"Our list of Most Liberal Places in America is based not on opinion polls, which have come under fire in recent elections, but on votes, political contributions and demographics."

A leaked memo from the International Red Cross "reports to the United States government that the American military has intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion 'tantamount to torture' on prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba." In an official press release, the Red Cross refused to confirm or deny the report. Depsite the constant stream of allegations, and despite General Miller's visit to Abu Ghraib to "Gitmoize" the facility (right before the torture there began), reliable, first-hand accounts of torture at Guantanamo Bay have been hard to come by. The Bush administration says that torture is against American policy, even though we could if we wanted to.

Compromise, Hell! "A nation founded on freedom has become uncharacteristically submissive to those who would destroy it. Here's where we draw the line."

Swift Boat Veterans Still Hounding Kerry.

A majority of Americans say the next choice for a Supreme Court justice should be willing to uphold the Roe v. Wade court decision protecting abortion rights, an new poll found.

Senate Republicans, boldly confident after their Nov. 2 electoral success, are preparing to end months of frustrating delays over President Bush's judicial picks by hitting Democrats with Republican's ultimate legislative weapon.

But the Republican threat to neuter long-cherished filibuster rules by steamrolling Democrats is risky - so potentially destructive that Capitol Hill calls it the "nuclear option."

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the "gay marriage issue" -- everyone but the Supreme Court.

"George W. Bush's vote tallies, especially in the key state of Florida, are so statistically stunning that they border on the unbelievable.''

Picking three counties that fit the conspiracy theory profile -- staunchly Democratic by registration, whoppingly GOP by voting -- two reporters counted more than 17,000 ballots over three days. The conclusion: No conspiracy.

"For the past 30 years he's focused like a laser on George W. Bush. What does Karl Rove do for an encore? The plans for a permanent GOP majority."

Presidential inaugural speeches tend to follow a common pattern -- including not being very memorable.

"On that long-ago day of Alabama's great shame, Gov. George C. Wallace (D) stood in a schoolhouse door and declared that his state's constitution forbade black students to enroll at the University of Alabama. He was correct." And today, he still would be correct.

madeyouthink -- "Looks like we're in for four more years of this shit."

Some elections may be "revoted", while others may be delayed.

The truths versus the myths about Social Security.

9 Theses Against Corporate Rule.

The legacy of [soon to be former] U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft continues: Ashcroft & Bacon Gospel Album: TRUTH Volume One.

In an interview with the ABC news program 20/20, Matthew Shepard's killers deny homophobia motivated their attack and claim the gay student's murder wasn't a "hate crime".

Eminem's Mosh - the New Ending

Unfortunate Ukrainian Opposition Leader Photo of the Day. (Poisoned or bad sushi?)

A 53-year-old Vietnam veteran has been called up for active duty in Iraq by the U.S. military as part of the "soldier readiness program".

A teacher in California has been barred by school officials from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence. "It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful."

Twenty-three members of the British Parliament have signed a motion calling for Prime Minister Tony Blair to be impeached for "gross misconduct" over the war in Iraq.

Fighting Words For A Secular America. Ashcroft & Friends VS. George Washington & The Framers.

"History is written by the winners." or so the saying goes. Some Christian conservative groups believe this includes history as presented at U.S. national parks and monuments. "During the Clinton administration, it's like we felt like we lived in outer Siberia, and [during] this past administration, it's like we died and went to heaven and got a preview of what's to come."

Fall-out from Rathergate? Controversal news anchor Dan Rather will resign from CBS News on March 9th, 2005.

RatOutAChurch.org -- "Ending radical left-wing politics in the pulpit. A Project of Big Brother Church Watch." (via MonkeyFilter)

Orlando Florida residents were recently greeted with a large "George W. Bush: Our Leader." billboard courtesy of Clear Channel. "The first thing I thought was, when was the last time I have seen a president on a billboard?" wrote resident Dianna Lawson. "Didn't Saddam Hussein have his picture up everywhere? What next, a statue?"

In a series of new television ads, the Department of Homeland Security is urging parents to talk to children about terrorism, especially on how to prepare for terrorist attacks.

Turn your back on Bush -- "We're calling on people to attend inauguration without protest signs, shirts or stickers. Once through security and at the procession, at a given signal, we'll all turn our backs on Bush's motorcade and continue through his speech and swearing in. A simple, clear and coherent message."

Congress has eliminated the financing of research supported by President Bush into a new generation of nuclear weapons, including investigations into low-yield atomic bombs and an earth-penetrating warhead that could destroy weapons bunkers deep underground.

The Montreal Expos, with their move to Washington D.C., will now be known as the Washington Nationals. And like all things related to D.C., this announcement was not without incident.

Disclaimer stickers for science textbooks.

Has a GOP winning streak made "work" more difficult for right-wing talk show hosts like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh?

Timed to coincide with the 41st anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, JFK Reloaded is a video game that allows players to simulate the killing of President John F. Kennedy. The game makers say the game's objective is "for a player to fire three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's digitally recreated sixth-floor perch in the Texas School Book Depoistory."

Kevin Sites on the Falluja shooting video. (Via Boing Boing.)

In a reversal of roles, President Bush stepped in to protect his own Secret Service bodyguard from Chile security officers.

Publishers, including The Washington Post, are accusing the White House of a double standard -- while offering television networks broadcasting rights, the adminstration refuses to grant online news outlets rights to distribute official White House video... of Barney the dog.

I went today and volunteered a couple of hours at The Alliance for Democracy. They are among the leaders in the charge to recount Ohio's votes in the last election and ensure that the vote was fair. They desperately need help, not just in this, but in their mission. They are currently working on three computers that are at least several years old and could use an sweet donation. [more inside]

Burma's military junta has freed a top dissident - second only to Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi - as part of a release of 4,000 prisoners.

SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 19 - With President Bush scheduled to arrive here within hours to begin his first trip abroad since re-election, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets today to protest his presence at a weekend summit meeting that they accused of fostering economic inequality and exploitation.

from The New York Times via MichaelMoore.com.

Look to the West, Democrats (Via WesternDemocrat.)

Not everyone is a fan of the Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger: ArnoldExposed.com "will serve as a meticulously documented encyclopedia of Arnold's sinister, grotestque and even barbaric activites, from his nazi links to illegal drug use and sexual harrassment."

Farewell speeches of departing senators: "I don't leave with the idea that the Senate is not what it used to be in the sense of personnel. We have a way better group of senators. We had five or six drunks when I came here. There is nobody drunk in the United States Senate. We don't have time to be drunk and, more than that, we have the women. We had one woman. She was outstanding, but she was outstandingly quiet. ... Now we have 14, and you can't shut them up." -- Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (Democrat, SC)

The Governor of California is still looking for a place to live.

Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager, explains how the GOP used corporate consumer models to identify and target their "get out the vote" campaigns. "If you drive a Volvo and you do yoga, you are pretty much a Democrat. If you drive a Lincoln or a BMW and you own a gun, you're voting for George Bush."

An unexpectedly high number of U.S. soldiers injured in the Middle East and Afghanistan (news - web sites) are testing positive for a rare, hard-to-treat blood infection in military hospitals, Army doctors reported on Thursday.

A total of 102 soldiers were found to be infected with the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. The infections occurred among soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and three other sites between Jan. 1, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004.

Although it was not known where the soldiers contracted the infections, the Army said the recent surge highlighted a need to improve infection control in military hospitals.

Eighty-five of the bloodstream infections occurred among soldiers serving in Iraq (news - web sites), the area around Kuwait and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army said in a report published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites).

Military hospitals typically see about one case per year.

"President Clinton led our country with optimism and a great affection for the American people and that affection has been returned... He was an innovator, a serious student of policy and a man of great compasison. In the White House, the whole world witnessed his brilliance and his mastery of detail, his persuasive powers and his persistence." -- George W. Bush

The UN will vote this week on whether to ban all cloning, with the Bush Administration pushing for a complete ban which would include therapeutic cloning for stem cell research. Begun this stem cell war has.

Is religion the answer for the Democratic party? "You can't have everybody who goes to church vote Republican; you just can't."

Condi Rice is Angry!

President Bush Photo of the Day.

With the election over, McCain can criticize Bush on global warming. At last, his inner struggle is over.

The Neoconservative Persuasion holds incredible power, but is terribly misunderstood. Beginning amongst the "permanent revolution" of secular, Jewish Trotskyists in the United States, the neoconservative philosophy combines the Machiavellian views of Leo Strauss with the paranoia of Thomas Hobbes to create a ruthless political philosophy that practically worships power. The 1990s saw the true crucible of modern neoconservative thinking, as their concerns were re-framed from those of hardened "Cold Warriors" to the moral obligation to enforce a Pax Americana.

FCC clarifies that they do, in fact, control everything. Including our computers. Maybe Michael Powell just wants our porn.

Ohio will be having a statewide vote recount thanks to Libertarian Michael Badnarik and the Green Party's David Cobb raising more than $150,000 to pay for the process (as required by Ohio state law).

How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion. (Via Daily Kos.)

The Spook Revolution is Over. When the Bush administration wanted to go to war with Iraq, the CIA wouldn't tell the neoconservatives what they wanted to hear. So, Rumsfeld relied on his own spy ring instead. When that pretext turned out to be more fiction than fact, the CIA was blamed for gross incompetence. Many agents bristled at that, and so began a clandestine "war" between Bush and the CIA. The Spook Revolution has gone on for a year or more now, in the same way spooks always do such things--quietly. Now, with his "mandate" and "political capital," Bush is cracking down hard with a "purge" of CIA agents "disloyal" to his administration.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be nominated for Secretary of State to replace Colin Powell, who announced his resignation today. It looks like campaigning for Bush has paid off for Rice.

A captured al-Qaeda operative has said that the group plans on smuggling nuclear materials into the U.S. from Mexico. This seems to comfirm the warnings about nuclear terrorism from a formerly anonymous ex-CIA agent who is an expert on bin Laden. Too bad we don't protect the border.

All kinds of activity around the White House today.

Your government tax dollars at work: the FCC fined the Fox television network $1.2 million because of complaints written by just three people (which were sent out by only 23 individuals) targeting it's "sexually suggestive" show Married by America.

A coin toss has been used to determine the winner of a local city council election in Florida.

A new study shows the stock picks of U.S. Senators outperformed the rest of the market by 12 percent. Alan Ziobrowski, one of the study's authors says "there is cheating going on, at a 99 percent level of confidence."

Long sought after and now finally revealed: Dick (Cheney) Photo of the Day.

Did President Clinton "gut" the United States military? Time to get out the charts and graphs.

"Amend for Arnold" to begin television ads -- "You cannot choose the land of your birth. You CAN choose the land you love."

Which evangelical Christian had the greatest impact on the Bush re-election? "Dr. James Dobson is now America's most influential evangelical leader, with a following reportedly greater than that of either Falwell or Robertson at his peak."

The kids are alright: New analysis of voter turnout data shows that young voters did turn out in greater numbers in the 2004 election compared to the 2000 race.

Why You Lost "It is not a catastrophe nor a sign of man's failure. It is, in fact, an opening for redemption, the necessary setup for an opportunity that we may never get again. I am claiming that this needed to happen, and that if we can understand enough why it needed to happen, then we can reach a level of human development that we have possibly never even thought to know."

With a recent vote, a Pennsylvania community school board is believed to have become the first in the nation to mandate the teaching of "intelligent design" in public schools. The intelligent design theory holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.

Time to pay the bill? "Christian evangelicals provided much of the passion and manpower for President Bush's reelection. But even as they celebrate his victory, many of the movement's leaders are experiencing post-election anxiety, worried that their strong support for the president might not translate into the instant influence they expected."

More maps of "Red States" versus "Blue States"... in Europe.

And the "sorry meme" continues: Apologies Accepted.

The Cobb County school district of Atlanta Georgia is in federal court over science textbook stickers that call evolution "a theory, not a fact.". Some people are embarassed by this trend in Georgia. "We're really busy. We have a lot to do. And here we are, having to go through this 19th century argument over and over again." School officials say their warning sticker encourages students to keep an open mind.

So now Republicans aren't smart, have problems staying married, are leeching taxes from DC, and love Wal-Mart. Please tell me this isn't for real.

In response to the Sorry Everybody web site comes (wait for it...) We're Not Sorry.

"Could someone get rid of the middle-finger screen cap that's replaced the image above 'The Bush family watches tee-ball on the White House lawn'?" The battle at Wikipedia over entries about George W. Bush and John Kerry.

Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2? More of Moore?

Arafat is dead. CNN Report, Boston Globe.

The world is better off, hopefully.

For some reason, two armored tanks appeared at an anti-war protest in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. The tanks may have been lost.

"Third Way is the latest in a series of organizations aimed at rescuing Democrats from the perception that they have lost touch with middle-class voters, particularly in the heartland states that voted overwhelmingly for President Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry."

Despite losing the election, John Kerry plans to use his Senate seat to "act counter to Bush" and plans to use his remaining term as a possible springboard for another Presidential run in 2008. According to Kerry campaign consultant Bob Shrum, "He will not do what Al Gore did after the last election -- he will not disappear."

Dear Mr. President: In your re-election, God has graciously granted America-though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.

Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you. -- Dr. Bob Jones III of Bob Jones University. (via Linkfilter.net)

Planned Parenthood is already preparing to provide abortions after Roe v. Wade is overturned. Molly M. Ginty writes about this will be like....

To prepare for what would likely be a health epidemic, they've urged physicians to get special training so they know how to treat infections, uncontrolled bleeding and other life-threatening complications caused by botched abortions.

Now before Congress: The "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act," that requires doctors to inform women before they have abortions at 20 weeks or later that the fetus may feel pain.

Task force members say that if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, poor and low-income women – who seek 57 percent of the 1 million abortions performed in the United States each year – will be the ones hardest hit. "Women with enough money will be able to find a way to terminate their pregnancies," says Williams. "They will go abroad or find qualified doctors to treat them behind closed doors. But poor women will be exploited. And they will die."

"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved," and on that note, John Ashcroft has resigned.

Here is a round-up of 2004 Election fraud allegations and stories in states like Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and New Mexico.

"The underlying problem here is, there is no call to arms that the Democratic Party is making to the country," says political strategist James Carville. "We've got to reassess ourselves. We've got to be born again."

A Duke University professor has put out a call for a second Vermont Republic. "The Second Vermont Republic is a peaceful, democratic, grassroots solidarity movement committed to the return of Vermont to its rightful status as an independent republic as was the case in 1791 and to support Vermont's future development as a separate, sustainable nation-state."

Dean for DNC Chariman! Yeeeeeeeearrrrrrhhhhh!!!

Having helped defeat fellow Vietnam veteran John Kerry in his run for the White House, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have been dissolved.

Acting on charges filed by the U.S. embassy in Oslo, Norwegian police have shut down a satirical website created by the rap group Gatas Parlament. The site (now removed) urged people to help finance the assassination of President Bush.

Suicide at Ground Zero. "A 25-year-old from Georgia who was distraught over President Bush's re-election apparently killed himself at Ground Zero."

Is PLO leader Yasser Arafat dying of AIDS? "We know he has a blood disease that is depressing his immune system. We know that he has suddenly dropped considerable weight -- possibly as much as one-third of all his body weight. We know that he is suffering intermittent mental dysfunction. What does this sound like?" Has Arafat been outed?

A Wisconsin city school board has altered it's science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism in area schools. This prompted an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that the decision be reversed.

The South will rise again. "While Kerry's voters came about evenly from all parts of the country, more than one-third of Bush's voters were Southerners."

Why is Google censoring images associated with the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prisoner scandal?

17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists... by Michael Moore.

In local elections, voters usually choose by the occupation listed under the candidate's name. In a school board election, the job title of educator sounds much better than park ranger. "This is just one of the rough edges in our electoral system, where the voters can elect someone they know nothing about."

Do you know how to cure a chicken-killin' dog?

100,000 Iraqis Dead: Should We Believe It?

It looks like the Operation Clark County British letter-writing campaign backfired. "And on Election Day, Clark was the only one of Ohio's 88 counties -- and among only 5% of all 3,113 U.S. counties and independent townships -- to turn from Democratic blue in 2000 to Republican red this year."

Sorry Everybody -- "How can we make it up to you?"

How Bush did it. A team of Newsweek reporters unveils the untold fears, secret battles and private emotions behind a historic election.

"Separate schools shall be established for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race." Apparently Alabama voters cannot decide that it might be a good idea to remove Jim Crow era language from the Alabama State Constitution. Votes are currently split on Amendment 2. More "Red State" progress?

Let the bloodletting begin: Democrats chime in on ways to rebuild the party and the debate about the three Gs: "God, guns, and gays".

The Day the Enlightenment Went Out.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is expected to resign before President Bush's January 20th inauguration. Does this mean his nude statue drapes will be taken down?

United States maps showing election results can be broken down into shades of purple or even the more exacting county by county red and blue.

There's no secret about what's coming. We don't have that excuse this time.

The bloggers made their presence felt by leaking early (and incorrect) polling data, but they still demonstrated the impact of weblogs on election year politics.

The other big election winner (or loser, depending on your point of view) was anti-gay marriage amendments -- 11 states approved a ban on same-sex marriage, with some states, like Kentucky, going further to also ban same-sex civil unions.

How did he do it? The Washington Post offers a detailed look at the Bush election endgame.

The other loser from last night is famed pollster Zogby, who predicted a Kerry win:
"We feel strongly that our pre-election polls were accurate on virtually every state. Our predictions on many of the key battleground states like Ohio and Florida were within the margin of error. I thought we captured a trend, but apparently that result didn't materialize."

Bush wins. Four more years.

The much hyped youth vote didn't happen in the 2004 election.

Election Tracker 2004 -- Media Matters for America is monitoring each broadcast and cable news network and will provide real-time updates throughout the night as states are called for President Bush and Senator Kerry.

Is U.S. Policy Leaving a Radioactive Iraq? Provisional Government Seeks DU Cleanup; U.S. Downplays Risks.

Exit Polls and what you should know about them.

Flickr: Public photos tagged with the word vote.

This year, the television networks are in a race not to be first to predict winners as tonight's election results come in.

Tracking the Presidential election results online:

CNN.com Election Results

Wikipedia US election in progress

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

Election 2004 Night Timeline

The Associated Press

The first votes of election day have been counted in a pair of small New Hampshire communities: 35 votes for Bush, 21 votes for Kerry, and 1 vote for Nader.

The Revolutionary vs. the Statesman.

Apparently, even the members of the rock group Aerosmith can't agree on the Presidential candidates.

US stem cells tainted by mouse material. The stem cell lines available for federally-funded research in the US may never be used for medical treatments in humans.

According to Ancestry.com, Bush and Kerry are both descendents of Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian ruler who was the basis for Count Dracula.

Leave It To Bush! No. 1: Gary Busey and two ferrets. No. 2: Billy Cosby on the Moon. [Flash]

The Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS) uses a U.S. map to chart user-submitted reports of voting problems in various states. The state with the highest incident count so far is Flordia.

Suicide is responsible for over 90,000 American lives since 9/11, yet our government does little to address or even recognize the problem.

What do you think?

www.iamthepresidentoftheunitedstates.com

The most expensive presidential advertising campaign in history closes Tuesday with President Bush, Sen. John Kerry, their political parties and allied groups having spent more than $600 million.

Now Florida election officials are making new county "rules" about contact with voters at polling places without bothering to tell anyone about them beforehand.