Dear Mr. Wooten,

I just had the opportunity to read your editorial on the Voter ID act, "Voter ID Critics Have No Room to Whine." I felt compelled to write you about it.

The reason the Voter ID Act is questionable- and I would say, troubling- is not what it does, but what it doesn't do. There have been no cases of voter fraud in the last nine years. ZERO. That means that it seeks to solve a problem that, for all intensive purposes, does not exist. I find that very odd. You write, "The Legislature took a fair shot at fixing an abuse a majority of members legitimately believed to exist." Why did they believe it existed when so many sources have now pointed out that it doesn't? Because that was not the objective of the bill.

In reality, all that is required in Georgia to vote is an affadavit affirming that you are who you say you are. This is on the absentee ballot, and also in the GA Constitution. If this law passes, it does not change that. So once again, this law is unneccessary.

And here's the kicker- the items required to get a "free" ID are items only available on other issued IDs. Here is what is required (from the text of the revised act.)
-"a photo identity document"
-documentation of birth
-documentation of soc. sec. number
-documentation of name and address.

Are you reading what I'm reading? You NEED an official photo I.D. to GET an official photo I.D. Even if they get more specific on this matter (i.e, specifying what kinds of "photo identity documents"), it is still very strange when it doesn't actually change the affadavit clause, covered in the constitution. I can only assume that this bill will not affect you, sir, or surely you would think it strange as well.

What is the point of passing arbitrary bills that have no positive effect? To appear active (I would say to anti-immigrant activists). And according to your article, that is good enough, and we have "no room to whine." When Republicans start arbitrarily building barriers to YOUR constitutional rights, such as, oh, the first amendment, then I hope you feel the same way.

Thank you for your time,

(name)

P.S. Attached is a copy of the GA absentee ballot. The text of the new Voter ID act can be found at:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/fulltext/sb84.htm

This Voter ID stuff annoys the hell out of me...

Did someone say impeachment? (Let me try to suppress my glee)

JohnSugg.com: HELLO, MOM. HELLO, FBI. HELLO, NSA.

Oh baby.

Anti-abortion marchers think its their last march

]SPURGER, Texas -- Boys in the Spurger, Texas, school district
]won't be wearing dresses Wednesday and girls aren't going to be
]putting on men's suits.

]That after a parent complained about a dress-like-the-opposite-
]sex day -- an annual Homecoming week tradition.

]...The Liberty Legal Institute came to the aid of parent Delana
]Davies, who was concerned about officially sanctioned cross-
]dressing. Davies said having boys dress like girls is part of an
]effort to push a homosexual agenda in public schools.

When will this insanity end? *head explodes*

Beware the homogenda!

] Economists have long been interested in why some
] countries are rich and why some countries are poor.
] Differences in labor productivity, inflation, and saving
] and investment rates are traditional economic
] explanations for variations in wealth across countries.
] But when these explanations fall short, researchers
] sometimes turn to noneconomic factors. Two such factors
] are a country’s legal and social institutions.
] Religious factors can also help explain variations in
] economic growth, many economists are increasingly
] finding. In particular, in countries where large
] percentages of the population believe in hell, there
] seem to be less corruption and a higher standard of
] living.

Interesting read...

Fear of Hell Might Fire Up the Economy - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Unfortunately, I missed Ted Kennedy and some other prominent speakers. However, I did get home in time to see the future first black president of America, Barack Obama.
This man was insanely charismatic and seriously made Clinton's speech fade in my memory. Like everyone else in the convention, he talked about unity and a return to a UNITED states, but he also touched on many issues that politicians rarely discuss. Most notably his mention of the media-spread perception that blacks with a book are trying to "act white" raised eyebrows and drew applause. My favorite moment was when he said that a problem for one person is a problem for everyone. He touched on gay rights, labor rights and due process. In fact, nearly every other sentence drew applause, and the whole convention completely erupted when he endorsed Kerry. Go watch the speech, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Geez, I'm smitten.

Ron Reagan gave an endearing, if somewhat sales-man like speech making the case for stem cell research. Dems clung on to any hint of dissent with Bush, and even if this was not an issue that garnered a lot of excitement, having the son of a former republican president clearly thrilled the audience.

Thereza Heinz-Kerry's speech was not quite as exciting, but remarkable for a few reasons.
First of all, she directly courted minority and immigrant votes by addressing the audience in many different languages and sharing her experience growing up abroad. To me this was also a message that she will bring a unique perspective to her husbands foreing policy.
Second of all, she started right off by bringing up women's rights, here and abroad. Her blatant feminism is risky in this country, but I dug it.
Third, she pointed to the peace corp as the image america should by trying to promote overseas. An America of hope rather than fear, is how i beleive she put it. A good, and again somewhat risky point to make as the Peace corp is also linked with youthful naievete in the minds of some. It worked for me, though.
Towards the end of the speech she started to falter, talking in vagueries and touchy feely language that was a weak way to end the speech. Overall, though, this speech showed off the possible first lady as an intriguing and bright woman who will bring women's and immigrants rights to the dinner table.

After Obama, I honestly can't see how the RNC can possibly outdo this show of excitement and hope.

] Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston,
] conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to
] identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are
] the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people
] sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my
] opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops
] are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their
] eye-rolling

For your reading pleasure, "pretty girl" Ann Coulter's article on the DNC that USA Today passed up. Proceed only if you have a strong stomach.

As usual, Coulter presents the worst of conservatism, wasting time calling democratic women ugly*, hybrid cars "dinky", and the speakers "nuts." Why make real criticism when you can name-call!?

I totally agree with USA Today's decision in not printing this unprofessional, petty, vapid piece of pseudo-journalism.

-Tina

*For the record, I know plenty of cute democrats. Anyone seen Maggie Schutz or Chris Heinz?

Ann Coulter's USA Today Column

Acidus wrote:
] ] Kerry is nice, but he's no Clinton with
] ] foreign policy, and right now is one of the most crucial
] times
] ] in recent history for foreign policy leadership.
]
] Sorry Tina, I call Bullshit. Please list some of Clinton
] awesome foreign policy moves that you don't think Kerry could
] do.

Its not that I don't think he can do what needs to be done, but Clinton was completely brilliant and dedicated to foreign policy.
He had a reputation abroad for being a great facilitator of the peace process in places like the Middle East, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland, but most of all he was respected for taking trips to 6 continents and showing that America cared about what was going on in the rest of the world. Even his failures, such as in the Middle East, left the US ahead rather than behind in public opinion.

I don't think these sort of goals are out of reach for Kerry but he is going to start at a marked disadvantage. If he wins, his first priority needs to be showing the world that we are doing a complete turn-around of foreign policy- that we will follow international laws and treaties, that we will respect the UN, and that we won't be arbitrarily invading any other countries. Even if he can get this message across, he will only be getting us back to square one.

Of course, there's no way he could be as unqualified as Bush, but I still wish that we were hearing more about his plans to improve international relations with allies and and enemies alike. All I'm hearing about foreign countries is this chant: Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam!

I guess my point is, I am hopeful about the guy, but I want to hear some specifics, and about countries other than Iraq and Vietnam.
(If anyone has some articles on this, please forward to me.)
-Tina

RE: DNC analysis

] "I think that bloggers have put the issue of
] professionalism under attack," said Thomas McPhail,
] professor of media studies at the University of
] Missouri-St. Louis, who argues that journalists should be
] professionally credentialed. "They have no pretense to
] objectivity. They don't cover both sides."

This article seems to be pissing people off. I think its good. If the press isn't spinning you you're not doing something useful.

The New York Times - The Internet: Web Diarists Are Now Official Members of Convention Press Corps

Ok, so now that I've had night's sleep and time to get out all my gushing, here is what I think was going on last night, strategy wise.

-Despite Kerry's name being brought up every few minutes, the focus is definitely on the democratic party as whole. The question on everybody's tongue was: are you better or worse than you were under Clinton? The answer was: put two democrats back in office and things will go back to normal. This logic may be a bit faulty. Kerry is nice, but he's no Clinton with foreign policy, and right now is one of the most crucial times in recent history for foreign policy leadership.

-Healthcare and the economy were brought up quite a bit, but where was the education? "No Child Left Behind" was one of the most controversial acts of Bush's four years, and not bringing this up is a mistake to me. With our public schools becoming more segregated and less funded, with gang violence up and teacher retention rates down, and blacks and latinos significantly trailing behind in high school completion rates, it seems to me that education ought to be a major focus this year.

-Another thing that escaped attention was the human rights violations at Abu Ghraib. Carter was the only one that even hinted at this scandal. I'm thinking that they were trying to shy away from it because it was such a downer, and the theme of the evening was to look onward and upward. Still, this subject is one that enrages repubs and dems alike, and I can't see why no one is addressing it.

-One of the absolute strongest points against the republicans is that they have effectively polarized the country. Despite running on a platform of unity, I can't remember a time when the nation was so split. (granted, I"m pretty young.) Clinton emphasized this point in his speech, saying that republicans need us divided, democrats don't. Even watching the coverage of the event it was clear how worked up everyone is on either side, and the whole situation is really getting out of hand. The question is, how can the Democrats change this? Isn't this damage irreperable, won't Kerry just come under the same kind of fire Clinton did? This question has not been effectively answered yet, but I'll be on the lookout.

-The main thing is, no one is trying to really sell Kerry. Everyone is just trying to say, without bringing up Bush's name, that he can't possibly F*** things up more than the current regime. Trying to oversell him as a war hero, an "ambassador of hope," and a economic genius may be hurting his credibility more than anything else. He can't encompass all the strengths of the democratic party, but he can promise to get democratic values back on the radar, and that is much more important to me, and many others in this country.

Can't wait till tonight!

-Tina