In light of what happened the other night in Iowa, I jumped over to the Howard Dean campaign blog to see what I could see. Although perhaps a bit rattled, the Deaniacs remain confident.
I have mixed feelings on this Iowa results: it's too bad to see Dean fall to third, but it's great to see Edwards jump to second. I cannot, however, stand the fact that prick-of-the-century Kerry got first. How the hell did THAT happen?
Meanwhile, I listened to what I could stand of the State of the Union address by our current president. EVERYBODY should go have a listen to realize how full of shit he truly is. Every sentence made me gag. I was organizing my laundry at the time, and I think my poor socks suffered quite a bit of mistreatment due to my general disgust with Bush's words.
Anyway, I just wanted to share something that I found over on the Dean blog. I'm not sure how accurate this is (the guy who posted it didn't give a source), but of the numbers on the list that I am familiar with, the figures are right on. So I trust it enough to post it, and will take the slack from those of you who find any errors.
232: Number of American combat deaths in Iraq between May 2003 and January 2004
501: Number of American servicemen to die in Iraq from the beginning of the war - so far
0: Number of American combat deaths in Germany after the Nazi surrender to the Allies in May 1945
0: Number of coffins of dead soldiers returning home from Iraq that the Bush administration has allowed to be photographed
0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq
100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2003
13: Number of meetings between Bush and Tony Blair since he became President
10 million: Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets in opposition to the invasion of Iraq, setting an all-time record for simultaneous protest
2: Number of nations that Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into the White House
9.2: Average number of American soldiers wounded in Iraq each day since the invasion in March last year
1.6: Average number of American soldiers killed in Iraq per day since hostilities began
16,000: Approximate number of Iraqis killed since the start of war
10,000: Approximate number of Iraqi civilians killed since the beginning of the conflict
$100 billion: Estimated cost of the war in Iraq to American citizens by the end of 2003
$13 billion: Amount other countries have committed towards rebuilding Iraq (much of it in loans) as of 24 October
36%: Increase in the number of desertions from the US army since 1999
92%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that had access to drinkable water a year ago
60%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that have access to drinkable water today
32%: Percentage of the bombs dropped on Iraq this year that were not precision-guided
1983: The year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs
45%: Percentage of Americans who believed in early March 2003 that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 11 September attacks on the US
$127 billion: Amount of US budget surplus in the year that Bush became President in 2001
$374 billion: Amount of US budget deficit in the fiscal year for 2003
1st: This year's deficit is on course to be the biggest in United States history
$1.58 billion: Average amount by which the US national debt increases each day
$23,920: Amount of each US citizen's share of the national debt as of 19 January 2004
1st: The record for the most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) was set in 2002
10: Number of solo press conferences that Bush has held since beginning his term. His father had managed 61 at this point in his administration, and Bill Clinton 33
1st: Rank of the US worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per capita
$113 million: Total sum raised by the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign, setting a record in American electoral history
$130 million: Amount raised for Bush's re-election campaign so far
$200m: Amount that the Bush-Cheney campaign is expected to raise in 2004
$40m: Amount that Howard Dean, the top fund-raiser among the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, amassed in 2003
28: Number of days holiday that Bush took last August, the second longest holiday of any president in US history (Recordholder: Richard Nixon)
13: Number of vacation days the average American worker receives each year
3: Number of children convicted of capital offences executed in the US in 2002. America is only country openly to acknowledge executing children
1st: As Governor of Texas, George Bush executed more prisoners (152) than any governor in modern US history
2.4 million: Number of Americans who have lost their jobs during the three years of the Bush administration
221,000: Number of jobs per month created since Bush's tax cuts took effect. He promised the measure would add 306,000
1,000: Number of new jobs created in the entire country in December. Analysts had expected a gain of 130,000
1st: This administration is on its way to becoming the first since 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office
9 million: Number of US workers unemployed in September 2003
80%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce now unemployed
55%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce unemployed before the war
43.6 million: Number of Americans without health insurance in 2002
130: Number of countries (out of total of 191 recognised by the United Nations) with an American military presence
40%: Percentage of the world's military spending for which the US is responsible
My "favorite" part of the SOU speech was when Bush slowly ticked off the names of all the countries involved in the multilateral force. The US is taking 90% of the casualties and footing 90% of the bill. I don't consider that to be a very multilateral approach, but what do I know? I'm just a highly-skilled worker that can't find a job in this BOOMING economy!
By the way, why do you dislike Kerry? I've been impressed by him so far, and I'm going to one of his meetups tomorrow night. On the other hand, I find Dean to be a little light on content and a bit heavy on negativity. At any rate, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
I haven't watched any of the media coverage of this campaign, besides the debates on C-Span. That said, I've watched every debate and their follow-up coverage. This means that my opinion is pretty much based strictly on my opinion, and not on anything that is said - for better or for worse - about any of the candidates on the seven o'clock news.
Mainly, I feel that Kerry is a stuck-up little rich boy who doesn't have a sympathetic ear. I don't trust him. He's slimy in debates and has nothing in his personality that speaks to me. Even worse, I believe he's trying to win on the "charm" ticket - but he has no way of beating GW in that respect (not that I think W is charming, but...). We need a candidate whose going to whup Georgie's ass in the debates - with his wit - and Kerry is dry and boring in delivery.
Somebody said this of Kerry: "He has the personality of a bag of flour that has just been awakened by his servants from a nap he was taking on the davenport."
I just feel like he's the well-to-do guy saying, "No, really, I understand poverty in America." because it's a tagline that he thinks will work amongst dems, not because it's something he actually knows anything about.
And even though you could say the same about Dean (fairly wealthy upbringing, went to Yale, etc), he's done some stuff that has put him in contact with the less fortunate on the ground: volunteering in an ER, working for Planned Parenthood, etc. Plus, he didn't have $6 million spare to donate to his own campaign like Kerry did. And with John Edwards, you can really say he knows what he's talking about, given his background.
How can I say this? Mainly, I think that although Dean and Edwards may seem a bit different, maybe a less media-savvy, what have you, but I feel like Kerry is just a manicured product with no real substance. I'd rather have somebody raw, if a bit rough around the edges, than a manufactured candidate who doesn't seem at all passionate about the issues (but passionate about winning, I'll give him that).
Kerry just seems like a pompous prick to me. The media seemed to have taken a liking to him, though. I just can't figure it out.
Plus, he has Jay Leno hair.
>Plus, he has Jay Leno hair.
That is the funniest thing I read all day!
Boy, did George ever take on steroid abuse, or what?! I'm so glad he is going to totally take on steroid abuse, because I'm pretty sure that the terrorists must be using steroids.
I mean, foreign terrorists have and are planning to attack us, we're in two wars, the "jobless recovery" is jobless, and he's up there talking about sports and "defending marriage." Sheesh!
I generally dislike those facts and figures type lists, but some of those are pretty good. However, what am I supposed to make of "130: Number of countries (out of total of 191 recognised by the United Nations) with an American military presence." Why is that so bad? Also, what does he mean by "executing children?" Did we kill 9 year olds? Personally, I'm for the repeal of the death penalty, but statements like that I can't get behind.
I did like the vacation thing. To me, that's the most FUCKED UP part of America: we don't get any damned vacation at all. 10 days last year. TEN! When I told my Italian friend that, he lost his mind. And here's the "Leader" of the Free World taking a MONTH off. Shit, I'll be president if I can get a MONTH vacation. WHat does he think this is, Europe?
The stat about Iraqi drinking water is bogus. I'll dig up the link that I read which refuted it. Also, the World War II statistic is false, too, unless it's a trick of how you track it. Furhtermore, I'd say that says more about the people who were defeated than it does about the victors.
Scotty - yeah, like I said, I figured some are false. With counterevidence, I'll go in and correct/delete those that are identified as such.
I agree with you on the vacation thing. People always trip out about that here; they just look at me dumbfounded: "What? You mean you don't have five weeks? Nobody does?" My response is always, "Well, sure. Rich people probably do. The President apparently does. But not everyday Americans."
I think by "executing children" he's referring to those teenage boys (I can't remember their names) that everyone made such a bruhaha over (17? maybe) awhile back. And as for the American military presence, I don't think it's necessarily supposed to be good or bad, just pointing out that the UN STILL isn't "impartial" even if it wants to be. I have mixed feelings on American military presence in general, so I don't really know what to make of that stat either.
And PS: For more info on why I'm anti-Kerry, there's more at the entry called Midnight on Sunday.