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This tactic is the consistent pattern and standard one-trick-pony of rightists: When their argument for their selfish aim cannot stand itself, on merit, they aid the extremist backside of their collected opposition to divide it.

Elections office workers in Iowa reported a flood of Republicans changing their registration to Democrat ON THE DAY OF the Iowa Democrat Caucuses this year -- and then voting Not Howard Dean. Same in New Hampshire Primary the following week -- Republicans temporarily crossing over to be Democrats for a day against Dean.

Same in Afghanistan and Iran and Iraq, starting back when Bush was CIA director in 1976 -- to gain the embrace of the secular population(s) Bush's one trick is to aid and support and enlarge the fanatically religious elements in it. Which is why and how billions of American taxpayer dollars were given to create the Taliban and create Bin Laden and create Saddam -- starting TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.

And when the religious rioters in-country start to threaten the sovereign coherence, the U.S. Cavalry -- ta-ta ta-daa -- rides to the rescue. Of the victimized. Sign allegiance here. You owe us. We'll take oil in payment.

After winning W.W.II, U.S.military needed an enemy to stay in business. Else generals and pentagoners had to find new work, gun/ship/plane factories had to make new products, spies were out of business. (See http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/ST/ for the book by Fletcher Prouty detailing this, as he was present and took part dissenting in the post-war CIA creation of an enemy to pick a fight with and pick taxpayers' pockets for. Bush was there, too, his baby Dumbo fresh-born and his dad Prescott implicated in charges of doing business with the (Axis) enemy.)

For the Cold War, communists were the invented enemy. For the Terror War, islamists were the invented enemy. In neither case was there any threat to Americans or democracy. Russia did spy on the bomb science America got from imported German physicists, but in the end: So what? We had The Bomb, they had The Bomb whether they got it by copying our paper or they figured it out for themselves -- so what? The Bomb cannot be used to take territory, read: make war, because if you use it you cannot go there and occupy that territory, for 25,000 years. The reason we don't bomb the Middle East: Because there's no market for radioactive crude oil.

Looking at nine-eleven, oh-one, no evidence has been publicly shown of who did it. The Bush administration handed out names and photos, and TV showed them, and newspapers printed them, but the Bushies have never produced a shred of linking evidence. Just the opposite, they classified all evidence top secret. Reporters did get to the airport gates and got copies of the passenger lists that the airlines manifest for all sold and booked tickets, (before the lists got classified Secret), and those list originals do not have any -- not a one -- of the names the Bushies named. This is the absence of evidence.

On the other hand, there is much evidence which refutes the nine-eleven story supplied by the Bushies. Simply one material evidence example is the photo of the hole in the pentagon (See: http://0911.site.voila.fr/index2.htm) and the Flight 77 plane don't fit, you must admit. Either you (somebody) must invent a way to get that too-big plane in that too-small hole, without leaving ANY debris outside, or realize Flight 77 did not hit the pentagon. Now that's not a conspiracy theory -- you (somebody) have to supply that if you want one -- no, the photo is not a theory, it's a fact. Material evidence.

But, gosh, the U.S. Cavalry -- with anthrax murders, Patriot Act, Homeland Security, secret detention compounds, military obliteration in Afghanistan, military invasion in Iraq, war crimes, and death dismemberment and ruin of hundreds of Oregonians -- has come to our rescue.

So, yeah, Bushies are buying Ralph Nader a place on the ballot in the fundamentalist rear-guard of Bushie opposition. It's their pattern, what'd you expect? Or maybe you never heard of or read any historic records from the last fifty years or fifty months, (beyond make-you-see TV), and so you didn't know what to expect? Well, now, ....

The more I study what has gone past, the clearer I imagine what's ahead. And in that crystal ball it shows Bush does not have a place on the November ballot, (maybe he's under arrest or something like that). And if that's what's ahead, I, for one, am ready and willing to vote to choose Kerry or choose Nader. Besides, I love the ultimate justice of Republican criminality being able to get Nader on the ballot and not being able to get Bush there.

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(cross-posted at daily kos):

They're out that the Safeway in Woodburn today...with a table with signs registering people to vote and, coincidentally, asking folks if they would be willing to "sign a petition to allow independent candidates to be on the ballot in Oregon." Yeah, I read the petition; I knew immediately which "independent" candidate they were shilling for but talked with them anyway.

I did what I thought best; engaged two of 'em in conversation for a good five minutes, praised them for registering people to vote, agreed on how important voter turnout will be this year, asked questions about the rules regarding how to register to vote, should I get forms for my school office, ANYthing to keep them talking to ME and not a potential signer.

Then, finally, I turned 'em down on the signature and calmly explained why, as a Nader 2000 voter, I would not be signing their petition. I explained that I did not appreciate Nader's failure to repudiate Citizens for a Sound Economy, etc.

A friend and fellow Woodburn educator walked up. He did the same thing. We took up a good ten minutes of the guys' time, and talked about how Nader was burning his integrity with this last gasp of a campaign. Don't know if a teacher and a principal talking about Ralph in this manner outside the local Safeway made a difference to the folks walking by, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. And I can confirm that two very out-of-their-element-but-nice-guy Republicans were out there doing the sig gathering.

It will be interesting to see what happens here, since IIRC the Oregonian reported last week that the various county elections offices would need to have signatures in by a few days ago in order to have enough time to verify 'em....

As someone who witnessed Nader-related voter fraud at Nader Convention - Part Deux, none of this is remotely shocking. Sad, that Nader will be tarnished with this in the end... An amazing man, an icon really, and now I think of him as an egomaniac. I have a friend who says that when someone talks sh*t about him, they say his name, and thus he gains name recognition. So, go Ralph. You have all but taken over BlueOregon.com. Nice work.

"Count every vote!"

• Democrats, Florida, 2000

"Count every vote.. as long as it's for Kerry!"

• Democrats, Oregon, 2004

Not that the Republicans are any better. A pox on both your houses. Promoting a candidate you find repugnant; trying to keep a candidate off the ballot, disenfranchising his supporters -- they're both disgusting. Let the man get on the ballot on his own strength, not because he's a disadvantage to the other side. And let his supporters vote for him, for Christ's sake. Don't make people's choices for them because you think you know better than they do. What arrogant paternalism. Yeah, Nader voters are connected to reality in a looser fashion than most; so what? That's what democracy is all about -- you get to vote for who you want, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

The fact that you think there's any kind of moral logic to trying to keep a candidate off the ballot would have surprised me a year ago. It doesn't now.

Republicans try to sign up petitions signatures for ballot = Blame Ralph Signature Gatherers cheat on forms = Blame Ralph Bush wins 2000 = Blame Ralph Corporations & Duopoly controls our government = Ignore Ralph CarSafety/Enviroment/Labor/Consumer Rights/Health/etc = Ignore Ralph Democracy/Anti-War/Election Reform/endCorporateWelfare = Ignore Ralph

I have not a bit of doubt that most whom Blame Know the least of all about the man and his principles

Blame Ralph cause the Truth Hurts Ignore Ralph cause you’re sold out