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Read Why It Happened! Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils Order Here! Today's Stories November 8, 2004 Roger Burbach Out of the Ashes: Bush Win is a Defeat for Dems, Not the Left Greg Bates Nader's Election Legacy: Something to Stand On Nick Schwellenbach Gutting FOIA: the Harm of Too Much Secrecy David Swanson The Media Black Out on Vote Fraud Brian Rainey The Devil Made Them Do It? Elections, Religion and the American People   November 6 / 7, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Don't Say We Didn't Warn You Jeffrey St. Clair Green Out Carl G. Estabrook Who Killed Cock Robin? Saul Landau Che: the Man and the Movie Gary Leupp Let There Be Conflict! Ben Tripp You Call This a Party? Paul Craig Roberts The October Numbers: Continuing Stress on the Jobs Front Jordan Green Heroin, Cocaine and Espanola, NM Fred Gardner Haul of Justice J.A. Miller Cults of the Jealous God: the Balfour Decision Reconsidered Ramzy Baroud Life Without Arafat Dave Zirin Out at the Ballgame: Pro Sports and the Gay Athelete Ron Jacobs The Arrow on the Doorpost Robert Oscar Lopez How White Liberals Became a New Racial Minority Niranjan Ramakrishnan The November Surprise Dave Lindorff Silver Linings Richard Oxman Invitation to the Bodily Snatched John Whitlow Value Wars: the View from Lexington, Kentucky Rahul Mahajan Fallujah and the Reality of War Leila Matsui Political "Ju-On": Carrying a Grudge November 5, 2004 David Vest The Not-Bush Brothers: a Fond Farewell Elizabeth Boylan The Dems and Faith-Based Politics Conn Hallinan War Crimes and Iraq David Zonsheine Poetry and the Courage to Refuse Cynthia McKinney It's a New Day! Elaine Cassel Running from the Religious Right Chris Geovanis First Protect Your Vote: Lessons for Democrats on Fixing Elections from Chicago Rob Ritchie Election 2004 by the Numbers Jo Guldi The Beast of History is In   November 4, 2004 Sharon Smith The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Lesser-Evilism CounterPunch Wire Bush Voters: 2000 v. 2004 Ben Tripp My Fellow Americans...Get Stuffed! Michael Donnelly Why Not Blame Rosie? Vijay Prashad An Election of Homophobia and Misogyny Jules Rabin De Profundis: the Morning After Robert Jensen Politics and Professions of Faith: "Your Rich Men are Full of Violence" Zoltan Grossman Blue State Secession: the Only Solution? Jonah Birch 1968 and Today Dave Lindorff What Went Wrong? Jack McCarthy I Knew It Was Over When Michael Moore Showed Up: He Was For Nader...Before He Was Against Him Donna J. Volatile Ahoy Kerrycrats! Welcome to Our Nightmare Paul Craig Roberts The Bright Side of Black Tuesday   November 3, 2004 James Hodge / Linda Cooper The CIA and Abu Ghraib: 50 Years of Training Torturers Ann Harrison The Ghost Votes in the Machine: Voting Snafus Across the Nation Greg Moses Blues for Fallujah Anis Memon The Moral (Values) of This Election Mickey Z. Post Mortem Josh Frank The Dems Should be Ashamed Chris Floyd No Ways Tired: Defeat, Dissent and the Bush Machine spArk Smoke Signals from Portland: Karmic Blowback and the Democrats Friedrich von Schiller Folly, Thou Conquerest Cockburn / St. Clair Democrats in End Time: Who to Blame Now? November 2, 2004 Gary Leupp Democratic Elections in Historical Perspective: The Wrong Side Wins Lance Selfa Selling the War on Terror Laura Carlsen The US Elections and Latin America: Can the US Ever be a Good Neighbor? James Davis To Control the Event: Attention Bicyclists Richard Oxman Getting Up with Osama Dr. Ira Kay A Mental Map of the Bush Presidency Jesse Walker Frankenstein v. Chucky: the Halloween Election Thomas C. Mountain Election '24, Deja Vu?: LaFollette, Nader, & the "Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes"   November 1, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair How Bush Was Offered Bin Laden and Blew It Dave Lindorff Bulgegate Confirmed; Press Yawns Greg Bates Nader Voter Survey Results Roger Morris Novel Politics: Only Fiction Can Do This Election Justice Diane Christian Death Tolls Lenni Brenner Secularists Be Warned: Christlike Kerry Roams Spiritual Universe Christopher C. Conway Can the Left Sink Any Lower? Francis Boyle Legal Elites and the Iraq War: the Nazis Had Their Law Professors, Too Jason Leopold Rummy's Failed War Plan Website of the Day Dylan Resurrects "Masters of War"     October 30 / 31, 2004 JoAnn Wypijewski The Long March and the Million Worker March Winslow T. Wheeler Spartacus Tells All Bruce Anderson Notes from the Big Empty: When the Hippies Invaded NoCal Vicente Navarro They Worked for Franco: How Sec. of State Cordell Hull and Nobel Laureate Camilo Jose Cela Collaborated with the Fascist Regime Robin Blackburn How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security Greg Bates A Question of Character: What Makes Nader Tick? Nancy Welch The American Health Care Crisis: an Interview with Dr. David Himmelstein William Lind Election Day: Which Menendez Brother Will You Vote For? Brian Cloughley Uzbekistan and Bush Hypocrisies Suzan Mazur Oops They Did It Again: the NYTs the Paper of Record and Rip-Offs Greg Moses Standing at the Graves of Iraq John Chuckman Osama's Endorsement Richard Oxman Why Not Accept Osama's Offer? Ken Avidor Landscape of Fear: When Ugly is Suspicious Niranjan Ramakrishnan Bush, Ba'ath and Beyond Hope Bastian Strangling Cuba's Economy P. Sainath Tower of Gabble: Toward a Sustainable Rhetoric Dave Zirin Bush League: Why MLB Owners Support the Prez Jon Swift The Dry Drunk Thang: Put a Cork in It Ron Jacobs The Joke's on Me: a Review of Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1 Alexander Billet Taking Theatre Back: Are the States Ready for "Stuff Happens"? Poets' Basement Jones, Laymon, Norris, Ford and Albert Website of the Weekend The Origins of Halloween   October 29, 2004 Harry Browne No Justice for Peace Activist in County Clare October 28, 2004 Forrest Hylton "The Gas is Ours:" Bolivia's Ghosts of October Col. Dan Smith Rebellion in the Ranks Alan Maass Jon Stewart v. the Pundits Ron Jacobs Ecstasy in Red Sox Nation Alexander Cockburn Kerrycrats and the War     October 27, 2004 Jules Rabin Crammed with Distressful Politics Dave Lindorff Bulgegate: the Lies Continue Katherine Van Tassel On the Home Front: Both Parties Ignore Working Parents Jeffrey St. Clair The Bi-Partisan Politics of Oil   October 26, 2004 Brian Cloughley Three Weddings and Lots of Funerals: Atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan William Blum Fear Factors Lenni Brenner The 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Lessons for 2004 Ben Tripp The Chicken Salad Election Fidel Castro After the Fall Greg Bates The Nation's Flawed Calculus Walter Brasch Gag the Public: the War on Dissent Niranjan Ramakrishnan An Open Letter to Pat Buchanan Mickey Z. Rumble in the Jungle at 30: Ali, Foreman and the Congo Amir Taheri The Boom in Conspiracy Theories Alexander Billet Say It Ain't So, Bruce!: the Boss Endorses Kerry Doug Giebel The Religion of G.W. Bush Kathleen Christison Why I Liked Thomas Friedman's Latest Column Before I Didn't   October 25, 2004 Ralph Nader Letter from a Minnesota Highway Werther West Texas Wahabbism Dave Zirin Boston's Killer Cops: Death of a Fan Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Oregon Revokes Dr. Leveque's License Omar Barghouti Executing Another Child in Rafah William J. Nottingham Lori Berenson's Story John Chuckman A Foolish Consistency Uri Avnery On the Road to Civil War   October 22 / 24, 2004 Alexander Cockburn You Can't Blame Nader for This Rev. William Alberts On Bended Knee: Faith-Based Deceptions Willliam A. Cook Killing for Christ Saul Landau George W. Bush: a Man of His Words? Bill Quigley I Held the Bullet in My Palm: Masked Haitian Police Shoot Children While Arresting Priest Christopher Brauchli Seal It With a Frown: What Compassionate Conservativism Really Means William S. Lind Fallujah and the Moral Level of War Sharon Smith Guilt Trippers for Kerry Greg Bates Kerrynomics: "Hurt the Ones Who Vote for Us" Justin E.H. Smith Is Lesser Evilism a Compromise with Evil? Rebecca Evans Tarnished Legacy: Pinochet and the Chilean Military Mike Whitney Al Hurra TV: the Second Invasion M. Junaid Alam Purchasing Individuality in America David Krieger Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Examining the Policies of Bush and Kerry David J. Ledermann The Emperor's New Crumbs Lawrence Reichard Same Old FBI Story Website of the Weekend Lie Girls: the Real Coalition of the Willling     October 21, 2004 Ben Tripp The Undecided Voter Examined Joshua Frank Kerry and the Environment: It's Not Easy Pretending to be Green Stan Cox What the Left Doesn't Get About Small Businesses Bill Martinez State Depart and Cuban Visas: Only Anti-Castro Agitators Need Apply Mark Engler The War and Globalization Lina Britto and Lucia Suarez Bolivia: a Year After the October Insurrection Website of the Day Two Pampered Children of Wealth     October 20, 2004 Yitzhak Laor "Did You Two Squabble?": a Bullet Fired for Every Palestinian Child Jason Leopold Sinclair Broadcasting's Air War: a Long History of Journalistic Deception Jesse Sharkey A Teacher's Account of How Military Recruiters Prey on High School Students Col. Dan Smith Choking Free Speech About the Draft Dr. Teresa Whitehurst Using My Religion David Vest If Bush Wins, Blame Me Jack Random The Jackson 17: Reflections on a Mutiny Ron Jacobs Time to Kick It Up a Notch James Brittain Plan Patriota and the FARC: a Change in the Countryside? Christopher Dols Bombing Madison: Michael Moore's Fright Fest Dave Lindorff First They Came for the Nurses... Website of the Day Banana Republican Catalogue     October 19, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Party Favors: the Political Business of Terry McAuliffe Jeff Taylor Confessions of a Swing State Voter Matt Vidal American Myopia: "More Money in Your Pocket" Victor Kattan "It's Not Who You're Against; It's Who You're For": Palestine Takes Center Stage At Euro Social Forum William Loren Katz What Goes Around Comes Around Sean Carter O'Reilly Should Shut Up About Extortion Claiims CounterPunch Wire Who's Really in Bed with Republican Funders: Kerry or Nader?       October 18, 2004 Saul Landau Facts and Lies; Slogans and Truth Dave Lindorff Bulletin on the Bush Bulge Diane Christian Sheep and Goats: On the Language of Goodness Greg Bates / Dave Lindorff Betting on War: a Wager on the Fallout of a Kerry Presidency Uri Avnery Ariel Sharon's Philosophy Peter LaVenia Leaving the Greens So Soon? a Response to Josh Frank Mike Whitney O'Reilly at the Whipping Post Elaine Cassel The Other War: Civil Liberties Three Years After 9/11   October 16 / 17, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern Leslie Brill Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the True Measure of Bush's Character Jules Rabin Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World Dave Lindorff About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was the President Just Glad to be There? Peter Linebaugh Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices Gary Leupp Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire M. Shahid Alam America, Imagine This! Ron Jacobs Trying to Cross Lake Champlain Fred Gardner The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It Jenna Orkin The Toxic Legacy of 9/11 Dave Zirin Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results David Hamilton Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader? Ralph Nader Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism Doug Giebel Thinking the Unthinkable Mark Engler Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador Derek Tyner Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence Thomas on the Million Worker March Evan Jones Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the South" Poets' Basement LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert Website of the Weekend No More Bush Girls   October 15, 2004 Paul Craig Roberts Where Did These "Conservatives" Come From?: The Brownshirting of America Laura Carlsen Wal-Mart vs. the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon Greg Bates Empire of Insanity: Kerry's Iraq Troop Numbers Michael Donnelly News from a Swing State: Does Anyone Here Have a Spine? Katherine Lahey The Venezuelan "Threat": Why Do Kerry and Bush Fear Hugo Chavez? Robert Jensen / Pat Youngblood Election Day Fears Leah Caldwell From Supermax to Abu Ghraib: the Masterminds of Torture and Abuse Website of the Day An Anti-Billionaire Policy? Why That Would Be Economic Racism     October 14, 2004 Darcy Richardson The Other Progressive Candidate: the Lonely Crusade of Walt Brown Willliam A. Cook Turning Myths into Truth Laura Santina Water, Women and War Evelyn Pringle Free Speech Banned by Big Pharma: What You Can't Say About Drug Importation Alan Farago Lessons from Nature Rep. Maxine Waters A Letter to Colin Powell on Haiti Nicole Colson Maimed for Oil and Empire       October 13, 2004 Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Bill Quigley Aftermath of a Coup: The Other Disaster in Haiti Sharon Smith Barak O-Bomb-a?: Democrats Target Iran Christopher Brauchli God and the Bush Administration Mike Whitney The Real Meaning of the Hamdi Case Paul de Rooij Amnesty International: a False Beacon? Website of the Day Operation Truth     October 12, 2004 Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz "Indian Country" Greg Bates The Year of Voting Dangerously: a Survey Request of Nader Voters in Swing States Steven Conn Progressives as Pawns: Kerry's War on Nader Jason Leopold Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Siphon Billions from UN Oil-for-Food Program Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy Time for a Change of Course Timothy J. Freeman Dying for a Mistake Pierre Tristam Deconstructing Bush Niranjan Ramakrishnan The 2nd Debate: the Blurring of Act and Audience Bill and Kathleen Christison Israel as Sideshow Website of the Day John Kerry's Personal Off-Shore Tax Shelters   October 11, 2004 Robert Fisk Iraq: Unforgivable Betrayals and Broken Promises Kevin Pina The Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti Patrick Gavin Rethinking Columbus Day Chris Floyd Tribes with Flags in the New Afghanistan Daniel Wolff Radioactive Money: Entergy, Political Cash and America's Most Dangerous Nuclear Plant Walter Brasch The Only Ones Who Believe Saddam Had WMDs are Bush, Cheney...and 40% of All Americans Mike Whitney The Phony Afghan Elections: Ballot of the Disappearing Ink Ari Shavit "He Talks to Condi Rice Every Day": an Interview with Sharon's Lawyer Paul Craig Roberts The Debates and the Big Lie Website of the Day Dylan's Greatest Recording?     October 9 / 10, 2004 Alexander Cockburn "There Are No Innocents" Paul de Rooij Northern Ireland is Still the Issue: a Conversation with Gerry Adams M. Shahid Alam Making Sense of Our Times Laura Carlsen Protest and Populism in Latin America Fred Gardner Pot Shots: ASA Goes to Court Col. Dan Smith Bush's Credibility Gap Paul Craig Roberts Faith-Based Economics Greg Bates What If Nader Critics Get What They Demand? Joshua Frank Cobb, the Greens and the Collapse of the Left Felice Pace Wilderness, Politics and the Oligarchy: How the Pew Charitable Trust is Smothering the Grassroots Environmental Movement Walter A. Davis Of Pynchon, Thanatos and Depleted Uranium William A. Cook The Agony of Colin Powell Phyllis Pollack Twas No Crank Call Love Affair: London Calling, 25 Years Later Poets' Basement Klipschutz, Albert, Ford Website of the Weekend Abu Ghraib: the Taguba Annexes   October 8, 2004 Jennifer Loewenstein The Israeli Invasion of Gaza Moshe Adler Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities David Swanson Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition to Iraq War Dave Zirin CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team! Rep. Ron Paul The Draft is a Form of Slavery William S. Lind Keeping Our SA Up Samar Assad Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine Jim Ingalls and Sonali Kolhatkar The Elections in Afghanistan     October 7, 2004 Dave Lindorff All Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air Masha Hamilton Fear in Kandahar Christopher Brauchli Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay Jason Leopold Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush? Bruce K. Gagnon Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida Meredith Kolodner Where is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge     October 6, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair "Please, Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah Ron Jacobs Going Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives Michael Colby The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead? Tarif Abboushi More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates Matthew Behrens Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood Mike Whitney Rethinking WMDs John Pilger Stealing Diego Garcia Ben Tripp Kerry's "Triumph" Kevin McKiernan Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target Patrick Cockburn Elections Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq Website of the Day Is There an Islamic Problem?   October 5, 2004 Anthony Loewenstein Rupert Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes" Mark Clinton and Tony Udell The Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran Greg Bates Trading Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman Dave Lindorff What's the Frequency, Karl? Norm Dixon Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers Larry Kearney God Talk and Burning Children Bill Linville Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government Gary Leupp What Edwards Should Ask Cheney Website of the Day A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate   October 4, 2004 Diane Christian The Gates of Hell Joshua Frank An Interview with David Cobb Doug Giebel Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie? John Chuckman Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump Ramzy Baroud Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage Julia Stein Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM Sean Donahue Outsourcing Terror: Kerry and Special Forces Website of the Day Mapping Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks   October 2 / 3. 2004 Paul Wright John Kerry on Criminal Justice Kathleen and Bill Christison An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris Kathie Helmkamp My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill Phillip Cryan Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia Lenni Brenner The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio Fred Gardner Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel" Ron Jacobs It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia Ben Tripp Sticker Shock William S. Lind The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces Dave Zirin The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC Dave Lindorff Lies from the Great Debate Luscon Pierre-Charles Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway Zoe Moskovitz & Sasha Kramer Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti Nelson P. Valdes Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned Cuban Academics Alan Farago The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades Nancy Haley What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us? Alex Billet Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years Steve Fesenmaier Save and Burn: The War on Libraries Poets' Basement Smith, Holt, Albert   October 1, 2004 Steve Breyman Kerry's Missed Opportunities Rose Gentle My Son Died for a Lie Lee Sustar Iran in the Crosshairs Ralph Nader What We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy? Walter Andrews We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever Mike Whitney Pandora's Government Mickey Z. Debate This Saul Landau The Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases                   Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Behold, the Head of a Neo-Con! Subcomandante Marcos The Death Train of the WTO Norman Finkelstein Hitchens as Model Apostate Steve Niva Israel's Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings? Dardagan, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

November 8, 2004 After the Morning After On the Homefront of Our Civil Wars By GREG MOSES Campaign 2004 is over, but civil war continues. Like Lincoln standing at Gettysburg, the commentator at today's battlefields, whether in Cleveland or Samara, will share some bewiderment and grief with the common folks who do the suffering in these glorious affairs. Everywhere we look for America, we find the production and export of civil war. Reports from Kentucky quote folks as deliriously happy that the USA finds itself now in red-hot Republican hands. They behave just like Iraqis were supposed to act last year at the sight of America on the move. So there's that side of the civil war to write about. You can call it the Toby Keith side if you want, but I think that even Toby Keith has grown out of his boot kissing days. On the other side of the civil war at home is a scurry of activity over election fraud that you can follow at most IndyMedia websites, helpfully summed up for Common Dreams in an article by Thom Hartmann. Why and when did close advisor Karen Hughes tell Bush that he had lost Florida? Why and when did Bush's brain get changed out a few hours later to turn all his frowns into smiles? And Thom Hartmann's radio show Friday (this is not a paid advertisement) found guest and callers speaking insistently about the New York Attorney General's inquiry into high crimes of negligence against the USA for its oversight of the massacres of Sept. 11, 2001. There is a lot of pent up paranoia in the civil war at home. So far, the official commissions have not allayed what many citizens still fear about the Bush regime. And way up above it all, in the skies, like a remote spy planes, the professionals of American Mass Media Airways, they just keep following Bush around. In contrast to adrenaline-soaked reports from election-fraud netizens, who are moving so fast that any observer would be wise to study quantum indeterminacy, web pages at the corporate press bellow their lowing assessments of cud pulled back up from the exit polls. They are curious phenomena, these exit poll debriefs, because many of the polls once upon a time seemed to agree that Kerry had bagged every crucial house of electors by Tuesday supper (hence the legendary candidate-maintenance call by Hughes on Bush). You'd even expect the professional media analyst to mention in passing that exit-poll data has been tainted by the election fraud controversy, because either the exit polls expose election fraud, or the exit polls are wrong. But, as I say, passengers of American Mass Media Airways fly way too high to bother with anything grassroots. No. Check that. I did read about some phone calls placed to Ralph Nader after he was herded into the one percent column. Having contributed heavily to Nader's irrelevance, the passengers of AMMA found him to be quite a useful spear tip for poking the Democrats. Which is fair enough. This year, Nader gets to blame the Democrats for a change. In the morning-after exit polls at CNN (revised overnight to match fraudulent election totals, allege netizens who pay close attention to these things) Americans were reported to be just barely happy enough on election day to re-elect Bush. For example, on questions of job approval, terrorism, and the decision to invade Iraq "as part of the war on terrorism," Bush gained approval from 51 to 55 percent of the voters. And despite a majority who said that the Iraq war had not made the US more secure, people still "trusted" Bush more to protect them against terrorism. The paradox in this combination--where his policies make us less secure but we trust him more with our security--is explained by passengers of American Media this way: Bush has an ability to "connect" directly with voters in such a way that the principle of contradiction does not apply. This quality of "connection" moreover is the most valuable stuff that a political candidate can push. Kerry didn't sell enough of it. So contradictions in his case tended to stick. Significantly, however, among voters who were "very worried" about terrorism, Kerry got the most votes. Doesn't that surprise you? In the top tier of fear, you might say, voters wanted Kerry most badly. Gallows, it would seem, do have a way of bringing the mind back to life. But why does this fact remain buried in raw numbers? Do these numbers suggest that the Kerry campaign could have intensified fears of terrorism to selfish effect? Do the numbers suggest that the Bush campaign had to set the thermostat of fear to a "somewhat worried" level of reality-show suspense? Forty three percent of voters reported worsening job situations. But again, when they compared the candidates' abilities to handle the economy, people came to the polls distrusting Bush, who had presided over worsening jobs--but distrusting him less than Kerry, who had not. Kerry, you'll remember, is a flip flopper. He might get you a job one day, take it away the next. Who knows? At least with Bush, the uncertainty is removed. It's that connection stuff again. A huge majority of voters (70 percent) were "very concerned" about the "availability and cost of health care." And they voted for Kerry 58 percent of the time. As union guru Andy Stern had signalled loudly during the Democratic convention, health care would be Kerry's strongest card to play. And don't you remember Kerry's memorable reply? He promised to reduce every family's medical bills "by an average of $1,000 per year"? Whew. Still gives me goosebumps. So I'm trying to figure out two things here. First, could Kerry have done better on health care, winning more than 58 percent support among 70 percent of the voters had he sworn that $1,000 promise on the Bible? And second, if Kerry did in fact win 58 percent of 70 percent, tell me again, how did he lose the election? Along the way, somebody got my hopes up by pointing to Southern young voters, but I checked it out. Young voters in the South went for Bush, unlike young voters everywhere else who went for Kerry. The numbers at CNN are not clear enough on the racial breakdown by age. Maybe the good news is that 47 percent of young Southern voters went for Kerry, putting them in play next time around. But you know the Southern white youth have got to be disproportionately skewed toward Bush. Can the Democrats get to southern white youth with an anti-racism vaccine before the Republicans tickle them with that lynch mob tingle? Well, for youth who joined the Republican movement this year, it may be too late. And Texas liberals, can you believe it? Thirty five percent of them voted Bush. How do one third of a state's liberals vote for a man to the right of Caesar? Unless you're a genetic determinist, you gotta think it's the upbringing. Texas moderates went for Kerry, too, believe it or not. But again, you'd have to believe the exit polls. And perhaps like many of the 56 million voters officially enrolled in the Kerry column, I feel a little more steady after throwing a few fits last week. I'm not apologizing for preserving those moments. As the Black Commentator said with dead eye verve, this Bush movement is nothing but a lynch mob waiting to happen. You can be excused for all the things that drop out of you when you realize that the Sheriff has just handed you over to that crowd. Do you hear me, up there, American Air? Oh that's right, you flew above the South all year long. Time to look now for reports from Falluja, where our civil wars continue abroad. Greg Moses writes for the Texas Civil Rights Review. Moses contributed a chapter on civil rights under Clinton and Bush for Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils. He can be reached at: gmosesx@prodigy.net Weekend Edition Features for October 30 / 31, 2004 November 6 / 7, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Don't Say We Didn't Warn You Jeffrey St. Clair Green Out Carl G. Estabrook Who Killed Cock Robin? Saul Landau Che: the Man and the Movie Gary Leupp Let There Be Conflict! Ben Tripp You Call This a Party? Paul Craig Roberts The October Numbers: Continuing Stress on the Jobs Front Jordan Green Heroin, Cocaine and Espanola, NM Fred Gardner Haul of Justice J.A. Miller Cults of the Jealous God: the Balfour Decision Reconsidered Ramzy Baroud Life Without Arafat Dave Zirin Out at the Ballgame: Pro Sports and the Gay Athelete Ron Jacobs The Arrow on the Doorpost Robert Oscar Lopez How White Liberals Became a New Racial Minority Niranjan Ramakrishnan The November Surprise Dave Lindorff Silver Linings Richard Oxman Invitation to the Bodily Snatched John Whitlow Value Wars: the View from Lexington, Kentucky Rahul Mahajan Fallujah and the Reality of War Leila Matsui Political "Ju-On": Carrying a Grudge WWW http://www.counterpunch.org   /