Vox Popoli

An email I received today:

The [Florida] Secretary of State, Glenda Hood has noted that thousands of voter registrations are being turned in which are blatantly incomplete and those folks are not going to be permitted to vote. Secretary Hood is apparently really worried about what is going on. She notes that the number of such registrations in unprecedented in Florida history and is in sufficient numbers to make a difference in the election. The majority are in Maimi-Dowd and Broward counties. Surprised?

This may be a well planned program on the part of the extremists in the Democratic party. You know, the Michael Moore, George Soros, Al Gore wing.

If this is a plan, which, by the way would make Richard Nixons indiscretions pale by comparison, it would explain why the more radical democrats are already trying to convince the world that the republicans are engaged in fraud in Florida. It would also explain, more than anything else, why the Kerry organization recruited Jesse Jackson. This needs to be thoroughly investigated and exposed right away. November 3 is too late. If Kerry loses in Florida there is no doubt that the Kerry camp has a federal litigation ready to go on November 3 and disenfranchisement of the minorities will be its center piece.

If this is happening in Florida it may also be happening in other “swing” states. Its really a simple operation, operatives hit the streets to sign up voters but make sure that the registration forms are faulty. When the voters are turned away from the polls the case for a disenfranchisement conspiracy will get legs on November 3.

This needs to be given top priority, right now. November 3 will be too late. If it is not exposed, when the polls close the nation will be thrown into complete disarray with federal and state litigation and, most likely a move to impeach the president should Bush win the election.

Please get on this without delay and pour any and all resources available into it.

This MAY be… whatever. And what is the news, that the political system is corrupt behind the scenes? It’s corrupt on its face!

It’s interesting to note the increasingly defensive tone of the Bush administration and its defenders with regards to the Iraqi invasion and occupation. It’s equally interesting to note that this is despite the fact that the supposed opposition party, the Kerry-led Democrats, isn’t exactly on the offensive either.

Having a few more allies, as Kerry suggested was the primary deficiency of the Bush war effort the other night, makes little sense when one examines the military force at the disposal of the countries not already involved in the so-called Coalition of the Willing.

The German Bundeswehr consists of a mere eight divisions. This is not exactly their great-grandfathers’ Wehrmacht of yore, which consisted of 216 mostly battle-hardened divisions, especially considering that more than half of Germany’s troops are conscripts rotating through their two-year service. And considering how the French army’s 100 divisions were almost useless in 1940, it seems unlikely that their descendants would provide an adequate substitute for the U.S. Marines.

Only Russia, China, Vietnam and North Korea have armies large and well-equipped enough to off-load a significant portion of the US military burden, but it would be the height of irony, not to say idiocy, to ask a Communist army to help free a people enslaved, assuming that is in fact the goal. And it is unlikely that Belgian paratroopers, with their prediliction for roasting teenagers over open bonfires, could be the one significant element that is missing.

Kerry, it is clear, is only emitting these typically bizarre assertions because he cannot remain silent on the matter and still hope to win. This is not to say, unfortunately, that Bush is any more sensible on the subject. I am extremely skeptical of his suggestion that the occupation of Iraq will succeed because the Iraqi people want to be free, considering that here in America, the overwhelming majority would trade freedom for perceived security in a heartbeat.

Given that the popular revolution in next-door Iran was the one that brought the mullahs into power – a group not widely known for favoring either freedom or democracy – and the strongly adverse relationship between secular democracy and Islamic law in Algeria, Indonesia and Turkey today, the President’s assertion appears to be as fact-free as his challengers.

I don’t have a solution, other than to decry the logic of imperialism of any kind. Some problems do not have solutions and it is not true that it is always better to do something than nothing. That is likely to prove to be the case in the Middle East, where the nation being built is unlikely to fit the model envisioned by the builders.

Bane drew my attention to this:

An Iraqi man with suspected links to terrorism had a computer disk containing crisis planning information for San Diego and other school districts when he was arrested by U.S. authorities in Iraq, 10News reported. The man’s intentions were not known, and there was no indication that schools in San Diego or any other district were targets for terrorism, according to San Diego law enforcement officials.

The public report, “Practical Information on Crisis Planning, A Guide for Schools and Communities,” was downloaded from the U.S. Department of Education Web site.

The arrest was reported to the San Diego FBI office and the San Diego Unified School District last week. Parents and schools were not informed because it was determined there was not a threat. “The clear message is that your children are safe and our schools are very well prepared, as well as our school district,” San Diego School District Police Chief Don Braun said.

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne echoed the sentiment that public notification was not necessary.

If that’s the “clear message” that the police chief drew from the news, I may have to rethink my career options. There is evidently a good living to be made from petty crime in San Diego.

I did not watch the debates last night. I have been amused, however, to read the follow-up discussions. As you’d expect, the Democrats are insisting that Kerry won, while most Republicans – not all – are asserting that Bush won. My take is that Kerry did well enough to eke out a close win, which is nowhere nearly enough to get him back in the race.

As always, George Bush will benefit from low expectations. Kerry is supposed to be smarter and verbally skilled, so anything but the total destruction of the President or a complete meltdown on his part are unlikely to have any serious effect on the race.

The failed vote on the marriage amendment will also help Bush; it may be an irrelevant and short-sighted idea, but it is a very popular irrelevant idea and getting many Democrats on record opposing it is a winning strategy. I expect it may prove to have far more effect on the Senate races and perhaps the Presidential race itself than the three debates, barring any significant change between last night’s performance and the subsequent two.

Gregg gets hissy:

Are you waiting for the debate to turn in your favor? Won’t happen as long as I am here.

Actually, just letting you ramble seems to be turning the debate in my favor here…

Mike thinks resistance is meaningful:

I can assure you, that if you take that pacifistic attitude toward a modern equivalent of the Roman Empire that it will kill off christianity down to the last man, woman and child unless people are willing to deny being christians.

Yes, they will. The Bible predicts this. I think we can and should resist this, but the effort will be ultimately futile as the struggle is not one against flesh and blood. The Bible talks often of deception, one need only look at the long-term joint effort of Democrats and Republicans alike to build world government to see that this deception is at work on both sides of the American political spectrum. Remember, George Bush himself stated that he went to war in Iraq in order to uphold the viability of the United Nations.

Craigp believes in Jesus Christ and George Bush, presumably in that order:

I think a chrsitian that does not vote for Bush or does nto vote at all is being deceived and manipulated, and I say shame on them

I find this rather humorous, considering how it is almost precisely backwards. I predict Craig is going to be one very, very angry individual once he realizes the President’s true colors and allegiances.

The most significant comment was from the White Buffalo:

As a matter of fact He was against even having men ruling men polticially as He refused to give Israel a king until He finally relented and gave them good old Saul.

This appears to be one of the most obvious signs that God would lean libertarian, if one assumes He takes an interest in politics. Not only does He refuse to use His power to control men and their behavior, but we have a Biblical example of His preferences in the matter. In God’s eyes, it is clearly both ideal and possible to have a state where men do not rule over other men.

And finally, Gregg also fails to note something important:

The greatest system ever devised, came from men who believed that our rights came from God and that governments were instituted among men (that means by men) to preserve those rights.

That system has not only been radically altered, but completely abandoned. It is a hollow shell, left in place to deceive. The fact that the names of the offices remain essentially the same does not mean that it is the same system of highly decentralized, strictly limited republicanism. Modern Switzerland, with its powerful cantons and strong limitations on the central state, is much closer to the historical American system than the modern United States.

I’ve been listening to a great set of sermons by Greg Boys. I’d be very interested in hearing what your regulars thoughts are on the idea that politics and government have nothing to do with Jesus, and that nations and worldly power are the exact opposite of God’s approach. Greg contrasts the Kingdom of the World with the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of the World is about “power over.” Those who have the sword decide, and the aim is to gain the sword. Jesus introduced the idea of the Kingdom of God being a “power under” approach. Serve to enact change, humble yourself to enact change, even go so far as to die to enact change.

So now we have this political debate raging about who is on God’s side, and WWJD in an election, with all kinds of people (your regulars very much included – and I have done this mistakenly many times as well) claiming a “Christian” approach. But a simple look at the history of the church shows that any combination of the church with politics is the death nell of the church remaining the instrument of the Kingdom of God on earth. As soon as Constantine made Christianity the state religion, the church atrophied. Because Constantine changed the equation to power over from power under, and despite the fact that it was now Christians who had the sword and could enact righteous laws that God would like, they were abandoning the approach Jesus invented. And the Kingdom of God does not advance with power over.

I agree with this assessment; I’d be perfectly comfortable voting libertarian even if I thought the question of for whom one voted was a matter of life or death, but I don’t believe that it is. I think the notion of those who believe that God wants an individual to vote for any specific candidate for President is massively mistaken, and approaches rather closer to blasphemy than I generally like to tread now that I am a Christian.

God does not often engage in idle and helpless wishing. He demands, and His concerns are beyond our understanding. Meshing Church and State has always worked to the advantage of the latter and the detriment of the former. It’s a pity that so many Christian conservatives don’t recognize that picking up the favored weapon of the enemy is inherently corrupting.

KLO notes something highly significant:

Andy McCarthy is reading through the 120-page Patriot Act ruling (on one provision of!) that came down yesterday. He highlights this classic passage–for Black Robes’ Greatest Hits: “Personal freedoms, on the other hand, are far more unique. As individualized by constitutional ideals to embody our sense of human dignity, decency, and fair play, they attach to each individual by promise of the very government which creates those basic rights and is charged to protect them, and upon whose faithful adherence to their underlying principles and aims their enduring enjoyment depends.”

Government, Creator, whatever….

Disturbingly, the Fraters Libertas are more than a little excited about a 100-year old woman:

Emma Torkelson, 100 year old resident of the Broen Memorial Home in Fergus Falls, MN registered to vote for the first time in her life on Friday Sept. 24, 2004. Wayne Stein, Otter Tail County Auditor was on hand to receive her registration application and also her absentee ballot request form. Mr. Stein had no recollection of there being any older first time registers in Otter Tail County history. State Representative Bud Nornes also paid a visit to congratulate her. Emma’s absentee ballot will arrive in the mail in October, and her family will be there to share the experience with her when she casts her first vote – for George W. Bush….

Emma states she’s not ever been “a politician” but the president’s stance on abortion and the marriage amendment have made her want her to vote this year. Her parents were life long Democrats, and she figured she always was one too. They both voted, and she can’t say why she never did. When asked if she’ll vote again in four years she stated “I suppose I will, if I am still living.”

I’m just wondering how the news that big government Republicans are beginning to appeal to lifelong Democrats should be seen as a positive development by the conservative Republicans that make up the core of the party. Sure, Mrs. Torkelson is sound on abortion, and I applaud that, but I still see this sort of thing as more of an indication that the Republican party is moving to the left than one that the nation is warming to the apparently outdated Republican concepts of freedom and liberty.

This blast from the past seems appropriate:

One of the easiest ways to dismiss something out of hand is to label it conspiracy theory. Although the word “conspiracy” simply refers to the act of joining together in secret agreement to do a wrongful act, tacking it on as an adjective somehow evokes images of unfounded fears and even paranoia.

But is it reasonable to believe that there are truly none who wish to do wrong, or to think that if such men exist, they will always be foolish enough to declare their intentions openly?

History speaks eloquently on the subject. In the 1,129 years of the great Byzantine empire, the average reign of an emperor was 12 years. This is a bit longer than the eight years we now allow our president, but is rather short considering that the Byzantine position ostensibly offered supreme power and lifetime tenure. But if it wasn’t unheard of for a ruler of Constantinople to die peacefully in his bed, it was also not the norm.

For example, in the 135 years following Maurice’s peaceful succession of Tiberius Constantine, seven of the empire’s 12 rulers saw their reigns end in assassination or execution. Of the five who were not slain outright, two were deposed, and one, Constantine IV, was only able to keep his throne by mutilating his two fraternal rivals….

Has anything changed today? On the surface, the answer is certainly yes. But is it truly reasonable to think that human nature has changed much over the 549 years that separate us from the last days of Byzantium? I submit not, especially considering that we are closer to the 11th Constantine, Dragatses, than was the first Justinian to Julius Caesar. Nor can democracy be considered some kind of magic antidote, as the subsequent careers of successful politicians such as Alcibiades and Adolph Hitler inform us.

But where does that leave us, then, if the leopards have not changed their spots, but remain undetected despite stakes that would take Caesar’s breath away? The Marxian theory of history has been thoroughly discredited. The Great Man theory cannot explain the dichotomy between the proven conspiracies of yore and their seeming absence today. The Accident theory is a vapid ontological argument. Only the much-belittled conspiracy theory of history, which stubbornly insists that events are not always as they appear on the surface, holds together in this light when examined in a historical and logical manner.

David Hackworth reminds us of the Jessica Lynch fiction:

Lynch, it turns out, wasn’t wounded in action, she was badly banged up in a vehicle accident, which occurred while she and her mates were trying to escape a guerrilla ambush. She not only never fought with her rifle and trench knife as the Pentagon had leaked, she never even got off a shot – because she was out cold from the time of the collision until she woke up in the hospital, where the Iraqi docs couldn’t wait to transfer their well-cared for but terrified patient to Special Ops control….

Lynch garnered a Bronze Star for her “heroics,” the Purple Heart for “wounds received in action,” a mega-buck book deal – and millions of proud Americans got to view her “gallantry and sacrifice” in an NBC TV docudrama. To keep the press bamboozled, she was locked up under tight control in Army hospitals with a convenient bout of amnesia. In its micro way, the Lynch scam symbolizes the miasma of deception surrounding the invasion and the ugly unsolvable occupation already causing the direst consequences to our national security.

Not only was the WMD claim erroneous, but it is now looking increasingly likely that Saddam Hussein did not gas the Kurds in 1988 as has widely been reported. The fact that the reported fatalities range from 80,000 to 300,000 should probably have been the first clue that something was wrong; Jude Wanniski suggests: “start with Stephen Pelletiere, the CIA’s top analyst covering this period. Give him a call or send him an e-mail. He will be happy to talk to you. You can then call Pat Lang of the DIA, who will back up Pelletiere. They will explain to you that there was no genocide at Halabja.”

Remember, the government is almost pathologically willing to lie. It has lied repeatedly and poorly about Lynch, TWA 800, Waco, OK City, Ron Brown and Vince Foster, and the chances are very high that it is lying some significant manner about Iraq, 9/11 and everything from mohair subsidies to milk-price supports.