A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....09-18-03...."California Recall Ruling is more than you think"

JohnHuang2;Dutchess;Billie | JohnHuang2

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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California Recall Ruling is more than you think

by JohnHuang2

Three weeks before voters too dumb for punch-card balloting are scheduled to punch their ballots in "California's historic recall, a federal appeals court (Monday) postponed the Oct. 7 election, ruling that the use of older punch-card ballot machines would disenfranchise those voters, especially poor and minority citizens," the Washington Post reports this week.

Deep-thinking analysts note deep-thinkingly that postponement enhances Gray Davis's "chances for keeping his job."

'Darn! Where was that Court when I needed it?' Saddam Hussein wonders wistfully.

"A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the American Civil Liberties Union that the use of punch cards in six urban counties would subject voters there to a greater likelihood that the ballots would be misread or discarded as happened during Florida's election fiasco in the presidential vote in 2000," added the Post. If poor and minority voters in these six urban counties vote next month, poor and minority voters will be disenfranchised.

Liberals now believe the use of older punch-card ballot machines is inherently racist.

The machines hotly deny the charge.

But there's more to this ruling than that. Far more. This decision is more than just politics and law. In fact, it may have escaped most pundits, but it appears the Court has broke new ground -- trailblazing into scientific discovery.

The Court says the voting system Californians have used for decades is no good and it would be terribly unfair to recall a governor who's no good under such a system. Why is it suddenly no good and unfair? Well, something really freaky happened in these six urban counties since last November, the ruling suggests: In these counties, poor and minority voters, whose I.Q.s were adequate in November for using 'older punch-card ballot machines' to re-elect Gray Davis, have since suffered a drop of 30-40 I.Q. points on average. Man, I hate when that happens! No one has yet pinpointed a cause, but the steep I.Q. drop has rendered poor and minority voters in these six urban counties unable to read punch-card ballots, the court decision suggests. Moreover, three weeks is hardly enough time to expect poor and minority voters, with diminished intelligence, to locate polling stations in these six urban counties, much less decide whom to vote for, or whether or not to recall the wonderful governor. Moreover, given their severe physical disability, dead voters will certainly need more than a month to trudge to the booth (though there's always the absentee ballot).

In its wisdom, the Court understands how grossly unfair it is to expect California to build democracy and hold elections sooner than war-torn Iraq, especially with this hideous affliction sweeping these six urban counties. In ruling that poor and minority voters in these six urban counties are too stupid to vote, the Court has come under fire for racism.

The Court hotly denies the charge, noting that while it believes minority voters in these six urban counties are currently too stupid to vote, the Court didn't think they were too stupid to vote last November. It isn't 'racist' to say there's a massive intelligence failure among poor and minority voters in these six urban counties, says the Court.

But therein lies a silver-lining: If the Court ruling withstands legal challenge, "the most likely date for the recall would move to March 2004 -- when every county in the state is scheduled to have the newer electronic touch-screen ballot machines in use." Pause for a moment and think about that, folks. Touch-screen ballot machines are trickier to use than punch-card ballot machines. Far trickier. This suggests the Court sees the condition of diminished intelligence and capacity among poor and minority voters as only temporary, ending sometime around next March -- just in time for the next elections! Isn't that wonderful? But more than that, by March, poor and minority voters in these six urban counties will actually be smarter than they were last November! Indeed, moving from simpler, punch-card balloting to high-tech touch-screen balloting -- a system these six urban counties have never used before -- should be a cake-walk.

In a related development, Democrats, citing "security experts," charge that high-tech touch-screen balloting is no good either because the system can be easily rigged. "Worms and viruses already have crippled computers around the world. Now computer security experts warn that hackers could cripple democracy itself," screams the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "They say hackers," especially racist hackers out to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, "could rig the touch-screen voting machines that states are buying to replace error-prone punch cards like those that tainted the 2000 presidential elections," the paper adds. Democrats like Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio demand an investigation into the racist touch-screen system.

"Kaptur fears that hackers," especially racist hackers with links to evil Republicans, "or even the voting machine companies themselves, could conspire to rig elections" -- a claim the voting machines immediately challenged.

To drive her point home convincingly, Kaptur powerfully provided no evidence for the charge. The voting machines declined to be interviewed for this article.

You may reach Rep. Marcy Kaptur via email at: MarcyKaptur@LaLaLandForDemocratsWhoBelieveInBlackHelicopterConspiracyTheories.gov.

Summing up, a Left-wing court in San Francisco postpones an election because it thinks black and latino voters in six urban counties are too stupid to use punch-card ballots to vote but they weren't too stupid to use punch-card ballots to vote for Gray Davis back in November, so the court decides voters too stupid to use simple punch-card balloting are smart enough to use high-tech balloting they've never used before but the high-tech balloting is better because it has a lower error-rate which is almost the same as the error-rate with punch-card balloting which is already below the national average, but that's not the point because, says the court, punch-card balloting is unconstitutional, but that doesn't mean politicians elected by punch-card balloting are unconstitutional, it's just that recalling politicians by punch-card balloting is unconstitutional and disenfranchises voters voting under such a system, based on the Constitution's 14th Amendment which produced the Bush V. Gore decision which liberals slammed at the time as election theft that disenfranchised minorities in Florida but Bush V. Gore is indispensable, say liberals, as a safeguard to keep minorities from being disenfranchised and thwarting election theft....

I hope it's all clear now.

---

Meanwhile, the chaos in Baghdad continues. A 41-year-old bystander was "killed by a stray bullet early Friday when an off-duty police officer exchanged gunfire with and wounded two men who he claims tried to steal his sport utility vehicle outside a downtown nightclub," NBC5.com reports. The Chicago Tribune says violence intensified over the weekend, with five men "killed in shootings Saturday and Sunday in" Baghdad, "according to police."

Oops! The Chicago Tribune and NBC5.com reports were local crime stories out of Chicago, not Baghdad. Apologies if my getting Chicago confused with Baghdad caused any, er, confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sky is Falling! Sky is falling! Part III

"Americans are expressing rising dismay with U.S. casualties in Iraq, declining confidence in the Bush administration -- and growing doubt whether the war was worth fighting," ABC News reports.

"Bush's own ratings have suffered in tandem with these concerns," says ABC News. "His approval rating for handling the situation in Iraq has fallen by 17 points since the end of April, from 75 percent then to 58 percent now. His overall job approval rating is down to 59 percent, matching its lowest since Sept. 11, 2001, in ABCNEWS/Washington Post polls.

Oh, no! I goofed again! This ABC News report dates back to July! July 11 to be exact, its headline blaring, Rising Doubt: President Facing New Challenges of Credibility and Casualties.

Okay, lemme try again...

"President Bush's job approval rating has dropped to 52 percent, close to the lowest level of his presidency, says a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, released Friday," The Associated Press reports.

AP: "'We're right back where we started,' said Frank Newport, executive editor of The Gallup Poll. 'The public perceives the economy is poor. We don't see any sign of consumer pickup in our data. There's little question that Iraq is not helping and is probably hurting (Bush)."

The "poll of 1,025 adults was taken Monday through Wednesday" of last week, "after the president's nationally televised address on Iraq," the AP notes.

However, after plunging Monday, Tuesday and early Wednesday of last week, Bush's ratings have since bounced back, the dramatic rebound beginning in the afternoon hours of Wednesday, September 10. During the early morning hours that day, the President's job approval rate was 52 percent, as CNN-Gallup reported. But by early Wednesday afternoon, the President's job approval rate soared to 58 percent, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post Poll. The morning-to-afternoon turnaround in Bush's numbers seemingly caught most analysts, who predicted the Bush meltdown would continue, by surprise.

But wait! A Fox News Opinion Dynamics Poll, taken Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 9-10), indicates the Bush rebound began in earnest on Tuesday, not Wednesday, a whole day earlier than I thought two minutes ago in this column. hmmmm. Since the CNN-Gallup and Fox News Opinion-Dynamic survey periods overlap, this raises serious questions. Was there ever a 'Bush meltdown' last week to begin with? CNN-Gallup pegged Bush at 52 percent early last week. The pundits wrote Bush off for dead. Fox News Opinion Dynamics pegged Bush at 58 percent early last week. The pundits said that poll doesn't count because the pundits wrote Bush off for dead. But CNN and Fox can't both be right. Then, to complicate matters even further, ABC News-Washington Post, in a poll conducted Wednesday-Saturday (Sept. 10-13), pegged Bush at 58 percent. By my math, that's 2 against 1.

"We're right back where we started," said "JohnHuang2," executive spammer of Free Republic. "The public still perceives the Democrats as poor alternatives. We don't see any sign of political pickup in our data for Democrats. There's little question that Iraq and the War on Terror is not helping and is probably hurting them." ;-)

Anyway, that's...

My two cents...

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 09-15-03...Military Monday 09-16-03...This One's For You T Man 09-17-03...Florida - The Sunshine State

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

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[Calpernia]

Thanks for the updates Maggie. The sky and clouds are quite menacing here already.

[Calpernia]

Saw a thread this morning with The Thin Man's name all over it.

[Calpernia]

From the live hurricane watch thread:

[lonestar]

Stay dry.

Gig 'em, Aggies

[Calpernia]

Thanks lonestar :)

[JustAmy]

Yes ...... it's a problem with the left being elected by those mean ole punch card machines!!

Recall the left!!! Disband the Fresno City HRC!!

[LadyX]

'Dear John' Letter # 1003:

"I hope it's all clear now."

Yep, JH - your reputation is intact for presenting The Facts in a clear and concise manner.

Why, all kinds of visual images float through our minds, thanks to your obfuscation clarification !!

The next ploy of the Court will be to give free coloring books to these pathetic 'voting-challenged' Californians!

There will be just two colors of crayons to go with them - red and blue ones.
Assistance will be provided at the booth to guide them in placing the Right Color - or the one that is Left.

Hey - this could go nationwide, ya think?? !!

Where would we be without your astute analyses of Current Events, separating the wheat from the chaff of life?

As ever, Hopeless Without You, Dear John - -

LadyX

[dansangel]

Hey - this could go nationwide, ya think?? !!

Making the sign of the cross - Oh please, God, NO!!!!

:-)

[firewalk]

Thanks to you & to your friend Bernie
for the hurricane reports. (-:

[Diver Dave]

Mornin' to the Finest crew.

Outstanding contribution today, John.
The letters to the editor in our paper express the same things you have but not nearly as eloquently.

Maybe I should go into the "I'm with Stupid" t-shirt business!?!

[LadyX]

Well - it was better than the Ring Toss Ploy that came to mind...:))

Put out faces of the candidates in a row with a stake sticking up, and issue one ring to toss upon Your Choice for a Winner...

Ditto to the Shoot the Candidate as it Pops Up and if it hits Becomes Da Winner Thought - -

Political Life is a Carnival - yes???

[Diver Dave]

Two things I never learned to love.....grits and chicory in my coffee!

I'm with you. I don't like grits in my coffee either. :)

[Calpernia]

Power outage numbers to date from live hurricane thread:

At 10:30 a.m., Dominion Virginia Power reports the following outages: 19,800 on the Peninsula; 2,700 in the Gloucester area; 43,500 in Chesapeake; 32,600 in Norfolk; 46,800 in Virginia Beach.


689 posted on 09/18/2003 11:43 AM EDT by Jonah Hex (kittens are only dangerous if you're a 'Rat.)

[DoctorZIn]

Join Us…Your One Thread To All The California Recall News Threads!

Want on our daily or major news ping lists? Freepmail DoctorZin

[LadyX]

In 1955 when I lived in Chincoteague, Virginia - 2 by 7 miles long island across a bridge from the mainland - two hurricanes came by and we (with babies 16 months and 2 months old) had to evacuate and stay with friends at the inland Chincoteague Naval Air Station for the duration.

Disaster seemed to trail in my wake!
Consider I was in Alaska for The Good Friday Earthquake in March of 1964 -
and the Blizzard of 1978 in Ohio had two fronts that converged on my bedroom window with 70 mph wind-driven snow at 1:30 in the morning!
The latter came the week after three major snowstorms - had us confined by law in our homes for four days while they cleared the mess.

Had remnants of 'canes in North Carolina and Panama City, Florida and up and down the Florida East Coast, plus actual ones in Florida and South Carolina, too.

(Shhhhh...do not let them banish me to an island in the Pacific!)

[The Thin Man]

To drive her point home convincingly, Kaptur powerfully provided no evidence for the charge.

LOL! That's a classic!

[Temple Owl]

Good day dutchess. Great article by John! Oooops, gotta run, here comes Isabel.

[The Thin Man]

Hey dutchess, how's Gizmo's homeschooling going? I heard he got in trouble the other day for eating his homework. :-)

[Calpernia]

I really enjoy all your stories you add to threads.

[dansangel]

Shoot the Candidate as it Pops Up and if it hits Becomes Da Winner

Actually, I kinda like that one!

Received the following in my email this morning and wanted to share with some of my marine FRiends:

As the crowded airliner is about to take off, the peace is shattered by a five-year-old boy who picks that moment to throw a wild temper tantrum.

No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother does to try to calm him down, the boy continues to scream furiously and kick the seats around him.

Suddenly, from the rear of the plane, a man in a Marine uniform is seen slowly walking forward up the aisle.

Stopping the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the courtly, soft-spoken Marine leans down and, motioning toward his chest, whispers something into the boy's ear.

Instantly, the boy calms down, gently takes his mother's hand, and quietly fastens his seat belt. All the other passengers burst into spontaneous applause.

As the Marine slowly makes his way back to his seat, one of the cabin attendants touches his sleeve.

"Excuse me, sir," she asks quietly, "but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?"

The Marine smiles serenely and gently confides, "I showed him my pilot's wings, service stars, and battle ribbons, and explained that they entitle me to throw one passenger out the plane door, on any flight I choose."

:-)