My preliminary analysis of the 573 (was 561) (who knows what it will be tomorrow) Ukrainian magical mystery absentee ballots is that they are drawn from precincts that voted 63% Gregoire, 37% Rossi, as opposed to Ukraine County as a whole, which voted 59% Gregoire, 41% Rossi.
UPDATE: I now have more data on the expected impact of the 573 Ukrainian magical mystery absentee ballots. In the machine recount, 95.3% of Ukraine absentee ballots were for one of the major party candidates, and of those, 59.7% went to Gregoire. i.e. if these 573 mystery ballots were selected at random, you would expect for them to add 106 votes to Gregoire's lead
As it turns out, these ballots came from precincts whose absentee ballots gave Gregoire 63.7% of the two-party vote. Thus, we would expect them to add not 106, but 149 more votes to Gregoire's lead.
Oddly Enough!
--
22 more Ukrainian magical mystery ballots have been discovered bringing the total to 595:
20 absentee and two provisional—found in several polling places in the side bins of plastic base units in which polling machines sit, said Bill Huennekens, county election superintendent. All ballots are supposed to be logged on Election Night and returned in a sealed bag to election headquarters, but it didn’t happen with these, he said--
We also learn from the audit of the DSHS that:
thousands of people who are dead or lack Social Security numbers are getting millions of dollars in benefitsMy theory is that this is a simple matter of patronage. As long as these dead people keep voting for Democrats in Ukraine County, the Democrats will continue to pay them! Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at December 15, 2004 09:04 AM | Email This
At least Ukraine gets to vote again. The only suspense left here is how many more screwups will we have to endure before we get King County's "count". The Keystone Cops of vote counting.
Posted by: zip on December 15, 2004 12:23 AMSo the 573 ballots may only contain 545 votes or so for Governor's race.
Posted by: Ralph on December 15, 2004 05:17 AMThey can really do this any way they please, and there's nothing to stop them.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 15, 2004 08:18 AMI live in California and offered a while back to trade our corrupt Secretary of State (Shelley) for yours. I withdraw the offer.
Posted by: Justrand on December 15, 2004 08:19 AMIn other words - KC should explain (like we would believe them) why the list starts at CH
Posted by: charlie on December 15, 2004 08:33 AMActually I'm feeling more and more disenfranchised myself. I voted early, correctly and legally. Now I realize that I could have gone shopping instead, and voted today or tomorrow. Just have to drop that ballot off on a doorstep somewhere, signed or unsigned, registered or not. But wait!! I don't live in KC! What was I thinking? Guess it's a good thing I voted correctly the first time since the do-overs are only allowed in KC.
I'm going to be embarrassed from now on to tell people where I am from. We must be morphing into the laughing stock of the democratic world about now.
Posted by: Rae on December 15, 2004 08:59 AMRecall proceedings, grounds: RCW 29A.56.110
http://www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?section=29A.56.110&fuseaction=section
Whenever any legal voter of the state or of any political subdivision thereof, either individually or on behalf of an organization, desires to demand the recall and discharge of any elective public officer of the state or of such political subdivision, as the case may be, under the provisions of sections 33 and 34 of Article 1 of the Constitution, the voter shall prepare a typewritten charge, reciting that such officer, naming him or her and giving the title of the office, has committed an act or acts of malfeasance, or an act or acts of misfeasance while in office, or has violated the oath of office, or has been guilty of any two or more of the acts specified in the Constitution as grounds for recall. The charge shall state the act or acts complained of in concise language, give a detailed description including the approximate date, location, and nature of each act complained of, be signed by the person or persons making the charge, give their respective post office addresses, and be verified under oath that the person or persons believe the charge or charges to be true and have knowledge of the alleged facts upon which the stated grounds for recall are based.For the purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Misfeasance" or "malfeasance" in office means any wrongful conduct that affects, interrupts, or interferes with the performance of official duty;
(a) Additionally, "misfeasance" in office means the performance of a duty in an improper manner; and
(b) Additionally, "malfeasance" in office means the commission of an unlawful act;
(2) "Violation of the oath of office" means the neglect or knowing failure by an elective public officer to perform faithfully a duty imposed by law.
The Washington State Constitution also has this to say on recalls (Article 1, Section 33):
http://www.courts.wa.gov/education/constitution/?fa=education_constitution.display&displayid=Article-01
Every elective public officer of the state of Washington expect [except] judges of courts of record is subject to recall and discharge by the legal voters of the state, or of the political subdivision of the state, from which he was elected whenever a petition demanding his recall, reciting that such officer has committed some act or acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office, or who has violated his oath of office, stating the matters complained of, signed by the percentages of the qualified electors thereof, hereinafter provided, the percentage required to be computed from the total number of votes cast for all candidates for his said office to which he was elected at the preceding election, is filed with the officer with whom a petition for nomination, or certificate for nomination, to such office must be filed under the laws of this state, and the same officer shall call a special election as provided by the general election laws of this state, and the result determined as therein provided. [AMENDMENT 8, 1911 p 504 Section 1. Approved November, 1912.]
In both the RCW law and the constitution, the recall process says that it the malfeance, or the thing you want to recall an officer for, HAS to be done while that person is in that elected office.
So, no matter how much you'd like to, you couldn't pin any of what's happening now on her for the purposes of a recall drive. The courts would throw it out.
Article 1, Section 34 in the Washington State Constitution
This specifies the amount of signatures that would be needed to initiate a recall drive:
SECTION 34 SAME. The legislature shall pass the necessary laws to carry out the provisions of Section thirty-three (33) of this article, and to facilitate its operation and effect without delay: Provided, That the authority hereby conferred upon the legislature shall not be construed to grant to the legislature any exclusive power of lawmaking nor in any way limit the initiative and referendum powers reserved by the people. The percentages required shall be, state officers, other than judges, senators and representatives, city officers of cities of the first class, school district boards in cities of the first class; county officers of counties of the first, second and third classes, twenty-five per cent. Officers of all other political subdivisions, cities, towns, townships, precincts and school districts not herein mentioned, and state senators and representatives, thirty-five per cent. [AMENDMENT 8, 1911 p 504 Section 1. Approved November, 1912.]
So the answer is: 25% of (last machine recount numbers used here) 2,883,341 = 720,835 valid signatures needed.
That's an awfully high hurdle.
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 09:08 AMI wonder if the GOP is considering a lawsuit to force King County to submit its previous machine recount results rather than the hand-recount. It is very clear that there has been incompetence, at the least, in King County. The events in King County have shaken my confidence in our electoral system!
Posted by: Darrell on December 15, 2004 09:15 AMThe only problem with this is that Dino might quite sensibly not want to be a U.S. Senator. After all, he wants to be President some day, right? And even Rossi should know that a governor has a better shot at the Oval Office than a junior senator.
Posted by: D.J. on December 15, 2004 09:25 AMBallots counted 1st Count: 898,238
Ballots counted 2nd Count: 898,574
Ballots projected 3rd Count: 899,169
King County will have counted 931 more ballots, not votes - ballots - in the 3rd count v the 1st count. Now picture in your head 931 ballots (or almost 1,000 people standing in line at a polling place). That is a lot of ballots to "misplace", don't you think? If it isn't fraud, it certainly is monumental incompetence on the Democrats controlling the King County elections office.
Posted by: Marc on December 15, 2004 09:28 AMI'm sorry you consider me an idiot. I don't consider you an idiot, if that makes any difference.
But you are saying with 100% certainty no other county has found new ballots with this recount?
I apologize...that question was unfair -- since the answer has been in the public realm for awhile. New ballots were found in Whatcom county where folks found "unopened, uncounted ballots that had earlier been accidentally put in a wrong pile."
Am I still an idiot?
Posted by: tom on December 15, 2004 09:46 AMKitsap
1st count 119,459 ballots
3rd count 119,443 ballots
They actually counted 16 less ballots in 3rd count v 1st count. To be honest, I don't know how you would actually count less ballots on the 3rd count unless 16 ballots in the 1st count were double counted.
tom - Point taken. I apologize.
Posted by: Marc on December 15, 2004 09:53 AM
That's true...the events in the Ukraine are the result of outside interference, combined with short experience in democratic processes.
King County, on the other hand, suffers from some combination of incompetence and corruption.
It isn't fair to the Ukraine to comapre them with King County.
Posted by: South County on December 15, 2004 10:07 AMI see, in my mind's eye,"There's a putsch on I-205, so be careful!"
I think, "Just what Ukraine County needs!!!"
Do these people have no shame???
Posted by: Mac on December 15, 2004 10:09 AMThe Kitsap votes that went for Rossi were ballots had been rightly secured during the entire countiing period as they should have been. The reason why they were not counted in the first two counts is that the optical scan reader machines did not pick up faint pencil lines where voters had used the wrong writing implement to make a mark dark enough for the scanners to read.
There's a big difference between that and finding ballots in the side bins of the counting machines and other unsecured places. Especially in such large numbers. One could understand a ballot here or there, but 600! That's just amazing. How can King County prove that all of these newly "found" ballots were not placed there by soomeone who wanted to sway the election, after Nov. 2nd?
Ron Sims and Dean Logan have to go. If nothing else, there's been gross mismangement of the elections process in King County.
I believe that an independent and careful review of all ballots after this election will also show that there was a lot of fraud involved.
If she wins, Gregoire will be Governor of Ukring County only. The rest of WA is not going to forget this in 2006 or 2008.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 15, 2004 10:19 AMThank you.
Posted by: tom on December 15, 2004 10:21 AMI haven't heard about the epidemic growth in Euphrata or Quincy lately...
I doubt I'll be seeing any sort of 80 story skyscraper in Index anytime soon.
I'd be in favor of letting you all secede. Heck, hasn't there been an ongoing effort to chop the eastern half of the state off into it's own state of "Lincoln" or "Columbia"?
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 10:25 AMThe Republican party needs to get a court order to stop the counting of the 595 new so-called "ballots" now. The Supreme Court
held that they were invalid. Only Democrats quoted in the PI said they were valid.
Actually, you people in Washington elected Locke and Cantwell and McDermott and Murray--so you really proved long ago that you deserve this crap. You drove away the Boeing brass, and you will say goodbye someday to Microsoft and Starbucks, too.
Posted by: FedUpWithThis on December 15, 2004 10:37 AMHurdle isn't so high, now, is it?
Gregoire may like what she is seeing, but she has no direct effect on the Ukrainian ballot-finding exercise. She's probably embarrassed. After all, she was the AG, wasn't she? She must have some respect for the law, mustn't she?
Posted by: Mac on December 15, 2004 10:40 AMThat way, all you hippie leftist types could enact whatever lunacy into law that you like. And the rest of us would have a great time watching the freak show and laughing as you plunge into marxist economic oblivion.
Or, you could just move to Canada. I'll buy you a plane/bus ticket - just promise to never come back, please.
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 10:43 AMPlease stop arguing about counting votes. Democrats don't care about votes, or counting votes. They care about stealing an election--or, to be more precise, seizing power, like Castro did in Cuba.
Posted by: FedUpWithThis on December 15, 2004 10:49 AM"Two members of the federal election assistance Commission will be in King and Snohomish counties Wednesday to observe the ongoing manual recount of ballots. The commission was established after the problems with ballot counting that occurred in Florida in the 2000 presidential election."
I wonder if one of these two Fed observers will be Jimmy Carter? He did a good job of white washing the corrupt elections in Venezuela that allowed Hugo Chavez to keep his dictatorship there. I see no reason why he can't help the Democrats in King County do the same.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 15, 2004 10:55 AMThe remainder of WA is relatively sane, on balance, and would be better off without you.
Right, and you'd have the ever so sane and balanced Ellen Craswell as governor.
*Shudders*
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 10:55 AMThe board is deciding whether to add 595 ballots that elections officials said mistakenly went uncounted until now.
The ballots could be added to the hand recount now under way. With 32 of 39 counties reporting, Republican Dino Rossi has a net gain of 64 votes over Democrat Christine Gregoire.
The seven remaining counties have about 70 percent of the nearly 2.9 million votes in the state.
Rossi said the discovery of uncounted ballots in King County should be investigated, calling it too much of a coincidence. Rossi won the original count in the Washington governor's race by 261 votes. He won the machine recount by 42.
Christine Gregoire said the late discovery of ballots in King County shows the system is working. She said the whole purpose of the recount is to find mistakes and correct them.
http://www.kirotv.com/politics/3999346/detail.html
Posted by: Dan on December 15, 2004 10:57 AMthat county that couldn't do a thing if it weren't for the rest of the state supplying our tax dollars to build their sports stadiums, and ferries...
but whatever....people in the rest of the unimportant parts of the state live where they live because they want to, like to, and are relatively safe in doing so...
but , as to the new ballots and the ideas of sims and logan losing jobs....who are you people kidding?
this is a planned corruption of our election and these two will probably be promoted...
hope Sims doens't think about state wide office again...
hope Logan never has to seek real world employment...
I agree that the "new" votes were not in the chain of command and should not be counted at all...
its more than conincidence that the King county, the most important county that it is, is the one finding these ballots....
there will be a price to pay for this....
Posted by: lee on December 15, 2004 10:58 AMAnd I'm a Christian for goodness sake, but I don't enjoy having religion forced on anyone.
She was a loon.
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 11:10 AMGary Locke (D) 806,208
Ellen Craswell (R) 699,404
Just sayin'.
Posted by: Jay on December 15, 2004 11:14 AMhttp://tinyurl.com/3omxd
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 15, 2004 11:17 AMThe King County canvassing board decides Wednesday afternoon whether 595 disputed ballots should be included in the recount for Washington's governor. 22 more uncounted ballots were found late Tuesday; the 595 ballots could be enough to reverse Dino Rossi's lead over Christine Gregoire, which stands at 106 votes.
Wouldn't this afternoon be a good time for a rally???? Complete with orange scarves, headbands, armbands, balloons, etc.
Posted by: Mac on December 15, 2004 11:20 AMIf you want to donate money to the state, go right ahead. Make it your favorite charity. But you've never done that, of course.
And what do you mean about Christian stuff being "forced" on people? Are you being forced against your will to attend church? No? Then what Christian teachings don't you like, exactly?
I bet I can guess which one it is!
Posted by: FedUpWithThis on December 15, 2004 11:24 AM"If you want to donate money to the state, go right ahead. Make it your favorite charity. But you've never done that, of course."
Actually I have, but that's another story.
"And what do you mean about Christian stuff being "forced" on people?"
I was referring to Ellen's prophetic (pathetic) campaign slogan that she had "God's plan for Washington State".
Personally, I wouldn't want anyone to solely use their personal religious belief's to devise some plan that is supposedly good for the whole of Washington.
Similarly, I would never want "Allah's Plan for Washington State" or "Zeus's plan for Washington State".
But, if she was elected at that point in time, I would have been FORCED to accept her demi-Godly plan to forcibly inject religion into aspects of the public sector, as was outlined in her plan.
I am not forced to go to Church, which is why I haven't gone in years. Religion to me is a private spiritual matter, I don't need a church or a government to prod me along.
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 11:33 AMGoldy's blown a gasket over at his blog. He's convinced that there's nothing wrong or at all suspicious about finding a whole bunch of ballots 40+ days after the election.
I think he's really worried about the possibility that someone in a position that can make a difference will disqualify these ballots and eliminate the last chance that Gregoire has to create circumstances that would lead to a win.
And "Communist"? Are you referring to the often mis-substituted "Socîalist"? Neither candidates are even close to either term. I've lived in Eugene, Oregon, and visited many times to San Francisco. THERE you will find many people who truly are Socîalist.
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 12:20 PM"Darn good" is not good enough for horseshoes, hand grenades and close elections.
Logan's organization has made a lot of sloppy, obvious mistakes such as totals of supposedly secured ballots that don't match from one night to the next morning and finding a significant number of ballots left in catch basins of vote counting machines, etc.
Someone has to take responsibility for these mistakes. Logan must go, and the Legislature is going to spend a lot of time making Sam Reed's good process a lot better. For as good as Sam's process has been for many counties, it's clearly not strict enough to make King County Elections results credible with voters in a close election.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 15, 2004 12:26 PMWhy do the '595' votes have different explanations of when and how they were found - when they had to be found PRIOR to the lawsuit (the names are on the list of 1500)?
Posted by: Al on December 15, 2004 12:39 PMhttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/politics/webrejectedballots14.html
If this is legal, then what aren't ALL counties required to recanvass ALL rejected ballots? Isn't this specifically against yesterday's WA Supreme Court ruling as well as teh SCOTUS Bush v. Gore ruling?
Posted by: Jim V on December 15, 2004 12:46 PM"Steal the Election!" Ha ha!
"Leningrad!" Tee hee!
I always know to come to Republican websites for the finest in repartee.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 12:50 PM...and no, we've yet to slay anyone. Stay tuned.
Posted by: Julie on December 15, 2004 01:04 PMLOOK AT THE SECRETARY OF STATE WEBSITE. LARRY PHILLIPS HAS 2 VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS ON FILE WITH 2 VERY DIFFERENT SIGNATURES. LOOK AT THE L'S!! HIS BALLOT NEEDS TO BE CAREFULLY SCRUTINIZED AS DOES HIS SINATURE...AND THE POSTMARK FROM WHERE IT WAS MAILED.
WHY IS DEAN LOGAN IN SUCH A HURRY TO HAVE THESE 592 BALLOTS COUNTED???? WHY DOESN'T HE WAITED UNTIL THE VERY END OF THE RECOUNT PROCESS??
Write this down...I'll tell you why...
Because they want these ballots comingle with the other 900,000 ASAP so they cannot be identified in the future. I have personally observed 1 County's recount. They did a fabulous job...but saw firsthand the opportunity for human error (intentional & unintentional). Other Auditors are extremely concerned about the integrity of this Washington election. If they had done what King County has done, they would expect to be recalled. Logan will likely get a promotion!!
The Sims Kingco machine is alive and cookin'.
yes, Mr. Cynical....you are right to ask about the happenstance of why suddenly extra ballots are being found, and why the IMPORTANT county of King wants them washed in with the rest...
there is a foul odor coming from the IMPORTANT county, and it ain't just the dirty streets and harbor.....
but,alas, who are we to question the IMPORTANT county anyway...we're just the peasants serving the KING ...
revolution coming folks...revolution coming....
Posted by: lee on December 15, 2004 01:28 PMWhat's with the inferiority complex? King County is the largest, most prosperous county in the state, by far. King County IS more important by any standard than Spokane County, and Spokane County IS more important than Columbia County. Is this somehow controversial?
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 01:37 PMGet it straight: Gore TRIED to STEAL the election in 2000. The United States Supreme Court stopped him. The Dems are TRYING to STEAL the election in Washington.
Republicans presumptively own all public offices, and Democrats can only take them through theft.
Now that we have that out of the way, in my unpopular view, no one is trying to steal anything from anybody, in Florida or in Washington. We have a close election, and both sides jockey to collect and count the votes favorable to them, and not count the votes favorable to the other side.
Both Washington and Florida were/will be decided by the law, as it should be in an orderly society. I'll live with the results without complaint in Washington, just as I lived with the results in Florida.
But some people (Dems and Reps both) can't deal with law and messy processes - someone's trying to steal, cheat, defraud. Crybabies all.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 01:44 PMThank you for gracing this humble blog with your rapier-like wit and sublime intellect.
How we ever got by without your snotty, condescending guidance will forever be a mystery.
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 01:56 PMThe ballots won't be comingled, dimwit.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 01:57 PMCare to try some snotty condescension on me sometime?
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 01:59 PMNewly minted ballots in Whatcom county give Dino an exta 6 votes overall on his lead.
Posted by: DustinJames on December 15, 2004 02:01 PM1. Why wouldn't they come up with more than they need? 700 would give a nice comfortable margin.
2. Wouldn't it be pretty easy to determine whether the ballots were in fact manufactured in the last 42 days?
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 02:08 PMIf not, why do you think that is?
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 02:13 PMI sincerely hope the Washington State GOP has some sort of game plan, because right now, I don't see it. They seem content to just bend over and take what these crooks are giving out, and that's very disappointing.
Posted by: Jeffrey on December 15, 2004 02:15 PMYou'll get all the bolshevism you can handle there.
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 02:25 PMTwo-party politics are so corrupt that there is really no way of knowing WHO won in Washington or Florida or Ohio or anywhere else. From machine-rigging to bussing in homeless people across state lines to corrupt judges on both sides to bogus challenges to whispered misinformation to unneeded and costly recounts....
You both deserve the miserable government that you have. Thank god I'm Canadian and will be moving back in a few months.
Posted by: Sletan on December 15, 2004 02:33 PMBut I wasn't looking for bolsheviks, I was looking for Democrats. I'll keep looking.
I'm still waiting for my dose of snotty condescension.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 02:33 PM(and if not, I will certainly enjoy reading your very entertaining posts!) Did Stefan hire you to post here?
Posted by: Julie on December 15, 2004 02:39 PMI never saw "The Little Mermaid," so the reference is beyond me - I just rent Michael Moore movies and radical lesbian pornography.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 02:42 PMSletan - have fun in your one party rule sorry excuse for a country. Don't let the door hit your bum on the way out. Please don't come back.
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 02:47 PMReally, can't you do better than that? At least Ukraine County was vaguely topical.
And no, you're incorrect, the phrase "birds of a feather" is used when things (or more generally people) are similar, not identical. The whole phrase is "bird of a feather flock together" meaning birds of a single species. Which leads me to wonder if Democrats hang out with bolsheviks. I'm very confused now.
What don't you like about Canada? Let me guess, you don't like France, either, or Germany, or any other country in Europe. Give me Tennessee or Yakima - that's the heart of civilization, and everyone else is a dirty bolshevik.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 02:55 PMNow who has the one party government?
I don't, in fact, like the current Canadian government. But I'm not talking about partisan ideology here. I'm talking about corruption and an appalling lack of standardization and structural integrity in your electoral system. Have at the ideology of any of Canada's political parties. I might even agree with a point or too. But at least we don't have campaigns and electoral systems that make those in banana republics seem like paragons of integrity.
You've got to live with your government, not me. You yourself are on here to rant, so you must not like something. And the Democrats I know are as virulent as you. You and your "Bolshevik" crap and the Demos and their silly "Fascist" crap.... Don't you guys realize how facile you look?
No. You don't. Good fuckin' lord.
Posted by: Sletan on December 15, 2004 03:03 PMWSGOP does have a gameplan. However, it is difficult to push forward with lawsuits about the ballots since Rossi has been elected Governor. They cannot at this point prove that he has been harmed by the Democrat's shenanigans.
As things tighten up and if and when those 573 mystery ballots are put into the mix, the GOP will start rolling out the lawsuits just like the Democrats.
Christine G:
Could you please explain what you mean by "most prosperous county in the state"?
Your statement that King County is more important "by any standard" than Spokane County reminds me of a little quote:
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." --Proverbs 16:18
King County is no more important than any other county. If you believe that it is, then you must accept that Washington State is not very important and that Texas and Florida, among others, are more important and will always receive more favorable treatment.
Ready to admit that you are low on the totem pole?
Posted by: Larry on December 15, 2004 03:04 PMwww.democraticunderground.com
where else would demon rats hide, but underground?
Posted by: Julie on December 15, 2004 03:15 PMDid you have the chapter and verse of the quote memorized, or did you need to look it up?
King County is not at the top of the totem pole, no. I think New York and California are more important than Washington, and probably Texas as well. I have no problem with that. Why should I?
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 03:16 PMI wondered if there was a local webblog for democrats similar to this one. Something at least focused on Washington State. I can find DemocraticUnderground, Buzzflash, MediaMatters, and Democrats.com on my own. I am not looking for a newspaper. I'm not looking for Dan Rather or Wolf Blitzer. I'm not looking for AirAmerica. I'm not looking for a movie or grafitti.
I am looking for a WEBBLOG that covers LOCAL politics from a Democratic perspective.
Since I never saw "The Little Mermaid" I will assume the comparison is to Ursula Andress.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 03:21 PMI asked you a question: Could you please explain what you mean by "most prosperous county in the state"?
Do you have a problem following directions, much like Democrats do when they fill out their ballots?
To answer yours: I did need to look up the chapter and verse. Thanks for asking such a meaningless question!
I never said you should have a problem with thinking that certain states/counties are more/less important. Personally, I think that a harbinger of a shallow mind, that's all.
Posted by: Larry on December 15, 2004 03:25 PMAs for those Cannucks and Euros, they are just mad that we put an end to the sweetheart deals they had with Saddam. They'll get over it.
I also urge D's such as yourself to keep insulting people in places like Yakima and Tennessee. That way we will never have to worry about another Democrat ever becoming President again.
And wow, did we get off topic or what?
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 03:26 PMI thought that "most prosperous" was self-explanatory. However, I meant that it generates the largest amount of income. I imagine that it is most prosperous on a per capita basis, but I would need to look it up.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 03:31 PMI didn't know the Canadians had a cut of the oil for food scandal, but I'll take your word for it. Is that why you don't care for the entire country?
I hadn't realized I had insulted Yakima and Tennessee.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 03:34 PMI hope these posts have contained just enough condescension to suffice. I'm outta here.
Posted by: Larry on December 15, 2004 03:48 PMMy main issue with Canadia is their lack of cooperation with the Iraq war. They think this will exempt them from terrorism somehow, apparently having forgotten that the Islamists are still mad at them for helping us in Afghanistan. They should hope that they won't need our help anytime soon.
Also, any nation as obsessed with hockey as they are can't be quite right, and their beer tastes skunky.
I don't know if they were in on the oil for food scandal, but certainly many Euros were. My error on that one - I should have distinguished them from the Euros on that issue.
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 03:52 PMNo where did I say or imply that "might makes right." I hope you're outta here because you're rushing off to your logic class.
Kevin S:
Canadian beer is pretty weak. Why isn't it just Canada's choice to oppose the Iraq war? As it turned out, there were no WMDs. So, wouldn't that be a reasonable basis for a sovereign nation to decline to join the "coalition"? It is a legitimate decision, isn't it?
Ok, so I'm condescending to Yakima and Tennessee. Small town life has virtues, I'm sure, but high culture and cutting edge industries are seldom among them.
I'm condescending when I note this, and yet conservatives from little towns will bash the French, the Germans, New York City, and every center of wealth and culture on the planet as a bunch of corrupt, socia1ist, spineless leeches. You may find my take on it rude, but to suggest that Tennessee has the correct political and economic remedies for this world and that New York, London, and Paris don't is laughable - but that is exactly what I hear from the red state/red county people. It makes them sound backward, because they are elitist about their insularity.
Posted by: Christine G on December 15, 2004 04:10 PMThanks, though, for the spirited discussion. I always enjoy a little hardball political combat.
Chat with you some other time, hopefully.
Have a nice evening :)
Posted by: Kevin S on December 15, 2004 04:30 PMOh, sorry! The pay-offs are on hold until January, you say! Yeah, Tell me another funny one!
Posted by: leaddog2 on December 16, 2004 10:05 AMPerhaps it was in Tennessee that the basic techinque was developed: As a young man in the 1930s and 40s, my father worked for the Democratic political machine in Memphis.
On Election Day his job was to be driven from precinct to precinct to vote the dead people, and he was so skilled at this that he picked up the nickname "Tombstone O'Leary*"
The stories were confirmed many times by his buddies that drove him around, the Memphis police!
Regards from Florida
(*last name changed)
Posted by: John on December 28, 2004 12:27 PM