Ran across an interesting article in Yahoo news this morning. Here’s a quote:

Gov’t Search Engines Link to Kerry Critics

Wed Jul 14, 9:05 AM ET

By ELIZABETH WOLFE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Searching for “Kerry” on the Department of Homeland Security’s Web site Tuesday afternoon turned up an unexpected top hit: a Republican attack on the Democratic presidential candidate.

A similar search on the Web site of the Department of Health and Human Services brought up the same link at the top — a news release from conservative Rep. C.L. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, that said a John Kerry administration “would embolden environmental extremists to press an aggressive agenda of restricting access and responsible use of public lands.”

Hmmm… one needs to be an “environmental extremist” to suggest that restricted access and responsible use of public lands might be a good idea? Guess I’m an extremist, then.

Actually, this is about what I’d expect from an Idaho Senator. And before I get flamed for that remark, I grew up in Idaho and lived there until I was 20. I’m familiar with Idaho politics. Granted, there have been some great Idaho statesman — Cecil Andrus and Frank Church come to mind — but that was in the long-ago days. The latter elected officials seem to be more of type with the guy my mama used to call “big, dumb Dane.”

Of course, the sites where this item was searchable now blame the government search portal on Firstgov.gov. And they, in turn, put the blame on a “technical glitch.” Yeah. Sure.

This morning the news release was still available on gop.gov, but as of this writing it appears to have been removed.

In other news, the Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriages has been killed in the Senate. And I for one am glad, simply because I don’t believe it’s something that belongs in the US Constitution. It’s legislation that belongs in the states, if at all.

Other than that reason, I have a hard time getting my dog in that fight. I’m certainly not a gay activist, but neither am I a homophobe. In my mind, ones sexual preferences are just not relevant in most day-to-day interactions. It becomes relevant only when one side or the other forces it to become relevant. The far right with its gay bashing and its confusion of pedophilia with homosexuality is as guilty of this as the gay-rights activists with their “you must like me no matter what simply because I’m gay and I’m going to rub your nose in that fact over and over” attitude. I like a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — sort of like the old movies that used to fade to black. You knew what that actor and actress were going to be doing during the fade. It wasn’t necessary to watch it.

And I’m still trying to come up with any profession where sexual preference would be relevant.

I don’t buy the “we can’t have gay scoutmasters/teachers/whatever because their agenda is to recruit our kids into their lifestyle.” Suuuuuuure. I mean, c’mon. That’s just dumb. And there are as many strange and dangerous heterosexuals out there — more, actually, since only a small percentage of the population identifies as gay or lesbian. What about the coach here in Oregon who ran off with one of his female players? The goal should be to weed out any sort of dangerous behavior on the part of adults who are in positions where they contact children — especially if it is a position of authority, like a teacher, coach, scout leader, or — dare we say it — priest. The sexual proclivities of that person are irrelevant. What is relevant is how he/she chooses to act on those proclivities.

I also don’t by the “gay marriage will bring down our country by undermining the sacred institution of marriage.” Nah. I haven’t seen any gay-marriage proposals that would outlaw the traditional kind. Seems to me that will still be legal. And our “sacred institution” is already pretty battered, what with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce and with the number of truly incompetent parents there are. That’s about as stable as a bowl of jello. I think we should celebrate all families, of whatever kind or makeup, that provide strong, safe and loving places for each other and for kids to grow up in.

But the whole schtick is just an election-year gambit by Dubya to try and rally the far-right-wing voters that sat out the last election and to take the focus off of things we really should be focusing on, like the economy, the price of gas, Iraq and Afganistan. Dubya needs to do something to rally the troops, since it seems a pretty fair bet that Jeb won’t be allowed to count the votes this time.

But I saw another article somewhere that reported that in this year’s Demo primary in Florida, touch-screen voting machines failed to count a vote something like 8 times more frequently than machines that scan paper ballots. So obviously there’s some technology issues there that Jeb might be able to use.

My cold seems to be a bit better this morning. Hopefully it will be short-lived. How annoying to have a cold in the summer.

It’s hot in the house. #1 Son left his window open yesterday and let the heat in. There was no breeze last night at all, so even with the fans on the air just didn’t move. No thunderstorms last night, like we had on Monday night. It was so cool being woken up by thunder!

It’s been humid, too. I had my hair trimmed and touched-up on Monday, so now with the humidity it’s really, really big. #1 Son stopped by work yesterday and someone made a crack about him “having his mom’s hair.” Hmmmm… not quite the look that I was going for. Guess I’ll have to keep it knotted up until it calms down. It’s supposed to be cooler today, but the humidity is still 90%. If only my hair had the same amount of curliness all over, instead of doing corkscrews in some places and being almost straight in others. Blech. People with straight hair don’t know how good they have it.

I have a cold again. What is this shit? So does #1 Son. At least we’re sick at the same time, instead of passing it back and forth like we usually do.

In other news, “terrorist chatter” is once again on the rise, we’re told. al-Qaida wants to attack the US, we’re told. They want to disrupt our elections, we’re told. We’re told these “facts” by the same people who said that Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; the same people who said that we would have terrorist attacks at Christmas, the Super Bowl, etc..; the same people who have raised and lowered the HS advisory terrorist warning level like a yoyo. (See the side blog for what it is today.)

Now DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the new U.S. Election Assistance Commission, created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, writes in a letter to Democrat and Republican leaders in The House and Senate, “There does not appear to be a clear process in place to suspend or reschedule voting during an election if there is a major terrorist attack.” He wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that no Federal agency has the statutory authority to cancel or reschedule elections, and maybe it should be Homeland Security.

Has it occurred to Mr. Soaries that there might be a reason for this?

And now our “friends” at Homeland Security have sent an inquiry to the Justice Department on the same topic.

Since it is not prohibited by The Constitution, the States retain the right to move a local election if necessary. And our Presidential election is local in the sense that we do not actually vote for the President, but for an elector to represent us. The Constitution gives Congress the right to decide when the Electors meet to cast their ballots. It can be any time, as long as it’s the same day in every state. So it seems to me that any kind of “disruption,” which is likely to be fairly localized, is already covered by our existing system. And this power is held by officials duly elected by the populace, so they are a just a bit more concerned with keeping their noses clean than appointed officials are.

Why would we ever want to invest in any appointed official the ability to postpone or reschedule Federal elections? That sounds more like the act of a banana republic dictator than of a US President.

Oh… yeah… I get confused sometimes, too.

Some in the Bush Administration complain that a terrorist attack in Spain disrupted their elections. But from what I saw, what happened was that subsequent to a terrorist attack the ruling party lost power. This may have been an unexpected outcome, but it was hardly a “disrupted” election.

The Help America Vote Act was enacted to provide funds to states to update outmoded voting machines and to provide for some minimum requirements that states must meet during Federal elections. I’m sure that the intent was to prevent another fiasco like Florida 2000. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is supposed to receive reports from the states and dole out the funds. I think it’s a stretch to include suggesting potentially unconstitutional legislation under the Commission’s bailiwick.

I am reminded of two quotes from our Founding Fathers, the first from Benjamin Franklin:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.

And the second from Thomas Jefferson:

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Our election system may not be perfect, but for the most part it limps along fairly well. Let’s stop being scared and take back our country from the elected and appointed idiots that keep trying to take it away.

I was going to write about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. But last night I watched Bowing for Columbine again, and I started thinking about Michael Moore and the message he presents.

I don’t always agree with Moore’s point of view. His films are certainly one-side and his delivery subject to hyperbole. But, hey, in America he’s intitled to openly state his opinion just as much and as often as he wants, and if he can get hundreds of theaters to present it too then more power to him. There’s almost nothing that makes me as angry as hearing that someone is “unpatriotic” because they choose to exercise the right to dissent that this country is founded on.

Regardless of how one feels about Moore, however, one part of his message shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle: We are creating a nation of fear. How many people know that the crime rate is actually falling? You won’t get this message listening to the nightly news or reading the local paper. How many people around us are really other than good, law-abiding citizens. I’m guessing damn few.

And then there’s the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System. Reading Citizen Guidance on the Homeland Security Advisory System is pretty scary in itself. (Click on the link to see the pdf.)

At level “Green” — low risk — we should be creating an emergency plan and practicing it, stocking an emergency kit, learning CPR and know how to turn off our utilities. OK. That’s not bad advice considering that most areas of the country are subject to one sort of natural disaster or another. But are Police Services, Neighborhood Watch and Citizen Corps really the only places we can find to volunteer? What about the local soup kitchen or youth hostel?

At level “Blue” — guarded risk — we should do make sure we’ve covered level green, and add being suspicious of our neighbors (I assume the ones that aren’t “just like us”), making sure we report them to authorities. Oh yeah, and replace those outdated emergency supplies.

At level “Yellow” — elevated risk — we should re-check that we’ve completed levels green and blue, update our emergency plans and develop alternate daily routes to school/home. This last is always a good idea anyway if one commutes in traffic. I know a dozen ways to get to work. Oh… and watch those neighbors!

At level “Orange” — high risk — we should complete levels green, blue and yellow. Review our emergency plans again. Be careful (i.e. afraid) when traveling. Expect delays, searches and restrictions. But instead of turning our neighbors in, we can check to see if they need help. I presume the “bad” ones are off doing terrorist things.

At level “Red” — severe risk — we should complete levels green, blue, yellow and orange. Stay tuned for instructions from officials. Excpect delays, searches and restrictions. Be prepared to either stay where we are or leave. (There’s another choice?) Contact school/business before going in to find out their status. And don’t voluteer unless someone in authority tells us to. (No mention of neighbors. By this time I guess the authorities have hauled them away under the “Patriot Act” and they will never be seen or heard from again.)

In reading these, I’m struck by which items get repeated over and over: Watch for suspicious activities, and expect delays, searches and restrictions. In other words: Be distrustful of eveyone around you and don’t get upset when your rights are violated because it’s for your own good.

The Bush Administration wants us to be afraid. They want us to be very afraid. Why? hmmm… maybe it has something to do with those “delays, searches and restrictions.” Do you think a fearful populace is more likely to be compliant? Or maybe so we’ll learn not to trust our neighbors. After all, one is not likely to form a cohesive unit with those that one does not trust. And it does keep our attention focused on terrorists, rather than on picky little details like the economy and the abject failure of the Bush Administration to do anything constructive.

Hey… my neighbors on the left are a young couple with a small child. Yesterday they asked my advice about building a fence on our mutual property line. They want to preserve the wisteria I have growing on a trellis between us, so we discussed how that might be accomplished. Today they had a garage sale. He offered to sell his really cool classic car to my son for what is a very fair price. They invited us over for barbeque soon. Oh yeah, they’re about as untrustworthy as they come!

And the guy on the right side isn’t all that friendly. In the several years they’ve lived there, I’ve rarely spoken to him and never to her. And he wears his hair in an afro. I guess I’d better watch out for that guy, eh?

Sheesh. How stupid. My whole neighborhood is full of nothing but quiet, normal, “just folks” types. And I get annoyed as hell at stupid, unconstitutional searches and restrictions. (Try flying at level “orange” with a kid who sports a mohawk and full punk regalia.) And I think the Patriot Act is one of the worst atrocities ever foisted on the American public.

It’s damn hard to be afraid of anything except the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush Administration.

But, just so that I remember how afraid the “emergency management officials” want me to be, I’m including the HSA threat level on Persistent Illusion. Thank you to realThreat for the PHP script. They provided some pretty cool images too, but they were a little large for my space. So I made my own. I used Lucky Charms. They’re magically delicious.

The good news is that #1 Son was on the radio… the bad news is that it was at midnight. I’m sure that it was thrilling for the 10 people who were awake and listening to a small, local station. But my body can’t believe that I hauled it out of bed after only 3 hours of sleep.

The good news is that I seem to be getting over whatever crud I had. Yesterday I experimented with eating real food, and the experiment was mostly successful. The bad news is that I have a serious meeting to go to today and it’s at 3:00. My body is going to think it’s really siesta time, and I”m going to have to be “on.”

#1 Son say’s he’s fine with only a few hours of sleep. And, he probably is. I can remember being young and never sleeping, too. But now I’m old and I need my beauty sleep.