On improvements to the current
It would help to standardize election laws. That would be
a big improvement compared to the sick system we have now. But I don't know
that that would change anything in the south. The biggest problem there is they
don't let people vote. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the poll showing the war in
I wonder where those 73% were last month at election
time. Bush screws
up the war which he never should have started, but they
voted for him because they didn't want to change horses in the middle of the
stream.
Wag the Dog was just a movie, but it's exactly what the
booosh bunch has done and the dumb amurkans don't see that.
There is simply no end to how gullible people in this
country can be. –Walrath 12-22-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the situation in Iraq
It must be getting really bad in Iraq-- even boosh is
admitting now there are problems over there. Just all of a sudden there are
problems over there -- funny how well things were going just a few weeks before
the election. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Naprosyn warning
The news just came out that Naprosyn has been found to
cause heart attacks and should not be taken for more than ten (10) days. I've
been taking it for about thirty years now. If anything, Naprosyn was thought to
help prevent heart attacks--like aspirin.–Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Gene Autry was the first one to sing Rudolph and had a
big hit with it. Nobody else would touch it until after he did it and made it
famous. Now I think it comes in second to Bing Crosby's, White Christmas.
–Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the language and health of Americans
Most amurkans don't speak English at all—they speak some
kind of Americanese that vaguely resembles English. They can't read or write it
very well or spell it, either.
But what kills off amurkans is they drive every place
they go--even it it's across the road to sit down and watch TV.
The rest of the world walks--that's why people in the
rest of the world suffer fewer heart attacks. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Time Magazine naming George W Bush “Man of the
Year”
Rag Mag Time put Mussolini on its cover after he invaded
I think Mussolini believed that
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On how to write Christmas cards
I finally worked out a system on doing cards--one at a
time. Address the envelope first. Then you still have to write something on the
card, but it's easier because you've already started to write.
Feel good about the one you've done. Do another one
later. If a card from someone comes in the mail, do that one. You've got the
address right in front of you.
Writing out a general letter is a good idea. Then you
just use parts of it for each card. You don't have to sit there wondering what
to write. Just pick a paragraph and write it down. Then you think of something
else you want to say, and your card's all done.
Stop sending out cards after Christmas Day. –Walrath
12-19-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the 2000 Presidential election
Hanging chads got a lot of attention in 2000, but they
really didn't amount to all that much. Thousands of people who were not allowed
to vote in floriduh made the difference. Booosh won? Floriduh by 537 votes, but
there was almost nothing said about intimidation of voters.
The election was a national disgrace. –Walrath 12-17-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On electronic voting machines
Given the choice between standing in line in the rain for
hours and telling somebody where to punch holes in a card, I'd take the latter
over the former every time.
Blind people can vote by absentee ballot without ever
having to go and stand in line in the rain at the polls. Someone has to take
them there to vote because there is no way they can get there by themselves.
The same person that has to take a blind person to the
polls can help him vote. It's much more likely that a blind person votes by
absentee ballot than it is to have someone who can take him to the polls.
Some of the people in
If I were blind, I would rather stay at home and have
somebody punch my absentee ballot than I would stand in line in the rain so I
could use a touch-screen e-voting machine.
I'd rather stay at home and punch my own punch card
absentee ballot than stand in line in the rain to use an e-voting machine.
I don't trust e-voting machines for the blind or sighted
persons. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Kerik withdrawing his name as Director of Homeland
Security nominee
Just how thick in the head is that Kerik joker? Didn't he
think anybody would find this out? The idea, as I see it, was that it was
better for Kerik to admit to something he did not do than it was for him to be
found guilty of things he had done.
Kerik may be using the nanny story as a cover up--there
is a big question as to whether or not there ever was a nanny or a nanny
problem. This may have been used as an excuse for him to withdraw his name
before all the dirt dropped from his past. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
That is almost funny when you think about it. The
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the flu vaccine shortage
They're worried about not having enough vaccine for next
year. People who could get the vaccine this year did not because they were
being told there wasn't enough to go around. So now there's lot of it
everywhere except ahia.
Now next year people are going to think, why bother? We
may be lucky enough to get by this year, but a bad flu season next year with no
vaccine and people not in the habit of getting it could be a disaster. But
booosh will still be president.
What would this country do if there were an outbreak of
something really serious--like small pox? After three years, the efforts to
protect this country are pitiful. But the amurkan people elected booosh to do
just that.
He made them feel safer--what jerks!!! –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Curtis affidavit regarding the program design
allegedly requested by Tom Feeney
Tom Feeney is now in the House, but before that he was in
the state legislature of floriduh. he ran with Jeb Bush on his
first--unsuccessful--try at governor. What Curtis is swearing to is that Feeney
asked or directed him to design a program for touch-screen voting machines that
could move votes from one candidate to an- other, in a way that could not be
detected.
An affidavit is, of course, not proof of anything. But
can Curtis prove that he designed such a program? Does such a program exist?
Can he prove that Feeney directed him to create such a program?
I have no idea. –Walrath 12-16-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the attitude of US voters towards election results
I think it's totally out of control. It's so bad that
people now accept an election unless it's transparently seen to be a fraud.
People's standards about what they should accept from
their government are so low that nothing bothers them no matter what their
government does.
Standing in line in the rain for hours to vote is not
something people should accept. The best and latest equipment should not all go
to Repugnut areas. Everyone who is eligible should be able to vote, and all
votes should be counted. Not most of them, or almost all of them—but every
single vote. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Made in
He nailed the trade deficit, the budget deficit, and the
current account deficit. The only thing he left out was the booosh brain
deficit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Congress protesting the electoral vote
If the election was not carried out under the provisions
of the laws as provided for in that state, there is basis for a protest when
Congress meets on the 6th of January.
Of course, the election is not going to be overturned.
The Repugnants control both Houses of Congress. But there will be a chance to
nationally bring up all the things they have found wrong.
The Democrats had a much better shot at this in 2000, but
how many elections are you going to let go by without doing anything?
There is no responsibility without backbone. Just
thinking something doesn't get it done. Under the Constitution, it's the
responsibility of Congress to meet and vote on accepting the results of the
election. If the Democrats don't even have enough fight in them to take the
Exactly the same situation occurred in 2000. What the
Black Caucus was protesting was not the supine court decision but the election
in floriduh. This time it's the election in ahia. In both cases, it's the
electoral votes of one state that made the difference. The first thing and most
necessary thing is for the Democrats to show that they're alive and aren't going
to lie down and let the Repugnuts walk all over them.
It would be nice to see the election protested in
Congress. The outcome is already known, but at least it would be better than
just doing nothing. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of Bush and the National Debt
Just for the fun of it, I wonder I booosh can add more to
the National Debt in eight years than all the presidents who preceded him.
I think the National Debt was less than $6 trillion when
booosh slithered under the back door of the White House in January 2001.
All he has to do, if I'm remembering correctly, is to get
the National Debt up to a little more than $11 trillion.
Just imagine that! –Walrath 12-11-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the shortage of voting machines in Franklin County,
OH
When words gets out that lines are forming and people are
standing in the rain for hours to vote, what's the matter with moving in some
extra voting machines?
Thirty-nine must be a key number--that's how many unused
voting machines they had in
How do you explain pictures in newspapers of long lines
of voters standing in the rain during voting hours waiting to vote?
Maybe the problem was the movers didn't want to go out
into the rain. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is leaving PBS next week after his final
broadcast about how the right-wing has taken over journalism and the media.
The main-stream media are interested in making money. The
right-wing media elects Republicans who support the right-wing media.
Meanwhile, Democrats wonder why they can't get elected.
–Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the ratio of WIA to KIA in
Those who would have died in previous wars will live
without legs or arms or eyes or hands.
Only 10% of the casualties are killed. The other 90% live
on for years as the result of the debacle in
What does the press and the rest of the media show us? Pictures
of one vet--with one leg amputated-- running around the White House lawn with
Dubya. –Walrath 12-10-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On armored vehicles in Iraq
It's amazing how fast they got that altogether right
after the soldier asked Rumsfeld the question.
I wonder why they didn't tell the troops and us about how
well prepared the vehicles will be.
How many more armored vehicles will there be starting
tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year? –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the results of the
People keep mentioning the same thing over and
over--boooooosh, they say, won by over three million votes. He couldn't have
cheated that much.
Is that a fact? He had a five million vote margin coming
out of the original slave states known as the confederacy. Those are the eleven
states that gave him his big vote margin.
What was interesting to me is that there was a sackful of
unaccounted votes in a very close election--a sackful that made the difference
in the election of a governor. And again, the re-count turns out to be in favor
of the Democrat.
Looks like every place they looked, Kerry picked up votes
over booooosh. Maybe the problem is they didn't look in all the right places.
How is it all the mistakes that have been found are in the same direction? So
far I don't know of one that has been otherwise.
How many other undetected errors were there in the
election?
Did a lot of chads just happen to fall right for the
REpug nuts in the first place?
In all other states, he either lost or won by a narrow
margin. I don't think they uncovered even half of all the crap that went on.
The Repugnuts just got better at it since 2000.
Maybe they should keep on looking. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of Consumer Confidence
The WSJ had a column this morning on consumer confidence
the gist of which was consumers are close to the worst possible judge of future
business conditions. It pointed out that consumers did have a better handle on
the job situation than the so-called experts. Consumers predicted higher
unemployment claims, which proved to be true, but then they predicted better
business conditions.
To consumers, business conditions don't have anything to
do with jobs!!!!!!
The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that
consumers don't think jobs relate to business conditions. What they're trying
to say is, people who are in business are going to make money, but people
looking for jobs are going to have a rough time. –Walrath 12-28-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Retail Sales
They're lousy, but if you didn't see that for yourself
you'd think people were buying up a storm listening to the TV cheerleaders
telling everybody about what a great shopping season this has been for
retailers.
Neiman-Marcus and other high-end stores did a lot of
business for the season, but from the middle on down to the Wal-marts, not so
hot. People's credit cards have long since been maxed out, and they just don't
have any money anymore.
As usual, whenever most of the people are having a rough
time, the rich
spend more--they can make more of a splash that way with
their purchases. -Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of the Flu
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, wiped out something
like twenty million--that's 20,000,000 people after the end of World War I. By
wipe out, I mean it killed them dead. There was no known vaccine then, and not
much of a cure.
Food poisoning in mild forms is what many people label
the flu, not knowing that they have been exposed to bad--in the true sense of
the word--food.
You may recover in a few days and think you've had the
flu, but the flu takes much more than a few days--it may turn into pneumonia
and take much longer—unless it kills you sooner.
Last year in this country when there was flu vaccine,
there were 36,000 deaths even though 100 million people were vaccinated. This
year, there is only half as much vaccine available although I have no idea
where--none that I can find in ahia.
If you are fortunate and don't catch the flu, it won't
bother you a bit. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On privatizing social security
The next thing is for the government to borrow a couple
of trillion dollars to pay for the boosh privatizing social security. I think
Greenspan would just as soon wait until after he is gone before boosh does
that.
But, Greenspan is going to be around for another year or
two, and that means it's close to another election for the House. If Greenspan
is lucky, he may just be out of there before the roof caves in.
People forget very quickly. Greenspan is the same person
that favored the huge tax-cuts for the rich because of the tremendous surplus
that lay ahead as far as the eye can see.
This is the same Greenspan who is now preaching about the
growing deficit as far as the eye can see.
I wonder if he has figured out what caused that growing
deficit? –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Republican style trickle down economics
"If the federal government caps the money it gives
states for their Medicaid programs, county taxpayers in
I'm missing something--how does cutting Medicaid reduce
taxes? It reduces expenses, maybe, but how does it reduce taxes for NYS?
–Walrath
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
I think the idea is to take people's minds off the
election over here. The
The red states could have boosh if they want him. We'd
all be much better off-- no need to keep on paying for welfare for the red
states. They are costing us too much money.
Ditch
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Putin selling dollars
They are messing with the wrong man in Putin. Talking of
consequences isn't going to have much of an effect on Putin.
The
You stop selling dollars and we'll stop protesting the
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On
poll results indicating Americans trust electronic voting
That's one of the fears of e-voting machines--which they
may work too well. They may work exactly as intended—to steal votes from one
candidate and give them to another.
Computers can do that faster than the old fashioned way.
Fraud by wholesale instead of retail.
Asking people whether they think e-voting machines are
"safe" makes about as much sense as asking them a question about
foreign policy.
Half the people in the
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On
the hunters killed in
Five killed and three wounded, and it was over a hunting
spot? I don't get it. The shooter had a criminal record and should never have
been allowed to own a gun.
So much for the gun laws. -Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On
the value of estimating vs. calculating statistics
How much money do you want to spend to do it?
It reminds me of my statistics instructor who posed the
question, How many people are listed in the phone book? How badly do you want
to know? If you get a nickel for being right, you aren't going to spend much
time and/or money on the question.
If the prize is $100, maybe it's worth counting some
names on some pages selected at random and multiplying by the number of names
on each page X the number of pages in the phone book.
But if somebody said $10,000 you would get very serious
about how you were going to produce your answer. Same way with the estimate of
the entrants into the labor force. The exact, precise number would cost too
much for the time and effort required.
An estimate serves almost as well, and costs little or
nothing. the figure, 150,000 per month will do until a better number comes
along. -Walrath
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On how a cartogram would be viewed by Bush voters
A map of the
Such a map would look the same even if no one lived in
it, and it's familiar to almost everyone in the country. So when Repugnuts show
such a map and color in the red states and the blue states, it gives the
appearance that almost all of the whole country is red.
Anything you do to show population of the blue states, of
necessity, has to distort the physical, geographical features of the map. To
the 59 million + people who vote for boosh, this looks to them like Democrats
are just making something up. –
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the possibility of legal action by the Democrats
over the election
The time to have done that was four years ago with
lawsuits in floriduh. The Democrats just let that pass for reasons I've never
understood.
This time, I think they're just trying to make a case out
of ahia by pointing out all the things that are wrong with our election system
using ahia as an example.
Hold ahia up and show just how many things were wrong
with this state's election as an example of just how bad things are all over
the country in the way elections are handled -Walrath 11-22-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On job losses under Bush
The best the economists see in job growth for the next
four years is not even enough to match the growth in the labor force. Boosh is
still 333,000 jobs behind where he was when he took office.
Ballooning deficits, unfavorable trade balance, falling
dollar, rising interest rates, increasing inflation can't be overcome by just
saying, We're for a stronger dollar.
Big bust before boosh bows out. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the recount lawsuits filed in
Several organizations in ahia are raising money for the
lawsuits now being brought in ahia regarding the election. Repugnants get away
with being brought in ahia regarding the election. Repugnants get away with the
things they do because they know nobody is going to get in front them.
Tom DeLay is costing the Repugnant Party a ton of money
for his defense
fund.
Make them pay. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of abortion
To the Repugnants, pro-life means the period of time between
conception and birth. After that, the child and the mother are often on their
own. Pro-life is an issue the Repugnants use to get elected.
They are not interested in doing anything to reduce
abortions. They just want to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Henry Hyde's statement was, We can't stop the rich from
having abortions, but we can those who are poor from having them.
That makes about as much sense as most of the things
Henry Hyde said.
–Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On
Without more jobs in this country, I wonder how much more
of all that crap, junk and stuff people are going to be able to buy in this
country. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Abizaid's statement to discontinue
"unsolicited" mail to our troops
A lot of women have been spending a lot of their time,
not to mention their money, buying and shipping packages to soldiers in
Now they're being told their efforts were not needed.
–Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the funding of lawsuits from various organizations
There's all kind of money available from people with
organizations like MoveOn. Every time I look in my email, there's another
request from somebody for something. MoveOn could provide the funding for
lawsuits to end a lot of this Repugnant behavior.
They know they can get away with anything they do. Who's
going to stop them? DeLay has faced ethical charges by a committee controlled
by Repugnants. He knows that will never amount to anything.
But if he were facing lawsuits and had to answer them, it
would be a different story. Just keep bringing suit after suit. Lawsuits have
to be answered.
You have to go there and answer questions. After a while,
you become baggage the Repugnants don't want to carry anymore.
Make them pay. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On decisions made by Ohio Secretary of State, Ken
Blackwell
I'm sure he did make his rulings based on the law--at
least, I hope he did. But his rulings were appealed and in some case he was
over-ruled indicating that his interpretation of the law may have been clouded
by his being co-chairman of the boosh campaign.
But none of this gets at the basic question of, Why is an
elected official permitted to serve as co-chairman of a candidate's campaign?
Government employees are not even permitted to campaign
during work hours for a candidate under the Hatch Act. Are we saying Blackwell
never made any phone calls for boosh from 9 to 5? -Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the county-by-country election map being
distributed by Republicans
Looking at the map gives the impression that the Repug
nuts won everything. They don't have to correct for anything--all they have to
do is show the map.
Correcting the map for population distribution produces
an image that boosh voters just look at and say, What's 'at? -Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
I have the feeling that the re-count in ahia is going to
be a rather anemic effort.
But I would like to see a county-by-county breakdown of
votes as well as the method used in casting those votes.
There must have been some instances where errors resulted
in giving Kerry--not boosh--the advantage. There must be some, but all the
reports I've seen are the other way.
How is it possible that all the mistakes made favor
boosh? –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On OH Secretary of State Ken Blackwell
Blackwell was elected as a Republican and it's obvious
that he favors that party and its candidates. That's not the same at all as
letting him use his elected position to serve as co-chairman of the boosh
campaign. -11-21-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
Our election system and the Electoral College are a farce
giving disproportionate weight to states with sparse populations. No matter how
few people live in a state, it has at least three electoral votes. –Walrath
11-21-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tom DeLay
Then there's four-time ethically challenged Tom Delay,
but Repugnuts say there's nothing wrong with what he's done even though the
Ethics Committee has as many Repugnuts as Democrats on it and a Repugnut
chairman.
They really need a scandal very soon. Something that will
shake them to their very knees and leave all those hypocrites tossing to
themselves.
I mean something really bad. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
I saw that interview twice.
He owes a lot of people. – Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the inability to read and/or comprehend
Not being able to read and not reading covers all the
problems in this country. People don't or can't read. It's that simple. The
ones that can't don't want anybody to know about it. The ones who don’t don't
think it matters. - Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On raising the debt limit
Debt limit? Raise it! What's the big deal? Another
tax-cut for the rich and Big Bidness will take care of the problem.
Next question, When does the war start with
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lack of thinking Americans
We just had an election. As one woman, head of the
Christian Coalition put it, there's no dissent in
That's the kind of thinking that rules in amurka today,
tomorrow and as long as the Fascists are in power. More of the same and much
worse.
The people who voted for boosh like not knowing what's
going on. They like being treated like sheep. Thinking is too hard work for
them. –Walrath -11-17-2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of breaking the law by changing it
As soon as boosh gets all his hand-picked judges on all
the benches, we won't have to worry about him breaking the law anymore--he will
be the law. That's what all his faith-based supporters believe in.-Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the possibility of ending the war in
The election was a chance--not a very good one, at it turned
out--to bring an end to the war and the killing in
All others whether they are women or children don't count
in this country. Shooting a wounded, unarmed insurgent won't count, either.
It's about values. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On possible changes in the Bush cabinet
The ones that want to stay are the insiders, the one ones
who are really close to boosh, the real hard-liners. They should be able to
take the country back to the 30's in four more years without any trouble at
all. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the possibility of Ashcroft being nominated to the
Supreme Court
Ashcroft a Supreme Court Judge? If the Repugnuts could
pick up enough seats in 2006 so that their majority was "filibuster"
proof, I think boosh would put Ashcroft on the court.
It would be another way of sticking it in the eyes of the
Democrats—rubbing it in. He'd love to do that.
That's like defeating Daschle. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Rice's Secretary of State nomination
Moving her into the Secretary of State spot is a putdown
for Powell, and that's what boosh intended to do. Why Powell ever took the
position in the first place never made sense to me.
I think there will be more people leaving long before the
end of the next four years. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the organization of the Republican party
The Repugnuts are miles ahead of the Democrats in
organization. The Repugnuts had their state office and campaign organization
ready to roll January 1, of 2004.
The Democrats were still thinking about it even after
Kerry had won the nomination. You can't beat something with nothing. What the
Democrats had going for them in ahia was 237,000 lost jobs. But I never thought
they pushed that as hard as they could have.
McAuliffe could raise money, but he's a long way from a
nuts-and-bolts man. The Democrats just don't have one. –Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the suit filed in
The Green Party and the Libertarian Party are sponsoring
the recount. This is a good move on their part. They're going to get a lot of
publicity by doing so. Some people are going to ask the question,
Why are these two parties willing to pay $110,000 for a
re-count while the Democratic Party stands idly by with their thumbs up their
noses--or elsewhere.
I'm asking that question, too. –Walrath
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the voting
delays in Gambier OH
Gambier,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
confirmation of Bush nominees
If the Democrats want to filibuster, they can block an
appointment. The Repugnants can change the rules, but that takes a two-thirds
vote.
Now if they decide to just forget about that, I don't see
what there is to stop them. The real question is, How much longer will this
country pretend to be a Democracy?
It's a Fascist banana republic. –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On
Unless irregularities, fraud and voter intimidation reach
such proportions that they cannot be ignored, it's considered to be no big
deal.
For years, the question has been why don't more people
vote? Maybe it's because they think their voted doesn't count and won't be
counted.
Maybe they are right. –Walrath 11-12-2004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On electronic
voting machines
If it all boils down to the question of why Diebold
machines are accepted by Republicans but rejected by Democrats, maybe that's
the question that should be answered.
Why don't Democrats want them? –Walrath
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lack of
available information on the flu vaccine
The people in this country are a really strange bunch.
Last year was a mild season for the flu--36,000 persons died from it with close
to 100 million getting the vaccine. This year, there's about half as much, but
you can't even find anyone talking about it--not even mentioned on the news
anymore.
Less than 3,000 people died from 911, and the
At the very least, you would think that the person
responsible for the lack of vaccine would have been shot by now.
When I called the 800 number for the CDC all I got was a
recording that tells you exactly nothing. All it said was there was a shortage
of vaccine and people who were not at high risk were being asked not to get a
flu shot.
I don't know how they would get one if there isn't any.
A chronic illness, plus being over 65, should put you at
the very head of the line. But doctors are not giving out flu-shots to their
patients even if they are the highest priority unless the patient asked for it.
What I really think is that if you know somebody, you can
get a flu shot. The little vaccine there is, is not going to those who are
supposed to be first in line--it's going to those who know somebody who has it.
All the flu vaccine clinics have been canceled, and there
is nothing being said or done to inform people about what to do. The flu
vaccine shortage lasted on TV all of three days. No answer to the problem--they
just stopped putting it on the news. -Walrath 11-14-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the many faces
of Bush
I'm not sure which is worse--that bush realizes he's just
running a scam and is doing so for the benefit of himself and his rich cronies,
or that he really believes that what he is doing is right.
I can understand why the rich would vote for him, but
that's a long way from 51% of the voters. They must believe he is right, and
that's enough to scare any sane rational person to death.
It is strange how the same person can be viewed so
totally different by people. He's a "straight-shooter" to those who
voted for him, a man of faith, who says what he means and means what he says.
You have to wonder about the minds of people who think
that way. Clearly, he does NOT say what he means and mean what he says. He has
trouble with the English language. He strikes me as someone who is artificial,
superficial, and incredibly selfish.
Maybe that's what's wrong, too, with all those who voted
for him. –Walrath 11-13-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the statement
by Seymour Harsh
http://pm.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=3943
"I just see very hard times ahead," Seymour
Hersh, who broke the Abu Gharib prison detainee scandal story last spring in
The New Yorker magazine, said in a keynote address to about 100 people
attending the Military Reporters and Editors conference....
He said Bush's dismissal of opposition views on the war
and his insistence the United States push ahead against an insurgency Hersh
called "the war we started" will have profound impact on the economy.
"This president believes in what he's doing. He is
prepared to take a lot more body bags," he said. "He is going to
fight this all the way. The bombing has gone up exponentially ... How are we
going to end this if the president's convinced that he has to see this
through?"
There was a time when the
Not so anymore. We're in debt up to our eye-balls just in
time to have a president who doesn't think we need the rest of the world.
There's bad news coming and then it gets worse. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the passive
attitude towards election abnormalities
The bottom line on all this election business is that the
country is not very good at it. Yes, we’ve been doing it for over 200 years,
and no, we're not very good at what we do.
Presidential elections occur only every four years which probably
has something to do with the problems. If we had to run an election every year,
we probably would get better at it.
But I would just say again--people ought to be able to
vote as easy as they can get $10 from a bank machine with as few errors. If you
asked for $10 and got only $5 and were charged for $50, you'd be upset enough
to do something about it.
Standing in line for ten hours to vote? Any kind of
explanation will satisfy--after all, it only happens every four years, and you
don't have to vote anyway, do you? –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the reasons for
voting for Bush
If it were just the rich who had voted for boosh that
would be understandable. But the rich don't make up 51% of the voters--far from
it. Evangelicals, almost by definition, aren't rich.
Economic interests were not their reasons for
voting--social interests and valyas were their reasons for voting.
That's where the 3% came from. –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On computer
experts and voting machines
Computer experts can't all be just Republicans or
Democrats—there must be some of each. Do they go to different schools to learn
computerese? If you're a Republican, you learn one thing. If you're a Democrat,
you learn something else.
That makes no sense to me at all. So, why then, is there
such a big difference of opinion? Why are all the Republicans pushing for e-voting
machines while the Democrats are insisting that they have a paper trail?
It makes no sense at all. –Walrath
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the 30,000
complaints regarding election practices
30,000 cases that have been generated by Election 2004. I
have no idea how much difference any of them made in the election, but none of
them sound good for the system. –Walrath
http://www.alternet.org/election04/20451/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On faith based and
community initiatives
I didn't know they were giving away money to faith based
individuals – I thought that was just for the faith-based organizations. http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/grants-catalog-index.html
$50 billion available to individuals if they are faith-based?
That ought to be worth at least an article. I'm sure most
people don't know about this.
You could buy a lot of votes for $50 billion--faith-based
or otherwise. –Walrath 11-11-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lack of
media attention to voting irregularities
What I think is really scary about our election system is
that the media says, Yes, there were irregularities and many instances of
things going wrong, but no more than usual, and these are just normal in an
election.
In Gambier, ahia people waited as long as ten hours in
line to vote. This is what you would expect? This is normal? This is usual?
If so, that's pretty bad and something should be done
about it. If you had to stand in line ten hours to get ten dollars out of a
bank machine, would you think that was normal or usual?
But voting -- no big deal. –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the validity of
the statement made in a Corporate Watch article
It's true that the STATES represent 2000 Electoral Votes.
It's true that the DREs are in states that represent 200 electoral votes. What
is not true is that the DREs in those states represent 200 electoral; votes.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11517
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the quality of
elections
Elections have been getting worse over the years. The
worst one ever was the one in 2000, and nothing was done. People should have
taken to the streets and I should have been there with them. –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More voting
irregularities
Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, devoted his entire program last
night to the problems in the election on November 2. I think he's at it again
tonight.
The Columbus Dispatch, on the front page this morning,
ran a story highlighting, of course, the 4000 vote glitch that everyone is
talking about that dumped 4,000 votes on boosh in a 300-vote precinct.
As I have said, I doubt that there is enough evidence of
fraud to over-turn the election. I'm hopeful that there is enough to stir up
the media enough to cover just how poor this country's election system is.
–Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On voting
irregularities
The so-called "real" numbers are supposed to be
the results after people vote. But that assumes all votes are counted. We know
that's not so. Exit polls in 2000 said Gore won flori-duh, but the
"actual" votes didn't say so.
Now that ere are some 30,000 cases of
"irregularities" being sent to Cameron Kerry, brother of John, for
further study.
How many does it take before the answer is clear--we have
a bad system. –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Federal
Reserve raising the interest rate
Greenspan is raising interest rates because the dollar is
falling. Job growth is not all that great despite the 337,000 non-manufacturing
jobs reported for October, and inflation is pretty tame despite or because of
the price of oil.
He's raising interest rates so he'll be able to lower
them when the economy goes into a recession.
What other tool does he have? –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the various
investigations into electronic voting
I really don't think anything will come of these complaints,
but they may serve to point out what a screwed up election system this country
has. The same country that has been boasting about freedom and democracy needs
to go back to square one and get its act together.
Our election system is a joke, and the rest of the world
is laughing at us—but then, they were, anyway, weren't they?
Look at who [gw] became president--twice! -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On exit polls and
values
Here's something for people to think about--
Those exit polls that said Kerry was going to win are the
same one that gave the media the big story about moral values.
If the polls were so wrong about predicting the winner,
why are they now considered to be so right about the reason people voted for
boosh? –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lack of
'informed' voters
People don't know much of anything about anything. But
that's not a requirement for voting. Another 100,000 or so votes in ahia for
Kerry and he, not boosh, would be president.
So now boosh has "political
capital" and he intends to spend it. I think we're headed back into the
1900's and are going to have to go through another Great Depression.
That will straighten out a lot of people who talk about
valyas. Trying to figure out how to get enough to eat will get their minds
right. They're all wrong now. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the attack on
Fallujah
Fallujah is or they hope will be a symbolic victory. The
last attempt to take or re-take Fallujah failed with something like 4000 troops
in the assault.
This time there are 10,000 to 12,000 troops involved with
heavy tanks and air strikes. They've been planning this attack for months. It's
a post-election celebration for boosh.
How many Fallujahs there are in
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the situation
in
Allawi has declared a National Emergency which almost
sounds funny when you know that there's been a war in
But the purpose of declaring a National Emergency is so
that he can impose Martial Law. I wonder if the insurgents will pay any
attention.
Boosh is considering Clarence Thomas for Chief Justice as
soon as a vacancy occurs. Rehnquist is not dead yet, but boosh wants to be
ready.–Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On electronic voting machines
Why should anyone not expect there would be bugs in
e-voting machines? Places that used E-voting machines with paper trails are
matching up very closely with exit polls. Not so with e-voting machines with no
paper trails--they all show totals in favor of boosh.
Palast says Kerry started off a million votes behind
before a single ballot was cast. I don't know how this hi-jacking was done, but
I think it was done--a hi-tech hi jacking.
But that doesn't explain why Kerry wanted to quit so
soon. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On computer errors
Errors with computers occur all the time. Errors used to
be blamed on clerks. The excuse was "due to clerical error" this and
so did or did not occur. Then came computers and they are even better at
providing cover for errors.
Now you don't even have to blame or name anybody. You can
say "due to computer error" thus and so did or did not happen.
-Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on election
results
Yes, the election is over. It was over in 1972, also,
when Nixon won in a land-slide--I mean by a really big margin. Then not even
half way through his second term, it was all over for him.
Too bad there no longer are any investigative reporters
working today. There are lots of stories out there that could end Dubya's
second term before it was over.
I wonder if it could happen again? - Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On total votes
In the eleven original southern states--known as the
slave states--boosh gained five million votes.
Over the rest of the country where the race actually took
place, boosh LOST 1.5 million votes.
Outside of the deep south, boosh either lost the other
states or won by very modest margins. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Republican advantage
of a later convention
The total for boosh was slightly higher than that of
Kerry. But more important was the ready, steady availability of money all
through the campaign from beginning to end. At one point, before he was the
candidate, Kerry had to take out a $6 million loan on his house.
During August when he really could have used some money
to fight the swift boat smear, he would have had to dig into his $75 million he
needed for his campaign after the Republican Convention.
By going later, the Repugnuts were able to continue
raising money right up until their convention started.
Near the end of the campaign, Kerry was buying spots in
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On how Republicans won the election
in 2004
When the Repugnants got stomped in 1964 when Goldwater
ran, they went to work the next day starting to re-build from the ground up.
They did things like run their chosen right-wingers for
School Boards, City Councils, any kind of government office wherever there were
vacancies – State Legislatures,
Then they got lucky. LBJ brought civil rights to millions
of citizens and the Repugnants saw their chance to move into the south and gain
the votes of white Democrats.
When the Vietnam War came it was the wrong war in the
wrong place at the wrong time and probably did as much to cost Kerry the
election yesterday as anything else you could mention.
What's the matter with
No, the Repugnants have convinced a majority that it's
better to vote rich, and live poor.
It pays to advertise. If you can convince millions of
people to stuff their homes with crap and junk, fill their attics and basements
until they're overflowing, how hard is it to persuade those same people to vote
for "values" that you define for them?
Not very hard. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the election
results
What I think went wrong was at the voting places. With
the exception of 2000 and 2004, exit polls have been extremely accurate. Why in
the last two elections did they just suddenly go wrong?
I wish I could put my finger on it, but there is
something about the way the election came out that doesn't look right. The huge
number of votes in the red states for boosh makes me wonder.
Was anyone paying any attention there? Was the huge
number intended to discourage any questioning of the election results?
It makes a win by boosh in places like
Kerry and the Democrats had as much money to spend as the
Repugnuts did. Money was not the problem. August and the swift boat smear was
the problem. Immediate response would have made all the difference in the
world.
The primaries were bunched up to get a candidate as early
as possible with the idea that this would give him more time to plan and
organize his campaign against boosh.
What it did was leave Kerry in August after the
convention with no plan on
what to fill in with until after the Repugnant
Convention. It took Kerry and the entire month of September and three debates
to get somewhere near even again.
I'm really wondering now about all those red states going
so heavily for boosh. Who knows what went on at the polls in those states? Was
anybody really paying any attention? And why are the exit polls, again, so far
apart from the actual votes? -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Kerry's
concession
Early reports indicated new voters were going for Kerry
according to exit polls.
Then it was reported that the exit polls were wrong.
Strange, but that's the same thing that happened in flori-duh in 2000. Exit
polls had Al Gore winning floi-duh by a comfortable margin. Then we later found
out that thousands of votes for Gore had disappeared and thousands of would-be voters
were never allowed to vote.
Yesterday all kinds of law suits were gong to be filed in
ahia. Edwards says we can wait another night after waiting for four years. A
few hours later, Kerry throws in the towel.
Don't those guys talk to each other? Edwards came out
after
Not many hours later, Kerry called boosh to concede.
Don't they talk to
each other?
That was including ahia which Kerry failed to win. That's
all he had to do--win ahia. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Election
Expectations
There are long lines at the polls--that is a good sign
for Kerry. The next thing is will they be allowed to vote or will the REpugnant
intimidators on hand cause voters to become discouraged and leave the line
without voting?
The big news of the day is the overruling by the 6th
Circuit Court of Appeals in
A lower court had ruled that they would not be allowed.
They will be there at all polls now turning away as many Kerry voters as
possible.
Boosh is now on his way back to ahia to assist as much as
he can.
But I had high hopes for
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Greg Palast
Palast is the journalist that covered the flori-duh
fiasco in 2000. No TV or media outlet would print or air his story, so he took
it to the BBC. They ran documentaries of the fraud and voter intimidation of
Democratic voters by the Repugnanats.
Most of his reporting has never been viewed or read by
people in the
On the 380 tons of deadly explosives missing from Al
Qaqaa
I've never seen an article anywhere or heard on TV any
kind of report on where all the arms and weapons for the insurgents are coming
from. What country or countries are manufacturing them?
Nothing is ever said about the source of supply. Were
they made in
This story broke today, Kerry used it in his campaign, it
was on all the evening TV news, and it will be in all the papers again
tomorrow.
I don't think it will make any difference. The news will
never reach
It was hundreds of tons, and they've been missing for
some time. How can this be? Bush leads Kerry in the polls on terrorism by 20
points and Bush doesn't even know when these hundreds of tons disappeared?
-Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the
The bottom line on the election system in the
What the supine court did in 2000 is take a mess and, by
its interference, make a mess into what is going to be a disaster in 2004.
To cite Equal Protection as the basis for its decision
was the worst possible reason they could have chosen. If there is anything in
the election procedures of the
There is no such thing in our election procedure. Our
democracy has rested for 200 years on a farce with over 3000 counties running
elections 3000 different ways.
How could you claim "equal protection" under a
system like that?
The time bomb goes off on November 2.
There will be no clear winner, and boosh will stay in the
White House.
Even if he loses, he will not leave. There will be so
many suits and so many bad experiences at the polls that he can claim the
election is not over.
How do you get him out of the White House if he won't go?
-Walrath 10-24-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the fear of
terrorism
Can you tell me why it is that people in states like
Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are so afraid of terrorists?
These states that have more cows and sheep and
horses--not to mention horses' a**es--than people, yet they spend all their
time talking about terrorism.
In NYC, where 911 occurred, the people are overwhelmingly
against bush--in fact a majority thinks he had something to do with it.
The places least likely to experience terrorism are those
most afraid of it. It must have something to do with the lack of gray matter in
their minds.
In the middle of NYC, people can't stand bush. Out in the
middle of the boon-docks, people talk about how boosh is going to protect them.
He can't even protect them against the flu. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the estimated
number of people that will be hospitalized and/or die due to the absence of flu
vaccine
Last year, 36,000 people died from the flu, and 200,000
were hospitalized from the flu.
This year there is about half as much vaccine as there
was last year. The arithmetic would say twice as many people will die and twice
as many will be hospitalized.
That's terrible, but it's probably wrong -- chances are
the casualties will be much greater. Fewer people getting the vaccine means the
ones needing it most will be left out. Who's at the head of the line in
We have people worried that terrorism may strike again.
We need a strong leader, they say. I think terrorism has already struck again.
Our so-called strong leader, George W. Bush, has let disaster strike the
country again.
This time, as many as 100,000 may die from the flu and
hundreds of thousands may be hospitalized. For some reason, I'm worried more
about someone dropping a little bottle of bugs in my water than I am about
terrorism.
The president can't even protect the people against the
flu. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Bush
administration views towards flu shots
You have to wonder sometimes what people who work do with
their time all day.
I think what is striking is how far apart the views on
flu shots are within the boosh administration.
Dubya says he's not going to get one because he's not in
the group that needs it.
Cheney says he's already got his and is going to stay in
his secure, undisclosed
place.
Frist says he was first in line. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lack of
media attention to the flu vaccine crisis
If I felt better, I'd be on the phone trying to run down
some flu vaccine. But it's beginning to look like they're going to ration it
through doctors. What seems so strange to me is how little publicity this is
getting when you consider the enormity of the coming crisis
They're keeping the lid on the flu vaccine crisis and
scandal until after the election. Tell people not to go out and look for it,
stay at home because vaccine is on the way--anything to keep millions of people
all over the country standing in lines trying to get a flu shot.
Somebody with a camera might take some pictures. Very bad
before the election. -Walrath 10-20-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tommy
Thompson's remarks telling the American people not to worry
Tommy Boy Thompson – not to be confused with Tommy Boy Ridge
who sends out Ridge Ranger Radiograms on how to put up your sheets of plastic
to outwit the terrorists – has issued a message telling us old folks to stay in
our of the cold and not worry about getting a flu shot.
Easy for him to say -- I’m sure he’s already had his.
Besides, you wouldn’t want all those people standing in line waiting for flu
shots that they’re not going to get – they might start talking about the
election.
If boosh can’t provide protection against the flu, how in
hell is he going to protect the country against terrorists? –Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the rising
costs of airline fuel
Eisenhower built the highways in this country back in
1956. As a young officer Ike had the responsibility to move a convoy across the
It took an incredibly long time--our roads and highways
were in a mess. As a result, he wanted to make some big improvements. And he
did.
But in the meantime, the passenger train business has
gone out of business in amurka, and the airplane industry is not far behind. In
ahia, the nearest train station to
That just leaves the SUV with gas at $2.00 a gallon or
the bus--leave the driving to us, says Greyhound. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the failure of
President Bush to take his annual physical
Except for the internet, I've seen nothing about the
"bulge in the back of Dubya's suit jacket" during the debates.
There were two reported bicycle mishaps involving Dubya
not so long ago both within a fairly short period of time. I don't think the
injuries were severe but the reason for the accidents may be the answer to why
he didn't take his physical.
I think there was something wrong with him before he fell
off his bike-- twice. Whatever it is, is what caused him to fall is my
diagnosis. -Walrath
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the second
Presidential debate
Kerry seems to have won in the polls by a narrow margin,
but bush was much improved over the last time.
I thought there were a number of places that Kerry could
have really nailed bush. The jobs report just out that day was really bad news
for bush, but Kerry didn't hit on it hard enough.
Ahia had a 6.2% unemployment rate last month compared to
the 5.4% national average. There was a chance to make a direct pitch to ahia; a
state that bush absolutely has to have to win. - Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Jobs report
issued
It came in at 96,000 jobs which is not good at all for
bush. He really needed a much higher number, but they'll spin it just as though
the report had been better.
Bush is now the first president since Herbert Hoover and
the Great Depression to lose jobs during his term of office. In over seventy
(70) years, every president, Democrat or Republican, has seen job growth during
his term of office.
He has got to go. -Walrath
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the way people
vote
People look for the easy way out. About half the people
just don't bother to vote. They may have all kinds of excuses, but the easiest
thing to do is just not vote at all.
That leaves the other half and for most of them they vote
the way their mothers
and fathers voted for the most part.
But economic issues aren't the big reason anymore. Even
before 911 and
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the first
Presidential debate
All the polls give the debate to Kerry who should take
that red light with him wherever he goes. The less time he has for his answers,
the better they get.
Bush seemed to have trouble filling in the time he was
given. He kept waiting for applause for those jerky comments he makes when he
is campaigning. That's what he's used to with all those ticketed crowds who
whoop it up and applaud on cue.
There were no Stepford wives and husbands to cheer him on
last night and the media couldn't help him out either.
The Repugnants started spinning just as soon as possible
after the debate. Bush didn't do that well, and that's a fact. But what you're
going to see on the air over and over again will be ads and re-runs of the
"Don't send mixed messages".
Polls taken show Kerry really mopped up the floor with
bush, but you aren't going to hear that said on TV.
One idiot on PBS said it seemed to him that it was a case
of the tired teacher (bush) and the smartest kid in the class.
Bush - a teacher -- tired or otherwise? -Walrath
10-01-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the poll
numbers
I guess I never really thought about it that much, but
those polls that CNN shows 24/7 are polls that they have paid Gallup for.
Clearly, CNN could use some other poll besides
In 2000,
Consistently, through 2000,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the election
polls
They know ahead of time that that's how many Republicans
and Democrats they want. They ask every respondent whether he or she is a
Democrat or Republican. Then the task is to decide how many Republicans and how
many Democrats are going to be used in the results. It's getting harder and
harder to find people who want to respond. Gallop consistently overloads with
Republicans on the basis that they are more likely to vote than Democrats which
is true. It's easier to get Republicans than it is to get Democrats. A lot of
Democrats don't even have phones. They get by with just cellular phones and
don't have a listing.
Republicans are more likely to be at home than Democrats
who may be working odd shifts. Republicans work more day time hours.
The question is how heavy do you weight with Republicans?
Depending on how you do this, you can end up with very different results.
Pollsters may be presenting some very biased reports - Walrath 09-18-2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On brainwashing
the public
Turning Iraq over to the Iraqis, known as "giving
them back their sovereignty" as the Spin from the White House puts it, is
a ploy to get the war off the front pages of newspapers and off the TV screen.
The so-called deadline, June 30, was not only met, it was
a done deal completed a couple of days ahead of time to convince unthinking
people that this was a real accomplishment. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
What it did do was reduce the coverage of the war in
The media covers the war in
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the power of
pictures
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, man drew pictures on
the walls of his cave because he could not read or write. Then came television,
and since then, man is back to drawing pictures for people who don't or can't
read or write.
In between was the printing press and radio, but both of
these requiring more mental effort on the part of the user than TV.
Even radio requires the listener to pay attention and use
his imagination to create the picture described by the words coming from the
radio. There is a definite thinking process involved.
TV is back to the cave man's drawings. Words from the
talking heads are not what affect viewers--it's the pictures. Pictures are for
people who don't or cannot read or write. -Walrath
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the failure of
the media to give equal time
This is sorta funny in a sad way—when the swift boat
smear started last month, all the media joined in 24/7--TV networks, cable,
press, the whole crowd.
Now CBS comes out with a story on the draft-dodging,
National Guard drop-out, and ABC, CNN, and NBC are doing all they can to smear
the story. -Walrath 09-10-2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the media
reporting of poll numbers
It's stampede time--create the idea that bush has a big
lead and discourage all voters for Kerry. Does that bring out more Democratic
voters because Kerry is behind? Do some Repugnuts think it's in the bag for
bush and don't vote?
I think it's still a long way from being over. -Walrath
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the media
effort to question the validity of the Killian memos
Now from the right-wing crowd, we hear the cry that the
Army memos shown on the CBS interview were fake. If they were not authentic,
you would have heard from the Texas Air National Guard and the Department of
Defense immediately.
Hello? I haven't heard anything, and neither have you or
anyone else. That's because the memos are authentic in what they state.
But watch how the mainstream media handle the story about
George W. Bush who went missing while serving in
© 2004 Richard E. Walrath