Time for a Round of God Bless America

Not so much, huh Karl?

Dearest Readers, Prissy has been enjoying the party. The dems took it away...Now didn't Prissy tell you Ohio really was a blue state?

Since the dems have been elected, watch as their feet are held to the fire. We won't stop until they rescind some of these ignorant and dangerous "laws" created and processed as "part of our system" of American government.

Fortunately, the collective wisdom prevailed in the vote. The Representatives have been put on notice and their path corrected by We the People. It's true that Bush would not have won Ohio had the votes been properly counted in 2004. This election proves that by the trouncing republican Kenneth Blackwell got in the gubernatorial campaign by Congressman Ted Strickland.

If Prissy hears one more person claim "conspiracy theory" she will order them to count absentee ballots...all 17,766 of them here in Ohio. Prissy would wager that close to 75% are for the dems.

The pre-emptive genius election protection plan put together by Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman and Cliff Arnebeck was a huge success. They set up the command center for logging complaints, problems, etc. to monitor the election process. Boots on the ground like yours truly went to the polls to observe and take notes.

People voting said they were glad to see Prissy keeping an eye on things. The poll workers were a bit nervous, as they were not quite sure what Prissy was looking for.

Prissy's only "agenda" was to see that no one was needlessly denied their right to vote and that their vote was going to be counted.

Didn't take long to figure out who the republican and democrat poll workers were, although they all seemed like nice ladies. With Prissy incognito, they couldn't tell if she was a democrat or a republican.

Some major technical problems have convinced most of us, including poll workers that paper ballots are the way to go. Three of the five high tech, easy to use when the screen doesn't freeze, brand new ES&S machines ran out of paper.

That was troubling in the same precinct which awarded Bush an extra 3800 votes in 2004. There were only 638 in the precinct then. Don't you worry, Prissy got all the info for a good report. Truly, the poll workers did a great job, but it was good they knew we were carefully watching this time. Betty Buckaneer was precinct observing too.

Which leads Prissy to another thing...voter rolls are growing and that is a wonderful thing.

Prissy will post again Sunday, as she is going back to Washington soon and will have coverage of the Veteran's Day activities by military families and others. Dubya got a mandate from Americans.

A change in congress should help special prosecutor Fitzgerald to unseal Sealed v. Sealed. Prissy has no idea what Fitz intends to do about the leak grand jury expiration, but will let you know of any potential developments. Suffice it to say national security is an issue...

Sorry for the short post, Dearest Readers. Prissy is packing and has a meeting to attend later.

Hot Links

USA Today AP: Startling findings in Tillman probe

All four failed to identify their targets before firing, a direct violation of the fire discipline techniques drilled into every soldier.

There's more:

•Tillman's platoon had nearly run out of vital supplies, according to one of the shooters. They were down to the water in their Camelbak drinking pouches, and were forced to buy a goat from a local vendor. Delayed supply flights contributed to the hunger, fatigue and possibly misjudgments by platoon members.

•A key commander in the events that led to Tillman's death both was reprimanded for his role and meted out punishments to those who fired, raising questions of conflict of interest.

•A field hospital report says someone tried to jump-start Tillman's heart with CPR hours after his head had been partly blown off and his corpse wrapped in a poncho; key evidence including Tillman's body armor and uniform was burned.

Prissy has told you before soldiers are rationing supplies in Iraq-she had not heard they had to do the same in Afghanistan.

Dubya should be charged with criminal negligence of our troops.

CQ Public Bob Gates’ CIA Past Could Haunt Him in Confirmation Hearings

But he’s long been a major player in Republican national security circles, first as a Russian specialist on President Gerald Ford’s White House National Security Council in 1974, then eventually at the CIA, where he held a handful of senior positions before being tapped to be its chief by the first President Bush, in 1991.

And it wasn’t the first time he’d been nominated for the post — or his first dose of trouble in the spotlight.

In early 1987, his role in the so-called Iran-Contra affair, a secret White House operation to sell weapons to radical Islamic Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages — and cash for CIA-backed rebels in Nicaragua — came under scrutiny.

Gates withdrew his nomination in the face of sure rejection.

Don't hesitate to do it again, Bob. If he has no intention of ending the war, no thanks to more of the same...

CNN Dobbs: A big 'hallelujah' for American voters

And voters in six states, including Arizona, approved initiatives raising minimum wages for their lowest-paid citizens. Those six states -- Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Nevada and Arizona -- joined 23 other states and Washington, D.C., which have already raised their minimum wage requirements above that of the federal government. The Republican-led Congress refused for nearly a decade to raise the federal minimum wage, despite the fact that the minimum wage's purchasing power is now at the lowest point in more than 50 years and business profits are soaring.

Surveying the long list of initiatives all across the country, it's clear that voters cast their ballots with intelligence and heart far greater than that of their elected officials. California voters, for example, rejected a proposition that would tax oil producers to create a $4 billion alternative energy program to reduce oil consumption by 25 percent. While I support the goal, the proposal was a weak-kneed and poorly considered one that would have simply created a pass-through to California's energy consumers.

Voters in nine states issued a stunning rebuke to all levels of government on the issue of eminent domain. In those states, voters halted the rising national trend of allowing primarily local governments to seize personal property for private commercial development. Democrats as well as Republicans would do well to understand that the record long list of state initiatives represents frustration with elected officials at both the state and federal levels.

For their part, the victorious Democrats have a unique opportunity to put the middle class of this country first and foremost in their policies. If they fail to do so, November 4, 2008, will be an ugly date in their destiny.

America Blog There are serious problems with the vote in Florida's 13th CD

We're been watching this closely in Sarasota," said Lowell Finley, co-director and legal director for Voter Action, a national group formed in 2005 to challenge cases of voter fraud caused by electronic voting machines.

"The results are extremely irregular, and the fact that a large number of votes don't seem to be counted in just one race on these electronic machines is a very suspicious circumstance. We don't think the official results are accurate by any means."

At the heart of Jennings' argument is that 18,382 voters who cast ballots didn't vote for anyone in the 13th Congressional District race. That's about 15,000 more "undervotes" than in the last midterm election.

If Democrats can prove that a technical glitch caused the undervote, they'll argue that Jennings won nearly 53 percent of the Sarasota County vote.

In Katherine Harris' district-so why not be suspicious?

Haaretz U.S. won't quit Iraq just yet

The Iraqi army and police were dispersed, and the American army, with its relatively small amount of troops, had a tough time coping with the various militias and helping impose democracy. They were faced with the task of bringing in order, rebuilding the infrastructure, and putting Iraq back on its feet.

Saddam Hussein was captured, but there were difficulties in fighting the insurgents, and the combat turned into a civil war. Despite the pressure from top military commanders, Rumsfeld refused to increase the number of American soldiers in Iraq, and the objections multiplied. Rumsfeld's deputy and most of the assistants who helped him plan the war and come up with the approach that only relatively small forces were needed, have left the Pentagon.

Gates will need to bring a new generation of top officials into the Pentagon. He will understand soon that not only is the American future in Iraq at stake, but so are the plans being hatched by Iraq's neighbor, Iran. He will also understand soon that he will have to deal not only with the future of Iraq, but also, indirectly, with the future of Jordan, which could end up being surrounded by negative forces.

Israel just cannot mind their own business. Try making peace with the Palesinian people and stop bombing innocents in their sleep.

What a horrifying psychological tactic to use on those not killed.

Chicago Tribune Daley's most fearsome foe still out there

U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald has been busy on investigations involving the administrations of the mayor and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and other top Democrats and top Republicans. Tomczak, 70, faces 47 months in federal prison, which won't increase just as long as he testifies in future City Hall corruption cases.

I've got a feeling that Daley's favorite congressman, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak), who also likes Manny's, will do his best to negotiate a nice committee assignment for Jackson, since Emanuel is a Democratic power now.

There is little doubt that Daley would likely crush Jackson and Gutierrez at the polls. The mayor is master of all he surveys.

But City Hall is worried about another possible matchup for 2007. Giant patronage armies and fundraising dominance can't help the mayor in this one. It's a contest that all of Illinois--including Jackson--is waiting for: Daley vs. Fitzgerald.

The Globe Analysts outraged over U.S. adjustments of employment data 'Massive revisions' make report 'nonsense'

U.S. non-farm payrolls data -- arguably the most closely watched indicator in the world's largest economy -- are revised so often and by so much that they can't be trusted, some strategists argued yesterday.

Their comments come after Friday's report for October showed huge upward revisions for job creation in August and September. And last month, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said 810,000 more jobs were created between March, 2005, and March, 2006, than originally thought -- the biggest revision ever made to the data.

"How can you trust a non-farm payroll report that shows such massive revisions -- we have never seen this before to such an extent," David Rosenberg, North American economist at Merrill Lynch & Co., railed in a note to clients.

The U.S. report -- which measures the creation of non-agricultural jobs -- is usually released on the first Friday of the month and provides the earliest economic snapshot of the previous month. It tends to be one of the top market-moving indicators, influencing stocks, bonds and currency markets in the U.S. and beyond.

Video from Cindy Sheehan: What you don't see in the msm

Iraq in Fragments Documentary by director James Longley Click to enlarge

Quotes of the Day

"Red is dead."--Ohio National Guard commander, November 8, 2006

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The basis of a democratic state is liberty.--Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics

The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech. --Justice Anthony Kennedy (1936 - )

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.--William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)