Click to see an uplifting message from John Kerry and the choice we will make tomorrow (today).

If you need help finding your polling place, and are local, remember to use Hallwatch’s polling place locator.

See you later today (or tonight) folks.

Vote!

A little music, with perfect pics, to illustrate an asshole. Yeah.

Goodnight folks. I’m getting up early to volunteer in the get out the vote effort.

If you’ve been following my site closely, or know me in any way personally, then you know that I am not, as Jon Stewart likes to call it, a ‘partisan hack’. Like him, I feel that those that repeat party talking points, like they are the Gospel, do real damage to our country.

I’m a person that believes in small government and one that is as unobtrusive as possible. I believe a strong defense can be a deterrent to those who would attack us. I am a fan of Ronald Reagan, this being against what so many tell me, and probably due to me being young when he was in office, but there it is. I look up to those in our military and honor the sacrifice and them and their families. I go to Church more than just a few times a year. I pray. I read the Bible on and off. And like Reagan, I believe that there is something special about America and its place in the world.

So how can I be so enthusiastic about John Kerry, or to take this even further, to encourage you to vote straight Democratic party this election?

I’m the dreaded social liberal, fiscal conservative. While I believe in small government, I believe that investing in people, providing them tools so that they have an equal chance to fulfill their American dream, is the only way to insure the future health of the country. I mentioned I pray. I’m a Catholic. The social justice believing kind. Bush talked a fair game with ‘compassionate conservatism’, but they were just words. I’ve seen no compassion for the working family from the Bush administration, or for the poor. John Kerry spoke to me in the third debate when he quoted the Bible, ?What does it mean, my brother, to say you have faith if there are no deeds? Faith without works is dead.?. What I?ve seen the Bush administration do is to pander to undeserving corporations with huge contracts and to blame those who have lost their jobs due to outsourcing on their education, when countless of them are already college educated. All the while growing the size of government more so than almost any President in history. Conservatives believe in small, unobtrusive government. Bush is no a conservative. He?s made our government more invasive into our private lives and private decisions. You don?t hear from Newt Gingrich these days as much do you? He offers this President faint support and I?m sure this is the reason why. It looks like Bush?s team has hijacked the meaning of the word ?conservative? and replaced it something new, ?Win At Any Costs?. ?Win At Any Costs? means denying reality and twisting the facts to meet your ideology. ?Win At Any Costs? enables you to shut down debate and to encourage fear. ?Win At Any Costs? enables you to not just see the world in black and white, but in just white alone. There is no other side. To recognize the other side would be to be empathetic, which is counter to ?Win At Any Costs?.

Clinton helped restore fiscal sanity to Washington, and by all accounts Kerry will do the same. It?s about accountability and John Kerry has shown that he?s willing to take on that burden.

As I said, I believe in a strong defense, and John Kerry has provided us with a roadmap that at least stands a chance. It deals with reality. It doesn?t deny the true threat of radical Islamicism. In fact, it faces it. Not simply head on as the Bush administration, but from all sides. We?re fighting a movement. To defeat a movement takes more than simple broad strokes. It takes finesse. It takes rooting it out at its source. Think about it: 9/11 was almost three years ago and Bin Laden is still telling us what his demands are. The bastard is still alive. Do you feel any safer than last year? The year before? Why do you think that is? The assult weapons ban expiring make you feel safer? Our soldiers fighting in Iraq when Bin Laden is elsewhere? How we’ve handled the nuclear threat of Iran and North Korea?

To swich gears a little, let me mention that my health care costs have gone thru the roof these past two years. Completely swallowed my tax break. My insurance is covering far less and I am paying far more of the cost for routine office visits and care. I can?t imagine what the costs have been for families with children, but they must be terrible. Bush is only addressing part of the issue, but the problem is more complex then he is willing to deal with. Kerry?s plans are far from perfect, but they are in the right direction and will help insure millions of others who currently are without even the coverage I have.

I’m going to urge you to vote straight Democratic ticket this year. The reason is simple: all three legislative houses are under the control of one party. Only by restoring balance in the halls of power will we have a government that is forced to listen to its people.

The gang playing to ?Win At Any Costs? needs to lose. We have a choice. And we’re going to do it tomorrow.

Never Forget: Internet Vets for Truth is the perfect example to show how easy it is to distribute video, to a huge audience, on a shoestring budget. Bittorrent empowers folks to publish large files quickly and easily, where once it would have required costly infrastructure. The distribution of the Jon Stewart Crossfire confrontation video illustrates just how far things have come. I believe this election has encouraged folks to push broadcasting?s boundaries, to make up for what the media has not provided, just as 9/11 encouraged bloggers to do the same for publishing.

(RSS + Bittorrent) * Video/Audio Content = the true new media. It’s disruptive technology. Check out TvTorrents for an eye opening peek.

George W. Bush diverted our forces and their efforts from the bastard who attacked us to go after someone who didn’t. Read this Washington Post story for the sad details.

Speaking of taking our eye off the ball, do you know that Iran tested a strategic missle? With North Korea’s help? Or that North Korea recently threatened to turn Japan into a ‘nuclear sea of fire’?

Want to know why? For one, Bush said he wasn’t concerned with Bin Laden (Yahoo!), and just look at all the reasons given for attacking Iraq:

From Foreign Policy magazine. Now that’s a lot of double talk if you ask me.

…researchers compared the mortality rate among civilians in Iraq during the 14.6 months prior to the March 2003 invasion with the 17.8 month period following the invasion. The sample group reported 46 deaths prior to the March 2003 and 142 deaths following the invasion. The results were calculated twice, both with and without information from the city of Falluja. The researchers felt the excessive violence from combat in Falluja could skew the overall mortality rates. Excluding information from Falluja, they estimate that 100,000 more Iraqis died than would have been expected had the invasion not occurred. Eighty-four percent of the deaths were reported to be caused by the actions of Coalition forces and 95 percent of those deaths were due to air strikes and artillery.

eurekalert.org : 10/28/2004

After the election, when all is said and done, I’d love to revisit conversations I’ve had about the apathy my generation has been accused of (NPR from 1998 – great stuff). By all accounts, things have changed. What I’d like to know is how accurate were the pundits in trying to figure out why were weren’t engaged, and what it has took to turn it around.

According to LA Weekly writer Harold Meyerson, we now have a “fully functioning American Left”.

This blog, and plenty of others, have shared the importance of what’s going on. Philadelphia and the surrounding burbs can swing the tide of Pennsylvania. By all accounts PA is a must win state for Kerry.

There are plenty of great ways you can get involved and help to make a difference with the election. In fact, the choices are bewildering. But let me break it down for you.

You can join me and the great iFlipFlop folks at PA Victory. It’s the official Pennsylvania Democratic Party campaign for Kerry and Edwards.

You can take a more independent route and join the foward looking team at MoveOn. If you are in Northeast Philly call my Kerry Meetup friend Charlie Miller at 215-885-5544. If you are in other parts of Philly see Mithras. Area phone numbers: Allentown: 610-821-9761, Bryn Mawr: (610) 520 1920, Jenkintown: (215) 572 1310, Langhorne: (215) 757-4680, Philadelphia: (215) 592 0967, West Chester: 610-719-8160.

You can volunteer with the non-partisan Committee of Seventy, assisting voters and monitoring the election. Call 215-557-3600.
You can

It’s easy to get involved. Both groups will work with you on the time you can commit and what you feel comfortable with.

The feeling I could do more was dogging me and others in our meetup group. Talking about the issues with friends and family online and in person only goes so far after all.

Lynne was great at letting us know about a variety of ways we could get personally involved. One of the ways talked about was MoveOn. I had signed a few of their petitions over the years and recently bought 50 Ways to Love Your Country. It’s inspiring stuff and I suggest a purchase. A few of us volunteered for their Leave No Voter Behind effort. It’s focused on helping get out the vote thru one on one personal contact. They empower you with the tools to go canvassing in your own neighborhood. Mithras, a local blogger, has been posting about his work with them. The word that I get from my meetup friends is really positive.

Me? Well I’ve always felt that somewhere out there is a place where I can apply what I do for a living for a positive purpose. So early last month, on a lunch break, I decided to walk into the local Pennsylvania Democratic campaign headquarters and offer my help.

I introduced myself at the front desk, told the fellow who I?ve worked for and what I do, and within minutes was introduced to PA Victory’s Internet Director (and overall technology manager as far as I could tell). He gave me a tour and a review of their work. There was lots of energy flowing all over the place. The site team was a bit understaffed, but the Director was, like many work mentors of mine, someone who could hold together a massive operation on will power alone. I was taken aback at the sheer number of people who have put their lives on the line by taking breaks from work and school to volunteer full time. Here were people believe with all their hearts and minds that Kerry can lead us out of the mess we?re in. Contrary to what some bloggers say, these folks made the choice based on who to vote for not who they were voting against.

To make a long story short, we launched an instance of Movable Type to manage event postings and news items, with RSS flowing out in every direction. There is a great back story to this, and with a follow up piece I’d like to outline the techniques (the right mix of templates, plugins, and some Movable Type source code hacking) we used to pull it off since event listings and editorial workflow are not Movable Type strong suits.

It launched two weeks ago and since then I’ve switched gears and am now assisting with PA Victory’s Get Out The Vote effort. I attended a training class this past Saturday (there are still classes available) and all I can say is to repeat what I did earlier today – we’re going to win folks.

I got far closer (I had a blue ticket), but not that close. About 500 feet away at the closest. See the tree line on the left – that’s where I ended up. The energy was amazing. Like a rock concert almost.

We’re gonna win this folks. Get out and vote!