1,001 Reasons Not To Vote For Bush (Vol. 92)
911. More suppression of democracy, this time in the Oct. 16, 2004, Des Moines Register: "One of the latest incidents came when John Sachs, 18, a Johnston High School senior and Democrat, went to see Bush in Clive last week. Sachs got a ticket to the event from school and wanted to ask the president about whether there would be a draft, about the war in Iraq, Social Security and Medicare. But when he got there, a campaign staffer pulled him aside and made him remove his button that said, 'Bush-Cheney '04: Leave No Billionaire Behind.' The staffer quizzed him about whether he was a Bush supporter, asked him why he was there and what questions he would be asking the president."
912. That Des Moines Register article quoted Sachs as saying: "Then he came back and said, 'If you protest, it won't be me taking you out. It will be a sniper.' "He said it in such a serious tone it scared the crap out of me."
913. From the Des Moines Register article: "Sachs stayed at the event, but he was escorted to a section of the 7 Flags Events Center where he was surrounded by Secret Service and told he couldn't ask questions. 'I was just in a state of fear,' he said. 'I was looking at the ceiling and I didn't know what to expect, I was so scared.' "
914. "They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." (Sept. 20, 2001, speaking of America's enemies without a trace of irony)
915. Turns out there's one billionnaire (or at least very wealthy guy) Bush is leaving behind: According to the Oct. 26, 2004, Philadelphia Inquirer, Jack Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, says he's voting for Kerry.
916. In the Oct. 26, 2004, article, Bogle says: "If you can't admit you're wrong, you have a problem, because we're all wrong so often. Why is admitting it so awful?"
917. More from Bogle: "Commitment is admirable in a leader, but there's no virtue in committing yourself to the wrong idea. Staying the course just to stay the course is folly that invites tragedy."
918. "A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not who you want as commander in chief." (Oct. 27, 2004, on CNN, again with no discernible sense of irony. Via Kevin Drum.)
919. Remember those people who were going to greet American soldiers as liberators? Um. Well. According to an Oct. 26, 2004, report on the Voice of America: "A new public opinion poll shows more Iraqis favor Democratic challenger John Kerry than President Bush, who launched the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. ... The group, which has been operating in Iraq for about a year, says its latest survey indicates that among Iraqis with a preference, Mr. Kerry leads President Bush by 6.5 percentage points."
920. In the Oct. 26, 2004, VOA report, the director of Iraq's Center for Research and Strategic Studies added: "And, that's a decline for Bush because when we asked the Iraqis two months ago, Bush was in front of Kerry."

- posted by Boots @ 10/27/2004 01:22:00 PM