I haven't posted on my blog for a while. I have spent the last week collecting my thoughts trying to rationalize the results of this election. Moreover trying to rationalize the actions of the democratic party. Do you think that if George Bush had lost Ohio, and consequently the election, by 100k votes that he would have challenged the results? I think so. But the simple fact is that John Kerry has proved to the country that he is exactly what the republicans said he was. A weak liberal afraid of a fight.

I spent the day before the election and the day of the election working a hotline with the Election Protection Coalition. On November 1st I started out at the firm of Devboise & Plimpton however I was transfered to Kirkland and Ellis around 10am. I would spend the next two days there. At Kirkland we covered 4 states, Texas, Nebraska, South Carolina and Vermont, we received the bulk of our calls from Texas, with Vermont calls Hovering in single digits while the total calls from Texas broke 1500.
At first I was transfered to Kirkland and Ellis to help with strictly technical matters, but soon my role evolved into that of a commander. Due to the fact that we didn't have enough computers for everyone to use one, people would take calls and fill out a paper form, which would go to another room where we would enter all the data into ERIS. On Nov 1st, I was solely in charge of this aspect, for election day another tech watch volunteer was there to help and allowed me to further my role as commander. If a person called with a problem that the person who answered the call could not deal with they requested a commander (ME!). They would also flag issues that they thought merited escalation and we would take appropriate action, many times that involved calling local command centers and having lawyers dispatched to the scene.
I encountered many issues, helped some people, calmed and assuaged many, disappointed others. Sometimes, when people called asking about their eligibility to vote, the answer was sometimes no.
At one point, a woman called from Texas saying that she had only received her absentee ballot today (nov 1st). I look at the clock, 9pm, that's 7pm texas time. RUN to fed-ex I told her. Half an hour later she called back saying that none of the fed-ex's in her area had late pickups. I told her then that her only option was a courier service, 200+ dollars.
The worst thing was the behavior of poll workers, in minority districts in South Carolina telling people that casting a party line ballot casts a vote for president, it doesn't. South Carolina election law specifically disallows this. In Texas, they use e-slate, many people reported that casting a democratic party-line ballot cast a vote for George Bush as president. A blind woman called from South Carolina, she told me she brought a friend to the polling place to help her vote. They did not allow her friend to help, and instead a poll worker filled out the ballot, however because she is blind she has no idea if the poll worker filled out the ballot properly. South Carolina election law specifically allows ANYONE, of the voter's choice, to assist disabled voters.

Just a few issues out of thousands. My call center took over 3000 calls on election day alone. The system in total recorded 31971 incidents.
A nationwide breakdown of incident types:

Absentee-ballot related problem	3247
Registration-related problem	12191
Voter Intimidation	1388
Machine problem	1691
Identification-related problem	1044
Criminal status-related problem	341
Non-English lang. assistance problem	93
Disability access problem	465
Problem based on student status	131
Unable to read ballot	56
Insufficient number of ballots	120
Provisional ballot problem	1397
Other ballot-related problem	809
Late opening	200
Early closing	100
Long lines	892
Polling place inquiry	7109
Other polling place problem	2216
Other	3308

Michael Moore finally got a celebrity playlist on iTunes, and even though The Register thinks he's selling out i'm personally all for it.

This is the little blurb of text that shows up above the track listing. You will never guess my favorite track. Scroll to the bottom to see.

"When I make a film, I take my portable CD case and place in it a series of albums which contain music that reflects the mood I am in and the reasons that are motivating me to make this film. I play these CDs for myself and for my crew. Sometimes we have them playing in the van while we are driving around and filming. Sometimes I listen to them at night, thinking about what I want to accomplish the next day on the shoot. It is not easy to crash Capitol Hill to ask congressmen if they would like to send THEIR sons to Iraq. Music helps get us there.

The songs contained on this Playlist are either the actual songs that made up our 'on-the-scene' soundtrack, or they are by artists to whom I have listened over the years and have given me much inspiration…"

"Chimes of Freedom" (Track 1): "What can I say? Bruce is THE man. I have had his music playing in all my work, starting with 'My Hometown' in Roger & Me. He is who we all aspire to be! He never broke faith. I have carried his Chimes of Freedom EP with me for years, an EP that not many have, and I am proud to include it here."

"With God on Our Side" (Track 2): "I once drove a thousand miles, from Flint, Mich. to Quebec City, to see Bob Dylan and Joan Baez in concert. Dylan (along with John Lennon) saved our entire generation from Pat Boone. That we would have a president now using God in this manner to defeat those whom he sees as godless makes this song all the more relevant more than 40 years after Dylan first recorded it."

"We Want It All" (Track 3): "Zack, the lead singer of the greatest rock band of the '90s, Rage Against the Machine, is, in person, the most gentle of souls you will ever meet. But when he gets in the studio or on the stage, a fire erupts that consumes all who listen. This is his first song in five years and it's a barn burner! Welcome back, Zack, we need ya now more than ever…"

"Boom!" (Track 4): "I directed the video for this song. It was actually a celebration of the worldwide anti-war demonstrations of February 15, the largest single-day protests ever in history. System of a Down was there, just like they always have been. Play this song in the car and play it loud!"

"Masters of War" (Track 5): "Damn right, Eddie Vedder! I hear every bit of your anger that we all feel right now. There is a judgment day, and I wouldn't want to be standing next to anyone in the Bush administration when the avenging angel comes a-looking. This version of the Dylan classic is so brutal, so piercing, you find yourself glancing around to see if anyone is going to arrest you just for listening to it."

"Fortunate Son" (Track 6): "Says it all. Bush, the fortunate son who didn't have to go to Vietnam, now sends the sons, not of the fortunate, but of the poor and working class. I would love to play this song at full blast outside the White House some night. And don't think I won't!"

"Know Your Rights" (Track 7): "The street fightin' men of The Clash (along with the Sex Pistols) saved rock 'n' roll from certain death in the late '70s, and this song is another great anthem for all to stand up and demand the rights guaranteed to us. "

"The Revolution Starts…" (Track 8): "This is an artist you must listen to. So much of his music in the past few years has been a call to action. A mix of country and rock and something that is only his, Steve pulls no punches and gives me much hope. This song is from his new album — and every song on that album deserves a listen. If I were a rock star, I would be Steve Earle!"

"Where Is the Love?" (Track 9): "My nieces first gave me this song when we were completing the programming for the Bowling For Columbine DVD. It was too late by then to include it as a musical bed for our bonus features, but I kept it in my CD case because I loved the spirit and its audaciousness. It really is one of the first truly great songs of this new century. "

"Good Night, New York" (Track 10): "My wife and I were stranded 3,000 miles from home on the morning of 9/11, our daughter back in New York without us. We got in a car and drove home. The night we crossed the George Washington Bridge and looked down the length of the island to see the smoke still billowing was perhaps one of the saddest moments of my life. As a child, my mother used to take us to New York all the time. She loved this city, and we grew to love it, too. One day, I got to move here. This beautiful song touches me in a personal way and I love to think about the promise of New York, of this country and its ideals, and of my wonderful, loving mother."

"Hallelujah" (Track 11): "While we were putting this record to bed, Tom Morello, Serj (from System of a Down) and I took over K-Rock in New York on the afternoon of the first day of the 2004 Republican convention. We played this song, not out of despair, but from a sense of hope — a hope that perhaps a simple song can take us to a better place."

"American Tune" (Track 12): "This song was written after Richard Nixon was re-elected in 1972. It represented disillusion with an America that didn't include everybody as well as hope for a better day. How strange, yet appropriate, that we have arrived at a similar place in 2004, with another chance to choose the welfare of all Americans over that of the 'have-mores.'"

"And I hope you enjoy this Playlist. Though the songs aren't 'mine,' I feel them in me, and they urge me on to do the work we all need to do. I hope it has the same effect on you. We're all in the same boat, we're all in this together."

It's actually Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. It probably makes no sense unless you have seen The West Wing, Season 3, Episodes 18,19,20. These three are probably the best episodes of The West Wing. Which culminate with an emotionally powerful episode, We Killed Yamamoto.

I'm also quite fond of "Fortunate Son" and "The Revolution Starts…" in fact, they are all good, these just stand out.

I now digress.