The Democrats know the GOP stole the 2000 election, and they seem to have concluded that if they just agreed to GOP demands to eliminate the paper trail, the GOP wouldn't steal the 2004 election. Idiots.

After a long and determined effort to get one senator, just one, to object to the certification of the electoral college vote based on the wide spread failures and irregularities in the Ohio vote, a total of one – count ‘em, one – Democrat did so. Credit where credit is due: Barbara Boxer has more courage than the rest of the Democrats in the Senate combined, and more character than the whole sorry lot in the Senate, even if you don’t bring down the curve by counting Dick Cheney.

And what sort of rationale do the timid, timorous, weak, sniveling Democrats offer for this display of craven acquiescence? One of my readers, RC in Ohio, quoted his county chair, one Susan Gwinn, who said this to the NY Times: "There was a point where this served a purpose. But I think we passed that. We need to move on."

Move on to what, exactly, Sue? Move on to pretending American elections are still honest? Move on to pretending that there are still two parties in America? Move on to pretending that the constitution and freedom still mean a damned thing?

What, exactly, is she moving on toward?

RC had an idea. We have apparently moved on to the point where the "Will of the People can fall asleep and into corruption, crime, torture and downright evil."

I don’t know about the "Will of the People" but the Democratic Party sure has slid into the role of Pancho Sanchez with nary a wince. One hundred thousand dead in Iraq, including nearly a thousand US troops (at the time), and the Democrats KNOW that Putsch lied about why we went to Iraq, lied about why we’re still there, and is lying about just about everything else under the sun. The man is a pathological liar, supported by a cold and vicious pack of neo-fascists who are contemptuous of Democracy, America, and Americans.

And what was the Democratic Party’s response to this nightmare? The best the Democratic Party could cough up was a worn out old hairball of a Senator who once made his mark opposing a futile and unjust war, but who now lacks the courage to protest an even more futile and unjust war. No wonder he rolled over for the GOP without a whimper.

The Democrats replaced the ineffectual and meek Tom Daschle with an equally ineffectual and meek Harry Reid. The only difference is that Daschle wasn’t prepared to cave in to the religiously insane blob squad and ban abortion. Reid is.

The Democratic Leadership Council wants to maintain a course of being "Republican Lite" which amounts to class warfare against Americans without the race baiting and gay bashing that is the hallmark of the neofascist GOP. That’s like getting to choose between Hitler and Franco. The DLC keeps insisting that the only way to win elections is by pretending to be just like the other guys.

There was an Ipsos-Reid/CNN poll out yesterday. It asked respondents about various elements of Putsch’s policies.

Now, you might expect that a President who supposedly just won reelection to a second term would do fairly well in such a poll, and historically, presidents in such a position usually have pretty good numbers, running from 60% approval on up. In only one category, the war in Iraq and on terror, did the poll give him positive numbers. Sort of. 50% approved, 48% disapproved. That was his BEST return. On the economy, which is supposed to be a strong point for him, he trailed, 51-47. On health care, the environment and education, he trailed by a whopping 13 points.

Does anyone believe for one instant that this widely despised clown really won the election fair and square just two months ago? Sure, the economy has the blind staggers, Putsch is promoting economic policies designed to cheat working people, and Iraq is a hideous clusterfuck. But that was all true back on the day of the election. Nothing has changed.

Yet here’s a poll, from notoriously Putsch-friendly Ipsos, showing him with the lowest approval ratings ever given a president prior to the inauguration.

Are the Democrats screaming about this, or at least pointing out, when the Republicans start babbling about their "mandate to rule," that they are, in fact, widely hated and mistrusted?

Nope. Not a peep.

Granted, some of it is America’s disgraceful mass media. CNN, with a perfectly straight face, claimed that Republicans were "flabbergasted" by the vote by Boxer to have two hours’ debate on the voting in Ohio. As if they were actually really surprised, and had heard nothing of the campaign by people all over the country to get a senator to support house members this time. Maybe CNN didn’t cover the 2000 election. And of course, CNN – and the other networks – carried little or nothing of the debate.

Mustn’t get the American children to wondering if George is really all that popular, you know. Media "access" depends on pleasing their corporate masters.

The Democrats seem determined to become pale shadows of the GOP, and join the Whigs, the Free Soilers, and hundreds of lesser parties as historical footnotes. Already, two major groups – Progressive Democrats of America, and Reform Democrats – have formed, and thousands of people are flocking to these groups, which are prepared to fight back against the neo-fascists of both major parties and their corporate masters. And take America back from those corporations that have so twisted America into a sad parody of itself.

In the meantime, unless there is major reform of the election process, including adoption of the Oregon plan and Clean Campaign reform, don’t expect me to discuss the coming campaigns. I won’t cover them for the same reason I don’t cover pro wrestling matches. It’s why bookies didn’t accept bets on how the Soviet elections would go. American elections will be as much a sham and a farce as the Iraqi elections that Putsch is promoting in the face of all reason and sanity.

Does anyone really CARE what the stats are for any of the players for the Washington Generals?