This is a greeting for a Merry Christmas and a shout out to those who I’d like to thank.
First, Merry Christmas to those who created WordPress and the people at midPhase who serve as my server. Without them monoblogue is still a germ of an idea in my head.
A Merry Christmas to all of you who have read my blog. There may not be a whole lot of you but Rome wasn’t built in a day, either. Having started one month ago, you can consider yourselves as trendsetters.
To my blogging friends I extend my Christmas wishes:
Dawn at WriteWingBlog…thanks for being among the first to find me and for your help. Hope things continue to improve with your family.
Flip at Suitably Flip…for a startup blog this year you’ve come a long way! Keep up the good work!
Timmer at Righting America…Soldier, you continue to fight the good fight. While it may not always seem that way, we’re winning.
Dan at The Crallspace…while we’re generally at loggerheads with each other, you’re becoming a more noble warrior for your cause. The next couple years will be an interesting battle.
TB at Tidy Bowl Begins…I really appreciate your insights and point of view. May that new diploma of yours serve as the key to your dreams in life.
Drea at Fina’ Drea…All the best to you and Travis. Hopefully I’ll be getting some special news from you soon.
I know I’m forgetting some of you bloggers out there who I’ve enjoyed reading, particularly those who I don’t know personally (yet!) I wish you a Merry Christmas as well.
Now it’s time for the folks in “real life” to have their due:
A Merry Christmas to all those I work with – Keith, Lee, Steve, Jen, Trish, Randy, Jeremy, Tim, Bob, Eric, George, Bill, Dave, Korey, Joe…and a Happy Hanukkah to Mike.
To my friends Judy and Kristine…you both deserve a wonderful Christmas.
For the Swartz clan: you may not read this, but Merry Christmas to you Mom, Dad, LJ, and Tom!
And finally for my daughter Danielle: May you get all your Christmas wishes to come true. luvya!
Merry Christmas to you.
As for the comment to Timmer that “we’re winning” I don’t know where you get that. Is it from the approval ratings in the 30s or the fact that the entire world hates us more each day? Maybe it’s our wonderful economy where more Americans are in debt than ever before. Maybe it’s the largest deficit in history under someone who is supposed to be a fiscal conservative.
Escape the sinking ship, Michael. Quit kidding yourself.
Approval ratings in the 30’s? For Bush? On the contrary, Rasmussen had Bush at 50% approval right before Christmas. Zogby has him at 44.
However, I was really thinking more of the backlash against the moderation in Bush’s policies. Some in Congress are trying to cut spending. Immigration policies have moved to become a front-line issue. There’s some disappointments to be sure in the areas of tax reform and fixing Social Security, but that’s because of Democrat obstruction – hopefully in 2006 some in Congress get the message as they see Democrats and moderate Republicans mowed down at the ballot box.
Regardless of the opinion of the yellow Left, we are winning in Iraq and the overall War on Terror. There wasn’t much said about it, but there was recently an announcement that 7,000 troops need not be deployed after the New Year because Iraqis have become capable of taking over more of their own security. Personally, I’d like to see a base in the Middle East such as we have in Europe and the Far East.
I look at the issue this way – if not us, who? Certainly not the corrupt and dictator-coddling UN. It’s possible one other nation would have the resources to maintain democracy in the world, but certainly China isn’t a shining paragon of freedom. They rule at the point of a gun, while we free people from tyranny.
If not us, who? Well, how about we figure out our own democracy first. We have rigged elections, censorship of the corporate owned media, silenced opinion from the opposition- we have a joke of a democracy and a lot of our own issues to figure out. It’s not about liberating Iraq…that is such a pathetic lie, and I frankly don’t see how anyone believes that hogwash.
The yellow left, huh? What about the chickenhawk Republicans who support the war, but haven’t enlisted yet? Are they some kind of brave hero?
You read Ann Coulter? Well, that explains the neo-Metallica rubbish LOAD, or as I call it, LOAD of crap. As a kid, did you actually like the bologna sandwiches, cheetohs and kool aid? It’s transfered over.
Actually I liked peanut butter and jelly more.
Neo-Metallica rubbish what? Have a Suicidal Tendencies tape in right now (“Join the Army”) – does that suit you better?
For everything you say from the leftist perspective, I can argue and find something where the lefties were guilty.
Rigged elections? Washington state, 2004.
Censorship of the corporate media? Both sides claim it’s biased against them. Just means you dig farther for the truth.
Silenced opinion from the opposition? Walk on to a college campus, you’ll see some.
By the way, the United States is NOT a democracy, it’s a republic.
Your tired claims to Washington state’s rigged elections has no basis or relevance. Why the hell do you care so much about that state’s elections? This is the entire country we’re talking about. And for your conclusion on the GAO report, I would be willing to bet thousands that if that many inaccuracies were in Kerry’s favor, you wouldn’t have the same tone. In fact, it’d be 100% in the opposite direction.
I went to college… there are people on both sides, and nobody is silenced. My experience means more than some hack article by that Horowitz freak… you really shouldn’t believe everything you read. Ironically, the college Republicans made huge fools of themselves on campus… just like they’ll be doing the rest of their pathetic lives.
We are too a democracy, you dimwit. We vote on issues, and just because we are under terrorist…er, Republican rule, doesn’t make us a Republic. What on earth is wrong with you?
First of all, what happened in Washington state is very relevant because it puts the lie to your implied claim that only Republicans “steal” elections. And the GAO report did note that several areas that did or could have favored Kerry did have overcounts in his favor, like Dade County in Florida.
“…you really shouldn’t believe everything you read.” So, when I read in online news services (based on the published news articles) that people like Ann Coulter gets a pie in the face on a college campus or David Horowitz can’t buy an ad in a college newspaper because of his views, it’s not as good as a place like freepress.org where the articles are contributed by online submitters with no fact check, but who claim all right-wing advancement is a conspiracy?
And, if you go to Wikipedia and look up “United States” it says right there that we are a “democratic federal republic.” In the Pledge of Allegiance, we pledge to our flag and, “…the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God…”
We do have some elements of true democracy, like elected referendums (legalizing medical marijuana in Oregon would be an example) but because we elect representatives, we are a republic.
Swartz, if you can find where I said that “only Republicans steal elections” I vow to send you a $300 check. Get searching. I’m not surprised though… a common right wing tactic is to shift blame. I call it “Operation Look Over there!” Been running weak since Bush stole 2000, and only the lowest common denominator seems to eat it up. The thinkers are hardly impressed.
David Horowitz (and I know this from firsthand experience) is a damned liar. He wrote a false article about a prof recruiting terror at Ball State, where I went at the time. All it did was rile up a bunch of Satan-filled Right wing assholes, calling up the prof’s office to harass him. Whore-owitz needs to learn how to fact check and make his arguments at least remotely close to the truth. Ann Coulter is not respected, even in the most Republican of circles. She is a hatemonger and is ridiculous, at best.
And, if you are calling the GAO Report something put out by some online submitter, you are a retard. It’s a bi-partisan govt. agency. Again, if just HALF those irregularities had worked in Kerry’s favor, you’d be singing a different tune. (you make this too easy…)
*sigh*
Dan, you and I both know that’s a sucker’s bet. This is why I said it’s an “implied” claim. You know when you wrote it what you thought.
I’m done debating that particular subject. Bush won. As the website says, move on.
(Odd how they on the left wanted those on the right to move on from Clinton’s misdeeds but they can’t let go from 2000 and 2004.)
Secondly, are you disputing either thing I said about Horowitz and Coulter or simply impuning their character because they’re conservative?
And I read the GAO report as inconclusive. As I said, it’s a bipartisan set of people that certified the 2004 elections. Let’s learn from the mistakes and do better next time.
I live in a “blue” state, but I have confidence that when I cast my ballot come November it will be counted properly, just like my 2004 ballot in Ohio was.
Either way… if you can look Bush in the eyes, and place your confidence in… that, it really says alot about you.