Andrew Warner

While the Enquirer may not include their best series in their online edition, I can certainly type out the Q & A here.

The issue: More than 800,000 Ohio workers in both the private and the public sectors pay monthly dues to labor unions.

Watson Martin of Wyoming asks: If elected, will you support the enactment of a Right to Work law for the state of Ohio so that workers may not be forced to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment?

Bob Fitrakis: No. The Right to Work law is the right to work for a lower wage, a right to be exploited, and a right to allow a few corporate multi-millionaires to control a worker's fate. Soulless corporations are loyal only to profit and think nothing of taking advantage of slave labor in Communist China, Ohio needs stronger and more active unions this global economy – workers build the wealth of Ohio.

Blackwell also said "no" and started talking about his "plan" and how he wants to get rid of prevailing wages. Ted Strickland blew off the question and gave only a few words for his answer:

No. I don't believe the question accurately describes the current state of labor relations in Ohio.

Bill Peirce, consistent with his belief in the idea of pure "freedom," was the only candidate to give a yes answer.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

The media ignores him because he doesn't serve the same corporate master. Ted Strickland and the Democrats marginalize him out of fear that real progressive ideas will actually be heard by voters who want a real progressive candidate. Ken Blackwell pretends he doesn't exist because, well, Fitrakis wants to throw him in jail where he belongs.

That being said, the responsibility falls entirely on us poor individuals to prop up the only progressive campaign in this year's race for the Governor's mansion.

I've talked to a small handful of people on the phone this morning who are willing to match the $50 donation I am going to drop in the Fitrakis campaign wallet tonight around ten o'clock.

Hopefully there are enough of you out there in cyberland that are as angry with the bias and discrimination of the corporate media and the democracy-hating mainstream candidates that you will help us get the Fitrakis campaign off the ground with a few of your hard earned dollars. Otherwise, it is going to be another election where ideas like single-payer healthcare and living wages won't even be whispered.

Keep in mind, the state of Ohio will credit dollar for dollar any amount you donate up to $50 ($100 for a joint return) so it's not even losing money – it's just like you're putting it away for a rainy day in April.

This isn't the mighty Daily Kos and we will not be king makers (that obviously goes without saying), but every dollar does make an impact. Every piece of literature, bumper sticker, sign and advertisement comes with a price – we need to help foot the bill if we care about progressive politics.

Click here to make a donation – ANY amount will help the campaign.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland have announced their strenuous debate schedule that includes a stop in Cincinnati.

Not included in the debates, as usual, are the more interesting third party candidates Bill Peirce and Bob Fitrakis.

The Enquirer notes the objections:

Two third-party candidates, Libertarian Bill Peirce and Green Party candidate Bob Fitrakis, have objected to being excluded.

Blackwell and Strickland have been mum as to why they refuse to include their non-corporate counterparts so we can only assume that it is their hatred of democracy and their lack of interest in what non-corporate, active citizens have to say. I'm sure no matter which major party candidate is elected, this tradition will carry over into their policy.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Spineless Democrats have been touting their "victory" over Ralph Nader by forcing him to pay over $80,000 due to "massive fraud" uncovered in his 2004 campaign for President.

Did anyone else find it odd that with all the fraud and complete BS that happens in our elections process, Ralph Nader is seemingly the first to be held financially accountable?

Moreover, what constitutes the "massive fraud" he was convicted of? Mark Brown has all the answers in an op-ed for Jurist, but I will do my best to highlight his points (though the whole thing should still be read).

Why was Ralph Nader kicked off the ballot in PA? Does anyone remember? Was massive signature fraud the original argument made by the persecutors of democracy?

The Commonwealth Court’s initial rationale for removing Nader from the ballot was his endorsement by the Reform Party of Florida. Given this endorsement, the court reasoned, Nader could not credibly claim to be an independent in Pennsylvania. The court next ruled that Nader’s running mate, Peter Miguel Camejo, who was registered with the Green Party of California, knowingly filed a false affidavit claiming to be an independent in Pennsylvania.

So no, it wasn't "massive fraud" the first time around. It was the fact that he was endorsed by the Reform Party of Florida – that makes a lot of sense. That effort failed and the "massive fraud," house of cards argument was born:

“[a] review of the tables and exhibits attached to the order … suggest[s] that the problem was of a more limited scale (for example, 687 signatures out of 51,273 reviewed--or approximately 1.3% of the signatures--were rejected on the basis of having been forged).”

Out of nearly 52,000 signatures, the massive fraud that is being discussed is a mere 687 signatures – hardly a drop in the bucket compared to the ridiculous total the campaign was forced to collect. Brown clears up that Nader's problems, not all that dissimilar to any campaign's problems, were hinged upon technicalities. Brown writes:

Including information (like dates and addresses) “written in [the] hand of another,” was a common reason for striking signatures. Almost 8,000 signatures were cancelled for this reason. Almost 9,000 signatures were thrown out because otherwise qualified electors—who could vote—were not registered on the day they signed Nader’s petition. More than 6,000 signatures were invalidated because the addresses provided did not precisely match those on the voting roles. Nearly 2,000 signatures were ruled invalid because information was missing. This is hardly the stuff of massive fraud, as alleged by President Judge Colins.

The column continues with other crucial points:

1) There is no precedent set where major candidates have been thrown off the ballot for the actions of voters. This is clear evidence that for some reason, Ralph Nader is receiving special treatment at the hands of these judges.

2) The highest invalidity rate for Nader's signatures was just over 50% (not unheard of in non-fraudulent campaigns) and one judge even found that 79% of the signatures submitted on behalf of Ralph Nader were valid.

And the song and dance goes on.

Ralph Nader is not just a credit to the entire system of democracy, he is a symbol of the way independent, non-corporate politics are treated in our country. Obviously, this breed of politics is unwelcome as it is constantly and openly discriminated against by those who refuse to loosen their stranglehold of our injured country (corporations and all the politicians they own) – especially Democrats worried that a real progressive may "siphon votes" from their shell of a party.

Accepting court decisions like the one made against the Nader/Camejo campaign is an embarrassment to America and the Constitution that has allowed this country to flourish. If we don't put a stop to this type of persecution, we will be stuck choosing between tweedle dee and tweedle dumb until the country finally implodes.

While undercutting a political opponent and exploiting the lack of justice in our country may seem like a victory to the Democratic Party, it is certainly a crippling blow to our country and the hope that we may one day have a functioning, democratic environment.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments   

HB 613 has been proposed in an effort strengthen animal rights in the great state of Ohio. The bill is long overdue:

From Peta:

The bill would make the torture, mutilation, beating, poisoning, or needless killing of a companion animal a felony on the first offense; such crimes are currently only misdemeanors. The bill would also require children younger than 15 who commit such crimes to undergo psychological evaluation and counseling.

Please do the right thing and click here to e-mail your state representative. It is an easy form that only needs your personal information to target your representative.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Sorority girls across the country have dropped their pillows and have begun to celebrate that the awkward phone call to the doctor on a Saturday morning is a thing of the past.

The morning after pill is set to be sold without a prescription.

The news isn't all good though: Girls and boys under the age of 18 are still expected to come clean to their parents and call their doctors under the suspicion that one may have slipped past the goalie. In a move to discourage youth promiscuity (I assume), the FDA still plans on forcing teenagers to obtain a prescription – not a good move if the ultimate goal is eliminating unwanted pregnancies and full-scale abortions.

This pill should be as accessible as condoms. But they're not going to make it that easy.

Aside from all the bureaucratic hurdles, there is an army of morally charged pharmacists ready to make sure women will have an abortion by refusing them not only birth control now, but Plan B (the catchy title for the morning after pill) as well.

Like a janitor who refuses to mop a floor, a fast food worker who refuses to drop the fries, or a baseball player who refuses to use a bat, these pharmacists should be fired. If the profession has gone in a direction that they can't handle, they have my personal blessing to resign in protest, but they have no right to pick and choose which clients they can serve or which products are moral.

Save those sexist judgments for church.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments   

I've got mine. Get yours as the Reds make a run at the playoffs (9/12-9/14 against the Padres)!

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Chad Edwards of the Appalachian Greens Blog writes:

Two Pennsylvania Green candidates have withdrawn their names from the Pennsylvania ballot because they can't afford the legal representation needed to defend themselves against a lawsuit filed by the state's Democratic Party to have them forceably removed from the ballot. Marakay Rogers (governor) and Christina Valente (lieutenent governor) will not be on the ballot this year.

Carl Romanelli, PA Green Party senatorial candidate, is still combating the lawsuit as far as I know.

So this is crashing the gate: out with Joe Lieberman and in with Bob Casey. Despite what all the political pundits tell us, I doubt Hillary Clinton will have anything to worry about in 2008

The Democrats make a lot more noise with their dictatorship-like actions than with the lip service they give us about "rocking the vote."

Thank you Democratic Party for being so vigilant in spreading democracy not only throughout the world, but within our own borders. Your party is a real credit to the political process.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments   

For those who haven't noticed, the Cincinnati bus system is finally taking the plunge into the 21st century.

First the bus system made the progressive and environmentally sound decision to switch to biodiesel. This made the Cincinnati bus system the largest user of biodiesel fuel in the country – not exactly something you would expect from an area that has become known for its championing conservative causes, waging war against homosexuals, and electing presidents like George W.

Of course throughout the past week our local news has been crammed with news about the "new" government square opening. This was a sizable investment for the hub of our transit system brought about by too many people getting hit by buses (or something of that nature).

But that's just the news that has been reported on.

SORTA has been trying to undergo a massive facelift as some may have noticed by a few buses that have been covered with bright green coloring and the new SORTA tag-line: "GO METRO."

The new website is due up any day now – it should be a sizable improvement. My favorite addition, and one that I have been advocating for quite some time, is the personalized trip planner.

Metro, for those who aren't regular riders, is confusing. I've seen PhDs stumble through route maps without being able to figure out how to get from point A to point B. I've known people who would prefer to pay insane parking fees downtown than figure out which bus to catch. This may be coming to an end with the trip planner.

I'm hoping that it will be comparable to Google Maps or Map Quest so that people can type in their starting and destination addresses and figure out exactly which bus to ride, at what time, and how much it will cost.

The key with public transportation is getting people to choose to ride it instead of only providing it for people who have to ride it. Making it more convenient and easy to decipher is a huge leap in the right direction. Hopefully the new website will encourage a few more people to leave their car in the garage and burn some soybean oil instead of the usual toxic gasoline.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments   

It seems that Ohio Learn & Earn couldn't lie to enough people to actually collect the signatures they needed.

With paid liars and political henchman like Todd Hoffman on staff, there is, however, no shortage of dishonest solutions. Just forge some! From the PD:

The Summit elections board referred a number of petitions to the sheriff for investigation of fraud. One petition held signatures in the same handwriting. Another bore the names of dead people, officials said.

The campaign, which has oozed class from the beginning, is floundering on center-stage. If somehow they overcome their obvious fraud, lies, and horrendously low validity rate, they still have one more impossible task: Getting the voters to vote for their piece of shit amendment.

In short, the mysterious backers of the proposed amendment wasted a lot of their millions of dollars in an attempt to swindle the state out of millions of more dollars.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Due to a lack of new volunteers, the United States Marines are being forced to dip into their "ready reserves" in order to replenish their ranks.

Ready reserves, for those who don't know, are soldiers who have completed their active duty but are obligated to fight if recalled within about 8 years of signing their life over to Uncle Sam. They could be home for years, out of shape, and at a new job, but the military doesn't worry about the well-being of its soldiers – it's one of the underexplained clauses in a military contract (one of many slimy recruiters are known to gloss over).

Perhaps some of these soldiers, long removed from their active duty, will stand with Lt. Watada and refuse to fight. After all, they have tasted home and may be less willing to give it up.

While this won't cause as much uproar as a draft of citizens, causing soldiers to fight "involuntarily" is not likely to win favor with anyone.

I can only imagine what it's like to serve a 4 year tour of duty in the Middle East counting down the days until you can touch American soil again. Most certainly the days pass slowly when you're living isolated from the country you love so much you're willing to risk your life to protect it. I'm sure there are many soldiers who are almost driven solely by the desire to one day hold their husbands or wives, or take their children to school again. Essentially, returning home is much like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. To have it snatched away from you by a greedy and incompetent president as soon as it is within your grasp is the ultimate slap in the face.

None of that matters to President Bush. In spite of a rising voice in America that is asking for troop withdrawal and an end to the war, he is ripping should-be retired soldiers from their homes to continue to fight his unpopular war. He is increasing troop levels.

As Paul Hackett is known to say, the military has done all it can do in Iraq. It's insulting to pull these people away from their lives when those that have been on the front lines (many are running for office) are saying that there is nothing more to be accomplished by our military.

(hat tip to Cincy Nation)

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Please bear with me while I continue to work through some technical difficulties the site is having.

Hopefully I will be able to return to my regular rate of posting in the near future.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Apparently Miami (Oxford), along with ivy league elite Harvard University, offers free tuition to low income families.

That's a start. The first step towards joining the ranks of other civilized democracies who make it a point to offer free education to everyone.

Democracy, in order to not be considered a failure, does demand a certain level of intelligence from its participants. While offering free education would in no way guarantee an "intelligent" electorate, it will certainly help to level the playing field. Even the best of minds will wither away if left unused.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Coincidence after coincidence, fact after fact.



Another of many skeptical looks at 9/11.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments   

To stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it. – from the Seattle PI.

Ann Coulter will accuse him of bedding other men on otherwise lonely nights in his barracks. Jerry Falwell will damn him to hell for his clear lack of patriotism. And yes, I'm sure Cindy Sheehan will show up somewhere along the line and hug him.

One solider, Lt. Ehren Watada, seems prepared to accept any and all consequences related to his, what I would call very brave, act of defiance.

The defense is simple, yet bold: A soldier does not have to follow his President when his President is asking him to break the law. While Watada, like any soldier, swore an oath of allegiance to the United States of America he is only willing to break it because President Bush is willing to abuse it.

President Bush is all too eager to turn our soldiers, brave patriots, into his personal henchmen while he sits at home and cuts deals to profit off their sacrifice.

Who can argue with the Lieutenant?

The argument that will no doubt be presented by the Lieutenant's critics:

"His behavior is dishonorable, and it is disgraceful," Kuecker said.

Kuecker is the prosecuting attorney in the case and his assertion seems to be that a soldier must have blind and unflinching obedience to the President regardless of what is asked of the soldier. My question to him is simple: How far should we take such a creed?

Perhaps Kuecker sanctions the President's war because it is only Innocent Iraqis that are being killed by the thousands. Their skin is darker and they pray in Arabic (to many that is enough to consider them another species). Would Kuecker present the same argument if President Bush asked our soldiers to turn their guns on Canadians, the British, or even protesters on American soil? How far does the blind obedience go? When can a soldier disagree?

Whatever justifications we have now for our continued involvement in Iraq, the original reasons we started the war are now invalid, either by lie or poor intelligence (depending on which side of the aisle you are on). Yet our soldiers remain. They are separated from their families and friends and facing death more times than I care to think about.

For all of those who believe in peace, justice, and the law, Lt. Watada gives us hope. No man, especially a President, is above the law. W is out of line when he asks young men to follow him blindly on his wild goose chase wars (fighting abstract concepts like "terror"). And while they will certainly tell us that Lt. Watada is "dishonorable," or "disgraceful," keep in mind it is the same people making these claims that sit far away on the sidelines and play with these soldiers lives like a game of Risk.

It is my hope that more soldiers will lay down their guns alongside this brave lieutenant who dares to question King George and his motivations. It is only through refusing to fight in an unjust war that our soldiers will teach the Rumsfelds and the Bushs to respect their lives, as well as the lives of the Iraqi people, again.

Lt. Watada is not a soldier who won't fight. He is a soldier who is finally fighting the good fight.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments   

In a move that has price-gouging ISP providers quivering in fear, Google has launched it's first FREE WI-FI service.

The wireless service is completely and totally free. Google claims they have no intention of spreading the program across the country, but instead wanted to simply prove how easy and affordable the installation of municipal wi-fi is. Setting up the network cost Google about $1 million and took a total of 5 months to build.

They're teaming up with Earthlink and the city of San Francisco to build a similar, only much larger, network in America's most progressive and forward-thinking city. This adds one more reason, aside from excellent public transportation and an incredible acceptance of diversity, for people to want to pack up and settle out west.

Community wireless is an important issue and more than an unnecessary luxury – it is a matter of social justice. The internet is a wealth of information and a source of continual education, but only to those who can afford it. Every city should take a long, hard look at what Google is doing and mimic this program.

Lifting the burden of $45/month is good for everyone. Moreover, Google has proven that it is possible, affordable, and even profitable. Hopefully Cincinnati will fall in line.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Wal-Mart can point all the fingers they want, but the loss of profit speaks for itself.

People are learning the truth about the kind of business the company does and they don't want to support that type of irresponsibility with their hard-earned dollars.

As the word gets out, it's only going to get worse for Wal-Mart. Maybe it's time they WAKE UP!.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Sadly for Phil Burress, Tom Brinkman, and the CCV, Cincinnati will not be able to slide back into the stone age this fall.

The anti-gay group trying to repeal the "special rights" of the gay community not to be discriminated against has had to scratch from the race in November due to a touch of fraud.

What does this mean?

"This shows how much the city has changed," said Gary Wright, co-chairman of a group called Citizens to Restore Fairness, which is in favor of protecting gays. "This is a very important victory and is exactly the outcome we were looking for."

And what does Phil Burress think?

"Our own investigation revealed one person forged some names," Burress said. "It was quite obvious. So we immediately said, that's not right. It's a shame it went on this long, but we're sorry the people aren't going to be permitted to vote in this issue."

Yeah, it's a real shame we can't legislate hate this fall.

It's refreshing to see the world is going in a new direction and not even the all mighty "Values Voters" can keep their hate on the books. It gives me hope that we are going to do better in the future.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments   

You may not like the cause he is working for - but you step way over the line attacking him personally like this. Have you even met him or talked to him ? My estimation of you just went down to zero. What-a-jerk.

–Russell Hughlock, aka "staff" of the BSB lecturing on how inappropriate it is to criticize campaign staff.

It must be a hard fall of that high horse: Today an entire post was dedicated to attacking, personally, Ken Blackwell's staff blogger (via facebook profile of all things).

Saying one thing and doing another – a staple of any establishment loving Democrat. Has "staff" ever even met this blogger or talked to him?

What-a-jerk.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments   

In a post titled "Pragmatism is Another Word for Cowardice," Bob Fitrakis further answers criticism about his most controversial platform point:

Help me stand up to George W. Bush. As governor of Ohio I will issue an executive order as commander in chief of the Ohio National Guard to prohibit the further deployment of Ohioans to Iraq. I’ve been criticized on the web by so-called pragmatic Democrats. A better word for them is unprincipled. The Democratic Party, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are equally responsible for the illegal war and the deaths of 100,000 citizens in Iraq. If Democrats would be more principled, and less pragmatic, 100,000 innocent Iraqis would be alive and the United States would not be hated throughout the Middle East.

This comes on the heels of a brief interview he did for andrewwarner.org where he was lambasted by ModernEsquire for thinking outside of the box.

This point is not exclusive to this argument by any means. This discussion highlights the basic difference between Greens/progressives and modern Democrats. It highlights the question that every progressive must wrestle with while we remain the minority: How much ground do we give in the name of so-called "compromise"?

Bob is right on – as usual. Some things, illegal war being one of those things, are just not open to compromise.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The first step to recovery, as they say, is realizing you have a problem. George Voinovich, perhaps later than we would hope, is finally facing up to one of America's biggest problems:

The simplest answer, said the Ohio Republican, is that business owners like Kabel end up footing part of the health-care bill for the uninsured through higher premiums and higher taxes for programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Who would have thought?

This idea may seem groundbreaking to Senator Voinovich, but proponents of SPANOhio, and universal health care in general, have been saying this for quite some time. Green candidate for Governor Bob Fitrakis, while speaking to a Democracy for Cincinnati crowd, analyzed in detail how struggling companies as big as GM would be in the black if the United States joined countless other western democracies and implemented universal health care.

So why are Republicans beginning to discuss the need to help the little guy take his children to the doctor? Is it their love of the average, hard-working American?

"The private sector is paying a price for the fact that we have an inefficient system," Voinovich said.

While Republicans may not concern themselves with promoting social justice, they certainly take action when they see sagging profits.

Their motivation means little to me. What is important is that more people are able to seek medical attention when they are sick. I'm glad the GOP is finally joining the conversation the rest of us have been having while they have been busy trying to keep Adam and Steve away from the altar.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments   

The calls and demands for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have begun picking up again. The increasingly hopeless situation in Iraq indicates that this trend will continue, especially as the debate becomes more heated in the months leading up to mid-term elections. Bush will have to make a decision soon: stand by his man and take the heat for his incompetent tenure at the DoD, or, accept/demand Rumsfeld's resignation. Given the fact that Bush is extremely loyal and loathes to make changes in his administration, it seems to me that the only way Rumsfeld will be asked to leave is if Bush Rove can find a way to gain from the move politically. The most obvious, and perhaps most effective way to do so would be to turn Rumsfeld into the ultimate scapegoat.

Imagine these republican talking points:

Invading Iraq wasn't a mistake, it was just mishandled by Rumsfeld

Afghanistan wouldn't be falling apart right now if Rumsfeld had done his job effectively.

With Rumsfeld and his incompetence out of the way we can now turn things around in Iraq

Here is a small taste of what congress and retired generals have been saying about "Rummy" lately:

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R):

"I've made no bones about it the last two years," Davis told members of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society of Military Comptrollers on Thursday. "He's probably a nice guy, but I don't think he's a great secretary of defense."

Joe Lieberman:

"Rumsfeld serves at the pleasure of the President. But, I can tell you this, if I were President, I would say "Thank you, but we need some new leadership at the Pentagon."

Hillary Clinton:

"I just don't understand why we can't get new leadership that would give us a fighting chance to turn the situation around before it's too late," the New York Democrat and potential 2008 presidential contender said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think the president should choose to accept Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation."

"The secretary has lost credibility with the Congress and with the people," she said. "It's time for him to step down and be replaced by someone who can develop an effective strategy and communicate it effectively to the American people and to the world."

Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton:

accused the Defense secretary of "ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.... I have seen a climate of groupthink become dominant and a growing reluctance by experienced military men and civilians to challenge the notions of the senior leadership." General Eaton was in charge of training Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004.

Now we all know that Bush is an extremely loyal guy. Probably one of the only things he values more that his loyalty is the republican majority in Congress that allows him to do whatever he pleases. But the simple truth of the matter is this: Rumsfeld represents the ultimate scapegoating opportunity for the white house. Just as Michael Brown was blamed for the grossly inadequate federal response to Katrina, Rumsfeld will likely be blamed for failures in Afghanistan and Iraq.

My question is this. Should we prepare for the possibility of the Bush administration taking this approach, and if so, how?

Posted by Josh at 4:40 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Talib Kweli from Brooklyn, NY – by way of Cincinnati – with his new video:



Good things are happening in hip-hop and Talib is one of the biggest reasons for the rebirth of the culture that made the genre so appealing in the first place. Contrast the message of this song and video with the average track you hear on the WIZ or BET...

Damn corporate media (and not the Enquirer this time).

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments   

I caught wind of a progressive event that's coming up quickly... Stay tuned for the details.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

American soccer made waves in the international community when the MLS All-Stars defeated English Premier League champions Chelsea.

MLS didn't stop there. Aging heartthrob David Beckham (who yes, does still play soccer) brought his internationally renowned club Real Madrid to Seattle, Washington to square off against MLS' finest, DC United. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw.

The situation looked bleak for United States soccer after not being able to score one goal in the World Cup, but us Americans aren't all together talentless after-all.

Not to forget, the exhibition game between DC United and David Beckham in Seattle drew a crowd of nearly 60,000 people – and that was with only 16 days in advance to sell tickets.

A great man once proposed that Cincinnati should stop missing out on this international fanfare and just buy an MLS team. Maybe the city will take him up on that soon.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Via, Ezra, MIT is Taking the lead on researching alternative energy solutions.

Solar cells made from spinach. Algae-based biofuel fattened on greenhouse gas. Plasma-powered turbo engines. These are just some of the technologies being developed by a Manhattan Project-style research effort for new energy technologies at MIT.

Scientists at MIT are undertaking a big, ambitious, university-wide program to develop innovative energy tech under the auspices of the school's Energy Research Council.

"The urgent challenge of our time (is) clean, affordable energy to power the world," said MIT President Susan Hockfield.

Inaugurated last year, the project is likened by Hockfield to MIT's contribution to radar -- a key technology that helped win World War II.

"As the example of radar suggests, when MIT arrays its capabilities against an important problem ... we can make an important contribution," said Hockfield in an e-mail.

It appears as if Bush's (non)solution energy bill isn't working so well:

The energy bill provided billions in new tax breaks, royalty-free drilling rights, and special regulatory exemptions for the oil industry. And in the last year, Big Oil has done quite well -- with BP, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, and Chevron all reporting record profits. What have they done with all of these profits? Well what is more glaring is what they haven’t done: they haven’t invested in alternative energy sources or in significant new exploration.

In the year since the President signed the Republican Energy bill into law, gasoline prices are now more that $0.71 higher. As of April of this year, average electricity bills paid by residential had increased by $0.69 over the same time last year.

Elect an oil president, get an oil president. Hopefully Bush worked on the mesquite-powered car while he was clearing brush on the ranch.

Posted by Josh at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments   

There are few better ways to spend a warm Saturday evening than a BBQ with your family and a Reds game on TV (especially when they are in a playoff race and winning close games) .

For most people, my parents and my family included, a BBQ means chicken smothered in BBQ sauce, cheese potatoes with grease glistening off the top layer of fatty cheese, and baked beans chunked with the mystery meat our society commonly calls "hot dogs" – my father's secret recipe has a memorable kick on its better days.

A few days ago I called my parents and told them that this Saturday (yesterday) I was going to provide the food for the BBQ. It would look the same, smell the same, and maybe even taste strikingly similar, but it wouldn't have quite as much cholesterol, fat, added hormones, or preservatives with names that most people can't pronounce – all unintentional by-products of the real differences between mine and their food choices – I don't eat meat products and they do.

They were somewhat supportive when I made the change from being carnivorous to vegetarianism. And by "somewhat supportive" I mean they only mildly teased me about my masculinity. When I made the decision to switch to veganism, swearing off the cheese and dairy products I lived off of as a vegetarian, they felt as if they had lost their son (a slight exaggeration). All logical appeals mean very little to them. Meat is part of their way of life.

Commonly people ask me (and I assume other non-meat-eaters) why we do what we do. Sometimes they are genuinely curious. Other times they just want to verbally fight and prove how natural it is to eat meat. I routinely receive Christian lectures from my aging Skyline waitress who can't help but explain to me how God gave us animals to use at our discretion. I never go into it with her.

The truth of the matter is I lost an argument about whether eating meat is good or evil over beers at an Irish pub with my good friend the Dean of Cincinnati (not actually a vegetarian though he accepts the fact that he is wrong in eating meat). At the time I was a militant "circle of life" meat lover who regularly ordered triple cheeseburgers with bacon – cooked as red as possible. But the Dean explained to me, if you accept one simple premise, pain and suffering are bad things, you must accept eating meat as an evil activity.

I went back and forth with the Dean for a few minutes searching for a loophole, but I ultimately accepted that supporting animal agriculture creates more pain for creatures and that there would be less pain in the world if I called a cease fire against the animals that routinely found their way to my plate. That of course is a simple logical argument. When you consider the other outside factors – personal health and environmental well being especially – the argument solidifies itself.

There are a lot of people in the same boat as the Dean of Cincinnati. These are the types who recognize the pain that is caused and the suffering that is endured by the choices they make at the dinner table. However, that knowledge fails to change their destructive behavior.

There are many who refuse to watch videos like Meet your Meat that illustrate the plight of animals who are grown to be abused and eaten. They are well aware of what they will see in these videos, but they don't want to see the consequences of their irresponsible choices. Like ostriches with their heads in the sand, they figure not looking will keep the consequences from actualization.

Then of course there is the crowd who hides behind the horrendously fallible banner of "individual choice" who don't give a fuck what happens to anyone or anything but themselves.

Yesterday we were blessed with beautiful weather and a wonderful meal. The meal consisted of "chicken," "riblets," not-dogs, potato salad (made with veganaise of course), salad, and a chocolate mousse built from tofu. Even my parents, who probably haven't had a meatless meal since I was born, enjoyed the menu. My father, always the critic of my "liberal choices," did attempt to grade some of the food poorly in an attempt to show how wrong my veganism is (though of course he went back for seconds and attacked the leftovers this morning). It was probably the healthiest meal they've had in a while.

Tonight they're having fried chicken.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

View this video and face your choices.

Convinced? Get your vegetarian starter kit here.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Cross-posted at Daily Josh.

News comes tonight from MSNBC that there was disagreement between U.S. and British officials on when to make arrests related to the recent terror plot.

A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

That's funny, in the hours and days immediately following the arrests, it was presented to us as if the threat were imminent, perhaps even to be scheduled for sometime this week. Here are a few examples:

do we know or have you heard anything whether the 24 who were actually arrested were the ones who were going to be doing this dry one in two days, and then of course, the act — the real thing a couple of days later? (Fox)

Britain kept its threat assessment level at "critical," indicative of an imminent attack... New information underlined how close the suspected plotters were to mounting attacks. After the first arrests in Pakistan some days ago, word went from Pakistan to the London plotters to move ahead quickly, according to a message intercepted by an intelligence agency, a U.S. official disclosed. (AP)

The 24 British suspects in custody were arrested in early morning raids Thursday after British offi cials determined a "dry run" for the alleged plot was to be executed within 48 hours. If successful, they said, it was to be followed by the actual attacks within days. (CanWest)

So the question then, is, what possible motivation would the U.S. government have for making sure this plot went public as soon as possible? Perhaps it has something to do with a primary in which a pro-war incumbent was unseated and a CNN poll indicating that support for the Iraq war is at an all time low. The UN Observer explains the pattern of thwarted terrorist attacks at opportune times.

The day after Senate Democrats brought a vote to pull out of Iraq, we catch a few idiots in Miami who were supposedly trying to blow up the Sears Tower, despite the fact that they lacked the means and ability to do so. Then there were the guys busted for supposedly plotting to blow up a New York subway exactly a year after the London bus bombings. And don't forget the release of new Osama bin Laden tapes just before the 2004 election as well as the very day after the Supreme Court decision striking down the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. And now today, a few men in England were arrested for a plan to blow up planes flying to America, just a day after Connecticut voters flatly rejected Joe Lieberman and the war in Iraq.

This is not a definite thing here but it sure does look like the Bush administration is politicizing terror, again. The fact that folks such as Cheney, Lieberman, Mehlman and others started aggressively pushing the "weak on terror" narrative after Bush knew about the plot and before the arrests were made, makes it difficult to deny.

Posted by Josh at 12:33 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Via Pandagon:

Phil Burress of the Cincinnati-based anti-gay Citizens for Community Values on Ohio has been all over pay-per-view porn on hotel TV “problem” for quite some time, establishing CleanHotels.com, a listing service to alert travelers where there is no availability to order such pay-for-play content.

Now the big guns — the American Family Association, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and Morality in Media are teaming up, calling themselves “The Campaign for Corporate Responsibility” and are placing an ad in USA Today urging the Justice Department to investigate the purveyors of pay-smut for “violating federal and state laws about distributing obscene material.”

I wonder if they realize how Orwellian the name of the campaign is. The Campaign for Corporate Responsibility seems more fitting for a name of an organization that aims to, I don't know, stop the next Enron. Corporate responsibility is such a broad term and I really don't see how they can justify using a name like that to crack down on the availability of porn, to consenting adults, in hotel rooms they paid for.

Now a few words about Phil Burress, the man responsible for sparking this "movement." Phil, a self-described former pornography addict, is one of the main individuals responsible for the efforts to ban gay marriage, specifically in his home state of Ohio. He has spent the last several decades trying to reduce the availability of pornography in Cincinnati. Phil illustrates something very typical about the nature of conservatives; so many of them are plagued by hypocrisy. It is as if his own struggles with pornography addiction are what prompted his crusades against pornography, and subsequently, the "homosexual agenda."

At 14, he said, he found a pornographic magazine on the roadside and became obsessed with seeing more. Every chance he got, he said, he drove into Cincinnati to buy, and sometimes steal, magazines or videos.

Can someone explain to me why this man feels it is his duty to tell me what I can and can't watch in a hotel room? I am not a big fan of pornography itself, but there are two other issues at play here.

1. For those that wish to see it, and wish to pay for it, someone else's religious values should not get in the way.

2. It is important to protect the increasingly vulnerable right of business owners to do business as they please, provided it is within the law and it is not harming anyone.

Phil Burress is a homophobic religious fundamentalist. Hopefully hotel owners will see through this new campaign and will continue to run their businesses to the best of their ability.

Posted by Josh at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments   

I couldn't help but mention it.

The LA Tofu Festival: It's an unlikely, but perfect, combination of hip-hop and vegetarian eats:

If you are vegetarian and love hip hop, or just a curious carnivore, the Los Angeles Tofu Festival will keep you in high spirits. The festival is going down Saturday and Sunday, but Saturday night’s live performances will surely draw the main crowd.

Celebrity chefs will be in line all day and into the evening, with live performances throughout the day. If you’re a hip hop head, then there will be a special treat. Not only will Ill Again and The Gaslamp Killer be doing their thing, but Blackalicious will even be taking stage.

As much as I love Cincinnati, this is an idea that probably won't ever catch on here in flyover country.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Cincinnati's a beautiful place with the best nightlife in the country, but still I hear people complain about there being nothing to do. Their grumbling is generally empty – any Cincinnatian (even an import like me) knows there's plenty of action to be tracked down in our city. Perhaps the complainers just can't find it.

Space513 was kind enough of to map out the greatest city in the country. Here is the official press release that unveiled their new site to the world:

Web Site "Space513" Puts Cincinnati's Best Foot Forward

Cincinnati, OH – Faced with the news that Cincinnati’s population loss is greater than any other major U.S. city, according to U.S. Census Bureau, Stanard Design Partners, a local graphic design firm, determined to use their talents to help reverse this trend. Saddled with the image of being boring and conservative, Cincinnati has been losing population for years. This can be a point of frustration for many Cincinnatians, who know that the Queen City has a lot to offer. With this in mind, Stanard Design Partners decided to redefine the city’s image by showing off the places that make Cincinnati unique.

Stanard Design Partners has just launched www.space513.com, an innovative new web site that gives you an overview, literally, of the city. From a bird's-eye view, you can browse through buildings and neighborhoods via an interactive cartoon-style map. Viewers are given a quick at-a-glance view of the area's hottest attractions. Filled with many animated elements and quirky places to visit, the site is infused with a fresh, upbeat personality aimed at bringing back and keeping young professionals in the Queen City. Secondary pages, including detailed street maps, feature some of the town's more distinctive neighborhoods. After all, sometimes all you need is a map.

Stanard Design Partners developed Space513.com independently, including the concept, design, content, and programming. "It was quite an undertaking, especially when you consider all of the photography, writing, research, and music involved" said Davis Stanard, partner at Stanard Design Partners. Developed on the Macromedia Flash program, the site breaks the mold of conventional web site design. "What Space513.com represents is the next generation of web site" said Cynthia Patten Stanard, co-founder of Stanard Design Partners. "It combines database-driven content with dynamic graphics to create a rich, engaging on-line experience. It's been very successful. Visitors spend on average 8 minutes exploring the site – far more than the 30 second average," she said. Over the next few months, Stanard Design Partners aims to develop the second installment of space513.com. "We plan to develop the site as a tourism resource," Davis said. "We want to harness the web to create the most positive impact on the city as possible."

Going on five years, Stanard Design Partners has been developing graphic design and marketing solutions for a variety of the city's corporations. They specialize in unique marketing solutions, and have always thought that Cincinnati could be marketed better. With Space513.com they wanted to develop a site that captured the unique personality of the city that they love. Some of the clients that Stanard Design Partners work for include Kao Brands Company, Great American Insurance, FHLBank, the Cincinnati Ballet, and LasikPlus. Davis Stanard is also a part time professor at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

"We’re definitely pushing what's possible," said Cynthia. "You're not going to see many sites out there that look like this one."

Hopefully the MSM will pick up on the fine job these designers have done and make sure they showcase the site, and more importantly how great our city really is.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments   

It's been years, but hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest are going back on tour as the headliners of the 2nd annual 2K Sports Bounce Tour.

Good news for hip-hop in general, but it doesn't look like the Nati made the cut for tour destinations.

I might travel for this one though.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Wulsin's campaign just sent out an oddly-timed press release with the title:

DO-NOTHING CONGRESS

FAILS TO PROTECT AMERICA

5 Years After 9-11, Americans Are No Safer,

Says Wulsin.

Are these true statements? Possibly. She did cite the 9/11 commission's report that came out last December – perhaps that would been a more appropriate time for her "press release."

I understand she is trying to scare us out of voting Republican, but someone really should tell her the attempted attacks were actually stopped – that's not the time to say security is failing.

"Dr." Wulsin should leave the scare tactics at home next time.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments   

The greatest thing about Cincinnati is that it is made up of many distinct neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has its own personality, its own image, its own soul.

Without the hard work and the unique individuality of each small business owner in the city, these neighborhoods wouldn't be possible. Here, we shall pay tribute to these businesses:

Melt (Northside):

This owner just gets it. From their mission statement to the excellent taste of the food, this eatery is pure Northside. The establishment serves healthy, but delicious, options in a quaint Hamilton Ave. storefront. The staff, pure hipsters of course (a necessity for the location), is friendly in that withdrawn, "I'm more enlightened than you," kind of way.

In order for a restaurant to win me over, they must have vegan options. Their menu does.

Check them out first chance you get.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments   

In what the Toledo Blade has dubbed the "first unofficial debate" of the 2006 Senate, Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown took the gloves off early.

KIRTLAND, Ohio - The first unofficial debate of Ohio's pivotal 2006 U.S. Senate race stayed calm for about 13 minutes. Then the subject turned to free trade, and incumbent Republican Mike DeWine tried to use former President Bill Clinton's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement against his Democratic challenger, and a civil sort of chaos ensued.

The challenger, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, cut the senator off. "A little difference between us," said Mr. Brown, a NAFTA opponent, "[is] that I stood up to the president of my own party as a freshman member in 2003 and put my reputation on the line … something that Mike really never does, taking on the president of his own party, on any major issue."

Both candidates raised their voices. Mr. Brown asked how many of President Bush's appointees Mr. DeWine opposed in the Senate. Mr. DeWine asked why Mr. Brown did not want to talk about drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which the President pushed but Mr. DeWine opposed.

"Oh, you don't want to talk about that," Mr. DeWine said. "You don't want to talk about the facts."

These two candidates are both covered in a little bit of dirt – the result of being a member congress in modern politics – but the policy differences should be pretty clear by the time these men are done bloodying each other in these debates. It should be these differences, not the shady dealings they are both certainly involved in, that will pull voters in one way or the other.

DeWine was smart to bring up ANWR, a clear and recent issue where he did indeed oppose his president (even after Sherrod Brown had lied down and let the Republicans walk over him). Both candidates agreed on a meager raising of the minimum wage and other obvious issues like the never-ending support of Israel by the United States.

This may be what it all comes down to:

He blamed Mr. Bush and Mr. DeWine for Ohio job losses, saying said Mr. DeWine "got things the way he wanted them to happen" in Washington over the last five years. Now, Mr. Brown said, "on every major issue, this state's going in the wrong direction."

It's hard to argue with the lack of success the state of Ohio has had under DeWine and Republican rule. Whether it is DeWine's fault or not, voters tend to run in the other direction when things look bad.

Sherrod Brown may be in luck. In Ohio, things look pretty bad.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments   

The Enquirer gets a heap of criticism every day. So much so that I even get sick of hearing a lot of it. Some of it is warranted, some of it is just beating a dead horse. I try to only give it out myself on the most egregious of errors.

This one really got to me though.

At the Enquirer Political "Blog" they actually posted a press release of meet and greet times for Frances Strickland. Not an actual candidate, but the guitar playing, off-key singing wife of Ted Strickland, the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio.

This wouldn't bother me that much if they didn't completely ignore Bob Fitrakis, an actual candidate, when he came into town for his meet and greet just a little more than a week ago.

Is the Enquirer really telling us that the wife of a candidate who's armed not with answers to policy questions, but a worn out playlist and an acoustic guitar, more news-worthy than an international elections observer, lawyer and professor of political science who is actually on the ballot?

Shame on the Enquirer for covering potential first ladies and not actual candidates.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Brendan, who resides in Pleasant Ridge and blogs regularly at spacetropic.com, questions whether or not "Naderites" (anti-war progressives who believe in a system that supports more than two corporate parties) will support Lieberman's independent run for the United States Senate.

He even asked specifically if I would support Joementum's right to stay in the game:

People like my friend Andrew Warner regularly make an impassioned defense of independent candidates – and the time-honored principles of civil liberty - defending our right to express even opinions that others find reprehensible (such as, for example, defeating terrorism). Joe Lieberman has been set aside by his political party and is now running as an independent. He is without question a conservative on foreign policy - and everyone forgets the issues about which he is liberal, since the war is the only issue that matters. He may not be what the Greenies have in mind when they express their principles, but he’s an independent just the same.

I'm surprised Brendan even has to ask. Of course I support Joe Lieberman's right to "stay in the game." I can only speak for myself, but when I say there's a need for more voices and more choices, I don't just mean more voices that sound like mine (though that is certainly what the country needs).

Without question it would have been far more politically savvy for Lieberman to have read the writing on the wall and gotten out of the primary before an embarrassing loss, but if CT law allows him to come back for round two as an independent then more power to him.

Ohio law, and I think it is sound law, requires that independents file before the primaries to avoid "sore loser" situations. Without such legislation in place, Lieberman is free to run for office as an independent. If Lamont's message appeals more broadly to the residents of CT, and not merely the die-hard Democrats that come out for primaries, then Kos and party Democrats have nothing to worry about.

Party loyalists will of course grumble and be angry (and many are already whining about it) that Joe isn't taking his primary loss with dignity and throwing his support behind the party candidate (the same democratic centralism policy supported by Stalin) after the party has made it's infallible decision. Such claims are in direct opposition of the democratic spirit. All he lost in the primary was the "D" next to his name on the ballot in November – nothing more.

Democrats trying to eliminate choices again – some things will never change (that's what Tupac and Cynthia McKinney say).

Posted by Andrew Warner at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The saga of Maurice Clarett just gets more tragic with each passing day.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments   

A while back an e-mail showed up in my inbox that managed to slip my mind for a while, until today. I would love to give whoever sent it credit for the idea, but I can't remember who it was (please e-mail me if it was you).

The idea they sent was simple: If you care about democracy you need to speak out when the media tries to stifle it and make decisions for us by choosing what candidates we can and can't hear from in our daily newspapers. And that's exactly what we're going to do.

At first I was encouraged when I witnessed a spirit of inclusion in the media that is usually MIA. Questions were being issued to all four candidates for Governor and their answers were being published as if they were all on the ballot in November (imagine that!).

But it's back to the old, slumbering corporate media of old: Green Candidate, Bob Fitrakis was forced to interview himself because he was excluded from a question and answer series in the Columbus Dispatch (great self interview by the way) and Bill Peirce, an accomplished professor and economist, has received the same neglectful treatment.

Now that the media is acting as if we are not capable of choosing the best of 4 candidates and limiting us to the corporate two, we need to put our watch dog hats on and call them on their poor behavior.

I'm asking everyone to make it a point to single out every article that is written about the Governor's race that fails to mention all the candidates. Put it in the comments at the MSM's "blogs," write letters to the editor, and e-mail the links (along with your commentary if you like) to me.

Let's start with my local newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer (robbed of the Pulitzer every year):

The "blog" over the at Cincinnati Enquirer "followed the money" to the two major candidates today, but failed to mention the Libertarian and the Green candidates and the money they have (or haven't) raised.

Come on Enquirer, criticize their lack of funding if you have to, but you're insulting the efforts of a lot of people who spent countless hours in the hot sun getting these candidates on the ballot by not including them at all. In a post that included 3 links (Blackwell, Strickland, and OLE) and nothing else, would it have been that difficult to add two more?

I'm aware that even the best journalists make mistakes as well as the fact that even major daily newspapers can't cover everything, but there must be a minimum journalistic standard to cover the information that is most useful to a paper's readership. There is nothing more useful to a citizen reading his or her morning newspaper than learning about his or her potential leaders.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Waiting on about 16% of the vote to still come in, Lieberman supporters are hoping for a massive swing to the tune of about 10,000 votes. Translated, that means Lieberman's toast (along with the Daily Kos server).

Maybe he'll take the conservative wing of the party with him – I think Unity 08 is still looking for a moderate candidate.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Most of what I have read on the CT primary between Lamont and Lieberman is from the Daily Kos as well as some insight from the MSM who has picked up the story in full force since the blogs gave it legs. At this point Kos is desperately trying to deflect any blame or glory, whether it be a gesture of humility or a fear of accepting responsibility, in regards to the results of the upcoming primary.

It's difficult to think of this race without viewing it as a pet project of the self-proclaimed "gate crashers" when the front page has been dedicated entirely to this race for weeks now, but at the same time it is much bigger than the blogs.

Ralph Nader said it best when he said there are many chickens that have come to roost for Lieberman in this race. Nader rattles off countless occasions when Lieberman could have helped the party, but chose rather to help himself (the sort of thing that comes back to bite you in the ass when party loyalists are the only ones voting):

Still on the people’s mind in the “nutmeg state” was Lieberman’s refusal to resign his Senate seat when he was nominated to be Gore’s vice-president and allow a Connecticut Senate election which Democrat Attorney General Michael Blumenthal would have easily won. Instead, had Gore and he won (which I believe they did), the subsequent empty Senate seat would have been filled by a Republican nominated by Republican Governor John Rowland. People here do not forget that ego-trip.

Please, no counter-ego-trip comments against Nader on this thread. But that was just one of many similar incidents pointed out by Ralph (read the post if you want them all).

As if the unyielding support of a failed war and a failed president wasn't enough, there's a list of trespasses against the Democratic Party that voters in CT are likely to remember.

We also can not forget the future of the Democratic Party is the ultimate prize in this race. The progressive left is unified and anxious to tear the party away from the moderates who have been wielding power for years, and it seems likely that they will. Though it will be a tough blow for progressive Democrats to recover from if Lieberman is able to win the general election as an independent (a strong possibility that will be looked at again if Lamont is victorious in the primary).

I am still wrestling with the fact that some CT billionaire is supposed to be the face of the revolution in the Democratic Party.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments   

George Voinovich (R) and Ted Strickland (D/R) joined forces against a common enemy: Ohio Learn & Earn.

The true meaning of this story seems to have been lost in the subtext. Is this a coup against Ken Blackwell? Is Ted Strickland really a Republican? Is Voinovich out of line for grabbing a headline with Ted Strickland this close to an election?

Ken Blackwell's campaign answered this question perfectly:

Mr. Blackwell's spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said the campaign took no offense at the Voinovich-Strickland appearance. "Opposition to gambling is a bipartisan issue," Mr. LoParo said. "Senator Voinovich is certainly an independent spirit."

LoParo also seems to understand that gambling is a big issue and one that both parties are lining up against – rising above typical politics perhaps in the name of something bigger.

I understand it is a campaign season and on the blogs especially a big deal is made of everything, but to me it just seems these two men are unifying against a bad initiative and doing what it takes to make sure it doesn't become law. A tip of the hat to both Strickland and Voinovich for doing the right thing.

OLE is toast.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Greens respond, point by point, t