tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288Sat, 10 May 2008 18:19:32 +0000http://theindependentvoter.com/indiecastle.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)Blogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-7650497840504420929Sat, 10 May 2008 18:13:00 +00002008-05-10T11:19:32.933-07:00Now we have hard evidence showing why Gordon Smith has singled out Jeff Merkley in his latest attack ad with the Democratic Primary still 10 days away - a new poll: Merkley and Smith in statistical tie, Novick lags behind One of the most compelling aspects to this new poll is that it's a General Election match-up. Which means that it reflects all Oregonians rather than just Democrats as the http://theindependentvoter.com/2008/05/new-poll-shows-why-sen-smith-trying-tonoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-2961039406849819566Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:13:00 +00002008-04-07T08:13:50.703-07:00 Ever so briefly at the very beginning there's a shot of me talking to Jeff.http://theindependentvoter.com/2008/04/my-one-second-of-fame-in-political-adnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-175843999903370299Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:49:00 +00002008-03-26T22:56:06.583-07:00Steve Nader... er... Novick indulged his inner Nader yet again by taking a shot at Jeff Merkley over at Politicker OR. But that was just a smoke screen intended for what he presumes to be a gullible public. Really it was a veiled shot at Barack Obama. (Sshhhh... we're not supposed to be intelligent enough to have figured that out for ourselves) The subject of Steve's latest Nader moment was http://theindependentvoter.com/2008/03/steve-nader-takes-another-shot-atnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-601094762235874972Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:23:00 +00002008-03-20T20:09:42.111-07:00http://theindependentvoter.com/2008/03/oregon-hearts-jeff-merkleynoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-2799625900338752220Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:13:00 +00002008-02-02T09:15:04.311-08:00This is a Democrat I'm supporting for U.S. Senate. http://theindependentvoter.com/2008/02/funny-web-adnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-293726231061280632Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:18:00 +00002007-04-01T14:19:37.536-07:00Take the quiz to find your preferred Presidential candidate (from the two major parties). Remember that "The results are scored on a curve. 100% means that we are 100% certain that the top candidate on your list shares more of the views you indicated than any other candidate." So the top choice will get a 100% score, but that doesn't mean you are in 100% agreement with him/her, only that you http://theindependentvoter.com/2007/04/presidential-candidate-selectornoreply@blogger.com (James Leroy Wilson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-7251251367975356864Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:40:00 +00002007-03-24T14:04:32.663-07:00It's been a long time since I've written much of anything here. That's because I've been just totally consumed with starting a fledgeling business while maintaining a full time job. So far I only have a very rudimentary website up but I am proud to introduce Oregon Rain Sticks. The quality of the pictures isn't very good so far but I think they give you basic idea of what we're creating. For http://theindependentvoter.com/2007/03/oregon-rain-sticksnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-238963797576881162Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:56:00 +00002007-03-02T08:49:50.678-08:00For those unaware just how completely Bush and the Courts have swept aside the Constitution, Jacob Hornberger explains. Too lengthy to excerpt here, I recommend reading the whole piece. But the gist of it is: Jose Padilla, an American citizne was detained and tortured as an "enemy combatant" in the "War on Terror" where he was tortured and refused contact with his family. A federal district courthttp://theindependentvoter.com/2007/03/how-most-basic-right-is-now-gonenoreply@blogger.com (James Leroy Wilson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116983596018937308Fri, 26 Jan 2007 18:23:00 +00002007-01-26T10:26:00.213-08:00For a long time now I've found it both perplexing and amusing that president Bush has so often touted "liberal democracy" as a value to be striven towards around the world while he and his political base remain steadfastly dedicated to a brand of TheoConservatism which has more in common with those pesky "islamofacists" than with anything resembling a liberal value. A disturbing news report thishttp://theindependentvoter.com/2007/01/honor-killings-and-theoconservatismnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116952467533296773Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:28:00 +00002007-01-22T20:14:04.650-08:00The Next Prez blog has lists of official, probable, and possible Presidential candidates, from major parties to smaller parties to independents, from the well-known to the obscure. Among major-party candidates who have announced, Democrat Bill Richardson stands heads and shoulders above everyone else in terms of paper qualifications. Before running for political office, he had experience in the http://theindependentvoter.com/2007/01/best-candidates-so-farnoreply@blogger.com (James Leroy Wilson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116906007030190103Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:41:00 +00002007-01-17T10:54:30.550-08:00Now that Democrats have retaken control of Congress some conservatives have questioned whether Congress has the legitimate constitutional authority to defund a military action against the President's wishes. From what I've seen it seems to be a kneejerk reaction stemming from a shallow grasp of the so-called Unitary Executive view of presidential authority. It is noteworthy that Justice Alito, http://theindependentvoter.com/2007/01/unpopular-wars-and-power-of-pursenoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116759345286248013Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:11:00 +00002006-12-31T11:30:52.890-08:00I'll never forget the Summer of 1974. I was ten years old and had somehow acquired a crystal AM radio. One day late that Spring I happened across a local radio station in Medford, Oregon broadcasting the House Judiciary Committee hearings and later the Nixon Impeachment hearings. I was instantly hooked on politics and avidly followed Republican politics in particular for the next ten years, http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/gerald-r-ford-last-great-republicannoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116716651486544304Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:28:00 +00002006-12-26T13:11:10.536-08:00The scuttle coming out of Eugene continues to be that Independent John Frohnmayer, younger brother of former Oregon A.G. and current University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer(D), might challenge Senator Gordon Smith(R) in 2008. Meanwhile Senator Smith continues to take a beating for the perceived insincerity of his recent flip-flop on Iraq. I've never voted against Smith, including his http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/might-oregon-send-indie-to-senate-innoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116645916333629425Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:25:00 +00002006-12-18T08:26:03.386-08:00Rude Pundit writes about the Family Research Council's latest Prayer Team marching orders courtesy of FRC head honcho Tony Perkins. It seems that Perkins is deeply concerned about the results of this year's Congressional elections. Presumably all those who voted for Democrats were defying God's will because "The next two years may bring the most profoundly anti-faith, family and freedom http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/allowing-god-to-restore-his-favor-tonoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116613007824895227Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:00:00 +00002006-12-14T13:01:18.303-08:00Buried in the middle of a news report on McCain's visit to Baghdad is a very interesting quote. "I do not know where (additional troops) will come from. I am told time after time that United States can handle other contingencies like North Korea and Iran so it seems to me that we can come up with troops to have here." Could McCain be playing a high-stakes game of bluff with the Bush http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/is-mccain-dark-horsenoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116612085965961490Thu, 14 Dec 2006 18:26:00 +00002006-12-14T10:27:39.686-08:00A piece in Tuesday's USA Today talks about fear among the American Muslim community. Fear of what their fellow Americans will do to them. Fear of being targeted by the government simply because they are of Arab descent and practicing Muslims. DEARBORN, Mich. — The Arab Muslims who came here eight decades ago to work on Henry Ford's new assembly line believed their American future was limitless. http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/afraid-of-guy-in-turbannoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116598713025058691Wed, 13 Dec 2006 04:58:00 +00002006-12-12T21:18:50.276-08:00Oregon state senator and Indie gubernatorial candidate this year, Ben Westlund, has joined the Democratic party. I can't say that I'm not disappointed because I am. But, I don't begrudge him the decision either. And while he says that the decision wasn't motivated by politics, I suspect that politics did play a role and perhaps the central role. Sure, he could have caucaused with the Dems in thehttp://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/another-one-bites-dustnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116585429459870305Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:24:00 +00002006-12-11T08:24:55.286-08:00The Bloomberg Model: independent voters make the difference Whether Mayor Bloomberg's "people" are floating the idea, or the media is looking to "sell papers", or the US business class sees a favorable opportunity for future political involvement, the wires are still buzzing with the question "Will Michael Bloomberg run for President in '08?" And implicit in that question, because of who he is http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/hankster-bloomberg-model-independentnoreply@blogger.com (N. Hanks)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116578075182615173Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:58:00 +00002006-12-10T17:04:44.290-08:00Via the latest factcheck.org mailing which is not yet on their website: Bush: On the issue of secret evidence – another creation of the Clinton/Gore Justice Department – I am also troubled by the disturbing stories of how this policy is being implemented. More and more, new immigrants, often Arab or Muslim immigrants, face deportation or even imprisonment based on evidence they've never seen and http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/bushs-values-are-un-american-valuesnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116550599786091752Thu, 07 Dec 2006 15:39:00 +00002006-12-07T07:39:57.890-08:00The rightwing blogosphere's response to the Iraq Study Group's recommendations: Unleash Hell. Apparently not enough innocent blood has been spilled to satisfy their seemingly unquenchable thirst for death. Of course I'm assuming the perhaps unlikely possibility that they even believe that anybody over there outside of the Kurds qualify as innocents. But not all is lost. The really deep http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/pro-life-blood-cult-wants-more-deathnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116544640922031619Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:05:00 +00002006-12-06T18:41:46.970-08:00In the details of the Iraq Study Group report is an interesting bit that may well help explain at least one aspect of why the Iraqi Occupation isn't going well. "The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases." It said, for example, that a murder of an Iraqi is not necessarily counted as an attack, and a roadside bomb or a rocket or mortar attack http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/bushco-propaganda-backfiresnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116529333345806963Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:39:00 +00002006-12-04T20:39:35.756-08:00With the Internet, anyone can run for President. At The Next Prez blog you can vote for your preferred candidate for each party. Yes, there are the usual suspects, like Hillary and McCain. But you could also vote for Gene Chapman, who has the right idea about bringing the different small-government parties together, but whose style and issue positions indicate he's probably not the right man to http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/12/who-are-these-people-running-for_04noreply@blogger.com (James Leroy Wilson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116491574283547863Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:15:00 +00002006-11-30T11:42:22.863-08:00One out of every 32 adults in the United States is either in prison, on probation or on parole according to the Justice Department. Not surprising statistics considering the fact that we imprison a higher percentage of our population than does any other nation on the planet. As a culture we have a decidedly passive/aggressive relationship with our much vaunted freedoms. Which is further http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/11/land-of-free-home-of-imprisonednoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116399270319220704Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:18:00 +00002006-11-20T10:18:46.266-08:00http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/11/mccain_19noreply@blogger.com (Kevin)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859288.post-116362911859174801Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:40:00 +00002006-11-15T14:18:38.680-08:00I just ran across these stats which show how much the Iraqi Occupation has cost each individual state so far. Oregon's share: $2.6 Billion What else might Oregonians have done with $2.6 billion??? That's $759.92 for every individual in the state according to the most recent census figures. Family of five? $3799.60 For that matter, how much more stable might Afghanistan be right now if that http://theindependentvoter.com/2006/11/oregon-paid-26-billion-on-iraqnoreply@blogger.com (Kevin)