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Open Thread: These folks would have voted early.

Submitted by Robert P. on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 9:35am



When the elections finally took place on schedule, beginning on April 26, 1994, the government and the ANC had several thousand security forces, with varying degrees of training and authority, in place to prevent serious outbreaks of violence. Remarkably, the violence subsided. A few "exceptional" votes were cast by voters who were disabled or were living outside South Africa on April 26. During the next two days, more than 22 million voters stood in line for hours at some 9,000 polling places to exercise their newly won right to vote. Balloting was extended through April 29. There was no voter registration list, so IEC officials marked voters' fingers with indelible ink to prevent fraud.

Comments

Posting on Orange County early voting later today.

Submitted by Robert P. on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 9:37am.

"You could say, 'Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted?' Most of us have never heard of him before." John McCain, following Clinton's strikes on al Qaeda camps

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

Voted yesterday in Carrboro

Submitted by James on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 9:49am.

The operation was excellent, no long wait, just a steady flow of excited people.
_____________________________________

Doubts about Dole?

Karim Rashid Sultan Khan

Submitted by Robert P. on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:02am.


I hadn't seen the picture that Colin Powell talked about so eloquently on Meet the Press. From Maureen Dowd:

But what sent him over the edge and made him realize he had to speak out was when he opened his New Yorker three weeks ago and saw a picture of a mother pressing her head against the gravestone of her son, a 20-year-old soldier who had been killed in Iraq. On the headstone were engraved his name, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, his awards — the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star — and a crescent and a star to denote his Islamic faith.

“I stared at it for an hour,” he told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”
...
He told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Powell got a note from Feroze Khan this week thanking him for telling the world that Muslim-Americans are as good as any others. But he also received more e-mails insisting that Obama is a Muslim and one calling him “unconstitutional and unbiblical” for daring to support a socialist. He got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought.

"You could say, 'Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted?' Most of us have never heard of him before." John McCain, following Clinton's strikes on al Qaeda camps

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

I voted yesterday, too

Submitted by scharrison on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:04am.

At the May Memorial library in Burlington. And I had to coach the poll worker into finding my proper registration in the system, by typing in my birth date instead of just my name, so apparently the search parameters in the state-wide database are still wonky.

But it went pretty smoothly, other than that. Took a grand total of 40 minutes to make it through the line and vote, compared to the 3+ hours for the Primary.

I wish that photo were available in poster size

Submitted by Brunette on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:11am.

with Colin Powell quoted underneath "Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?"

I would vote early , but I can't

Submitted by Marshall Adame on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:20am.

I am stuck in NY. I will drive home to Jacksonville NC on Friday the 30th and stay home to vote on Tuesday the 4th;....Then back to the rock pile.

You folks who get to stay in NC full time should count your blessings.

ROBERT; The picture of the grave of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan at Arlington Cemetary is moving and should be a stark reminder of who we are as Americans.

As always Robert you are insightful, sensative and awesome.

Marshall Adame

You should have done absentee!

Submitted by Robert P. on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:26am.

"You could say, 'Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted?' Most of us have never heard of him before." John McCain, following Clinton's strikes on al Qaeda camps

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

ZOMFG......ZOMFG......wow.

Submitted by Robert P. on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 12:29pm.
See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me

It's going to make them absolutely ill at TAP

Submitted by Brunette on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 1:36pm.

So I couldn't wait to post it, in my own clumsy way.

Obama's campaign ought to run with this

Submitted by Brunette on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 12:45pm.

If they could just pin ole Andy down for a spot sharing a bench with Obama and saying,
"Barak Obama will make a gooooooooood President!"

This state has the chance to finally overcome Helms' legacy. It staggers the mind but it absolutely fills one's heart.