TOO DISGUSTED TO COME UP WITH A TITLE FOR THIS POST ...

I'm having a harsh time of it trying to reconcile the two most significant bits of political news from this weekend: Debra Bowen's shot across the Diebold bow, and Congress' official self-termination as the legitimate legislative body of the United States government. These two stories are intricately linked, if in a somewhat convoluted fashion, and making sense out of them should be a top priority for thinking people everywhere -- if there any thinking people left out there, that is.

It seems to be the epitome of cruel irony that, apparently, the long hoped-for beginning of the end of the electronic voting hoax finally starts to manifest itself the very same weekend the Congress shamefully surrenders more of its prerogatives and responsibilities, in the face of yet another pathetic Shrub temper tantrum. Just as the electoral process is, perhaps, reprieved from the corporate straightjacket the NeoCons have been desperately trying to stuff it into, the Democratically-controlled Congress essentially votes itself out of existence, for all intents and purposes. The very faction within the political class that has the most to gain from "election integrity" shows that they, themselves, have no integrity, and effectively negate the point behind the California Secretary of State's moves against the privatization of voting. So, great -- votes get counted more-or-less accurately, electronic election fraud becomes more difficult to perpetrate; meanwhile, we work to elect erstwhile opponents of the present regime, and they prove to be just as willing to ratfuck us as their NeoCon counterparts. Unglaublich.

The ragged DLC remnants of what was once known as the Democratic Party have just shot their last steely wad, nearly guaranteeing their ignominious defeat in 2008, and all but burying representative government in the US in the process -- "election integrity" be damned. What an unbelievable pack of stupid assholes.

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I understand that members of Congress, in recognition of their fervent dedication to the tenets of constitutional law and democratic governance, are planning to vote on a pay increase for themselves after they return from their slightly delayed, but so well deserved, summer vacation.

Have we had enough yet?