2 Days To Go....

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

-Franklin Roosevelt


Vote Kerry, to protect those civil rights.

3 Days To Go....

"I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest are always the first to step up, to defend the country. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkably their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary. Will they ever trust us again?"

"George Orwell once wrote, that it's not a matter "if the war is not real, or if it is. Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, but it is meant to be continuous." ... "A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or east Asia but to keep the very structure of society in tact." "

-Michael Moore, Farenheit 9/11

4 Days To Go....

A little Howard Dean for inspiration today:

"Change is difficult. You cannot expect people with great privileges taken at the expense of ordinary working people to surrender them lightly. But the history of humanity is that determined people will overcome obstacles.
And we will overcome the problems that this country is facing as a result of George W. Bush and as a result of a Washington establishment that has forgotten who sent them there."

"We have been here before in this country. When William McKinley was president, enormous trusts were put together which made it impossible for ordinary Americans to start their own business, make any money without enormous pressure from those trusts, which destroyed their business.

Teddy Roosevelt came along, busted up the trusts and made it possible to earn a living for ordinary Americans and small businesses again.

Under Harding and Coolidge and Hoover, Calvin Coolidge said, The business of America is business, but forgot that human beings are not meant to be cogs in an enormous government corporate machine; that we are spiritual people who need connections and have to have community again.

Franklin Roosevelt came along and took America back for ordinary working people again.

My favorite, however, is this one. In 1824, John Quincy Adams, the son of a one-term president, John Adams...

... beat Andrew Jackson of Tennessee in an election where Andrew Jackson received more votes.

It was decided in Congress by one vote, electing John Quincy Adams as president.

In 1828, four years later, John Quincy Adams became the one-term son of a one-term president."

5 Days To Go....

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand. "

-Woodrow Wilson

So let's talk about hope for the future. Which candidate will enrich help America enrich the world, and by enrich, I do not mean fertilizing the soil with the corpses of thousands of dead troops and civilians. I am talking about which guy will help us recapture the Amercian vision of freedom and democracy. Who has the compass of hope?

Is George Bush? Record federal defecits coupled with record federal spending. Tax cuts on top of it. Waging unilateral war that stretches our military thin, alienates our allies, and makes Americans greater targets? Someone that is a strict Constitutionalist, but wants to write discrimination into that sacred document?

How 'bout John Kerry? Someone that says lets make everyone welcome in America. Someone who can think and react with his decisions as the situation mandates. Someone with the intellegence and ability to listen and reason with others. Someone who understands, like Wilson did, that we cannot do this thing alone. We must work together.

6 Days To Go....

"Let America Be America Again"
by Langston Hughes


Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plainSeeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It was never America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There never has been equality for me,Nor freedom in the "homeland of the free.")

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In that Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every birck and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let, America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America was never America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack of ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

7 Days To Go.....

"The essential principles of our Government... form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1st Inaugural Address, 1801.


The bright constellation is Democracy. TJ certainly knew something about it and it's principles. The past four years have certainly given us "moments of error...of alarm". Terrorists, attacks, war, poverty. All of these have effected the American people. It has not been easy, but we all gave the administration the benefit of the doubt, we all united to fight the common threat. In return, we were led off the road of Democracy. As TJ says, "...let us haten to retrace our steps...to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety." John Kerry is ready to lead us back onto the road. He will not sacrifice our safety, but he will do more to bring allies and diplomacy into the road to peace. He will not leave us vulnerable, but he will work with the Patriot Act to make sure that does not infringe on the liberties that we love in America. He will not act unilaterally, making sure that all of our troops are as safe as possible.

We have been led off of the road, and it is due time that we take the steps to correct our akward course and return to the path of the future.

Two Years...Remember His Message

With all the negative news today about our mis-leader, it is important to pause and reflect on a true leader, and a true progressive. Two years ago today, while running for re-election, Paul Wellstone, a US Senator from Minnesota died in a plane crash with his wife and daughter, as well as 3 campaign aides. Wellstone was a true champion of the middle class and was someone constantly working to better the political system. His words are inspiring:

"The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power."

"Politics isn't about big money or power games; it's about the improvement of people's lives"

"I'm from the Democratic party-wing of the Democratic Party" (a personal favorite!)

Howard Dean drew a great deal of inspiration from Paul Wellstone, as can be seen in the similarity of the quotes from Wellstone, and things that Dean has said. As we countdown the days of this final week, keep in mind the messages of Paul Wellstone, a champion of the middle class and a lover of peace. I will do my best to focus on the inspiration this week, God knows we should be looking toward the hope filled future with John Kerry, rather than the cloudy Bush future. God rest Paul Wellstone, his voice and his message was a clarion call to us all.

380 Tons of High Grade Explosives.....

....dropped into the hands of Zarquawi and other insurgents in Iraq. No longer can we operate under the assumption that George Bush will keep this country safe, let alone safer than John Kerry would keep us. What a colossal failure in Iraq, as 380 tons of high grade explosives, used to trigger nuclear weapons, is missing. Worse than that, apparently the Bush administration knew about it, and has been keeping the story buried until after the election.

This administration failed to have enough troops on the ground in Iraq to protect these stockpiles of weapons. The IAEA warned us pre invasion of these stockpiles that we would need to secure...we turned a deaf ear, and then we let this massive pile of explosives go.

How dangerous is this stuff? Well, it is not dynamite, it is not a grenade. It can be used in warheads and it can be used to destroy buildings. For perspective, one pound of this type of explosive was used to detonate the Pan Am flight over Scotland in the 1980's. ONE POUND. We let the insurgents have 380 TONS.

This is criminal negligence, exercise your right for a citizens arrest on Nov. 2nd.

Bush Music Videg

Savannah J will call this video an angry, left wing attempt to tear down the President. I could not agree more. Savannah J says anger will not win an election. However, I think that if you are not angry with this President, you have not been paying attention. Maybe you think he deserves another four years, but you should still be angry with the way he has handled his first four years. If you are not angry, then you are not engaged. Enjoy the video no matter where you are...

Bush Music Video

Be Mean To A Non-Voter Today

This is a great article on apathy of non-voters, no longer should we chalk it off, we should be mean to them.

Routing Out the Anti-Voter

Congrats Cardinals!!

I am a White Sox fan, which means I hate the Cubs, which sort of makes me a Cards fan I guess. If nothing else my Dad and both my brothers are huge fans....middle brother was at the game tonight, so I am happy for them that the Cardinals won. Plus, the Cards are just a class organization for a sports team, not like the dirty Yankees.

John Kerry Wednesday

The speech for Wednesday was being billed as a major foreign policy speech. We were told to dress more formally and be prepared for a speech, rather than a rally. Wisconsin J and I showed up at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center at 7:50am for the door opening at 8am. We were pretty far up in the line. Once we got inside we noticed that instead of seating all the people that had been at the front of the line in the center section, they were putting them on the sides, so all we would have is a profile view. Well, that did not sit well with the seniors in the crowd, who soon began chanting, "Put us in the middle, we were here first!". A small protest began by all of us standing up and refusing to sit. Moments later, Kerry press supervisor Stephanie Cutter came and moved the whole section closer to the middle. Hooray!

We waited until about 10:15am to get underway. I knew it was important because Kerry brought three generals and an admiral with him, as well as Krisien Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow that has endorsed him. The speech was good, lasting about an hour. Kerry laid out a five point plan to combat terror and win in Iraq.

After the speech, Wisconsin J and I were only 8 rows from the stage and barricades, so we rushed up to try and get our coveted picture with Kerry. Our diligence paid off as Kerry made his way around the barricade shaking hands and pressing the flesh. I was not able to get a great picture with him (see the picture of my arm below, thanks to Wisconsin J!!), but I did get to grab his hand. It is the first time I have ever met a Senator, and also the first time I have shaken the hand of a President of The United States.

A great day, a great experience. It left me feeling more invigorated for the stretch run....Until last night when I saw that Theresa Kerry had said something stupid again. It seems that it is not a huge issue between the two women, but it just gives the Repubs another chance to take the focus off of Bush and his record, which he still will not take account for. I was re-heartned after reading about Bush and Pat Robertson, whom Bush told he did not expect heavy casualties during the Iraq War. Whoops.

The Iowawineguy (orange sleeve) grips John Kerry and vows to take down Bush together!!! 

Iowawineguy and Mrs. IWG pose for a quick picture before heading into volunteer for John Kerry.  

The Iowawineguy works the metal detectors at the John Kerry event. After taking this picture, the Secret Service gave us a talking too for exposing the secret security workings of the event.  

Kerry Hanger Rally

I am dragging butt today after working hard for Kerry Days!

Last night was the rally at the Waterloo Airport. I drug Wisconsin J, my pregnant wife, and Ms. Smith (the ultimate intern) to the airport to help volunteer at 6pm. We stood around for about an hour and ten minutes waiting for the Secret Service to finish their security sweep and get the metal detectors setup to screen the crowd. Once the Service (who is kind of mean and scary, except when they are dancing to techno music) was finished, we got setup. Mrs. IWG and Ms. Smith (the ultimate intern) went with Katherine, the California pediatrician, to be part of the "jump team" responding to any needs that came up. Wisconsin J and I worked the metal detectors letting people know that they needed to take all metal out of their pockets. This was the best place to work because you got to see everyone coming in. The doors opened at 7:30pm and by 9:15pm 3000 people were packed into Hanger #5 waiting for John K.

I have been to a number of political rallies, and I can't imagine that Republican ones are as diverse or fun as Democratic rallies. My favorite thing about the rallies are the unions. They are grizzled, tough looking, and really know their stuff. They are also die-hard supporters. Last night I worked alongside a group of UAW workers from the Waterloo John Deere factories. Great guys, glad to have them on my side if I had to fight.

At any rate, our exciting Volunteer passes allowed us to rush through the crowd and get up close to the stage to see the Senator. Mrs. IWG was very sore and tired by this point in the evening, not having had a chance to sit down. Local candidates did some speaking from 9:30pm until 10:15pm (Christy Vilsack, Bob Kressig, and Jeff Danielson). Kerry finally popped on stage at 10:20 pm or so and talked for about 20 minutes. It was a standard stump speech, but it was the first time I had seen him live and in person.

It took us about 40 minutes to get out of the parking lot at the end of the night, and we finally got into bed about 11:30pm. A great arrival!

I will update later today with the events of this mornings speech on foreign policy and Iraq, complete with some pictures, and the update on whether I got to meet the Senator....

Kerry Days

An interesting day of events to share with you today. I am enjoying a glass of Ruffino Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico Riserva, 2000. Well balanced and very good and full of flavor. I really love Chianti's, they are a utility wine in my book, going with lots of things and sure to make you happy.

Tomorrow John Kerry will be coming into Waterloo, IA at 7:30pm or so in the evening. Today, the local campaign was seeking volunteers to come to the airport and help make signs to hold during the event. I took my good friend Wisconsin J to Hanger #5 to help out with this noble effort. Earlier in the day I had gotten some tickets to the Tuesday night event from the head of the college Dems at the University of Northern Iowa. When receiving them, I noticed they were white tickets, but she also had green tickets...I suspected an upgrade was available. At any rate, Wisconsin J and I made some great signs: Hope is on the Way, Iowa for Kerry, etc. We worked for about an hour and a half with nearly 12 other people of all walks and situations. Included in this group were about 4 Bosnian folks who kept making signs in Bosnian and Bulgarian, for the International flavor.

After our sign making, J and I were told that there would be a meeting for volunteers for the evening event at 6:30pm. J and I had nothing better to do, so we decided to volunteer to see what we could do to help out. So at 6:30pm in Hanger #5 we met with Katherine, who we found out was a physician from California that was working with press and setup for Kerry. I do believe that Wisconsin J was smitten! We ended up getting placed on the team that would help organize the crowd and help get them through the metal detectors. We were excited about this job because we were told that if we saw suspicious folks, or known Republicans, we could have the Secret Service drag them away!

After the volunteer meeting we were told that Tuesday night we would be given volunteer credentials that would allow us to roam the event in any area, except for Secret Service protected areas! Talk about an upgrade! I also found out that the mysterious green tickets were for a special VIP area. The final good news of the night was that we also got tickets for a Wednesday morning Kerry event in Waterloo with a much smaller crowd. Katherine told us that Kerry would be making a major policy speech, perhaps on Iraq and foreign policy. We were told that it would be a more formal affair and we should dress accordingly. So, now Wisconsin J and I feel like big fish again...we have not been this involved in the campaigns since I was flipping pancakes with Howard Dean in January!

Hopefully I will be able to get some good pics of the events over the next few days. The goal of this guy is to get a picture with Senator Kerry, to match my picture with Governor Dean!!!

To Be Continued......

4 Out of 5 Dictators Support President Bush

Why was I not surprised to see today that Vladimir Putin of Russia was backing Bush for re-election.

This is the leader that recently took away the voting power of the public, took over control of the media, and made sure his political party could stay in control and has chalked it all up to needing to fight the war on terror. No wonder he and Bush get along famously. Bush publicly condemns Putin for his power grab, but is it truly any different than using a right wing court to seize power and then using his messianic visions to lead a nation into poor decision after poor decision?

The voters get to be the judge. The polls still have Kerry with a lead. Zogby and Rasmussen have Kerry trending back into the lead nationwide, and in battlegrounds. Remember that polls like Newsweek, ABC, and Gallup do not adjust their results to reflect the actual number of Repubs and Dems that are likely to vote, so they are trending high in favor of Bush.

Two weeks until regime change here at home.

Kerry lands in Waterloo, IA tomorrow night, and the Iowawineguy will be there to provide you with a first hand account of the event!

The Faith Based Presidency

For those with the time, there is a great article in the NY Times magazine by Ron Suskind on Bush and his faith based Presidency. It is a fascinating look into the decision making process of this President, and the impending Republican "civil war" that will occur if he is re-elected. A war between modernists and the evangelicals, who believe that Bush is a messenger from God. Perhaps this is one reason why devout faith based Republicans, like my friend Savannah J, can never point out a policy initiative that they are supporting Bush for. Do they blindly follow him because of the commonly shared faith? Take a read of this article, it is fascinating, and a little scary. For instance, take a look at this event Suskind wrote about:

In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.
The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community? Many of the other elected officials in Washington, it would seem. A group of Democratic and Republican members of Congress were called in to discuss Iraq sometime before the October 2002 vote authorizing Bush to move forward. A Republican senator recently told Time Magazine that the president walked in and said: ''Look, I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you.'' When one of the senators began to ask a question, Bush snapped, ''Look, I'm not going to debate it with you.''

And this quote as well:

And for those who don't get it? That was explained to me in late 2002 by Mark McKinnon, a longtime senior media adviser to Bush, who now runs his own consulting firm and helps the president. He started by challenging me. ''You think he's an idiot, don't you?'' I said, no, I didn't. ''No, you do, all of you do, up and down the West Coast, the East Coast, a few blocks in southern Manhattan called Wall Street. Let me clue you in. We don't care. You see, you're outnumbered 2 to 1 by folks in the big, wide middle of America, busy working people who don't read The New York Times or Washington Post or The L.A. Times. And you know what they like? They like the way he walks and the way he points, the way he exudes confidence. They have faith in him. And when you attack him for his malaprops, his jumbled syntax, it's good for us. Because you know what those folks don't like? They don't like you!'' In this instance, the final ''you,'' of course, meant the entire reality-based community.

Saved!

If you can get past the fact that it stars Mandy Moore, Macauley Culkin, and Patrick Fugit, the movie Saved! is a great rental out there. It did not get a lot of mainstream theatre attention, playing mostly in smaller theatres, but it is a great look at Christian values and growing up as a teenager in a changing world. Check it out because the acting performances were great, and the message was greater!

My favorite quote:

"What would Jesus do? You know what, I don't know, but I will be here trying to figure it out."

You Be The Judge

Okay, back to Mary for one last post. Two debates, two nearly identical questions on gay marriage. Mary Cheney is brought up in each question. The first is reguarded as pleasentries and a nice complement, the second is tawdry. You be the judge:

VP Debate

IFILL: The next question goes to you, Mr. Vice President.
I want to read something you said four years ago at this very setting: "Freedom means freedom for everybody." You said it again recently when you were asked about legalizing same-sex unions. And you used your family's experience as a context for your remarks.

EDWARDS: as to this question, let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.

Debate #3

SCHIEFFER: Mr. President, let's get back to economic issues. But let's shift to some other questions here.
Both of you are opposed to gay marriage. But to understand how you have come to that conclusion, I want to ask you a more basic question. Do you believe homosexuality is a choice?

KERRY: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.


I don't see much difference.....oh wait, yes I do, GEORGE BUSH WAS SLIPPING IN THE POLLS by the third debate, he needed to take the focus off of his shitty performances and struggling campaign. There right wing bastards, they are trying to turn this against Kerry when they have ruthlessly lobbied for taking away gay rights. Don't let them smoke screen you on this one!

Bush Running From His Record

Okay, I am not going to play the Mary Cheney game anymore. Much like the Swift Boat Ads, it is a Republican generated controversy to take the focus off of Bush's poor debate performances and his even worse record as President.

So don't buy into it! Don't play on the Republicans terms, frame the debate in the light that works for us. Maybe you can talk about the fact that Iraq is so bad, that two bombs were detonated in the US protected Green Zone yesterday. Or talk about Bush's failed responses to job loss in the debate. If nothing else, read the transcipt of Bill O'Reily's sexual harrassment suit. He apparently can do things with a falaffel that boggle women's minds.

Homophobia vs. Gay Pride

If you are not reading Andrew Sullivan, you are missing out. Here is an email from one of his readers about Mary Cheney. It points out a few differences in party philosophy. When will we hear from Mary?

EMAIL OF THE DAY: "One of the most refreshing things on the campaign trail last year was seeing stodgy old Dick Gephardt talk about how he loved his lesbian daughter Chrissy. He did it at almost every campaign stop. He did it so much it got boring, like everything Gephardt does. But it was from the heart.Can you imagine Gephardt's reaction if he were a candidate and Bush had said something like Kerry said last night? Simple: Warmth and gratitude. Gephardt never implied there was anything unseemly about his daughter or her partner - they were both on his family's Christmas card! Bush wouldn't have had to mention her. Gephardt surely would have beaten him to it.The only damn difference is that Bush & Cheney's base is anti-gay. That's why Mary Cheney's off-limits, not privacy or anything else. If their base were pro-gay, she would have had a prime-time convention speaking slot. But because they're homophobes, Kerry is supposed to shut up and act accordingly.Andrew, I hope to God we're just 18 days away from having leadership that doesn't feel it has to whisper about a loved one's existence."
--Andrew Sullivan

Mary Cheney Comment

I don't believe in trying to speak when others summarize a point perfectly. Andrew Sullivan has hit this issue perfectly, so allow me to post his thoughts, not mine.


SOMETHING MORE ABOUT MARY: The Mary Cheney thing really is a fascinating Rorschach test. Many conservatives are appalled and cast their anti-Kerry opinion as a defense of Mary. Here's one:
Last night he allowed his obsession with his own selfish desire to win a point overshadow the appropriate boundaries of taste, compassion, and kindess. Lynne Cheney has the right to call him a bad man. And woman across the nation have the right to see for themselves that he is willing to victimize THEM if it comes to padding his advantage, reputation, position, or standing.Victimize? All Kerry did was invoke the veep's daughter to point out that obviously homosexuality isn't a choice, in any meaningful sense. The only way you can believe that citing Mary Cheney amounts to "victimization" is if you believe someone's sexual orientation is something shameful. Well, it isn't. What's revealing is that this truly does expose the homophobia of so many - even in the mildest "we'll-tolerate-you-but-shut-up-and-don't-complain" form. Mickey Kaus, for his part, cannot see any reason for Kerry to mention Mary except as some Machiavellian scheme to pander to bigots. Again: huh? Couldn't it just be that Kerry thinks of gay people as human beings like straight people - and mentioning their lives is not something we should shrink from? Isn't that the simplest interpretation? In many speeches on marriage rights, I cite Mary Cheney. Why? Because it exposes the rank hypocrisy of people like president Bush and Dick and Lynne Cheney who don't believe gays are anti-family demons but want to win the votes of people who do. I'm not outing any gay person. I'm outing the double standards of straight ones. They've had it every which way for decades, when gay people were invisible. Now they have to choose.

DOUBLE STANDARDS: Let me give you an example of the double standards here. I remember once being driven around by a charming woman on a stop on a book tour. We talked about my book, and she averred, after chatting all day, that she had nothing against gay people, she just wished they wouldn't "bring it up" all the time. I responded: "But you've been talking about your heterosexuality ever since I got in the car." She said: "I haven't. I've never once discussed sex." My response: "Within two minutes, you mentioned your children and your husband. You talked about your son's work at high school. You mentioned your husband's line of work. And on and on. You wear your heterosexuality on your sleeve all the time. And that's fine. But if I so much as mention the fact that I'm gay, I'm told it's all I care about, and that I should pipe down. Don't you see the double standard?" Candidates mention their families all the time. An entire question last night was devoted to the relationship between men and their wives and daughters. Mentioning Mary Cheney is no more and no less offensive than that. What is offensive is denying gay couples equal rights in the constitution itself. Why don't conservatives get exercized about that?

LET MARY SPEAK: Mickey posits a perilous race analogy:
What if Kerry were debating a conservative on affirmative action, and that conservative had a black wife, and Kerry gratuitously brought that up in an attempt to cost his opponent the racist vote? Would Andrew Sullivan approve? I don't think so. ...First off, I don't buy the cynical explanation of Kerry's reference. But secondly, affirmative action isn't a strong enough analogy. Let's say the president was proposing the real analogy: a constitutional amendment to ban inter-racial marriage. Now let's say the veep's daughter was married to a black man. Would it be relevant then? Of course it would. But there is an obvious solution to this debate: let Mary speak. She's running the veep's campaign. She's an adult. Why can't she tell us if she's upset by Kerry's and Edwards' remarks? Give her a microphone, guys. What are you afraid of?
-Andrew Sullivan


Great summary by Andrew Sullivan. This is a non-issue being pursued by those with deep harbored prejudice.

Debate #3 Reactions

I thought this debate was the worst that I had seen George Bush so far. In his true inconsistent fashion, he showed up as someone completely different than we had seen in any of the previous debates. Debate #1 was the smirking and aloof guy, Debate #2 was the angry, yelling man, and tonight we saw sensitive, quiet, and joke making Bushy. Except his jokes fell flat and his annoying little giggle just made me cringe everytime he gave it. I thought Bush did a poor job staying on question especially the ones regarding workers, specifically the questions on outsourcing and minimum wage. He skirted these questions and started talking about education, which was good because there were no direct questions on education for these candidates. I was also sad that no questions were asked on the environment, stem cell research, or corporate corruption. These are critical issues.

I did not think that this was Kerry's strongest performance, but it did not need to be. He still did a good job of volleying back shots at Bush when Bush got things wrong. Kerry got a little heavy in the numbers of some of his proposals and his past votes, but he had to do it to correct the misinformation Bushy was spewing. I thought Kerry did a good job with the choice questions, despite the fact that some right-wingers will call it foul play. Hello, she is out, she is working for a campaign that continues to try and marginalize her. It was not an attack on her or her family, simply an illustration that being gay is not a choice, otherwise, why would Mary choose to put herself through so much.

Overall, probably not enough in the debate to change the face of the election, which is still showing Kerry momentum. The polls out yesterday stated that only 11% of independents think that Bush is deserving of re-election...that should concern him much more than the debates. Bush is still not able to defend his poor policy decisions and it will cost him.

Powerful Impact on Sinclair Broadcasting

Success. I sent my letters off to local advertisers on KGAN Cedar Rapids, IA. Here are some early fruits of the labor.

Good morning,This morning we spoke with our sales representative at KGAN in Cedar Rapids and have decided that it would be best to pull our advertising with them.We value your patronage and would like to thank you for bringing thissituation to our attention.

Good's Furniture HouseP.O. Box 444Kewanee, IL 61443309-852-5656

Thank you for contacting Slumberland and sharing your concerns regarding theSinclair Broadcast Company's decision to air the John Kerry movie "StolenHonor". Slumberland is taking appropriate action in this matter.

Sincerely,Simone Kreugerslumberland.com guest services
Slumberland Furniture http://www.slumberland.com/furniture that lives the way you doAOL keyword: Slumberland

Flip-Flop?

When you watch the final debate tonight, watch for Bush to paint Kerry as the most consistently liberal Senator in the Senate. It is not true, but it will mark another Bush flip-flop. From August until recently, Bushy has said that the only thing that Kerry is consistent on is that he is inconsistent. Now he wants you to believe he is consistently liberal.

At least we know that Bush is consistently wrong!

This is big time tonight. Lots of expectations for the event this evening. Can Kerry sew up the election with a strong showing tonight? Will Bush be able to defend his record? Will Kerry invoke Chris Reeves? Will Bush finally explode from his repressed and bottled anger??

Baby Freakout #1

I had my first baby reality check today!

An old colleague of mine, Yort the Viking was in town for this past weekend's Homecoming activities. He and his wife have a 9 week old son. They swung by my office to say hello and congratulate me on my impeding birth. I got to hold the young Viking child and pondered the beauty of a small child before it grows up and gets extensive facial hair, deep voice, and desire to sail the seas.

The baby started crying and I was able to hand him back to Yort. After they left I got to thinking that I do not exactly know how to quiet a screaming baby. I also thought that when my child was here and started crying, I would not be able to hand it off to anyone. Small panic attack. First of many I am sure. Mrs. IWG was able to talk me down and now I have returned to a state of homeostasis.

Diary Of A Political Tourist

If you don't have HBO, you need to do yourself a favor and get it. It has the best stuff on TV, not just movies, but shows, documentaries, and sports. Tonight was the debut of "Diary of A Political Tourist", a documentary by Alexandra Pelosi. She gained fame in 2000 with her first film, "Journeys With George", in which she went on the road with George Bush as he campaigned for the Presidency. It was a great behind the scenes look at a candidate on the road and his relationship with the press and the folks on the road.

Pelosi was back again tonight with her behind the scenes look at the Democratic nomination process, from it's early start in March 2003 until the nominating convention. It was a lot of fun for me to watch since a lot of it occurred in Iowa and were things that I remembered. It was fun to be reminded of so much of the past year and a half of my own life. It was also amazing to me on how I reacted to some things. Howard Dean's words still gave me goose bumps, Richard Gephardt still seemed like a backstabber, and Kerry seemed as dull as ever. Funny how some things can or don't change. I also still felt sad watching Dick Gephardt drop out of the race and end his career of service, and I still felt the very personal pain and sadness remembering the day that Howard Dean officially left the race and the tears I shed.

I love that politics is an emotional experience for me, and hope that it continues to be an emotional experience for many of the other voters. Too many individuals put up roadblocks between their lives, feelings, and emotions and politics. It should be personal because the policies implemented by our elected representatives are far reaching. Take some time to look deep inside and make a connection with any candidate for any office. It is truly a rewarding experience.

"I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is..."

I hope with two debates and three weeks to go I am not getting overly confident and optimistic...but allow me to wax poetic with the words of Yussef "Cat Stevens" Islam.

"Now, I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is..."

National Review Cover

British Hostage Killed

Poor Job News

Israeli Resort Attacks

Republican House Leader DeLay

"Now, I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come. And I believe that it could be, something good has begun."

Polls tight in three states

IT WON'T BE CLOSE: Back in the early spring, I bet Michael Barone that Kerry
would win this election. I'll buy him a drink if I'm wrong. And to be honest, I
don't know who's more likely to win at this point. But here's a prediction I
don't mind making. This election won't be close. Presidents seeking re-election
very rarely win or lose a second time narrowly. Either they get trounced -
Carter, Bush 41 - or they get re-elected handily - Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan,
Clinton. People make a simple decision whether the guy's worth re-electing. Of
course, the alternative makes a difference. My view is that most people don't
want to re-elect Bush but are still unconvinced by Kerry. But they'll figure it
out soon enough. Hence the big interest in the debates - and the huge swing
since the first one. Joel Rosenberg of National Review looks at the Zogby data
and worries:
There is some good news for the president. Zogby says "Kerry's
edge on the economy is gone. Among those who cite the economy as the top issue,
the candidates are in a dead heat — Bush holding a slight edge," (46 percent to
44 percent). And this: Bush "also leads among those who cite the War on Terror
as the top issue" (68 percent to 26 percent)." But by far the most interesting —
and disturbing — finding in his poll is that "among undecided voters, only 15%
feel the President deserves to be re-elected, while 39% say it is time for
someone new." What if the undecideds break 2-to-1 against the president less
than 30 days from now? We could be looking at a Kerry landslide. Yep. In fact,
I'd say a clear and decisive Kerry win is now the likeliest outcome of this
election. Bush's only hope is to tear Kerry apart. He can't defend his record.
Every day, the news undermines it. He is losing this campaign in the final
stretch. So he needs to attack. And when a Rove candidate needs to attack to
survive, it's going to get ugly. Real, real ugly. --Andrew Sullivan

"Out on the edge of darkness, there rides a Peace Train. Oh Peace Train, take this country."

Death Throes???

Good article by Howard Fineman on Bush getting desperate. My favorite quote:

It's the president desperately trying to tear down Kerry as the news tears down
the president.

It will be intresting to see how the next two debates go. There is no doubt that the post first debate spin is killing Bush over his poor performance. I can actually start to feel the surge in momentum for Kerry, and Fineman is right that unless news gets better in Iraq, what Kerry does or does not do is of little consequence.

Debate two tomorrow.

Life and Death

Another unique experience happened yesterday to me. I went with Mrs. IWG to purchase a life insurance policy. This is important to do now that we are bringing a child into the world. In case we die, we need to leave it an obscene amount of money! (Don't ask how much, I don't need people plotting my death for their financial benefit!) At any rate, we have an insurance agent through the Horace Mann Corporation, a company for teacher's that gives great rates. Our agent is a lunatic. She tells the most inane stories, including one about a house she once owned with wallpaper on the walls in pieces that contain "funky chickens".

Today her stories seemed to all deal with interesting manners of death and destitude that her clients had been involved with. This made buying the policy very cheery! The best part was when my wife thought that we should designate my 20 year old brother, a junior in college, as the guardian of our trust should we both perish. Now, I don't know about you, but as a junior in college I could not balance my checkbook, let alone manage a large financial trust for a child. At any rate, we finally settled on another relative and signed our policy application.

The whole process is kind of surreal when you think about it. It is like gambling. The insurance company is betting that you will not die within a certain amount of time. If they win, they don't have to pay the large pot, but they get to keep a small pot. If they lose, they have to pay a large pot. So, let's hope my odds are good!

Bringing Up Baby

The wife and I have had quite the fun baby experiences over the last few days. This weekend while I was on staff retreat, my preganat wife moved all of the furniture out of our middle bedroom! We then had the painters in on Tuesday and Wednesday to paint the middle bedroom a nice light blue color, as the room is going to become our new baby's room in March when it arrives.

Then, last night the wife and I got to experience the joy of building our baby's crib. I would like to tell you that I hand carved the crib from a solid piece of oak, but, the reality is that I have no useful skills. Luckily the Graco company has many fine cribs available, and we selected one. I lugged the boxes up to the room and expected that I would need to go buy a socket set and some cool wrenches as well, then I would truly be a man!

Before I could launch into this task, I had to watch my new favorite TV show, Lost, on ABC. This show blows my mind with its drama and slightly bizzare subject matter. It reminds me of another of my favorite shows, Carnivale, on HBO.

At any rate, I finished watching the show and came back to the room to find that Mrs. IWG had opened up all of the boxes and had half the crib assembled already! To my surprise and delight, the crib was very easy to assemble, and the crib came with many small Allen Wrenches and regular wrenches needed to assemble it. So the wife and I had a good time finishing the assembly of the crib and putting it in the place designated for it. We then got out our baby bedding and got the crib ready for an occupant. This of course caused Mrs. IWG to burst into tears of happiness! We shared some hugs and I laughed at her for crying. She was able to get me back later as I watched the end of Field of Dreams on TNT, and got teary as I always do at that movie! All in all a great night, and a monumental step in getting ready for Baby IWG.

Bush Comes To Talk To Me Personally

Finally my blog is not in vain! Apparently Bushy has been reading my blog and is ready to give me some of the answers that I have been asking him to give me!

Bushy comes to Waterloo, IA at 11:20am on Saturday October 9th. It is also Homecoming Saturday at the University of Northern Iowa. While I love to tailgate, I also really love this country and hate what George Bush has done to it. So tailgating will have to wait so that I can sit down with the Pres and get the tough answers. I can only assume it will be "hard work".

So, readers in the blogosphere, I need your help. What phrase best sums up your feelings about Bush, and would look great on a protest sign? The one I like the best will go on my sign to wave at Bush as he enters what is likely another invitation only event with his brain washed masses.

What a week it will be!

Debate Reaction

Let's just say I can't stop smiling today! I feel bad for Bush, he is a terrible, terrible public speaker. My thoughts were fairly well in line with the debare summary on Andrew Sullivan's Blog. Check it out, it is a great summary.