US Politics

Words, Logic and Current Debate

This entry was posted in Information Journalism Language US Politics on by

Some items that may not be in the OED or the Devil’s Dictionary can be found at Ethel the Blog’s Wingnut Debate Dictionary.
An example:

O’Reillyus Interruptus (v): being cut off from making a really good point or argument by a radio or cable TV talk show host. Usually involves being loudly shouted down, having one’s mic cut (if in a studio), or being “potted down” (if calling in to a radio program). Odds of this happening are greatly increased the closer one gets to the truth

Via the Happy Furry Puppy Story.

The Draft?

This entry was posted in US Politics on by

Salon reports:

The community draft boards that became notorious for sending reluctant young men off to Vietnam have languished sinced the early 1970s, their membership ebbing and their purpose all but lost when the draft was ended. But a few weeks ago, on an obscure federal Web site devoted to the war on terrorism, the Bush administration quietly began a public campaign to bring the draft boards back to life.

What is this about? If the bushies are starting to beef up the draft boards how long do you think it will be before they ask congress to activate a draft?
Will congress roll over and play dead? Oops, I forgot, the republican majority are already on their backs and there is little to suggest from the original Iraq vote and the subsequent funding votes that there will be significant democratic opposition.
How soon will the bushies start publically spinning a set of stories to prep folks for a draft? And will there be special events to support the argument?
Via Not Geniuses. Also see this.

Electonic Voting

This entry was posted in Democracy Election 2004 Technology US Politics on by

Ken MacLeod doesn’t have a high opinion of unverifiable touchscreen voting:

Touchscreen voting with no verifiable paper trail is to real voting what McJobs are to real jobs. You don’t have votes, you have McVotes.
This is something that you wouldn’t put in a science fiction novel, unless it was a blatant knock-about satire – you know, some squib about a world where Mickey Mouse runs for Governor of Florida, or Arnold Schwartznegger for Governor of California. It’s too unbelievable. A good editor would call it a plot hole.

You shouldn’t either.

Campaign Tactics

This entry was posted in bush Iraq US Politics War on Terrorism on by

I’m not sure this is any worse then sending that fax via the ACLU or other group trying to make it easy for people to express their support for some issue:

A series of letters to hometown newspapers, purportedly written by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, contain identical language, according to the Gannett News Service. The letters praise the U.S. effort to rebuild the war-torn Mideast nation.

Except that, though some soldiers agreed with the letters, they did not know they were being sent on their behalf and in other cases letters appear to be completely made up.