Meatstick Opinion: United States Minimal Voting Rights Exam

My brother recently earned his masters degree in International Relations from a prestigious, Ivy League school. I think this can explain some of the outlandish theories he has developed. A few times a year I’m fortunate enough to be able to link up with my brother (he lives 3,000 miles away) and share a few beers. It is during these brief encounters that we try to solve all of the world’s problems. Since he is older and wiser, he ends up doing most of the talking.

We had the chance to spend some time together back in June. Since we are both recent veterans we spent much of our time discussing the war in Iraq. How did it get to this point? How do we get out now? Inevitably, the discussion usually turns to the current administration.

My brother is a bit of an elitist, and as such, he believes that the American people are to blame for the current state of affairs in our country because they voted for this administration, not once, but twice. My brother feels that Americans should have to demonstrate a basic knowledge of current affairs and US history in order to be eligible to vote. I agree with him. I think a basic test wouldn’t favor any particular party, race, or religion...so it's fair. Before you think we are both nuts, consider this quote from Thomas Jefferson in a letter to a friend in 1789:

"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government;... whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."

Jefferson also believed that Spain’s constitution was great because it said that a person couldn’t be recognized as a citizen until they could read and write. He felt that it would give people and incentive to learn. He stated:

“This will give you an enlightened people and an energetic public opinion which will control and enchain the aristocratic spirit of the government."

I wouldn’t go quite so far as Jefferson, but you get the point.

On to my brother’s test…
Here are the rules:
A score of at least 70% is required on this exam in order for an eligible US citizen to be permitted to vote during in a national election (e.g. Congress and Presidential elections). A passing score qualifies a voter for five consecutive years of voting rights. A failing score disqualifies a citizen from voting for a period of six months, but can be taken once every six months until it is passed.

Here are the questions:
1) Name one of the two national senators from the state in which you are registered.
2) Name three of the original thirteen colonies.
3) Name the two main political parties in the US.
4) Name one of the following individuals: the Secretary of State, the Vice President, or
the Secretary of Defense.
5) The US is currently involved in two major wars; one in Iraq and one in
Afghanistan. Name the capital city of one of those two countries.
6) What does the acronym 'D.C.' stand for in the title of the nation's capital?
7) Name the century in which the US civil war was fought.
8) The legislative branch of government, one of its three branches, makes the nation's
laws. Name one other branch.
9) Name one US territory or possession.
10) How many states are in the US?

How did you do on the test?

As you can see, all of the answers to this test can be found for free by spending one hour at any public library in America. Yes, public libraries still exist. So please don’t tell me that this test isn’t fair to inner city kids and 90 year old women who might not have access to the internets.

Immigrants looking to gain citizenship are tested, fourth graders are tested to comply with No Child Left Behind, 16 year olds are tested in order to operate a car, and new recruits are tested to gain entry into the military. Testing is everywhere.

Test voters...before things get worse.

Meatstick Game: Guess the World Leader

Event: A nation is attacked by Middle Eastern terrorists:

• The leader claims that the attack originated from a group of Middle Eastern terrorists who rationalized their acts using religion.*
• Within 4 weeks the leader pushed through laws that: suspended parts of free speech and habeas corpus. Police were allowed to wiretap without warrants and people could be arrested w/o access to lawyers.
• He creates a new branch of the government to help protect the country. He appoints a trusted associate to lead the agency.
  
• He reaches out to industry and brings former execs into high positions in the government.
  
• He argues that other nations are harboring the terrorists that attacked his country even though the evidence couldn't be confirmed.
  
• He then attacks the country he believes are harboring the terrorists and proclaims, "Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."

The answer to the above is: Hitler

The event was the bombing of the German Parliament by a Dutch terrorist named Marinus van der Lubbe. The country Hitler attacked was Austria, followed shortly by Czechoslovakia.


I got the above information from an excellent book called "What Would Jefferson Do? --A Return to Democracy" by Thom Hartmann.

Mr. Hartmann gives the above history lesson in a chapter called When Democracy Failed.
He ends the chapter with a very interesting observation:

Today, as we face financial and political crises, it's useful to remember that that the ravages of the Great Depression hit Germany and the US alike.

Germany's response was to use government to empower corporations and reward the society's richest individuals, privatize much of the commons, stifle dissent, strip people of constitutional rights, and create an illusion of prosperity through continual and ever-expanding war.

America passed minimum wage laws to raise the middle class, enforced anti trust laws to diminish the power of corporations, increased taxes on corporations and the wealthiest individuals, created Social Security, and through the WPA became the employer of last resort through programs to build national infrastructure, promote the arts, and plant forests.

To the extent that our Constitution is still intact, the choice is ours once more.

*In my own limited research I have found that Hitler blames Communists for the attack. Thom Hartmann doesn't give the source in his book for this bullet

Meatstick News: Excellent Article about VoteVets.org

The founder of VoteVets.org, Jon Soltz, is an Iraq war veteran. He came home from Iraq, reflected on his experiences, became enraged the more he learned about the war, and is now trying to expose the Republican party's claim that that they are "pro military." His story is similar to mine, except all I have is this lousy website, while he has created a powerful political force to be reckoned with. In fact, many people credit VoteVets for being a main reason that Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Rick "the prick" Santorum (R-PA) both lost re-election last year. Here is their ad that exposed Santorum:


There are 22 seats in the Congress and one very important Presidential spot up for grabs in the next election. VoteVets is gearing up:

With a database of more than 40,000 supporters and donors, he is planning to take on GOP presidential candidates in 2008, targeting their claim that they are better guardians of national security. Soltz stated, "Our goal is to be the No. 1 player on the No. 1 issue facing the country."

There is an excellent article from the Los Angeles Times today about VoteVets and Jon Soltz.

If you are looking to monetarily help in the next election but you are skeptical about giving politicians money, VoteVets is a great way to help out.

If you support the troops, please donate here to VoteVets.org.

Meatstick Opinion: Congressmen Brian Baird (Part 2)

Here is a video of Congressmen Brian Baird just a few short months ago (February) arguing against the surge and further occupation in Iraq:

Here he is getting his ass chewed by his constituents this week back home in Vancouver, WA after he came out and said that the surge is working:


In the first video Baird makes a powerful statement,

"It is irresponsible to allow a Commander in Chief...to continue to sacrifice the lives, bodies, and families of our troops in a mission that lacks a clear end point or successful strategy."

How in the world do you change your mind so drastically in 6 months? How do you go from believing in a statement as powerful as the one I listed above, to believing in a prolonged surge through April 2008?

Also, take note of the pictures of Baird in the second video taken of him in Iraq. He is not wearing a kevlar helmet or vest. It is impossible to evaluate the surge without wearing kevlar and traveling outside of fortified Army bases. I would love to see the list of places this guy visited while he was there. Just so you know, the guy was on ground in Iraq for 2 days. In 2 days he came to the realization that the surge is working.

I applaud the people of Vancouver who showed up for this town hall meeting.
This guy is an embarrassment to the Democratic party.

Meatstick Event: Selling Our Car on Craigslist-Update

In the past 6 months I have tried to sell two cars on Craigslist. It has been an interesting experience. I think part of the issue was the type of cars that I was selling. Both cars were well past their prime and were listed for reasonable, cheap prices. My dad warned me by saying:
"You'll meet all the whackos selling a car yourself, especially in that price range. Wait till you get the guy with 2 screaming kids and a pregnant wife and all he has to his name is $2,351.49 and he wants the car."
My dad was more right than I could have ever imagined.

The first car I tried to sell was a 1998 Chevy Blazer listed at $4,990. Here are some of the emails I got from people 'interested' in the car and the responses I should have given back:

"please call nate for the s10" -- I was tempted to reply back, "Hey asshead, I have never owned an S10 in my life."

"I called and left you a page number what time can we see the car?" -- This guy should have gotten an email back from me that said, "A page number? A pager? I might as well be selling a Delorean from 1986 if we are using pagers in this transaction."

"I do not have the money for the car, but I am willing to trade a lawn mower and an older car for this Blazer." -- This guy doesn't even deserve the bandwith required to reply back to him.

In the end, I ended up selling the car on the military base to a soldier that just moved to the area.

This week I turned to Craigslist again in order to sell my 1994 Honda Accord, clearly priced at $2,990. This listing attracted the majority of the dregs of society found throughout the Puget Sound region. Here is a spattering of the emails I got back:

"hi im len n i wood love to buy your car call" -- I was wanting to reply back, "I will not sell my car to anyone using the phrase 'n i wood.'

"I wonder if you taking offers. if you do my brother have 2000 cash today let me know" -- My response to him could have been, "Yes, I will take $2000 cash along with another $990 cash."

I also ended up fielding an interesting phone call at 10pm the first night I had the car posted. A man from Portland called telling me how badly he wanted my car for his wife. He said he loved Hondas and wanted to drive to Seattle right away to buy it. I did the quick math and estimated he could be in Seattle by 12:30 AM, so I told him I would wait up for him. He thanked me and said he would be in Seattle no later than 1AM. My wife and I ended up sitting on the couch, drifting in and out of consciousness, until 4:30AM. We politely called him the next morning and left him a message saying that we hope the reason he didn't make it was because he contracted Herpes.

I ended up selling the Honda a day later to a guy who had never heard of Craigslist. He just happened to see the 'FOR SALE' sign posted on my car on the side of the road.

I will finish by saying that Craigslist is a great tool in selling any used product because of the fact that it is completely free and is checked by thousands of people each hour. Don't let my experiences ruin your impression of the site. Although I have never personally had success selling anything on Craigslist, I can say that I bought a nice set of golf clubs for dirt cheap on there (Unfortunately I couldn't buy the guy's golf handicap to go along with the clubs).

Meatstick Opinion: Draft College Republicans (part 2)

President Bush was in the Seattle area for about 2 hours yesterday. A video of the event can be found on Komo 4's website. The video is pretty much what you would expect of any presidential visit. It shows Air Force One screwing up the flights for the day, the motorcade blocking traffic during rush hour on some of the busiest highways in America, and Bush telling a crowd of his most loyal fans that, "we need to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here."

Of course, the video also shows the hundred or so protesters that were there from the time he arrived until well after he was gone. There were also a few Bush supporters in the crowd outside the hotel. These must be Bush's poor fans because they didn't pay the $1,000-$10,000 to see him speak inside the hotel. One of these poor fans was a kid named Timothy. I only know his name because they put it up on the TV screen during his interview. Mr. Timothy had the nerve to make the following statement in regards to the protesters:

"They're saying this an illegal war and innocent people are dying. Not that many people have died compared to World War I, or World War II, or Vietnam."

Holy shit. I had to take a few deep breathes so that I didn't throw my remote control across the room. College football season is coming up, I need my remote control.

A quick myspace search of Timothy reveals that he is an even more hurting than his interview on TV made him out to be. His profile picture, found here, shows him holding a sign that reads, "US out of Iraq and Into Iran." Of course, Timmy doesn't list any military experience in his profile. He appears to be one of the many college aged Republicans who would rather spend their time at protests rather than actually helping us win the "war on terror."

In the meantime, forty minutes down the road at Fort Lewis, there was a memorial held for 2 Special Forces soldiers killed in Iraq this week. I guess that wasn't an important enough event for George Bush and Timmy to attend.

Meatstick Event: Selling Our Car on Craigslist

Selling a car on craigslist can be a painful/funny process. More to follow.