VandS Politics

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The Daily Kos wrote something I agree with.

Holy crap!

Daily Kos: Enough with the “Diebold Hacked the NH Primary” Lunacy

Many folks immediately suspect that any election results they found surprising—and whether they know enough about local and statewide voting patterns to be surprised is always a good question—are most easily explained by malfeasance by the Diebold corporation or exploitation of its machines. There are many problems for these folks who look for the most exotic (and maybe reassuring) explanation for an election result they don’t like, but in this case, let’s start out with a fairly basic one: voters in every town in New Hampshire cast their vote on a paper ballot, and in more than half of the towns in New Hampshire, the paper ballots are counted by hand.

It goes on and on. But it’s all so true.

I can’t imagine why some people would think the entertainment industry tilts left. From the Grammy nominations:

Best Spoken Word Album
Barack Obama, The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream
Maya Angelou, Celebrations
Bill Clinton, Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World
Jimmy Carter, Sunday Mornings In Plains: Bringing Peace To A Changing World
Alan Alda, Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself

Unless there’s a sharp change in the polls, or Oprah changes her mind and goes for Ron Paul or something, I can’t see Obama losing this vote.

On the other hand, the same nostalgia factor that sees perennial nominees from the early 80s ought to factor in huge for Clinton.

I can’t wait for the first Grammys straw poll.

Alan Alda doesn’t stand a chance.

I love this one:

As if it’s not enough that the United Nations Climate Change Conference is being held at what NewsBusters reported as “a truly beautiful tropical island paradise,” the management of the nearby airport has issued a warning to attendees that they are going to have to park their private jets somewhere else. […]

. . .the management of Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport are concerned that the large number of additional private charter flights expected in Bali during the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) December 3-15, 2007, will exceed the carrying capacity of apron areas.

That’s right — there’s not enough room for all the private planes at the UN global warming summit.

Wow.

So, how’ve ya been lately? We haven’t seriously chatted in a while.

Politicians suck.

WorldNetDaily: 25 years murder-free in ‘Gun Town USA’

. . . a notable anniversary passed last month in a Georgia town that witnessed a dramatic plunge in crime and violence after mandating residents to own firearms.

In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of “Wild West” showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender.

The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Ever wonder where all your taxes go to?

Death and Taxes: 2008

That’s the coolest poster I think I’ve ever seen. It’s insanely detailed, and shows you, department by department, where all the tax money winds up. Makes it a lot easier to visualize how things work.

Since we can all see the anti-gun crusade beginning anew in the country, let’s look an interesting recent case:

Appalachian School of Law shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Appalachian School of Law shooting occurred on January 16, 2002, at the Appalachian School of Law, an American Bar Association accredited private law school in Grundy, Virginia, United States. Three people were killed and three others were wounded when a disgruntled former student opened fire in the school with a handgun. […]

When [the shooter] exited the building where the shooting took place, he was approached by two students with personal firearms.[4]

At the first sound of gunfire, fellow students Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, unbeknownst to each other, ran to their vehicles to fetch their personally owned firearms.[5] Gross, a police officer with the Grifton Police Department in his home state of North Carolina, retrieved a bulletproof vest and a 9 mm pistol.[6] Bridges pulled his .357 Magnum pistol from beneath the driver’s seat of his Chevy Tahoe. As Bridges later told the Richmond Times Dispatch, he was prepared to shoot to kill.[7]

Both men drew their weapons and talked the shooter down.

Now, this is a different situation than a dorm room filled with 18-21 year olds. I’m pretty sure that, given the amount of partying and drinking and drugging that typically happens in a dorm, I don’t want too many guns mixed in there.

But it is an interesting case.

Imus said something stupid and lost his job.

How quickly we forgive bigger sins:

Pat Buchanan: The Imus lynch party

Whatever Imus’ sins, no one deserves to have Al Sharpton – hero of the Tawana Brawley hoax, resolute defender of the fake rape charge against half a dozen innocent guys, which ruined lives – sit in moral judgment upon them.

Amen.

The worst part of this whole situation isn’t Imus losing his job. It isn’t some college girls who were offended by things said on the radio about them — after all, they’ve probably all heard worse in high school. (And, as has been said ad infinitum since this began, they’ve heard worse on the radio.)

It’s the fact that Al Sharpton has been empowered by this. The man for whom no race-laced controversy is too small has come out of this as a “winner.” That’s the part of this story that disgusts me.