Nom de Plume

Confound those online political pundits known as bloggers, anyway. Hey, I’m the first to admit that bloggers are hardly the most reliable source–but I really love how the traditional media is taking the high moral road after the debacle of 2000. From the L.A. Times: “As they have in the past, television networks and newspaper websites refrained from reporting early exit poll results, but the Internet adheres to little such restraint.”

Restraint, indeed. Tell that one to Fox.

But yes, Slate published many of the exit polls on its site, along with an explanation of why and its source. (Find it here.) The source was National Election Pool (NEP), a consortium that consists of ABC, AP, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC, and contracts with Edison/Mitofsky.

According to NEP’s site:

The depth of information, including demographics, economics, political and issue-driven details, provides tremendous insight into the voters’ motivation.

and

Superior Reporting With Our Data

WHO voted for each candidate
WHY voters in your area made critical choices
WHERE geographical differences on candidates and issues were a factor.
It is our goal to make accurate data available to our subscribers with speed and clarity for the General Election in November.

It also says that the margin of error is +/- 3-4%.

And though I know nothing about this source, here’s another viewpoint anyway.

Another four years of a president who is trying to consolidate as much power as possible, lets his religion and bank account dictate domestic and foreign policy, and seeks to suppress freedom of speech.

This is not democracy. To those who voted him in for a second term, I say this: You have chosen to believe a false, folksy rhetoric that masks an egotistical tyrant who will stop at nothing to achieve his aims.

We are no longer as a beacon on a hill. We have now clearly established ourself as a country that values personal wealth over humanity, military might over diplomacy, subjective values over democracy, and power over people.

This is a dark, dark day.

I am terrified the numbnut will win another four years in office, which will be the end of democracy as we know it. Who are these people who are voting for him? Whare are they thinking?

This, from the inbox:

Zia, you may remember Zainab. Political activist, ran for President of Sierra Leone. I sent her on the IV.

Kiki Skagen Harris

—–Original Message—–
From: Zainab Bangura
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 2:48 AM
Subject: Good Luck

I am sending this email to all my friends in the United States who have a right to vote or United States citizens out of your home land. If you donot fall in any of these categories please forgive me and ignore the email.

Today is a big day in your country, I hope you all can take the opportunity and go and make your intentions clear and contribute to making sure the right person wins. You have to remember, every vote counts and it is politicians that make decisions and policies. No matter who are you, good or bad policies affect your life. And you owe it to the future generations in your country to say that you contributed to making the right decision.

There are still countries around the world where people are still dying to get that one vote. Your country has been and will remain for a while a symbol of democracy to me. I became an activist as a result of an International Visitors Program organised by the United States Information Service. By then, I had never voted in my life or enjoyed a democratic government. I came back from that trip with a commitment, that I am going to spend the rest of my life fighting for democracy. It has been a very difficult, and frustrating fight. But it has worth it. Your country has always been an inspiration and a goal. I enjoy the decentralised nature of your government, the various centres of powers ,be them local, civil society, minority etc. Your political systems and structures creates a lot of opportunity for participation across the board. It has its pits falls of course, but nobody is expected to accepts everything. Our responsibility is to take what is good and has worked and adopt it to our needs. You built your democracy from experience, that is why it is unique and confusing, understandable only to few of even Americans.

You might have faced a lot of criticism within the last number of years, not because people hate you as a people, but because people feel you have betrayed their hopes and dreams. It will all pass away.You are still the greatest democracy. This is why today the whole world will turn their television set to see how it will be done.

So today go and vote and contribute to making a difference. We are all going to be at our television watching the news and praying the best man wins – unfortunately not the best woman.

Thank you all and God bless you all.

Good luck

Mrs Zainab Hawa Bangura
Executive Director
National Accountability Group(NAG)
P.O.Box 1312
18 Dundas Street. Freetown. Sierra Leone
West Africa

The New Yorker almost redeemed itself in my eyes with a fabulous article on Gore in last week’s issue, but the advertising in this week’s made me want to vomit. Once I felt like each NY was like a mini liberal arts education, but the magazine has lost its scope of articles. Now, it mainly focuses on the political, which is all very well and good, but what of the comprehensive science articles? What of the sociological? They’re all gone, to make way for politics, politics, politics. Even the Talk of the Town section has lost much of its flair with forced little soundbytes that are more worthy of U.S. Today. And I really detest their themed issues. The Fashion Issue? Come on people, if I wanted fashion, I’d buy a fashion magazine. And while the Food Issue had some good–and interesting–writing, it’s clear that the publication’s new readership consists of the McMansioned crowd with the requisite Vikings and Subzeros.

The Atlantic Monthly, on the other hand, has filled the void. It’s almost as though the editors recognize the void left by the New Yorker’s shifting demographic–and have filled it, without losing their own personality.

So here’s my vote for a weekly Atlantic and a monthly New Yorker. Granted, the extra work involved in quadrupling the work that goes into the former might make this a little unrealistic. On the other hand, once you page through all the advertising (cars, clothing, jewelry, wealth management) in the latter, you’re left with a pretty slim little issue.

Steve bought himself a wet suit that’s thick enough for cold Washingtonian waters on Saturday–and spent that night parading around the house in it. “Smell the neoprene,” he urged. “Isn’t that the best smell in the world?”

Apparently, the fact that I wouldn’t let him sleep with it means I’m jealous. All I can say is that it was on my side of the bed, and it was hogging the covers.

Keeper of the House, Rebecca T. Godwin
Another book that I had to finish the same evening I started it, which meant pulling out the Petzl while Steve was sleeping. (It’s a good look, let me tell you.) The story of a black girl who is plucked from a bad home to work in a white whorehouse as a maid. She spends her life there, part of the background, until she is essentially running the place with the owner. Godwin has a great ear for dialect; it’s rather Zora Neale Hurston-esque.

Jerry Junior and Patty Went to College, Jean Webster
Daddy-Long-Legs has to be one of the best books ever, but these two books clearly demonstrate why Jean Webster’s only famous for that one. Don’t bother.

The Second Time Around, Mary Higgins Clark
The thing about mysteries is that you have to finish them. Read this Saturday, lounging around in Gasworks Park. Ending was a little predictable, but light, frothy and fun.

Park City: New and selected stories, Ann Beattie
She is an absolute master of the short story. Wonderfully written stories that illuminate.

Stopped by Chris’ the other night to say goodbye to my dog and the father of my dog. He wields a mean digital camera; I couldn’t get away from it.

The happy family:

She still loves me best!

And then, of course, there’s Jenny the demon dog:

I think one of the problems of having businesspeople (wasn’t that PC?) in public office is that they start treating the government like a corporation–and not just any corporation, but one in which the fat cats at the top get fatter, and those at the bottom get leaner and scragglier.

Take fingerprinting visitors to the U.S., which started today. It reminds me of when you go to a company, need to sign in and out, are given a badge and are urged to give information like your vehicle plate number (which I usually leave blank, simply because I have no idea what it is).

Brazil has started fingerprinting U.S. visitors in retaliation, comparing this new American policy to those of the Nazis. That seems just a little over-the-top to me, but I can’t blame them for being pissed. I’d be pissed, and I’m willing to bet that Americans visiting Brazil are going to ranting and raving. Hmmm, a little bit of a double standard, methinks. Also, probably not terribly good for foreign policy, but hey, it’s the security of the corporation that matters, right?

Another example of the government-to-business model can be found in Bush’s budget for 2005, in which he plans to “control the rising cost of housing vouchers for the poor, require some veterans to pay more for health care, slow the growth in spending on biomedical research and merge or eliminate some job training and employment programs.” (Bush’s Budget for 2005, The New York Times, January 4, 2003) Sound like corporate downsizing, anyone?

At the same time, more money will be allocated to recruit nurses to teach kids abstinence-based sex ed, recruit volunteers in homeland security–and continues to spend ridiculous amounts of money on defense and security against terrorism.

This is not democracy.

This is the tightfisted reign of a CEO who watches “unnecessary” company expenditures like a hawk, incorporates his business in a right-to-work state to avoid paying or treating workers fairly, and foists his right-wing values on a country utterly cowed by his rhetoric of terrorism.

In short, keep your mouth shut, else be fired.

Here’s one thing I simply don’t understand: why people are planning to vote for Nader.

Okay, maybe they like what he stands for, but the fact of the matter is that it just siphons off people who would ordinarily vote for the Democratic candidate. C’mon people! Let’s get Bush out of office. That should be our number one priority. Every time I hear him speak, I just cringe and wonder what insanity got him elected. Oh wait … yeah, that’s right … he WASN’T elected.