Or maybe automatically declared the winner! Consider all possibilities, bup, before you really settle down to enjoy yourself!
Godwin’s Law, as I understand it, does not say “the first debater to Godwinize loses,” but simply, “arguments will get Godwinized,” i.e., there is always a temptation in political debate to compare something about your opponent, or about the object of the discussion, to something about Hitler and the Nazis. And while that can get annoying, it is not always inappropriate! No form of American conservatism really resembles Naziism (except for the actual American Nazis, and they don’t matter), and Bush is no Hitler (has neither the brains nor the imagination to be) – but some of the peope he’s been taking advice from over the past four years are just as cynical, cold, opportunistic and megalomaniacal as the Nazis ever were. OTOH, some have a tendency to Godwinize Pat Buchanan, because he’s strongly opposed to American support for Israel, and because he wrote a book arguing the U.S. should have stayed out of the European theater of WWII and let Hitler do his thing; but that’s inappropriate – Buchanan holds these views, not because he’s a fascist or an antisemite, but because he’s a paleoconservative and an isolationist.
My guess: Soon they will release new “evidence” that Saddam was in cahoots with al-Qa‘idah or other terrorists. Another lame attempt to justify the Iraq invasion.
Bush’s fellow conspirators in the 2000 have been caught. Some of them have lost court cases, like the people who ginned up that fake “felon list” for Florida. So the idea that evil Republicans isn’t some Democratic paranoid fantasy, it’s just a reasonable prognostication based on the behavior of Republicans in the last election. It would be stupid of us to think the Republicans would change their venal, scummy behavior when they won the White House with it in 2000.
Anyone else going to point out there’s no mention of gunfire in the article Brutus cited? The article says a crows of people ransacked the office, drew graffiti on some posters, and dumped some letters on the floor. Two people (apparently protestors) received minor injuries.
Brutus might not have cited it, but there is a bbq pit thread about stuff like this. I’m pretty sure I remember reading a link in that thread. While no democrat offices have been shot at (yet?), there have been other hijinks. The fun goes both ways this year. Good to see americans so passionate about an election.
As for Karl, I’m not sure he can pull anything this year. With the election as close as it is, there are a lot of eyes on it and a lot of people ready to write away on any tactic deemed questionable. If it works Bush could win, or it could backfire and cost him the election. Even something minor like raising the terror alert could go against the president considering how the media has even picked up some of its “news” from the blogosphere.
Think of it like football (american). With a few seconds left in the fourth you are down by one after getting a touchdown. You can go for the extra point and tie the game and go into OT, or you can go for the two point conversion and lose the game if you fail.
Of course, if this election goes into overtime, I’m moving to a good dark cave to live out the remainder of my life as a hermit.
I allowed my frustration to get the better of me with my posts above. I grow weary of the antics of both sides as the election approaches. Each party is reacting to the actions of the other in a continual downward spiral of behavior and rhetoric. Anyone who thinks that their side is blameless needs to take off those partisan sunglasses and emerge, blinking and confused, into the sunshine of the real world.
I don’t think the Dems are blameless, but I honestly believe the Repubs are promoting out-and-out vote fraud at a national level, and the Dems aren’t. Some Dems at a local level are getting up to hi-jinks, but with Karl Rove’ track record wrt dirty tricks and vote fraud, and what that implies about Bush himself and his other advisors, the Repub national leadership is just filthy.
The Repubs are so much more active than the Dems that attempts to imply that the Dems and Repubs are equally guilty amount to Repub spin, even if they are not intended as such.
link
Replace the words the president with Democrats and what kind of hell would Fox News, Rush and the Sinclair Broadcasting Group be raising about “special interests” trying steal the 2004 presidential election?
Another factor putting a crimp in an October surprise scenario is that so many people are taking advantage of early voting options this year (in those states where it is allowed).
On the other hand, there was a guest editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today (by a Republican) urging voters NOT to take advantage of early voting. The editorial warned against voting before the voter knows all the facts, and hinted that there might be last-minute revelations which could change a voter’s mind. Hmm.
Is this Republican columnist someone who might have a direct line of communication with Rove? (Most of them wouldn’t, I’m sure, nor would Rove trust them with a secret.)
It is regarded as a (mostly) Democratic paper, and the city of Atlanta itself (as opposed to its suburbs) is heavily Democratic, so the answer is “Yes.”
Checked the link – the columnist’s name is Phil Kent. Never heard of him . . .
Better still, Phil, you should ask why it is that anything that makes it easier to vote – which by definition helps democracy – happens to benefit Democrats more tha Republicans!
While we’re on the subject, all you Demmies had me anticipating cheap gasoline prices in September and October, as a result of the Evil Bush Empire’s deal with the Saudies. Where’s my cheap gas?
And were’s my October surprise? Time grows short, and I don’t want to miss out on my surprise!
Damn; so many conspiracy theories, so few conspiracys. :mad:
Oh, wait! These other things have proved unnecessary because Diebold has rigged every voting machine in the United States. Whew! For a minute there I was afraid y’all had mis-led me with your tales of all these plots and schemes.
Remember all those Hurricanes? They eliminated oil production in the gulf of Mexico. It’s still down by ~25%. Bush dug into the strategic oil reserves, but it wasn’t enough, and there’s still a shortage. No one predicted the Nigerian strike either.
As far as an October surprise, maybe Bush’ll have Steven Hatfill arrested and held as an enemy combatant. America would feel much better knowing that at least one of the masterminds behind the 2001 terror attacks had been brought to justice.
Is this Republican columnist someone who might have a direct line of communication with Rove? (Most of them wouldn’t, I’m sure, nor would Rove trust them with a secret.)