the eyes and ears of young children being exposed to the salacious behavior being presented prior to the football game. There was no warning, they screamed. Now, I don’t know how young these children were, they didn’t say. But, I guess they were young enough to be scarred for life and just old enough to be plunked down in front of Monday Night Football for a night of wholesome entertainment.

Apologies from the network and the NFL followed, although it didn’t appear that their heart was in it. After all, the TV show being promoted airs at 9PM on Sundays and is fairly popular. They just didn’t understand that the jiggling by young women that typically goes on during a football telecast in one way or another is different from a woman who drops her towel and jumps into the arms of the football player before the game. Silly them.

Now, we really don’t have to play out the arguments. We know them by heart. Some people mind. Some don’t. Some people fear censorship, some like it, especially when they do the censoring. I have little idea of what is right, but like to err on the side of avoiding censorship wherever possible. After all, parents can control their small children. After the age of 10 or so, all bets are off, however. Just get them their own TV and shut the door.

It could have been worse, you know. The football player could have also been in a towel. He could have dropped it, as well. Now, that would have been something.

Coulter strikes again -

I was listening to the Hannity show on WABC radio on the way home late this afternoon and was treated to Ann Coulter saying that liberals have problems with blacks. When asked about the charge, she said it again. When asked if she knew what part liberals played in the civil rights movement, she replied she was three years old at the time. Both Cornell and the University of Michigan Law School have to be proud of this woman. What won’t she do for a buck?

Election Fraud –

There were charges, counter-charges and the withdrawal of charges of election fraud, all within what seem like a matter of hours. What to make of all of it? Well, there probably is as much chance of election fraud overturning the Presidential election as there was Nixon being impeached after his landslide victory. Oh, right. I wonder what Woodward and Bernstein are doing these days.

Out of all this has come a feud between fledgling media celebrities Ann Coulter and Keith Olberman, both Cornell Alums according to Mr. Olberman and Ms. Coulter’s resume. I guess they must know.

Mr. Olberman has been following the story of alleged voting irregularities in Ohio and Florida and Ms. Coulter has been following Mr. Olberman. I guess Mr. Olberman has some good ratings.

So, here is the controversy: Ms. Coulter claimed that Mr. Olberman reported the Bush win in Florida and in turn the national election was due to largely Democratic districts “suddenly” voting for Bush. Off and running, Ms. Coulter then points out that the so-called Democratic districts have been voting for Republicans for president for many years, according to The Almanac of American Politics (no, I didn’t bother to check the reference). See the Coulter opinion at http://www.uexpress.com/anncoulter/.

Mr. Olberman, stating that he had been slimed and misquoted, pointed out that he merely suggested that Bush might have legitimately won majorities in some Florida counties due to a sudden change by the Democrats to Bush and never stated that the entire election turned on the point http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/).

OK, Keith, point well taken. But, was that the whole deal, Keith? It seems to me that you may have implied that while the “sudden” change of Democratic voters might have explained those majorities, another reason might have been the kind of voting equipment used in those counties (the kind they play games with) (take a look for yourselves at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6442857/). Also, were you right that Democratic voters “suddenly” changed allegiances, or was Ann right that they have been voting Republican for some time now? (I have emailed most of this question to Mr. Olberman, and if he gets back to me, I will certainly get back to you.)

Is this the kind of stuff they produce at Cornell? Sorry, but I was not smart enough to get into an Ivy League school and am still bitter about it.

Why is any of this important? I simply can’t imagine.

I felt really good getting up today. Had a strange dream that seemed to expunge some corrupted files from my brain. You know the kinds of threads that seem to lead no where but take up memory cells.

I even dropped the idea of moving to Canada after last week’s election. The idea of packing was just too much to bear, not to mention I am not sure where I would go in Canada or what, if any, kind of job I could find. I guess I could have gone to Bombay and gotten one of those outsourced jobs. Heck, I think I’ll just stick it out here.

Maureen Dowd seemed a bit angrier today than usual. She wrote about the Bush Conservatives, stating: “Now they want to reshape the country on "moral" issues - though their morality seems to allow them to run a campaign full of blatant distortions and character assassination, and to mislead the public about the war.” I think the Liberal nation was convinced that they were going to pull off the election this year. It is amazing what you can conjure up when there isn’t a drink to be had. I love her columns even in her current state of despair. She seems so vulnerable now.

They ran the New York Marathon, a fitting end to the marathon election period that we just went through. The benefit of the foot race is that you get credit for just finishing; not so in the election marathon. Kerry and the Democrats came up empty and are nothing but losers, failures, and generally not in demand for speaking engagements.

Arlen Specter spent the day trying to explain his answer to a reporter about potential Bush nominees to the Supreme Court. Specter is next in line to head of the Judiciary Committee. His answer that litmus paper judges nominated to reverse the abortion decisions would be a waste of time to send for confirmation. That sent the Conservatives into a tizzy and some are already demanding that Specter not be allowed to head up the committee. Forget about the fact that he once all but prosecuted Anita Hill for her testimony in the Clarence Thomas nomination. The conservatives do not want even the appearance of a crimp in their claim to an election mandate.

Truth is I doubt the Republicans ever want the court to allow criminal prosecutions for abortion again. Let’s face it, if we permit the prosecution of doctors and women for abortions, allow school prayers, make flag burning illegal, force gays to get married in secret underground ceremonies, allow the free exchange of assault weapons in K-Mart and flea markets and allow John Ashcroft to decide what nude statues are appropriate for viewing, what in the heck are they going to run on next time. I suppose they could go back to the issue of interracial marriages, but that seems to have it lost its luster even in Conservative nation.

I do think I have come up with a counter to the get out the vote success of Karl Rove and company – sponsor some NASCAR races in key states for Election Day. I have also thought of a way for Democrats to get back the Jewish vote in Florida – threaten to go along with Republican policies on social security and health care.

I just read in the Times that the President would again seek a Constitutional Amendment to ban Gay marriage. That’s where I came in, folks.

BN

November 4, 2004, 9:30 PM –

Back to the fun.

I guess they thought it was safe to hold a press conference. After all, they actually won the election this time. The President was his old self. After four years, he still doesn’t perform well at press conferences. I guess this will be the last one for a long time, maybe the last of his Presidency. I should have taped it.

I don’t know what he said, although I heard something about reforming the tax code and social security. You know what that means. Anyway, he said he earned a lot of political capital and wants to spend it as quickly as possible. It was so American. It comes in easy and goes out just as easy.

The President has said that he is willing to work together with everyone who agrees with him. A bold move. Up to now, he didn’t want to work with anyone; in fact, he didn’t want to work at all. As he points out, it’s hard work.

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The Democrats are really going through the mean reds. Maybe they should all have a cup of coffee in front of Tiffany’s. They don’t know if they want to be more conservative or more liberal or who knows what. It just doesn’t seem possible for them to elect a President from anywhere but the South. Problem is that their best candidate may be Hillary Clinton, who currently resides in New York. What is a Democrat to do?

On the other hand, the Republicans are feeling so much in charge that they do not what to do first. Of course, the last time that happened, Gingrich and company fumbled somewhere on their own 40 yard line. Where is that old contract with American, anyway? Maybe someone had the sense to scan a copy.

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Of course, Ann Coulter is still not happy. Can you imagine? An editor of the University of Michigan Law Review and a graduate of Cornell before that, Ms. Coulter’s contributions to the world include the book “Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.” Has anyone checked to see if she actually attended those institutions?

Ms. Coulter thinks the Republicans could have done better. She has written, “If Rove is "the architect" -- as Bush called him in his acceptance speech -- then he is the architect of high TV ratings, not a Republican victory. By keeping the race so tight, Rove ensured that a race that should have been a runaway Bush victory would not be over until the wee hours of the morning.” Ms. Coulter likes her sleep.

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In the meantime, the war in Iraq grinds on. Free of the constraints of the election, it will be interesting to see if the President turns up the heat. Remember Nixon when he was trying to leave Vietnam with honor? The bombing got kind of loud. I wouldn’t look for a condo in Iraq anytime soon.

BN

November 3, 2004, 10:45 PM –

Well, the day went pretty much the way I thought it would. By mid-afternoon, Senator Kerry conceded the election to the President, and the President accepted.

The Senator was told by his lawyers that the only way to attack the Ohio returns was to take them apart challenge by challenge in order to bring the Kerry vote deficit down to a level to where the provisional ballots might make a difference or an automatic recount might be triggered. The Senator dropped the whole thing for the good of the country, especially during a time of war, he said.

Too bad, for despite being a so-so candidate, Kerry would have made a good President. Instead, we are now stuck with Bush with an arguable mandate from those they got to the polls to win the election.

In the end 59,000,000 people voted for Bush and 55,000,000 voted for Kerry. Not a bad total for the guy who lost. The Democrats did not do well in general, but things are not the shambles that some are making them out to be. They just have to figure a way to connect with Middle America, and while the conventional wisdom is that they have to get closer to the faith, that probably won’t work. It would sound phony. A better idea is to find another way to connect, something on a completely different level. How about honesty for a change? People kind of get a kick out of honesty.

I’m not sure you have to sit next to a guy in church to talk to him.

BN

Nov 3, 2004, 6 something AM –

Well, the Democrats are still disputing Ohio, but they will drop it all sometime today. They are depending on uncounted provisional ballots, those votes cast by voters yesterday who, for one reason or another, were not on the rolls when they came to vote.

The President is ahead in the count in Ohio by 130,000 or so. While it is possible that the provisional ballots could make a difference, it is so unlikely that I think they give this up soon.

The Republicans have all but declared victory, and they are right. The President will probably have 280+ electoral ballots and he certainly took 51% of the popular vote. That’s all, folks.

The big winners: The President. Republicans. Conservatives. Karl Rove. MSNBC (for calling Ohio when it did). Hillary Clinton (she can run next time around). Bill Clinton (for getting through his surgery). Bruce Neuman (for correctly reading what was happening last night).

The big losers: Senator Kerry. Senator Edwards. Democrats. Liberals. Exit polling. The youth vote. Bloggers. Those who thought the Internet had changed the way politics does its business. Liberals. The lawyers who will not be given a month or two to pursue this through the courts. Those who are fighting in Iraq. Bruce Neuman, whose candidate lost.

Conventional Wisdom: When your candidate never takes a good lead at some point in the process, get ready to lose. When the election comes down to the wire, bet on the incumbent. Boy, take a rest on that exit polling.

More later.

BN

Nov 3, 2004, 12:06 AM – The Morning After Election Day

More news of lots of quiet from the Kerry camp. This whole thing is eerily similar to 2000. Lots of expectation for the Democrat, but little in the way of delivery. No one to close the deal for Kerry. Kerry has to take at least one state from the red 2000 list and maybe more than one. I think they were counting on Ohio and maybe Florida.

Kerry has just won Oregon. Bush has 207 electoral votes and Kerry has 206. I sure would love it if Kerry could pull off what would now be an upset.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 11:54 PM – Election Day

I forgot to mention that Bush benefited this year from all those Hurricanes blowing through Florida, much in the way he benefited from 9/11.

Wonkette is now wondering aloud about those exit polls. They call it covering their ass. I call it passing on useless information. Of course, it is not all their fault. What is the story with these exit polls? Let’s not use them next time around, except for wrapping fish or picking up after the puppy.

Pat Buchanan brought up the possibility of a 269-269 tie, even if Florida and Ohio go to the President. But, I don’t know. Boy, Ohio is one hot property right now, and the fight is on in that state. Let’s see if the Democrats can pull it off.

Lots of news of confidence from the White House, not much of anything from Kerry.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 10 something or other PM – Election Day

According to MSNBC, the youth vote did not turn up in numbers greater than in 2000. The youth are voting for Kerry but the numbers are simply not there to skew the conventional election numbers.

Ohio remains in play, but I still do not like the trends. The Democrats need a strong finish in the vote that has not been counted. I can see the President taking Florida and Ohio, and if that happens, this thing is over for Kerry.

Kerry has won Pennsylvania and is, at least, holding the states he was supposed to win. However, he has yet to break through in the states where he has to. The electoral count is close right now, but Kerry is still eight votes behind and seventy one votes away from a victory.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 10:29 PM – Election Day

Kerry does not win Florida. Why, because Jeb Bush is the Governor. And, maybe the Jewish vote hates Bin Laden and the Arabs more than anything else. I am Jewish and I am afraid that the Jewish vote has been skewed by events in the Middle East. Did Kerry satisfy them? If you are a Democrat in 2004, you do not rest your chances on Florida.

So, Kerry will have to carry Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada. This thing will come down to the wire, and I am uncomfortable with the trends.

When a challenger wins, he or she does so in some kind of convincing fashion. So far, bupkus.

Now, the Republicans think they will win Ohio, that the exit polling reported so far is simply off. Republican posturing? I don’t know. The Democrats still say they will win Florida and Ohio. So, why don’t I believe them? Maybe because of what I have said above about Florida and maybe because the Democrats track record is none too good of late. This is not Chicago in 1960.

Wonkette has gone silent.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 9:45 PM – Election Day

As I predicted, the question of the future of the bloggers remains in play. Wonkette now points out that Bush can lose Ohio but still win if he picks up a 2000 blue state. The quote on Wonkette from Susan Estrich is ‘"Either the exit polls are completely wrong or President Bush will lose the election."’ Wonkette goes on to say, “Maybe we didn't hallucinate those exit polls after all?”

Maybe or maybe not, but if you are going to report, you need to be sure of what you are reporting, a lesson learned by the networks the hard way in 2000. Otherwise, you become irrelevant.

So, it comes down to this, if the polling is off for any reason, and the election comes down to Florida and some other state that the Dems overlooked, the President will win.

What bothers me is that we have yet to see a major breakthrough by Kerry at this late hour. Young people may have been new voters this year, but that may be far from the end of the story of this election.

Can I recall my early prediction that Kerry has won? I would like to go back to the fence.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 9:15 PM – Election Day

This whole thing reminds me of Yankees – Red Sox. No lead is safe and the question will be who can close the deal. So, who will have the better closer?

If you are a Kerry supporter, you sure as hell do not want to see James Baker’s face anywhere on TV during the next several hours. He is the only guy I would trade Mariano Rivera for.

You see, Bush will not win, if he does, because of his record. He will win because his political operatives and those in the trenches will have closed the deal. Is this any way to elect a President? Not if you end up with President Bush.

But, take heart, maybe the Democrats have some bastards up their sleeves.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 8:50 PM – Election Day

So, now we are starting to hear it. MSNBC is reporting that the Bush campaign feels that the exit poll data is under-representing Republican voting. Is this Republican posturing designed to bolster support? Or, does it portend something like happened in 2000, when they called Florida for Gore, only to have to retract it later. The Republicans won’t give up in the late innings.

There is obviously a war going on out there. More lawsuits in Ohio tonight, with hours being extended to accommodate the long lines. More questions about people getting their chance to vote. The lawyers are ready to pounce.

Same sorts of issues in some counties in Pennsylvania, with times being extended there as well.

Politics is a war fought in the trenches. So, the question remains, who wins? Will it be the new voters or the old pros?

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 8:25 PM – Election Day

Aside from who will be the next President, this election will be the first test of the bloggers ability to report accurately what is happening across the country.

The exit polls being mailed around the internet and the general mood being reported is that Kerry is doing well. Should the election turn to President Bush, it will be a hit to the bloggers. On the other hand, if they prove to be ahead of the curve, they will be an ever growing force in American politics and perhaps on other issues.

Or not.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 6:15PM, Election Day –

Many of the political blog sites are crashing. Of course, no one comes to this site, so I am in good shape, thanks God.

While the TV networks are not reporting exit polls, the blog sites are. So far, it is close in a number of the battleground states with slight leads for Kerry in several of them. Still, I am sure, way too close to call. So, let me be the first to call it for Kerry.

What does seem to be happening is a large turnout, and perhaps an unprecedented turnout among young voters. The X factor. Not since McDonald’s first introduced super sizing have so many college students crowded onto a bus at one time.

Both the President and Senator have both reported that they feel good about things. I am not so sure about the rest of the population.

BN

Nov 2, 2004, 2:45 PM, Election Day –

If you want a pleasant voting experience, move to East Hampton, New York. No lines. Easy parking. Pleasant people working inside. Clean voting machines. The whole thing took 10 minutes.

On my way over, I tuned into Rush Limbaugh to see what he had to say. He was doing a lot of hand holding, so that most of his listeners would not commit suicide should Kerry win. Of course, you know he would love Kerry to win. That would leave him as the sole support of his millions of listeners for the next four years. True excellence in broadcasting.

Voter turnout remains strong. Good for Kerry? Good for Bush? Who are these people and where have them been? Could they be younger people worried about a draft? Could they be angry voters who were disenfranchised four years ago? Could they be dead people being helped to the polls by well meaning volunteers? Who knows?

Funny thing is that most of the problems at the polls today are occurring at the battleground states, particularly Ohio. What an extraordinary coincidence. Some people have been trying to vote at the nearest ATM machine, causing a run on cash in the area.

The Supreme Court is bracing itself for the possibility that someone may try to file another case today that it will to refuse to hear. Word is that the refusal order is signed and ready to go, just waiting to insert a plaintiff’s name.

BN

Nov 2, 12:15 PM -

Tuned in to see what was happening. MSNBC was interviewing the Rockettes, so I guess things are OK. Maybe they could squeeze in putting up the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree while they are at it.

Supreme Court Justice Stevens refused to hear the Ohio vote challenge case. There was no time, he said. They like four or five months to consider cases (my comment, not his), except of course, when they decided to give President Bush the job four years ago (my comment, not his).

I am starting a rumor that Vice President Cheney wondered aloud why he was sent out of the country to Hawaii to look for votes. "Next, they will want me to go to Alaska," I am saying he said.

Michael Moore is out filming today for his next movie. He wants some good stuff of African Americans and old Jews being prevented from voting in Florida. He brought plenty of film. Two of the Jews starting singing old Yiddish songs when he tried to interview them.

Tom Brokaw spent the morning on Imus talking, again, about his slow start in life. Riveting stuff. Still no sign of Brian Williams.

The President announced that he cast his vote for himself and, he thinks, Vice President Cheney. He said that the election comes down to a single issue, whom do you trust to secure the nation, but apparently misplaced the index card with the answer on it. He thought the American people might know the answer and then went back to clearing brush.

Fascinating day.

BN

Tuesday morning, November 2, 2004, election day –

It’s the good old days in the USA. We are in a war that we do not know how to get out of, having gotten there on government lies. The national debt is back up there, a place where we like to see it. It is sort of like letting it all ride on red. Americans with skills and an education are having a hard time finding work. Just call the help line of any number of big corporations and you are immediately connected to Bombay. Millions are without health insurance and the rest wish they didn’t have it. The government wants to find new and better ways to investigate our lives, while Bin Laden gets free air time on television. The President gets messages from God and then governs accordingly. Sometimes God speaks to him through Karl Rove. And best of all, the election is too close to call.

So, the Republicans are out in force at polling places to make use of old laws still on the books of some states to challenge the rights of voters to vote. Those old laws are being used as intended – to intimidate. And, the courts are upholding their rights to do so. After all, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may not be well enough to give the President his job back, should it come to that.

Never mind. Television has it all in hand. There are plasma screens all over the place. Even Bin Laden looked good. The theory must be if you can’t catch him, at least you can watch him bigger than life. He makes great reality TV.

Anyway, I will vote later today, but it won’t matter. Nothing in New York matters very much, just too many people here to matter.

BN