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10/25/2004: "Nader Turns Dems Into Party of Nine-Year-Old Girls"
OK, by now you've probably heard that Ralph Nader is off the ballot here
in PA. But what you probably haven't heard about is the way that
he's been taken off the ballot - with tape.
Nader's name on the ballots used in voting machines has been covered up
with a piece of white tape - well, pieces of white tape, actually.
You see, the Democrats were claiming that Nader's name was still visible
under one piece of tape, so a second piece had to be added to all of the
ballots. Don't these people have anything better to do with their time?
I mean other than organize rallies featuring such political powerhouses
as Patti Labelle and John Bon Jovi?
Nader, meanwhile, is selling a $20 DVD on his website of him engaging in
a "virtual" debate with Bush and Kerry:
"Using the actual questions from the Presidential debates, Ralph
discusses his plans for pulling our troops out of Iraq, solutions for
the energy crisis, helping the environment, using tax dollars sensibly,
and giving all Americans a living wage.
This DVD is a great way to introduce young people to real political
issues."
The really odd thing about this is its strange similarity to the way that
the 1st District Congressional debate that I moderated on Saturday was
conducted.
Since both Bob Brady and Deborah Williams refused to debate Chris Randolph,
Chris printed out all three of their answers to The National Political
Awareness Test (NPAT) from vote-smart.org. I then took those answers and
cut them up and pasted them on index cards for our Brady and Williams
stand-ins. Sure, it doesn't sound like a lot of work, but it took me four
hours.
The stand-ins were fantastic, by the way. The young man who filled in for
Bob Brady managed to convey the Congressman's sense of authority and
leadership, all while wearing a fake pig's snout. The young lady who
portrayed Deborah Williams was also great, and she managed to make
wonderful use of a "Talking George Bush" doll (Which, interestingly,
has two settings - "humorous" and "inspirational") to fill in the answers
that Ms. Williams had failed to provide on the questionnaire.
Attendance was pretty light (less than a dozen people), but I still feel
great about the whole thing because for many years now, it has possible
for a candidate for public office to completely avoid debating his or
her rivals by simply refusing to engage with them in Public Discourse. We
found a way to deal with that problem.
Halloween DVD rental alert!
Close Your Eyes is a surprisingly affective little horror movie /
thriller that could've actually made some money at the box office had it
been marketed correctly (I hope that the Exec who made the brilliant
decision to originally release this film under the gawdawful title of
Doctor Sleep has been publicly flogged and exiled to the Orkney
Islands.).
As for the plot, well, all you need to know is: Hypnotist, child murders,
and occult.
666 stars. Rent or die!
shma - mound, tomb
If the above word looks like ippojshit to you,
then you need to go here
and download the SPIONIC font for either MAC or PC. Dude.
