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Thursday, November 04, 2004

AAR-IRC Election Night Success

   By Emelius at 10:39 AM

      While the elections did not go the way some would have liked, we do have good news. #AAR was able to run election bots that brought real time returns from each state directly into the channel. We believe that this may have been a historic event and that we may have been the only IRC channel on the internet to provide such a service. This allowed guests to type in their state of interest and get the results they wanted as they came in. We had 1 main bot with 2 back ups ready to go. Armed with multiple resources to draw from in case of an internet meltdown, we did not have a single problem all night. Even while the elections were going, we were able to refine our data and switch out bots without any interruption of service. This proved most valuable in the wee hours of Wednesday when we were most concerned about those states that were ‘Too close to call’.

      In addition to the technical mastery we were able to display, we also had a human factor. Armed with an army of admins, we were able to provide customer services and instructional data to make the experience easy and accessible for everyone attending. With notices, instructions, private one on one help, and general crowd control, we were able to maintain an enjoyable and informative experience for a steady in and out stream of over 70 people all night.

      In all, the night was a huge success for a night that was 7 months in the planning. I would like to take the time though to acknowledge our Operators and Voices who did an outstanding job. Without them volunteering their time and knowledge to the effort, we never would have pulled it off. I would also like to single out a few people who really went over the top to make sure the night was a success. Kio and GimmieLiberty were in charge of our bots and data retrieval. Leftnut helped to isolate and fix any code problems we had and put on the finishing touches. CalicoCat was our PR wiz and helped to instruct people on how to use our services as well as did some advertising. And I am sure I will get blasted for not including myself, but will do so reluctantly. I helped to coordinate the event, advertise, and update our blog with election results. While I would love to list every single one of everyone’s effort, the list would be mind boggling. Know though that we all appreciate your long night and support and we could not of done it without you. If you were in the channel on Tuesday night and go into the channel tonight, don’t feel awkward to give any of our admins a ‘thank you’ for making the night a success. You can even leave us a message in our thread comments if you like so as to make sure they see it.

      Personally I say thank you to our staff and all those who attended. Despite the results, the experience will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Liberal! There, I Said It.

   By Emelius at 8:57 AM

      There are some that say that they don’t know where the liberals stand on values or what the agenda is. They are unable to define what we believe in. Cool! That is what a liberal is all about. Those who question liberal values and can’t nail them down are the narrow minded people we are resisting. The whole point of the liberal agenda is based on choice and discussion. You see, liberals debate with each other, not to isolate each other, but to bring us together. We discuss the issues and find solutions. We talk to one another and try to understand and see what the other wants and try to include them in our mindset. These are not bad attributes as others would have you believe. We believe in inclusion. While the republicans took a majority of Christian/Catholic voters, they did not take them all. Also, those are the only religious groups they took. Democrats took a majority in all other religious sects. Again proving that we are not the narrow minded group that others want us to be. Liberals are able to set up dinner with Christians, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Agnostics, and Atheists, get along, and set an agenda. Those who say that liberals are anti-Israel are wrong. Unlike the conservatives who choose sides, we say both Israel and Palestine are in the wrong. We want peace in the Middle East, and fault those who are at fault. Conservatives say that liberals are pro-abortion. Wrong again Spanky. Liberals could care less if you have an abortion. That is your CHOICE and belief. It is not for us to dictate.

      Choice is really the heart of the liberal agenda. Choice to be gay or straight. Choice to have an abortion or not. Choice to be any religion you want to be. Choice to say what you want, where ever you want. Choice to be anonymous. Choice to be free. Choice to have it both ways if you want it. Choice, choice, choice. The conservatives are all about my way or the highway. Criminalization and demonization. That is not freedom. Liberals are pro America while conservatives are pro Nationalization.

      You can’t nail a liberal down so don’t try. Don’t be ashamed of it, embrace it. We don’t flip flop, we analyze and adjust. We seek solutions. Let’s take gay marriage. I have held a solution to gay marriage for some time now that just absolutely shocks the conservatives and you can only imagine my surprise when I heard it echoed last night on The West Wing. Let’s ban marriage from government approval. Yes, I said it. Let the government recognize legal unions between all people. You want a union? Fine, pay your tax, sign the paper, you are a legal union. Marriage is a concoction of religion. It is just a formality. If you want to get “Married”, then get married. You have that CHOICE. Go to your church and have a priest marry you. No biggie. Government should not get involved in your private life. That is liberal. Anyone who would want to force you to go through a church to get married is a fundamentalist that is narrow minded and trying to force their beliefs upon you whether you agree or not. This is not anti-religion, it is pro government, pro freedom, and supports the constitution.

      The time to hide is over. Liberal is not a dirty word or a bad thing to be. We are the real American’s and we are proud of it. Is it elitist to proclaim choice? No. It is oppressive to deny choice. So stand up and be proud. Wear that L on your arm with pride. Challenge anyone who stands in your way. Keep the debate going and show the world what the real danger to America is. Liberals pray for world peace. Liberals comfort the hungry and homeless. Liberals embrace all Americans.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The Day After Tomorrow

   By Emelius at 6:23 PM

      I know today may be rough for some of you. We pinned our hopes on a man and he could not get the job done as of today. There will be lots of reflections to the past and what should have been done. Where did we go wrong? Where did we go right? And then there is tomorrow. While we sort out the votes and try to fix what is broken with the voting system in this country, we must also look to how we can get our agenda done. So I would like to propose a few things that I think will make the Democratic party stronger.


  • State Amendments: We need amendments in every state that hold the SOS responsible for reporting election information. Never again should a state release voter returns until every single poll within that states borders are closed and the votes collected.

  • Local Media: It is not just the large market media’s that we need to keep in check, but the local media also. If your local news is reporting things that are not accurate, then let them know via e-mail. It only takes a minute and is very effective.

  • Why is rural Iowa choosing our urban democratic presidents? We need an effort to push the first primaries to urban blue states where we know what we need from a candidate.

  • FCC standards for political ads: Let’s enforce the same rules and laws for media on election media. There should be no objection to truth in advertising rules for any broadcast and most importantly, for political ads with the world at stake.

  • Equal Time: Equal time laws should be reinstated and allow the airwaves not to be abused by those with an agenda and money. The process of the media has deteriorated to a point that the lines have become blurred between news and commentary.

  • Democrats are democrats: One of the largest issues I have seen in the past few months is the general dissatisfaction with the party. Many feel that the party has abandoned it’s core values in the hopes of swaying republican voters. This has alienated many followers of the party and made them leave or wish they could leave. The democrats has further alienated the members of it’s party by playing ball with the other side and even going so far as elevating republicans to a higher status in efforts to get a rub off effect. All this has done though is get democrats to vote republican. Democrats have even voted with republicans to save their jobs, only to once again, abandon the values of the party that elected them. This has all resulted in liberal becoming a bad word and the democrats will not even defend themselves. Democrats should be democrats. They should vote like it, act like it, and defend it, or get out of the party.



      These are only a few things we can do to try to get back on track. While it is still early to be talking about tomorrow, these are things that need to be talked about. It is time to rethink where you fit into the Democratic Party. Find those core values and move on them. Take these values to your local and state elections and redevelop your community based on your newly understood values. Then when another presidential election comes, maybe we can be sure that we want our guy and not just don’t want theirs.

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