At somewhere around 7:30 on election night, we saw our first results fron the Hamilton County Board of Elections. They published the absentee ballot count - partial absentee count, that is.
And then...crickets. 8:00, nothing. 8:30, nothing. Around 8:45, I got a call from a friend viewing the results at the BOE, telling me that they said they won't have any new results for another hour (to be fair, they were able to overdeliver - about 9:30 they were able to post votes from 1% or so of the precincts).
Yes, more than two hours after the polls closed, the BOE was practically unable to post vote counts from a precinct. And I don't know how that happens. By my count, this is at least the fifth consecutive election where precinct vote counts seemed to be significantly delayed for no good reason (or at least no explained reason).
I had a conversation with someone knowledgeable about the process, and he gave me an explanation that, if I understand it right, was so shocking to my system that I needed to quickly grab another beer.
I don't know why things seem to move so much slower at our BOE than others around the state/country/world. Maybe it's the speed in which the poll workers get the ballots to the BOE. Maybe it's the vote counting software. Maybe the chairman is spending too much time searching for pictures of Dr. Evil.
Whatever the reason, I'm dumbfounded. So I'm issuing this challenge to the BOE: explain why it's so much tougher to count votes in this town than it is anywhere else. If someone working there can send us an explanation (to cincinnati@drinkingliberally.org) of how the whole system works, and what seems to hold up the process, we'll publish it verbatim.
I'd just like to know whether it's worth coming down on election night next year, or if it's better to just stick at the celebration parties for a few hours before worrying about how the actual elections turn out.
Dems starting to learn to act like wise guys
Shorter Tom Harkin: "My, Senator Lieberman, that's a lovely chairmanship you have there. It'd be a shame if anything were to happen to it."
DL Lecture Series and Drinking Liberally Downtown
Next week we're moving from our regular venue at Fries to take part in a special event hosted by Oxfam America.
Next Tuesday, Oxfam America will be giving a presentation on Global Poverty and Climate Change at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Climate change affects our entire planet: natural resources, wildlife, and people. Any solutions to the challenge of climate change must address all of these different impacts in a fair and equitable way. By cutting emissions and providing funding for adaptation, the US can reduce damage to our planet's ecosystem while at the same time helping the poorest people survive the changes to their climate.
Please come join us at 7PM at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 200 West 4th Street, for the presentation and a Q&A session. When it ends around 8:30PM, we'll go to the Rock Bottom Brewery in Fountain Square and probably close it down at 10PM.
Please RSVP to us and Gene Gardner at 513-681-2794 or GeneGard24@aol.com if you plan on attending the Oxfam event. If you can't make that, please join us at the Rock Bottom Brewery afterwards.
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 100 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. Oxfam America is an affiliate of Oxfam International.
Next Tuesday, Oxfam America will be giving a presentation on Global Poverty and Climate Change at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Climate change affects our entire planet: natural resources, wildlife, and people. Any solutions to the challenge of climate change must address all of these different impacts in a fair and equitable way. By cutting emissions and providing funding for adaptation, the US can reduce damage to our planet's ecosystem while at the same time helping the poorest people survive the changes to their climate.
Please come join us at 7PM at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 200 West 4th Street, for the presentation and a Q&A session. When it ends around 8:30PM, we'll go to the Rock Bottom Brewery in Fountain Square and probably close it down at 10PM.
Please RSVP to us and Gene Gardner at 513-681-2794 or GeneGard24@aol.com if you plan on attending the Oxfam event. If you can't make that, please join us at the Rock Bottom Brewery afterwards.
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 100 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. Oxfam America is an affiliate of Oxfam International.
Ownership on loan from the devil
The ownership of the NFL's St. Louis Rams has let it be known that they might sell the team if the price is right. Several groups have stepped up and made bids to purchase the team. One of those groups is led by, among others, Rush Limbaugh.
On its face, I think this is an incredibly bad idea. Obviously, Limbaugh is a terribly divisive personality, and it's just not smart to have an owner that's going to offend half your fan base.
Of course, if players don't want to play for him either, that's a big problem too.
Peer pressure is a powerful thing. And if Kiwanuka and Bart Scott (also mentioned in the embedded article) feel this way, I've got to believe there's many others that do also. And if they believe he's racist, they're probably going to make it known to their cohorts that they should probably consider whether they want to play for such an owner. It wouldn't surprise me if players that sign with the Rams would be treated like someone that crossed a picket line.
For a league that prides itself on parity and competitive balance, the possibility that one of its 32 teams could put itself at such a disadvantage simply because of their owner ought to seriously worry its leadership. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the other team owners need to think long and hard over whether they want to approve this group's bid if Rams ownership accepts it.
On its face, I think this is an incredibly bad idea. Obviously, Limbaugh is a terribly divisive personality, and it's just not smart to have an owner that's going to offend half your fan base.
Of course, if players don't want to play for him either, that's a big problem too.
"All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama's America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting 'right on,'" [New York Giants defensive end Matthias] Kiwanuka told The Daily News. "I mean, I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play."On Friday's edition of ESPN's Pardon The Interruption, co-host Michael Wilbon added, "I don’t know whether Rush Limbaugh is a straight-up bigot, or if he just plays one on TV or the radio. But he is universally reviled by black people in this country, and justifiably so…he’s referred to the NFL as Bloods and Crips without weapons…does he not think that black people had TV’s and radios in the 20th century, when he started saying these things?"
"I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there's a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can't respect him as a man."
Peer pressure is a powerful thing. And if Kiwanuka and Bart Scott (also mentioned in the embedded article) feel this way, I've got to believe there's many others that do also. And if they believe he's racist, they're probably going to make it known to their cohorts that they should probably consider whether they want to play for such an owner. It wouldn't surprise me if players that sign with the Rams would be treated like someone that crossed a picket line.
For a league that prides itself on parity and competitive balance, the possibility that one of its 32 teams could put itself at such a disadvantage simply because of their owner ought to seriously worry its leadership. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the other team owners need to think long and hard over whether they want to approve this group's bid if Rams ownership accepts it.
A million freeper heads are exploding this morn
First, congratulations to President Obama on the Nobel peace prize. I can't wait to see the reaction from the wingnuts.
PS: Just getting settled Down Under. So far so good. Definitely miss DL!
PS: Just getting settled Down Under. So far so good. Definitely miss DL!
Always check the fine print
What happened yesterday? Let's see, Chicago got knocked out of contention to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the right-wing press got all excited and stuff.
Oh, and then there was the senator that took a little trip to Central America.
I seem to remember a time when criticizing the president, rooting against the country, and defying U.S. foreign policy was considered to be unpatriotic, and made you a terrorist supporting, cheese eating surrender monkey. I guessed I missed the line in that memo that said it was set to expire on January 20, 2009.
Soon after news broke that the International Olympic Committee had rejected Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics, which President Obama had personally lobbied for, Weekly Standard blogger John McCormack published a celebratory post on the magazine’s blog, titled “Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!.” McCormack wrote that “Cheers erupt at WEEKLY STANDARD world headquarters”.Glad to know that the righties were so excited that America's not going to be hosting a worldwide event that gets broadcast internationally for two weeks straight.
Oh, and then there was the senator that took a little trip to Central America.
One of the de facto government’s main supporters in Washington, Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has announced plans to visit Tegucigalpa on Friday. One Congressional staff member said Mr. DeMint hoped to meet with members of the de facto government and other Hondurans. Other staff members said he intended to encourage [interim president and coup leader Roberto] Micheletti and his supporters to resist.Never mind that just about every legitimate government in the world does not recognize the current leadership of Honduras, or that they've practically imposed martial law and given themselves the authority to shut down any news outlet that "attack peace and public order". No, senator DeMint needs to go check out how the new banana republic is doing.
I seem to remember a time when criticizing the president, rooting against the country, and defying U.S. foreign policy was considered to be unpatriotic, and made you a terrorist supporting, cheese eating surrender monkey. I guessed I missed the line in that memo that said it was set to expire on January 20, 2009.
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