Whadda ya think? (Reader poll)

In his inimitable way, Billmon reminds us that Rumsfeld wasn't the only member of this administration to whom Mr. Bush pledged his undying loyalty just a few days ago.

Also, reader paperfrog in today's comments section makes this prediction: "Cheney will 'retire' next. Early 2007, maybe."

Whadda ya think?

Will Dick Cheney be the next to go?
	Yes. Paperfrog is right - he'll 'resign' by the end of 2007.
	I hope not. Who would babysit George W.?
	No. Cheney will never leave office, ever. He thinks he's dictator for life.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Beltway Bullshit

Washington Post, Nov. 8, 2006:

Senior and former officials close to Rumsfeld say he will not be driven out by Democrats throwing their weight around in Congress. He has repeatedly said he would not quit, and defense officials say criticism makes Rumsfeld dig in his heels.

"He's not resigning," said one of those officials. "He's best when he's criticized."

San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 8, 2006:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a key target of Iraq war critics, gave no indication Wednesday that he planned to step down in the wake of Democratic midterm election gains, his chief spokesman said. Eric Ruff, the Pentagon press secretary, said he participated in meetings with Rumsfeld on Wednesday morning and heard no talk of changing war strategies or of Rumsfeld leaving his post.

George W. Bush, Fox TV Interview, Nov. 1, 2006:

President Bush said Wednesday he wants Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney to remain in his administration until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-criticized members of his team.

Talking Points Memo, Nov. 8, 2006 - 12:52 pm EST:

"Bush just announced that Robert Gates, the CIA Director under Bush 41, will replace Rumsfeld."

Washington Post, Nov. 8, 2006, 1:32 pm:

In a White House news conference a day after midterm elections delivered the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate, to Democratic Party control, Bush said he has chosen former CIA director Robert Gates to succeed Rumsfeld.

"Now after a series of thoughtful conversations, Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed that the time is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said.

The announcement came a week after Bush had said Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney would be staying in their jobs after the elections.

Election Surprises

Florida: It's no surprise that Katherine Harris lost badly to incumbent U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, but anticipation continues to build over her threat, as originally related last week to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, to write a "tell-all book about the conspiracy to undermine her Senate bid." The Washington Post picked up on this and now word has spread all the way across the nation as far as Los Angeles.

If Harris also 'tells all' about the 2000 Florida recount that put Bush in the White House, it's bound to be a best-seller. But, please: No make-up tips, okay?

Louisiana: Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but incumbent Rep. William Jefferson (D-Cold Cash) topped a crowded list of multiple candidates seeking his seat in Congress. Only one of those politicians is publicly known to keep $90,000 in cash in a home freezer. But this is Louisiana, where nothing is beyond imagining. There will be a run-off election between Jefferson and state representative Karen Carter, also a Democrat, on December 9.

Texas: Widely unpopular incumbent Texas governor William Perry spent over $20 million to win reelection, but with only 39 percent of all votes he fell considerably short of a majority. Among the four other candidates, cowboy comedian, mystery-writer, and stage-performer Kinky Friedman garnered 12 percent -- or 11 percent more than the Libertarian candidate. Friedman's official campaign slogan was , "Why the hell not?" Instead of conceding defeat, he told disappointed supporters last night he will "take to the streets" and "form a shadow government."

Also in Texas, Democrat Nick Lampson won the congressional seat that once belonged to ex-majority leader Tom Delay, who's now under indictment. Oddly, however, Houston dermatologist Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a Republican, will be the one serving out the remaining two months of Delay's abandoned term in office. Sekula-Gibbs was a write-in candidate against Lampson but the only one who officially filed to run in a separate race for the rest of Delay's expiring term.

North Carolina: For the first time in over a decade, Democrats will constitute a majority of this state's 13-member congressional delegation. Heading the list of victors was ex-NFL quarterback Heath Shuler, who ran an aggressive campaign demanding "accountability from the Administration over the course of events in and return credibility and competence to Congressional oversight."

Iowa: Republican Rep. Jim Leach, a 30-year veteran, former Foreign Service employee, chairman of the House Banking Committee, and one of the few remaining moderates in the G.O.P. narrowly lost to Cornell College Prof. Bruce Braley (D-Mount Vernon) in a recently-reapportioned district. Both incumbent and challenger had opposed Bush's war in Iraq. Both ran entirely positive campaigns, never stooping to negative attacks. How Iowa of them.

Although Braley's victory was razor-thin, Leach conceded early this morning and said, "This is the happiest day of my life. It’s as if a burden has been lifted."

South Dakota: Almost 90 percent (!) of voters in this state rejected the proposed "Judicial Accountability" referendum which "would have created a special grand jury of South Dakotans to review complaints against jurors, county commissioners, prosecutors, city councilors, board members and judges - in essence, those with judicial immunity." A companion measure to ban all abortions was soundly defeated 55-45 percent.

Another measure that would have legalized medical marijuana was defeated 52-48 percent. According to an AP dispatch, "law officers" opposed the initiative, arguing "medical marijuana would send a mixed message to children concerning drug use." Presumably, now that the measure has failed, the message is un-mixed: 'If you're dying we want you suffer excruciating pain.'

Oregon: In the blue state of Oregon, where moderate and even liberal politicians still can find a home in the Republican party, voters soundly rejected measures to limit the growth of state government, to cut taxes to the bone, and to require parental notification before abortions for teens under age 18.

Also, by a very wide margin they extended a state-sponsored discount program for prescription drugs. One ballot initiative spokeswoman commented afterwards, Oregonians care deeply about the future of the state, and they want to invest in things like education, public safety and health care."

Criminy! Imagine that! An electorate that looks beyond its own parochial pocketbook interests and cares deeply about building a sound future for later generations! No wonder Oregon is at the opposite end of the continent from Florida.

Dept. of Amplification

One that was no surprise: "Northwest Florida Congressional Wrap-up"

Bad Night for Bush

You know it was a bad night for George W. Bush when the best election news he could find is the reelection of Joe Lieberman.

On Pensacola Beach, Thomas Campanella handily won reelection as SRIA representative. His opponent, Portofino resident Johnny Johnson, ran what passes on the beach for a high-tech, glitzy, media-intensive campaign. Somehow, Johnson found a way to spend $1,292 on his year-long campaign, without once buying drinks on the house. That's historic.

We'll have more obscure election news a bit later.

Reward!

For anyone who thinks the avalanche of Republican voter suppression activities, like those described here and here and here, isn't serious stuff -- think again.

Moveon.org at mid-day Tuesday announced --

MoveOn.org Political Action is offering a $250,000 reward for new material evidence leading to a felony conviction for an organized effort of partisan voter suppression or electronic voting fraud.

Throughout the day accusations of election fraud and voter suppression incidents have been flooding into state and federal authorities throughout the country. In Virginia, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into charges of voter suppression. In 20 Congressional districts, NRCC robocalls appearing to come from Democrats harassed voters with repeated calls in an apparently coordinated campaign to suppress the vote.

Complementing an earlier reward for whistleblowers, MoveOn's reward is being offered to anyone who provides this information.

A quarter mil' will pay off a lot of college tuition debts, Young Repubs. If you have the goods, contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, Laura Gross or Alex Howe, 202-822-5200, all for MoveOn.org Political Action.

More Democracy Damage

Jesse Singal of The Washington Monthly passes along a new Law and Order plot, fresh today. The opening scene takes place outside a polling place in Maryland:

I could have sworn that Martin O'Malley is the Democratic candidate for governor. Apparently I was mistaken.
* * *
As I approached the polling place here at Parkdale High School, a man in an Ehrlich-Cox shirt handed me a two-page fold-out pamphlet. * * * Under the headline, "DEMOCRATIC SAMPLE BALLOT" was a comprehensive listing of candidates, each with an X next to his or her name. In the parallel universe contained within this pamphlet, Robert Ehrlich is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and Michael Steele is the Dems' pick for the Senate. The intent could not be clearer: to confuse those looking to vote a straight Democratic ticket.
* * *
I talked to the man who handed me the pamphlet... [H]e told me that, starting last Friday, some people had come to the Philadelphia homeless shelter where he said he volunteers, and had begun to recruit residents. Eventually, he said that 300 people filled five buses. He said he was paid $100 for the day's work.
* * *
At the bottom of the front page, the small print reveals the pamphlet's origins. The two-line disclosure reads: "Paid and Authorized by Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee" and "Paid and Authorized by Steele for Maryland, Inc."

Tunk -tunk.

Billmon plays the judge:

The modern GOP -- or, more specifically, the Axis of '70s Campus Republicans now running it -- really is just a criminal enterprise disguised as a political party.

Dirty tricks, large and small, are a sorry fact of life in American politics, but what the Republicans have done over the past few weeks -- the surrealist attack ads, the forged endorsements, the midnight robo calls, the arrest threats, the voter misinformation (did you know your polling station has been moved?) -- is sui generis, at least at the national level.

Preview of coming attraction: Why Now?'s computer at great peril to itself rescues Moveon.org from Republican hackers.

Damaging Democracy

UPDATE BELOW

Do you think Iraq has some purple ink they could spare?

Almost from the moment U.S. polls opened today, reports of Republican Party efforts to intimidate, harass, and out-right deny the right to vote began rolling in from across the nation. Josh Marshall at TPM is keeping tabs.

The Washington Post reports those deceptive "robo-calls" that many are getting also have been traced back directly to the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.

Some voters, sick of interrupted dinners and evenings, say they will punish the offending parties by opposing them in today's elections. But critics say Republicans crafted the messages to delude voters -- especially those who hang up quickly -- into thinking that Democrats placed the calls.

* * *
[T]he NRCC recently spent about $600,000 in at least 45 contested House districts for robo-calls, which are among the least expensive campaign tools. The brief calls typically begin with a speaker offering "some information" about the Democratic nominee and then immediately accusing the nominee of seeking to raise taxes, among other perceived wrongs.

Many voters hang up as soon as a robo-call begins -- without waiting for the criticisms or the NRCC sign-off at the end -- so they think it was placed by the Democratic candidate named at the start,

Early this morning the Election Incident Reporting System of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was providing up to date information on poll problems around the country. By 9:30 am CST, however, it seemed to be on the brink of crashing, possibly from too many users.

Try to directly access the "Nov. 7 Matrix report", anyway. Once you get through, click on a state to get details for any locale. The last time we succeeded in getting through, Florida was running second only to Ohio in voter complaints of broken machines, wrongful denial of a ballot, and voter intimidation by partisan poll watchers.

UPDATE

The EIRS has had to restrict access to their own field reporters "due to massive traffic volume." They're promising to "summarize findings during the day for the public and make a full report... after the election."

Sounds like there are a lot complaints rolling in. Problems with electronic voting machines are being reported in Houston... Cleveland ... Missouri ... Iowa ... Pennsylvania ... Indiana... Florida, Colorado... New Jersey ... etc. etc.

Voter intimidation complaints are being investigated in Virginia ... Kentucky ... Suppression calls giving voters the wrong polling place have been reported in New Mexico ... And so it will go all day long, we expect.

An Act of Patriotism

Graphic courtesy of Veterans Against the Iraq War

As one must expect, this morning's Pensacola News Journal covers yesterday's visit by George W. Bush like a wool blanket. One pulled over the eyes.

Michael Stewart's lede says it all:

President George W. Bush preached to a choir of about 10,000 of the party faithful at the Pensacola Civic Center Monday.

The press coverage includes the obligatory fawning choir quotes from 8 year-olds ("I like President Bush because he does nice things and makes taxes low") ... and quips ("Look around. This is one of his strongest support groups in the whole country.") ... and hackneyed adolescent expressions ("... awesome").

Amidst all this, one Bush fan's remarks caught our eye and just won't let go. Reporter Stewart happened across a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Goodspeed, with children in tow. The husband is identified as "a historian at the National Museum of Naval Aviation on base. " The historian's wife is quoted as saying:

"To be patriotic means to support the president whether or not you agree with his politics."

That can't be right. As G. K. Chesterton famously observed, the kindred expression "My country, right or wrong" is like saying "My mother, drunk or sober."

How much more wrong-headed is "My president right or wrong?" Those words are "an oath of obedience." They express a political philosophy with which our Founding Fathers would have violently disagreed.

In fact, those radical forebears of ours did violently disagree -- by sparking a revolutionary war against the chief executive of their own time, King George III, and his entire ruling government. The very system our Founding Fathers created has a built-in invitation for every citizen to oppose -- not to support -- a president or a congressman or any of part of the government when you don't agree.

Your opportunity to do that very thing comes today in the voting booth. Vote for or against the incumbents. But above all, vote.

It's what a true patriot would do.

G.O.P. Cold Shoulders

In Pensacola Monday, G.O.P. candidate for governor Charlie Crist gave George W. Bush the cold shoulder and stayed away. Bush, in turn, shouldered Katherine Harris (R-Debacle) into "a spot in the audience well out of any camera shot of the stage."

Proposed Florida Consitutional Amendments

The best blawgger in Florida, Matt Conigliaro of Abstract Appeal, has a convenient, truly fair & balanced rundown of the proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution which you will see on the ballot when you vote tomorrow.

We've already urged a "No" on Amendment No. 3. FWIW, the League of Women Voter of Florida agrees with us, as does the Pensacola News Journal -- and for the same reasons. When and if the Florida legislature finally allows voters the freedom to propose new state statutes by referendum, it might make sense to require a super-majority to change the state constitution. But not until.

The League also urges "no" on all the other proposals except No. 1 (Yes) and No. 8 (no position). Go here for the reasons and click on "LWVF" Ballot Question Positions [warning: Word format.]

Project Vote Smart Florida also has information on who proposed which of these amendments (5 of 6 came from the state legislature itself -- and that ought to tell you something.) Vote Smart also provides a summary of balanced pro-and-con arguments for each proposition.

You Call It Torture, We Call It Top Secret

Remember the old song Let's Call The Whole Thing Off?

You say EE-ther and I say EYE-ther,
You say NEE-ther and I say EYE-ther
Either, either
Neither, neither
Let's call the whole thing off.

You like po-TAY-to and I like poTAH-to
You like to-MAY-to and I like toMAH-to
Potato, potahto,
Tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off

Prof. Marty Lederman remembers it:

You Call It "Torture"; We Call It "Coming Into Possession of Classified Information"

Why can't Majid Khan have a lawyer, according to the Department of Justice? Because he might tell the lawyer how he was treated by the U.S. government. Think about that for a second.

The theory of the government's case here is contained in the remarkable tenth paragraph of the Declaration of Marilyn Dorn, CIA Information Review Officer. Dorn writes:

Information relating to the CIA terrorist detention program has been placed in a TOP Secret/SCI program to enhance protection from unauthorized disclosure. Because Majid Khan was detained by the CIA in this program, he may have come into possession of information, including locations of detention, conditions of detention, and alternative interrogation techniques, that is classified at the TOP SECRET/SCI level.

Joe Marguiles, quoted in the Post article, is right: This goes beyond Orwell into Lewis Carroll territory, topping the formidable list of jaw-dropping Bush Administration euphemisms.

Read more.

National Guard, Reserve Call-Up Coming

You knew it was coming. You just didn't want to think about it, did you?

From Sunday's Washington Post, "The Army's National Guard and Reserve are bracing for possible new and accelerated call-ups, spurred by high demand for U.S. troops in Iraq... ."

Two Army National Guard combat brigades with about 7,000 troops have been identified recently in classified rotational plans for possible special deployment to Iraq, according to senior Army and Pentagon officials, who asked that the specific units not be named. One brigade could be diverted to Iraq next year from another assignment, and the other could be sent there in 2008, a year ahead of schedule.

Bush won't budge. So your sons and daughters will have to.

Next year, the number of Army Guard soldiers providing security in Iraq will surge to more than 6,000 in about 50 companies, compared with 20 companies two years ago, Guard officials said. "We thought we'd see a downturn in operational tempo, but that hasn't happened," said one official."

Bush will stay the course. So your fathers and uncles will have to alter theirs.

A more sweeping policy shift is under consideration that would allow the Pentagon to launch a new wave of involuntary mobilizations of the reserves, as a growing proportion of Guard and Reserve soldiers are nearing a 24-month limit on time deployed, they said.

Maybe you think you've already done your 24 months in Iraq? Think again:

[R]eservists' service may not exceed 24 cumulative months, instead of consecutive, and individuals may not be involuntarily deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan more than once. A change in that policy or a new presidential order could open up greater access to the reserves.

Your life belongs to George W. Bush.

"Think about being away from your employer 18 months and the friction that causes back with the family. Do you have a job? Is your life on hold? Do you not get that promotion?" he said.

Be sure to bring your own body armor.

The Iraq war has also eaten up large quantities of the Guard's equipment. More than 64,000 pieces of equipment have been left behind in Iraq, contributing to a $24 billion equipment shortfall as Guard units have only an estimated one-third of their essential gear on hand, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Do it for us. We need the oil.

As he barnstorms across the country campaigning for Republican candidates in Tuesday's elections, Bush has been citing oil as a reason to stay in Iraq.

King's X - Neocon War Advocates Take It All Back

UPDATE BELOW

"The expression king's X is an exclamation used among children during fights and games to call a temporary truce or an exemption from being tagged."

-- Random House Word of the Day

They just keep falling off George W. Bush's train. First, it's the growing number of citizens who want to protest the Iraq war. Then it's the highest ranking officers in the military services.

Now, it's the neocons who got us into this mess in the first place.

Vanity Fair has the exclusive: "In a series of exclusive interviews, Richard Perle, Kenneth Adelman, David Frum, and others play the blame game with shocking frankness. Target No. 1: the president himself.

Richard Perle:"'Should we go into Iraq?,' I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.' * * * Could we have managed that threat by means other than a direct military intervention? Well, maybe we could have."

David Frum:"I just presumed that what I considered to be the most competent national-security team since Truman was indeed going to be competent. They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the post-war era. Not only did each of them, individually, have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional."

Frank Gaffney:"[Bush] doesn't in fact seem to be a man of principle who's steadfastly pursuing what he thinks is the right course. He talks about it, but the policy doesn't track with the rhetoric, and that's what creates the incoherence that causes us problems around the world and at home."

Michael Rubin:"Where I most blame George Bush is that through his rhetoric people trusted him, people believed him. Reformists came out of the woodwork and exposed themselves." By failing to match his rhetoric with action, Rubin adds, Bush has betrayed Iraqi reformers... ."

UPDATE
Nov. 4 pm
Kevin Drum at WaPo's Political Animal makes several trenchant observations about the Vanity Fair article. This part captures the full flavor:

"[I]t was only a matter of time before the neocon hawks began claiming, like old-time Trotskyists, that there was nothing wrong with their ideas, only with the fools who had bungled their execution. Richard Perle states this the most directly... .
* * *
It's worth saying very plainly what's going on here: the neocons are using these interviews to make the case that neoconservatism is in no way to blame for the disaster in Iraq. If they had been in charge things would have been different.
* * *
This baby needs to be strangled in its crib. The 1997 "Statement of Principles" of the Project for a New American Century, the neocon Bible, was signed by, among others, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Zalmay Khalilzad, Scooter Libby, and Elliot Abrams. All of these men were deeply involved in the formulation, planning, and execution of the Iraq war. The neocon creed was part and parcel of every move they made.
* * *
The failure of Iraq is inherent in the naive idealism and fixated ideology of neoconservatism, and shame on us if we let them get away with suggesting otherwise."

Armed Services in Revolt

It's official: the U.S. Armed Services are about to become dissenters against the Bush Administration's Iraq war policies.

We've commented recently about the mounting evidence here and here that active, as well as retired, military brass are starting to speak out against the Bush administration's Iraq war policies. Now comes advance news that, "An editorial scheduled to appear on Monday in Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times, calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."

SFGATE.com has the whole editorial. Here's an excerpt:

[U]ntil recently, the "hard bruising" truth about the Iraq war has been difficult to come by from leaders in Washington. One rosy reassurance after another has been handed down by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "mission accomplished," the insurgency is "in its last throes," and "back off," we know what we're doing, are a few choice examples.

Military leaders generally toed the line, although a few retired generals eventually spoke out from the safety of the sidelines, inciting criticism equally from anti-war types, who thought they should have spoken out while still in uniform, and pro-war foes, who thought the generals should have kept their critiques behind closed doors.
* * *
And all along, Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand.

Now, the president says he'll stick with Rumsfeld for the balance of his term in the White House.

This is a mistake.
* * *
Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.

This is not about the midterm elections. Regardless of which party wins Nov. 7, the time has come, Mr. President, to face the hard bruising truth:

Donald Rumsfeld must go.

With such direct language as that, you can be sure the editorial has been vetted at the highest levels of military command -- short of Rumsfeld himself.

Amplifiication Dept.

Billmon, who says once upon a time he worked for another company that had the Military Times contract, is justifiably uneasy about the implications of the general's outspokenness.

"That Rumsfeld needs to go is self-evident to everyone but Dick, Shrub and Don himself.
* * *
But trying to make Rummy the sole scapegoat for America's failure in Iraq is as big a lie as Shrub's insistence that the SecDef has done, and is still doing, a great job.
* * *
As a group, the joint chiefs are developing a taste for bureaucratic blood -- they're trying to destroy Rumsfeld just as they destroyed Les Aspin and emasculated Wesley Clark. Only now they're doing it openly (or at least semi-openly) and in the middle of an election campaign.

That's usually not a good sign for a republican government -- and I'm not talking about the political party."

Protesting Bush's Visit

Photo courtesy of River City Mud Bugle.com

"Movement for Change President Leroy Boyd said between 50 and 150 members of the sometimes-controversial grassroots organization plan to march outside the [Pensacola] Civic Center during Bush's visit."

Michael Stewart, Pensacola News Journal, Nov. 4

Monday, George W. Bush visits what he hopes is still Bush country. Pensacola certainly is among the last to lift the blinders from its eyes, but even here signs of discontent are everywhere. Some suspect a near-majority would like to see Bush leave. Leave Pensacola ... leave Iraq.... leave the White House... and leave our Bill of Rights alone.

Bush's decision to spend more time in this normally blood-red locale just before next Tuesday's congressional election is curious, indeed. Of late, he's been touring mostly small burgs in districts that ought to be secure G.O.P. strongholds. Conventional wisdom would have had him helping out in more populous places where Republican incumbents are running neck-and-neck with their challengers.

Women and Children First

So, why Pensacola? Some say it's a sign that things are no longer bad for the Republicans -- they're downright catastrophic. Almost every Republican is in trouble, so Bush is trying to save the women and children first, those who should have had an easy walk to reelection.

Enthusiastic supporters of Democratic candidate for Congress Joe Roberts are circulating the claim that outside polling organizations are finding local Republican incumbent congressman, Jeff Miller (R-Insipid), is doing poorly. That has to be taken with a several grains of salt since no one seems to have seen the actual polling data or exit polls from early voting stations. Even if only half-true, however, it would explain Bush's decision to return to Pensacola for the fourth time in less than two years.

Polls or not, Roberts wisely is using the opportunity to drive home his own message. As he told reporter Stewart for today's paper:

"The bottom line is Miller is an extremely unpopular congressman, and now he's bringing in one of most unpopular presidents in history to try and dupe people into voting for him."

'Small Town Media' Strategy?

The official White House spin also needs a lot of salt to be digested properly. The official claim is that Bush is being sent --

...for the last stretch going into Tuesday's election ...to small communities where a presidential visit can have a big impression... . He can create a buzz, excite voters for the GOP ticket and draw extensive coverage from the local media.

Yeah, sure. Friday, he found himself in Le Mars, Iowa (pop 9,337). Someone should have told Bush's handlers that LeMars is Dutch Reform country. Old-time Calvinists to you. Nothing "excites" them more than a full day of back-breaking work followed by a supper consisting of a ragged hunk of bread torn off a week-old loaf.

As the cows say in the empty cornfields of Plymouth County, Iowa, as Le Mars goes so goes Elkhorn Township. Media centers, both.

Depression in Pensacola

Here at home the incumbent congressman, Miller, has a weirdly different slant. Friday, he actually said to PNJ reporter Michael Stewart --

"The president obviously wants to show the Republican base is not depressed as the national media would portray it."

Not "as" depressed, perhaps? Just how depressed does Miller think "the base" would have to be before Bush passes them by?

Bush isn't coming to Pensacola to tout the work of local psychotherapists. Nor is he coming here to show "the media" anything about our collective psyche. If that were his purpose, he'd invite the whole town to join him on camera.

But he won't. Only rabid fans who aren't paying attention to the world around them will be allowed inside the civic center to cheer him on.

Un-free Speech

We are living in the Bush administration era of walled-off "free speech zones". Invited to join the audience are only those who thrill to Dear Leader's every syllable, uttered in that phony Texas cowboy accent that turns on and off as easily as a Christian evangelist with a gay prostitute. Others will be shunted far away from the crowds and most especially the cameras.

So, how can local dissenters signal they're not "depressed" but are disgusted with Bush administration policies? Unfortunately, the usual means for exercising First Amendment freedoms have been choked off by this administration.

• Carry a protest sign? The local police likely will be under orders to herd you hundreds of feet away from the civic center, as they did in Phoenix, or hide you behind trees, as happened in Baton Rouge.
• Sit quietly on the curb with a sign while the motorcade goes by? You could be kicked or shot by police with rubber bullets and beanbags, as occurred in Portland, Or.
  
• Manage to score a ticket to the speech? It'll be torn up at the door and then you'll be hustled away as an interloper, as in Billings, MT.
• Dare to tell Herr Cheney to his face, "Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible"? Exercising that First Amendment freedom will get you arrested.
• Silently give Bush an obscene gesture? Your congressman will get you fired from your job.
• Ask the mayor to give a prepared speech blasting Bush as a "dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president," as the Salt Lake City mayor did? Odds are Bush ain't gonna understan' them big fancy words -- or listen at all.
  

For the rest of us, that leaves few effective options. You can fly the American flag in the approved distress mode (upside down) as was done in Memphis (see photo above). You can "stand along the highway" far from the action as they were forced to do the other day in Houston and also in Sellersburg, Indiana.

The anti-Bush crowd that gathered along a main street in Richmond, VA. far outnumbered Bush supporters. There, some minor good may have come from waving at "the passing cars" that "honked, flashed thumbs-up or peace signs, and even joined in the chanting whilst waiting for the stoplight." But as a number of eyewitnesses are reporting, Bush himself was shielded from it all by strategically-parked buses and police vans.

Don't bother teaching your 3-year old to say, "Boo, Bush!" It turns out toddlers -- the smart ones anyway -- have learned on their own to say, "Mr. President, that's enough. You need a time out." It doesn't do any good. George W. Bush just won't listen -- to anyone.

In Bakersfield, CA they had an old-fashioned march -- far from the Bush entourage. In Seattle (photo below) a number of protesters dressed up in Bush Criminal Cabal costumes. Bush never saw them. And in Greensboro, N.C.:

"Almost all the protesters wore an orange ribbon and some dressed in orange to show their opposition to the recently passed Military Commissions Act of 2006 which legalizes torture. The act also strips away the right to habeas corpus to anyone Bush declares an enemy combatant, among many other unconstitutional aspects of this new law."

Ignored.

Our favorite post-modern protester remains the Freeway Blogger, who has inspired so many others to capture the attention of daily commuters from Long Island, N.Y. to San Rafael, Cal. and from Portland, Me. to Seattle. In Pensacola, however, the elevated freeway Bush might take would be mostly inaccessible to pedestrian bloggers.

So, what's our own view of the most effective way to protest? Here it is:

Vote Tuesday!

Protest on election day by throwing all the bums out of Congress who enabled Bush, starting with incumbent U.S. Congressman Jeff Miller. Sure, his Democratic opponent, Joe Roberts, is a long shot. But an even worse bet would be sending the ineffectual Miller back to Washington where he would "stay the course" as an obscure and powerless supporter who reflexively votes for the incompetent Bush administration's most disastrous schemes.