Democracy's Blooper Reel

Right Wingers for Nader & a Photo of an older, sexually-unavailable, fully-dressed, smart, political woman.

By request here's Justin Raimondo's glowing appraisal of Nader, from a far right perspective. I've met Raimondo in a past life, and he definitely shares one thing in common with Nader. He builds bizarre, self-defeating alliances with folks at the far end of the other side of the spectrum (ie. Nader taking money from the Swifties.)

For what it's worth, Raimondo's rag seems to end up by endorsing Constitution Party candidate Michael Peroutka, whose web logo features a cartoon of an election ballot wearing a cowboy hat and spurs, while brandishing a whip.

It's always great to see votes siphoned off of Bush from the far right wing of the spectrum. It's less heartening to see this happen on the Left.

Word Salad

Unfortunately overheated rhetoric, jargon and other kinds of contorted language have a way of accumulating in the brain. I'm making this list in an effort to get the following words and phrases out of my head. This list is by no means definitive. Bear with me. Or join in.

enemy combatants
capture and kill
the "blame america" crowd
without a plan to win the peace
rummy
activist judges
armies of compassion
fair and balanced
flipflop
condi
deaniac
culture of life
Hollywood liberals
no child left behind
stress positions
security mom
pre-september 11th mentality/september 10th mentality
tougher, smarter more effective war
they hate our freedom
girlie men
no-spin zone (though i would like to hear more about loofahs. or was it falafel?)

Halloween for Girls

Sexy maid, sexy cat, sexy pirate. What will your daughter be this Halloween? Last year, at this time, Teratoma pointed out one of those rarely-voiced pieces of conventional wisdom: Halloween choices for women and girls suck. Almost every costume made and marketed for teen girls and women is a bachelor party stripper motif.

A typical description, for a female prisoner outfit reads: "Ready to be handcuffed and locked away. Bad Girl costume includes stripe top and shorts with matching hat." Girl sold separately?

Admittedly, we're not the only ones talking about Halloween for girls.

Misogynist talk radio icon Tom Leykis proclaimed this week that men should keep an eye on their girlfriends, because Halloween is the one day of the year that women give themselves permission to dress and act like sluts.

Meanwhile the movie Mean Girls got some of its best laughs out of Lindsay Lohan's observation that Halloween for teen girls is about dressing sexy. When her character goes to a costume party dressed as a scary witch, it's the ultimate faux pas.

The fashion writer for the Village Voice even devoted a column to the subject of sexist costuming this week.

So while seeing the receptionists at work today dressed as Lil' Bo Peep, Sexy Witch and Sexy Nurse respectively caused a 9am jolt to my libido, I have to admit that Halloween is kinda cheesy.

As an alternative, Teratoma sends along The Stranger's suggestions for Halloween costumes this season.

100,000 Reasons to Vote Bush Out

The Guardian reports that the medical journal the Lancet now estimates Iraqi civilian casualties at 100,000.

It's the Finger Next to the One on "the Button"

What if there were footage of Kerry doing this?

Also, if you've never seen the footage of Bush cleaning his glasses with an unsuspecting woman's shirt during a Letterman commercial break, you've missed one of the best clips around.

100 Reasons Not to Be Undecided

The Nation cuts through all the crap and presents 100 "non-arguable" facts about why Bush has got to go.

Check 21

My check-kiting days are over.

Ralph's Nadir

I'd like to buy the premise of Salon's brutal cover story on Ralph Nader today. They argue Nader isn't likely to do much damage this time around, but looking at the polls, it's hard to believe that.

Even though the Salon story is harsh, I agree with the analysis. If Nader (or the Greens for that matter) had used the last four years to build a strong and serious organization, they might have had some relevance this time out. But Nader dropped off the radar after the election in 2000. And did the Greens do any significant national organization building, fundraising or outreach in the meantime? I doubt it.

I volunteered for Nader's GOTV work in 2000. I still remember the morning after the election when the head of the San Francisco campaign walked into the office of the nonprofit I worked for. She was looking for a job. I was speechless. The Greens had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, identified huge numbers of donors and volunteers and built a national media profile. The day after the election should have been the beginning of something huge. But the office was shuttered and a talented organizer was out pounding the pavement looking for an organization worthy of her efforts. The Greens weren't it. And neither is Nader's campaign.

These guys don't play to win, because I think deep down, they don't want to win. When Nader says in the Salon piece that he "likes the humiliation," I'm convinced. Nader's like a pushy sub "topping from the bottom," and willfully positioning himself as a martyr for the cause. But if he repeats the disaster from 2000, he'll prove that you always hurt the ones you love.

Ashlee's Reflux vs. Bush's Bulge

Searching the term "Ashlee Simpson" on Google News today returns 1,220 results.

Searching the terms "bush" and "bulge" returns 730 results.

After getting busted for lip-synching on SNL this past Saturday night, Simpson has changed her excuse about 3 or 4 times. (The latest is "acid reflux.")

The President has had many more days to come up with a valid explanation for the bulge in his coat during the debates. So far, surrogates have been dismissive. On Good Morning America this morning, Charlie Gibson was the first guy to pitch the question directly to the President. His answer: "I don't know what that is. I mean, it is...I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt." That's right, Bush is using the old "wardrobe malfunction" defense!

I'm glad the media has gotten to the bottom of the Ashlee Simpson lip-synching scandal.

Now, how about someone, anyone come up with a straight answer to explain all these photos.

Nothing Else Mathers

With only a week left until Election Day, Eminem drops a bomb. His new video and rap are the anti-war/anti-Bush anthem many of us have been waiting for. I wonder if the assholes who used Em's music to torture prisoners at Gitmo will take notice. Eminem is pissed, and I'm glad he's finally picked a target who deserves the diss. Now, will MTV run the damn thing?