] The most intense speculation centers on Secretary of
] State Colin L. Powell, whose rumored retirement would
] reconfigure the war team and perhaps lead to a broader
] reshuffling of Bush's national security team. Powell,
] however, has told friends he might stay for a few months
] or well into next year.

Lost of speculation here, including about Rumsfeld.

The Post seems to spin John Danforth as being connected to the fundamentalists, but other sources (including earlier post articles) seem to indicate that he is a moderate.

President to Consider Changes for New Term (washingtonpost.com)

] The Congress may, if two thirds of each House agree,
] reverse a judgment of the United States Supreme Court--
]
] (1) if that judgment is handed down after the date of the
] enactment of this Act; and
]
] (2) to the extent that judgment concerns the
] constitutionality of an Act of Congress.

Once again, these changes can only be accomplished by Constitutional amendment. Not by passing a law. This proposal would make Congress, and not the Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of law. It has 26 cosponsors.

Another anti-court bill

] The Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review,
] by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter
] to the extent that relief is sought against an element of
] Federal, State, or local government, or against an
] officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether
] or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason
] of that element's or officer's acknowledgement of God as
] the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.'.

This thing just went into Committee in September. Its about as Constitutional as nazi death camp, but its got 37 cosponsors in the house and 5 in the Senate, including Zell Miller, who is orchestrating his conversion from the left to the radical right in order to keep riding the local vote in a red state.

This is the prelude to the big amendment that I talked about in an earlier post. I can't believe it slunk around in the house for this long and I didn't hear about it. This is literally a knife being slung at the heart of democratic government in this country. A government of God is one you can't question. A government you can't question is one that isn't democratic.

Holy Shit! H.R.3799

] Having restored decency to the White House, President
] Bush now has a mandate to affect policy that will promote
] a more decent society, through both politics and law. His
] supporters want that, and have given him a mandate in
] their popular and electoral votes to see to it. Now is
] the time to begin our long, national cultural renewal
] ("The Great Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe calls it)
] — no less in legislation than in federal court
] appointments. It is, after all, the main reason George W.
] Bush was reelected.

Andrew Sullivan's response to this was "The intensity of the passion, and the inherently totalist nature of religiously motivated politics means deep social conflict if we are not careful. Our safety valve must be federalism. We have to live and let live. As blue states become more secular, and red states become less so, the only alternative to a national religious war is to allow different states to pursue different options. That goes for things like decriminalization of marijuana, abortion rights, stem cell research and marriage rights. Forcing California and Mississippi into one model is a recipe for disaster."

Both commentators are right. Only one will get what he wants.

Bill Bennett on Election 2004 on National Review Online

] Using County-by-County election return data from USA
] Today together with County boundary data from the US
] Census' Tiger database we produced the following graphic
] depicting the results. Of course, blue is for the
] democrats, red is for the republicans, and green is for
] all other. Each county's color is a mix of these three
] color components in proportion to the results for that
] county.

I'll also offer two other, well, interesting maps:
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog10/maps/
http://house.style.net/usa.jpg

Electoral map by county rather then by state

] Attorney General John Ashcroft could be one of the first
] Cabinet members to leave the administration.
]
] Sources close to Ashcroft told CNN Thursday that they
] believe it is most likely the attorney general will
] submit his resignation in the near future, possibly
] within the next two weeks.

Elonka may be right!

Ashcroft out?

] At one level this election was about nothing. None of the
] real problems facing the nation were really discussed.
] But at another level, without warning, it actually became
] about everything.
]
] We don't just disagree on what America should be doing;
] we disagree on what America is.
]
] If the Democrats make a comeback, it
] must not be by default, because the country has lapsed
] into a total mess, but because they have nominated a
] candidate who can win with a positive message that
] connects with America's heartland.

Hearing this sentiment a lot and it seems very hollow and dishonest. How can you say that Middle America is opposed to everything you believe in and then talk about how you want to create a positive message that connects with them? You don't want to connect with them! You want to play them! You want to connect with their votes!

The Dems are going to be out for a long time if they can't be honest with themselves.

Two Nations Under God

Things are often funny because they are true. I'm watching the Daily Show right now, and they just made a point that made me laugh out loud at first and then, well, it really pissed me off. It goes back to previous comments I've made about the split in this country being urban vs. rural.

As we know, voters for Bush overwhelming said Moral Values and Terrorism where their top concerns in the election. Voters for Kerry cited Iraq and the Economy. See the BBC article in my MemeStream.

Now, consider that by and large the "Red States" where people are really concerned about Terrorism are places where there is almost no practical risk of a Terrorist attack. Al'Q is not going to set off a dirty bomb in Nebraska. Al'Q is not going to deploy chemical weapons in Arkansas. Al'Q is not going to crash airplanes into buildings in Montana. There are several exceptions to this, but most of the places where the risk of Terrorism exists are "Blue States."

Manhatten, where terrorist attacks actually occured, and is still the highest risk area, voted Kerry by 82%!
Washington DC, where terrorist attacks actually occured, and is still the second highest risk area, voted Kerry by 90%!

Furthermore, even in "Red States" any terrorist attack is still likely to happen in an Urban area. The urban counties in Atlanta went Kerry by 60% and 73%.

The Daily show went on to note that the gay people that the Red states are so concerned about also tend to live in urban areas.

Their response, from New York, was to thank the Red States for "saving us from ourselves."

Rattle wrote:
] Will he pander to the fundamentalist right, now that they have
] nothing more to offer him? I can see that one go either way.
] I hold hopes that Bush/Rove drop their interest in issues such
] as prayer in schools and amendments on the court house walls.
] They no longer need it to inspire the catholic right to
] transform their group fanaticism into a demographic with a
] strong supporting vote. Join me in my blind optimism for a
] minute, it will help slow your heart rate and bring on some of
] that hope for the future many are lacking this November 3rd.

There are some things I disagree with in this post, but you are right about this. My prediction about rapid Constitutional amendments is wrong. If they did that they'd be unloading all their future ammo in one shot. Its not going to go down like that.

The Fundamentalists have handed them two major electoral victories, one in 1994 and one in 2004. The first was based on a series of promises. What they actually delivered for those promises had a particular shape. What they offered in this election had the exact same shape. Its a pattern:

1. Find a small liberal group with little political power. (Geeks with the CDA, Gays with the marriage amendment.)
2. Kick them in the teeth as hard as you can.

There is absolutely no political risk because the victims have no real power, and the fundamentalists eat it up! They love kicking people in the teeth. It makes them feel morally superior.

Now the CDA didn't work out the way they'd hoped for two reasons: 1. It didn't actually work. 2. It was quite a let down from the grandious promises made in 1994. The Republicans learned from this experience and adapted their strategy. They hauled out the teeth kicking before the election and asked their constituants to come out to specifically vote on it.

The people who fall for this are tremedously stupid on every imaginable level. They are certainly more motivated by the opportunity to actually vote on a singular instance of teeth kicking then they are by a complex "Contract with America."

Now, the grandious promises are still there, but they are in the background where only the people who care about them see them, and they are unlikely to see the full light of day, simply because the Republicans have what they want and have no motivation to do anything else unless pressured.

Some stuff will be voted on. You might see a federal Gay marriage amendment. They will only give enough that they won't totally piss off the fundamentalists by openly screwing them over. But come election time in 2008 you can rest assured that another teeth kicking will occur. Could be any number of things. But the process toward a fundamentalist state will be only fast enough to keep the fundamentalists from abandoning the Republicans and not a drop faster.

This is the new Republican party strategy and it is this what the Democrats need to respond to. The most obvious response is to attack it directly, by presenting the dead obvious truth that kicking people in the teeth is not Christian, and there ought to be more important things that people of faith focus on, like poverty and war.

We shall see...

RE: And the gloves come off..

] However, Republicans will not have the 60 senators that
] are needed to end Democratic procedural hurdles against
] what critics have called "extreme" initiatives or
] nominees.

Red Congress set to Push Agenda