w1ld wrote:
] ] The Skeptics contend that Bush's foreign policy in his
] ] second term will turn out to be more cautious and less
] ] belligerent than his first, if not by choice, then by
] ] compulsion.

I strongly agree with this conclusion.

I've heard Syria and Iran tossed around on several occasions in the past week by people who are cock sure that they know what they are talking about. I think both suggestions are outlandish. Syria? Who cares about Syria! And Iran? The Iranian nuke question was resolved by Bush's election. There is no need for further action.

The constraints are immense. The danger in Iraq has put tremendous pressure on Military recruiting. They are going to have to increase salaries and benefits, and costs.

We have a perfect economic storm brewing. Our entitlement programs are totally unsustainable. Our private sector debts are tremendous and they are coming due, and as the Baby Boomers mature they are going to being pulling money out of the market. Our diplomatic strategy on Iraq has loped a huge amount of federal debt onto the pile. The expense of our healthcare system is impacting our international competitiveness. Meanwhile, all Al'Q could muster for this election was a video tape.

Bold action is required domestically, not internationally. I'm glad that Bush is focusing first on Social Security. That is one of our most critical problems. My opinion is that we need both the right and left solutions applied here and I hope we see them.

The reds are right: We need to create more incentives for people to save money. People can earn interest as individuals more effectively then the government can, as the government cannot invest the retirement savings without controlling the economy. Getting this money out of a dead weight trust fund and into the economy will stimulate growth both of the economy and the fund.

But the blues are also right: We cannot continue to operate a wealth redistribution system that redistributes wealth from poor people to rich people. It makes sense to increase the retirement age. And if there are no safeguards to prevent investment losses from crushing people, then there is no point. Its social security, not central retirement planning.

After thats done Bush promises to tackle taxes. I'm not convinced that the complexity of the tax system is truly the pox on America that these people claim, and this isn't an attempt to shift the tax burden. They've already shifted it some towards the middle. Its also not as pressing as healthcare and medicade. I wish they've tackle that, but as yet they don't seem to have a proposal. (I agree that tort law needs fixing, but I also agree that this won't fix the healthcare problem.)

In general, I don't feel like round 2 is going to result in a lot of new military adventures. We've got quite enough on the plate as things stand.

RE: Foreign Policy: Four More Years

County by county 3d breakdown with Y axis showing margins.

Best Election Data visualization yet

] 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?

] 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

] Religion - rather than class, ethnic origin or education
] - has become the key determinant of voting in the 2004
] presidential race, according to an exit poll conducted by
] the Associated Press news agency.

Some exit poll statistics here. This election was decided by Conservative Christians who came out to vote because of the marriage amendments. Kerry spent too much time on the Daily Show and not enough time in Church. Stupid old conservatives vote, because they like imposing their will on others. Stupid young liberals tend to stay home and watch TV, because they don't understand the reality of whats going on.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Election reveals divided nation

] Some left-leaning Californians say they would rather
] leave the United States -- and go to Canada or elsewhere
] -- than stay with George W. Bush as president.

Thereby absolutely guaranteeing that the GOP will never loose another race... Zogby said on the Daily Show "We are two nations at war... Many people have said they will not recognize the legitimacy of the government if they other side wins."

National Post: Dem will leave if they loose

] After filing more than 40 lawsuits in 18 battleground
] states in recent weeks, and in keeping with their
] Election Day playbook, Democrats are prepared to execute
] an Election Day litigation strategy. As soon as the polls
] open in the morning, their touted 10,000-plus lawyers
] will systematically file litigation to change the rules
] in battleground states across the nation and create a
] sense of chaos.

The GOP says the dems will ruin the election.

G O P.com :: Statement From RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke On Anticipated Kerry-Edwards and Democrat Election Day Litigation Strategy

] The special anonymity requirements of public
] elections make it hard to detect, let alone
] recover from, security failures of an Internet
] voting system, while in e-commerce detection
] and recovery is much easier because e-commerce
] is not anonymous. In a commercial setting,
] people can detect most errors and fraud by
] cross-checking bills, statements, and receipts;
] and when a problem is detected, it is possible to
] recover (at least partially) through refunds,
] insurance, tax deductions, or legal action. In
] contrast, voting systems must not provide receipts,
] because they would violate anonymity and would enable
] vote buying and vote coercion or intimidation.

A security analysis of SERVE. Why doesn't the military have the resources to simply operate voting booths at bases and on ships? You could handle most servicemen/women this way. You would need to prevent these people from also voting absentee, but this could be accomplished by cross-referencing records. The cost associated with this seems small relative to it's importance.

An Analysis of Internet Voting Security in the SERVE (Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment) Online Election System