Still 8 weeks to go and I've had enough!

It is 8 weeks to the election. McCain and Obama are tied. I've had more than 8 years experience to know that when at GOP politician opens his/her mouth what comes out is very likely a lie. A lot of the Dems are the same, though in Obama's case he is more likely to say things politicians don't say. So I'm more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Both sides are going to open their mouths a *lot* over the next 8 weeks and I've already heard enough. I’m not even going to share the latest joke about "The difference between Palin and …? Lipstick."

My TV will remain unplugged (I've watched some Olympics and a few Dem convention speeches but very little else since last November). I'll be inclined to turn off the news when the focus is on politics. I may not read all of my Newsweek (big article on McCain last week and a big one on Palin and her beliefs this week). And I'll not write about any of it unless there is a really compelling idea floating out there. If you're a political junkie, there are a lot of other sources.

With all that said, two last things to talk about:
A few weeks ago Newsweek had a cover article about "What Bush Got Right," warning the next prez not to dismantle a policy simply because Bush signed it. The few letters to the editor about it (alas, I’m not searching for the link) are variations on: So when is Newsweek going to publish the phone book size issue listing what Bush did wrong?


I've mentioned before that whoever wins this election the American voter gets the prez and veep they deserve. However, I'm not sure that is true if we get a GOP prez due to vote fraud. Then again, if we're not willing to stand up for honest elections…

Project Vote is on the case and will investigate and report on voting issues over the next two months. This posting is about how difficult and confusing we've made the voting process and how much misinformation is being tossed around. Such things as:

* Telling Virginia Tech students that if the register to vote at the school they change their permanent address and that could affect their scholarship and their drivers license.
* The precinct containing VT is not prepared to handle the influx of new voters. Virginia precincts are to be split when the exceed 5000 voters (and it didn't take many students to reach that number) and there isn't time before the election to do so. Expect really long lines.
* The polling places for that precinct are 4 miles from the VT campus with no public transport between the two.
* Former inmates are told they've lost their right to vote, even in states where that isn't true for their crimes. These laws vary by state.

A solution is get rid of the patchwork of voting laws and communize them in the US Constitution. At least we could ask the United Nations to monitor our elections as we ask them to monitor elections in other countries.
At least the Ohio Secretary of State has ruled that returned mail is not a sufficient reason to remove a person from the voting rolls.