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Monday, November 1, 2004 |
FEATURED ARTICLES
- Rhino's Voting Tips
- Thousands from All Faiths Gather at Washington Nat'l. Cathedral, Children's Defense Fund
- The Last Straw, by Carl F. Worden, The Sierra Times
- Even Republicans Fear Bush, by John Nichols, The Nation
2 QUOTES TODAY
"He's a smart guy, Osama bin Laden, and he knows if he attacks Bush that will strengthen Bush. Why does he want Bush as president? Because Bush, as president, gives him the symbol that gets all these people joining Al Qaeda. Bush is the symbol that has increased recruitment for Al Qaeda, and has increased money flow for Al Qaeda. Bush is the symbol for all of the jihadists throughout the Muslim world who hate America."
- - Richard Clarke (Bush's former terrorism chief, on Nightline, October 29, 2004)
"We cried when we saw the tape on Friday of Osama Bin Laden. He's tanned and healthy. He does not look desperate or scared. He does not look like a man on the run. Three years ago, President Bush promised us he would capture Osama Bin Laden--Dead or Alive. He didn't do that. The man that murdered our husbands, is back terrorizing our country again. The videotape of him has brought us back to 9/11. We feel threatened. We feel vulnerable. We are scared. Our question to President Bush is: Why didn't you catch him when you promised us you would? Why is this mass murderer--this madman-- still out there making videotapes and terrorizing our country three years after you promised our country that you would make us safe from him? President Bush, why can't you keep us safe from this madman?"
- - Kristen Breitweiser and Monica Gabrielle (Wives of victims of 9/11)
KNOW YOUR HISTORY - November 1st
1951 -- First atomic explosion witnessed by troops (as an experiment), New Mexico.
1952 -- First Hydrogen Bomb explodes at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.
1961 -- Women Strike for Peace (WSP) founded to protest atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. 50,000 women join in protests across the U.S. against resumption of atmospheric nuclear tests.
1965 -- Philosopher J. Edgar Hoover opines that war demonstrators "represent a minority, for the most part composed of halfway citizens who are neither morally, mentally, nor emotionally mature."
RHINO SEZ:
If you've been a Rhino's Blog reader for any length of time, then it would be ridiculously redundant to tell you how important it is to vote for John Kerry for President tomorrow (if you haven't already). It's been a long 3 years that the Rhino has been creating these bloggings, all focused on the urgent need to cast light on the lies which the Bush administration has used to push their plans forward, & to eventually vote them out. So finally, the day comes to cast the vote that will hopefully cast them out. What else is there left to say?
Following are a reprint of my voting tips as published last week & several final articles to ponder before the election. I hope that over these past years, I've helped encourage you & provided you with information that helped you keep things in perspective & helped you communicate with your friends & relatives. I am considering the future of this blog after the election & where to best focus the time & attention that I've been investing here. My decision will depend somewhat on who wins the election, though that's not my only consideration. I want to thank all who have encouraged this work and those who contributed to it.
Remember folks, This Tuesday is Abstinence Day. No bush & no dick!
RHINO'S VOTING TIPS:
(o/) Bring a picture ID. Many states have new identification requirements this year, so play it safe by bringing your drivers license or other official ID if at all possible.
(o/) Go to the correct polling place. Many polling places have changed since the last election, and in some states, your provisional ballot will not be counted if you go to the wrong polling place. So check your polling place ahead of time by calling your local election office or reviewing your sample ballot. ( http://yourvotematters.workingassets.com/ctt.asp?uv1071&lH967 )
(o/) If you are in line before the polls close you have the right to vote-- no matter how long it takes.
(o/) Check your ballot before you leave the polling booth. If anything is wrong, get a poll official to fix it immediately. There are reports of early voters at polling locations voting straight Democratic & upon doing a final check, finding all the correct Democratic choices except a vote for bush/cheney. No joke folks. Situational awareness is called for here.
(o/) Report Voting Emergencies to the Election Protection Hotline
IF YOU:
- See efforts at polling places to discourage or prevent people from voting.
- Encounter any irregularities displayed on your final ballot.
- Are treated unfairly in any way at the polls.
Call The Election Protection Hotline AT:
Toll Free (866)-OUR VOTE (687-8683)
OR (202) 223-6607
With all the hypocrisy that's been flung about in the names of family values, no children left behind & faith based activism, it might be easy for some of us to never want to think in those terms again. The following report on an event that took place last weekend should help us to, "Keep the faith."
Thousands from All Faiths Gather at Washington Nat'l. Cathedral
to Make Children the Top Priority on Election Day
Children's defense Fund, 10/29/2004
Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman this week rallied thousands of leaders and members of a remarkable range of faith networks to resist the lure of divisive single-issue politics and support broader social protections for children and the poor. In a stirring interfaith event beneath the soaring spires of the Washington National Cathedral, about 2,200 worshipers from across the nation gathered at a pivotal moment in the nation's history-the eve of final pre-election worship services this weekend-to pray for justice for the young and needy and urge government leaders to put the interests of children first. The nonpartisan event Thursday night was the culmination of a major voter mobilization effort for the Nov. 2 elections. In a memo to reporters before the service, Edelman wrote: "The religious right has attempted to hijack and whittle God down into a single issue partisan God. In response, we organized a massive interfaith service with religious leaders across a wide political spectrum and issued a unified call for justice for children and the poor on election eve." Edelman noted that the response from almost 200 faith leaders and networks of every kind was overwhelming, especially since it only took several weeks to come together. This broad base of mainstream faith leaders represent the denominations of more than 75 million Americans, including Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Baha'is and Sikhs...
THIS RELEASE POSTED AT: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id9198
VIDEO OF THE SPEECHES AT: http://www.childrensdefense.org/interfaith/default.asp
The following article, another by a life-long Republican about to vote for John kerry, was published last week in the Sierra Times which is no way affiliated with the Sierra Club or for that matter, any political party.
SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN
RHINO'S FEATURED REPUBLICAN
The Last Straw - Carl Worden Makes His Vote Official
by Carl F. Worden, The Sierra Times, 10/27/04
That's it, I've had it. I've been a registered Republican since I pulled my first lever in a voting booth, and I've voted as a loyal Republican for Republican candidates consistently every year. I am 55 years of age. I am considered a right-wing Christian conservative and strict constitutionist who knows the Framers of the Constitution expected strict adherence to that original document unless and until it is amended. You don't get much more conservative and constitutionally-minded than I am, and that is why I just cast my Oregon vote-by-mail ballot for Democrat John Kerry as the next president of the United States. So did my wife -- and she's a very independent thinker. I know there are thousands of lifelong Republican/Independent conservatives who are going to do the same thing on November 2nd, because they've written and told me so. The absolute last straw for me took place at the Bush rally, held in Central Point, Oregon on October 14th. President Bush stayed in Jacksonville, Oregon overnight after the rally, and protesters and police clashed on the streets. I sent out a photo of a Jackson County Sheriff's Deputy, all Nazi'd up in black leather riot control gear and grinning evilly as he shoved a woman holding her 5 year-old daughter. It wasn't the finest hour for local law enforcement, but even that wasn't the last straw for me. No, the last straw for me happened just before the Bush rally itself.
READ ABOUT HIS LAST STRAW AT: http://www.sierratimes.com/04/10/20/carlworden.htm
Today's Bottom Line by Nation columnist John Nichols reveals that fact that many real Republicans are deciding they can not & will not vote to give another 4 more years to the Bush & Company administration.
8:55:49 AM 
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Even Republicans Fear Bush
by John Nichols, The Nation, October 31, 2004
The most divisive election campaign in recent American history has not merely split the nation along party lines, it has split the Grand Old Party itself. Unfortunately, most Americans are wholly unaware of the loud dissents against Bush that has begun to be heard in Republican circles. If the United States had major media that covered politics, as opposed to the political spin generated by the Bush White House and the official campaigns of both the Republican president and his Democratic challenger, one of the most fascinating, and significant, stories of the 2004 election season would be the abandonment of the Bush reelection effort by senior Republicans. But this is a story that, for the most part, has gone untold.
Scant attention was paid to the revelation that one Republican member of the U.S. Senate, Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee, will refrain from voting for his party's president -- despite the fact that Chafee offered a far more thoughtful critique of George W. Bush's presidency than "Zig-Zag" Zell Miller, the frothing, Democrat-hating Democrat did when he condemned his party's nominee. Beyond the minimal attention to Chafee, most media has neglected the powerful, and often poignant, condemnations of Bush by prominent Republicans. Former Republican members of the U.S. Senate and House, governors, ambassadors, aides to GOP Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush have explicitly endorsed the campaign of Democrat John Kerry. For many of these lifelong Republicans, their vote for Kerry will be a first Democratic vote. But, in most cases, it will not be a hesitant one.
READ IT ALL AT: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1031-30.htm
Rhino's Blog is the responsibility of Gary Rhine.
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Search the Rhino's Blog Archives, The Daily Rhino Photo, and lots of links at (http://www.rhinosblog.info)
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http://www.dreamcatchers.org (Indigenous Assistance & Intercultural Dialog)
http://www.kifaru.com (Native American Relations Video Documentaries)
Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
All copyrights belong to original publisher.
7:54:54 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
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