AddieStan

TRENTON, N.J.--Drat! Your blogstress just learned that nothing she had posted earlier actually published until now! And it's f'n Election Day (Jersey dialect). Although your blogstress published no witticisms of her own, she had published a heartfelt missive from the smoldering Gang of One, and her own little set piece about a set-to on a Washington, D.C., bus. Really, really she did!

TRENTON, N.J.--From Douggie, the Real Estate Maven comes this: OK, so you left the epicenter of political power to go to New Jersey on one of the biggest political days in years. What gives, what are you not telling us, do I dare ask did you leave town to be with some one else? So, back to the matter at hand: it is 9:30 at night and no witty writings, hmmmmmmm? Well, yes, your blogstress has been quite remiss (bad blogstress!) in not, as yet, issuing the witticisms promised in an earlier post. And while Douggie clearly has a lascivious imagination when it comes to your Webwench's personal life, alas, the cause of the absent witticisms had to do with your cybertrix's pesky day job, the cause of her Jersey soujourn. And so, the panic scenario your écrivaine had envisioned came not to pass in your net-tête 's homeland, as the more prescient had predicted. Karen, Executrix of Jersey, comes to mind. Earlier, a voice mail was left by the Executrix, who said: I spent...

TRENTON, N.J.--From the smoldering Gang of One comes this: Blogstress knows I am a member of the opposing camp, and we have had our donnybrooks regarding the liberal camp versus the conservative horde. But I am not here to shill for my man, nor pick a fight with those loyal to the challenger. I suppose I am here as an American. An American pained by the sharp divisions in our nation. I am distressed that we have come to such blows and to such horrific mudslinging. I recall in the last election so-called celebrities vowing to move to Paris or some other imagined haven were George W. Bush to become POTUS. I cannot understand this mindset. To me, that is sullen, immature and selfish. Only spoiled children turn their backs on their siblings. It is possible that John F. Kerry wins tonight. If he does, he will still be my president. I may disagree with his philosophy. I may have serious issues with his agenda. But it is the Office that I cannot turn my back on. If Kerry wins, I can onl...

WASHINGTON, D.C.--His name, he said, was Apocalypse, a rather improbable appellation for this plump, baby-faced young man of maybe 19 or 20. What occasioned the conversation was your blogstress's "I Voted" sticker, tentatively laid on the collar of her fabulous black leather jacket, which he noticed as she sat herself down across the aisle from him on the number 96 bus. "You did that," he said. Your Webwench looked around. The man in the wheelchair who had gotten on the bus just ahead of your cybertrix fumbled around a minute in his wallet, proudly producing his own sticker. A further scan of the passengers revealed most wearing the cute little stickers. Most were African-American. Apocalypse appeared to be of mixed heritage, his dreads, about the thickness of the wool used for baby sweaters, were bleached to a soft gold that matched his perfectly smooth skin; his eyes a merry shape and blue-green. "Well, did you?" your cybertrix asked. Well,...

It just gets better and better. Fate is taking your blogstress tomorrow evening to chronicle the election returns from Trenton, New Jersey. ("Trenton Makes, the World Takes," say the big, block letters mounted to the side of a bridge that spans the Delaware River.) So your Webwench will be making blog in Trenton, from which the world will take countless witticisms, no doubt. Sincerest apologies are issued by your cybertrix to those who had planned to wander through the Oppo Factory to be part of the blogstressing experience; your net-tête swears she'll make it up to you (though some are likely to get more made than others). So send those e-mails, and she'll endeavor to get them up. Douggie the Real Estate Maven; Nancy the New York Artist; Karen, Executrix of Jersey; Spirit Guide; SallieSixToes; the Internationalist; Beltway Breaker; Bai Lon, the White Dragon; Play Right; Lips Buzz; the Fabulous Frankie G. (your blogstress's partner in musical crimes); and...

As she did during the debates, your cybertrix will be blogging the election results and election night coverage in real time. For up-to-the-minute commentary, tune into AddieStan.com, and join the conversation. In addition to your beguiling Webwench, AddieStan.com on election night will feature a revolving cast of readers, bloggers and whichever characters choose to wander into your blogstress's Oppo Factory.

Though your écrivaine remains eternally mystified by the fact of the occasional sane-sounding voice on the other side, she reluctantly admits to having found one, or rather it having found her. Barry Johnson's take on the state of the Garden State is much the same as your Webwench's, though, for him, it's a state of affairs that suits his needs. (Mars, Venus: we got some very different needs.) From Barry's blog, The Hopeful Cynic , we learn: I don't think John Kerry has a reasonably probable electoral vote win path if he loses New Jersey to George Bush, and I don't think that's out of the question right now, especially on the heels of Osama Bin Laden's tape release on Friday... It looks like the Quinnipiac numbers out last week continue to paint a bleak picture for Kerry in NJ, and these were from interviews conducted before the Bin Laden tape on Friday. Read Barry on Jersey

As your blogstress frets about trauma, Osama and Jersey City, others have taken a broader view of the 2004 presidential contest. In his National Journal column, Off Message , William Powers calls us back to a time when we could all be afraid together, rather than blaming each other for facilitating fear: [B]y and large, atomic-age fear was a fear that united. We experienced it collectively, in effect as one big family. The most beloved kitsch images of the time are about domestic preparations for the big blast, and the families depicted always have a generic Norman Rockwell look. Powers goes on to remind us that the outcome of this election will not cause civilization to end (though some of us wonder if it hasn't already). A welcome corrective to an overheated environment. (What global warming?) Plus, if more enticement is needed, there's a delightful William Shatner sighting in there. (We hear he's recording another music album. And for that, we're very afr...

Being the blithely arch but lighthearted creature she is, your blogstress maintains an alter-ego to handle life's more somber moments: a mostly serious journalist who writes under the byline of Adele M. Stan. For weeks, Stan has labored over a piece on what she calls the politics of trauma, a brand of politicking she claims has replaced the much-vaunted politics of fear: The politics of fear is based around ideas such as these: that homosexuals are out to recruit your children, that God will punish the nation for its sins, that the family is broken when women have power, that membership in the United Nations demands the surrender of our nation's sovereignty. In short, the politics of fear exploits the trepidation innate in humans when facing change of any kind, and tweaks it to a twitchy pitch in times of great social change. The politics of trauma is another beast entirely, based as it is, not on fear of the unknown, but the exploitation of something atroc...

Well, it looks as though Osama bin Laden, in his new release, has spared the Bush administration a need to concoct an elevated alert out of archival material. Your blogstress has yet to discern exactly what bin Laden means by this message, but your cybertrix can't help wondering if he isn't operating a 527. In bellwether New Jersey (yes, your Webwench knows you non-Jerseyans out there are sick of hearing of her beloved homeland), every time the alert meter ticks up to a richer hue, Bush's numbers spike upwards, even on the domestic issues--economy, health care, etc.--on which Garden Staters usually rate him as a slacker. (Do recall, dear reader, that your net-tête predicted an elevated alert in time for this Sunday's papers.)

From our friend, Spirit Guide, comes this story on the Guerrilla News Network. Russ Baker breaks news with his interview of Mickey Herskowitz, a ghostwriter of Bush's campaign biography, A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House (2000, William Morrow): HOUSTON--Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography. “He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999,” said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. “It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going t...

The timing of the chief justice's cancer surgery has thrust the issue of Supreme Court appointments back into the public eye--which should have never averted its gaze from this one--just before Americans head to the polls. Anybody who thinks this election is just about tax cuts, job losses, gay marriage and Iraq (as if those weren't enough) will hopefully be shocked back to reality. More than anything, this election is about the Constitution of the United States, and whether or not that gorgeous Enlightment document* will survive the age of Chaos Theory. Anyone who doubts the breadth of this proposition should contemplate this specter: Justice John Ashcroft . NOTE: You may have to first obtain your free Salon.com day pass in order to get the Ashcroft link to work. Well worth the extra clicks. *Gorgeous Constitution--In form, the girl is clearly stacked. In short, it's the Consitution's shape, its form, that has allowed it transcend the limitations of its fra...

So glad to hear that the democratic party is ready to pull out all the stops to win Arkansas's six electoral votes, according Ryan Lizza's Campaign Journal at The New Republic Online: ARKANSAS REALLY IN PLAY?: The DNC is buying ads, and Clinton will be there Sunday, according to The Arkansas Times's blog: Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, just held a conference call with Arkansas media to announce a $250,000 television ad buy for Arkansas... McAuliffe also confirmed that Bill Clinton will visit Arkansas on Sunday afternoon for a campaign event, although the details have not been finalized. He said it will be Clinton's last campaign stop in 2004 -- the former president will return to to his home in New York from Arkansas. Hey, Bill, think ya could manage a swing through Jersey on your way back to Chappaqua? Not that those 15 Northeastern electoral votes mean as much as six big, fat, batter-dipped Southern votes or anything....

It looks as though the Red Sox are about to win the World Series, which would be a good thing, thinks your blogstress. Those poor people in Boston have suffered long enough, and besides, your cybertrix is still holding a torch for the Mets--which means the Yankees are bad, bad, very bad. Your cyberscribe's blogger colleague, Kurt Gallagher, posits that a Red Sox victory would signal a cosmic shift of a positive nature , while the Internationalist, a die-hard Yankees fan, will be sobbing in his beer for the human race, doomed, obviously, by the coming apocalypse. Which leads us to the topic at hand: will New Jersey tip the scales toward the apocalypse by delivering 15 unexpected electoral votes to Geroge W. Bush? A new Quinnipiac poll calls the race a tie, with 46 points apiece. Bush, Kerry In Dead Heat In New Jersey, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Terrorism Concerns, Campaign Visit Help President President George W. Bush has closed a four-point gap with Democratic c...

From our trumpet-playing pal, Lips Buzz, comes this fascinating BBC News tidbit about the Bush campaign's control-freak tendencies run amok: Bush website blocked outside US Access to the site is blocked Surfers outside the US have been unable to visit the official re-election site of President George W Bush. The blocking of browsers sited outside the US began in the early hours of Monday morning. Since then people outside the US trying to browse the site get a message saying they are not authorised to view it. The blocking does not appear to be due to an attack by vandals or malicious hackers, but as a result of a policy decision by the Bush camp. Read the full story...

Seems that while we in the reality-based community can't get enough on the topic of Bush and religion, neither can those in the faith-based community. On the heels of Ron Susskind's masterful piece in the New York Times Magazine two Sundays ago comes Laurie Goodstein's assessment , in today's Times , of the president's church preferences, which she finds at odds with his political expressions of faith (such as queer-baiting and stem-cell shenanigans). For the faith-based contingent, the Philadelphia Inquirer offers this exposé on the role local churches are playing in distributing a video that all but lauds W as the Second Coming. (Well, he his the second coming--of a President Bush, that is.) For more reverent and thoughtful discussions of the presidential religion thing, your blogstress directs her readers to fellow bloggers Nathan Paxon and Josh Rhoderick, of Nate Knows Nada and Turnspit Daily , respectively.

"What to believe?!" writes Sallie SixToes from South Jersey, urging us to check out the latest Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll of likely New Jersey voters. The poll, reported last Tuesday, shows Kerry ahead by double digits: A Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll estimated Senator Kerry is supported by 51 percent of likely voters compared to 38 percent for the President--a 13-point margin that would, if accurate, mark Kerry's largest lead this month in New Jersey. The survey was conducted by telephone with 805 registered voters from October 14 to 17, 2004--after the final debate but before President Bush’s October 18 campaign stop in the state . [Emphasis added by cybertrix.] In the meantime, Quinnipiac reports, in a survey conducted over the same period, only a four-point margin--which is practically a tie when one considers the margin of error. And The Record of Hackensack reports Kerry as being seven points up. Says SixToes: I can tell you everyone in Monmouth Cou...

Phillip Coons, creator of the indispensible DelusionalDuck.com , is the winner of an autographed photo of your blogstress in her bustier for his correct answer to the question posed in the endnote to the AddieStan post titled, "Whenever the blues become my favorite song..." The song is "I Concentrate on You" by Cole Porter. (Despite the quiz's obvious appeal to the gay male contingent of the AddieStan readership, your Webwench somehow expected that a straight man would get there first.) Speaking of straight men getting there first, it should be said that one Mallemoraking actually was the first to report the correct answer, but was disqualified for already having seen your cybertrix in her bustier, oh, so many moons ago. Your blogstress does, nonetheless, bid him a happy birthday. Late out of the box was a very handsome queer woman with a penchant for parody, who came in third with the correct answer. In the banquet of your blogstress's life, it see...

From Nancy the New York Artist comes this chilling mass-generated missive, which she received from the suburban public high school attended by one of her very creative offspring: Dear Parent/Guardian of [name of New York Artist's child]: Pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act, N. Public School District must disclose to military recruiters and institutions of higher learning, upon request, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of high school students. The District must also notify parents of their right and the right of their child to request that the District not release such information without prior written parental consent. Parents wishing to exercise their option to withhold their consent to the release of the above information to military recruiters and institutions of higher learning must sign and return the attached form to the Principal by October 25, 2004. Sincerely, [principal's name] Principal Thank goodness, says Nancy, that this innocuous-look...

As the vice president evokes images of bombs falling on American cities, and billions earmarked for reconstruction lay untouched in Iraq, US military installations are living on austerity budgets that could affect the nation's ability to defend itself from attack. An AddieStan exclusive. An item on today's Military.com , making note of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill awaiting the president's signature, offers this plea: "It is hoped that the President will soon sign this bill into law." It's difficult not to read this as an understatement when one considers that military installations throughout the U.S. have been essentially out of money since early May. Two memoranda-- one from an Army general , and another, obtained by AddieStan.com , by an unnamed Navy chief petty officer--express hope for relief at the end of the 2004 fiscal year, which concludes on October 30th. Ship out of luck At Norfolk Naval Station, the world's largest naval ...