Hello from the land of progressives. This is the Adirondack Howler for Sunday, October 17th, 2010. As of today, there are only 16 days until Election Day.

What's On My Mind

1) Before I get to what is bothering me about the elections, I want to comment on a local problem that is part of national implications. Recently, I have noticed the bridge on Route 9N that spans Lake Luzerne and Hadley has now become a one lane bridge due to needed repairs. This reminded me of an article in today's Commondreams.org by Rupert Cornwell about how this nation needs to spend $2.2 trillion to upgrade our highways, rail system, airports, and seaports. However, according to the piece, budget deficits and the right wing will prevent this from coming to fruition. I ask the people of these two towns to realize that this small highway is part of this multi-trillion dollar investment that can help both of their local economies. The article can be found at http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/17-2 .

2) I know that many people are thinking of either voting for a third party or staying home this Election Day in order to teach the Democrats a lesson. (I am not going to be one of them. I will be voting early in the morning.) I would like to suggest that people read an essay by Robert Parry which can be found at http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/15-7 . He gives four examples from 1968, 1980, 1994, and 2000 as to why not voting for Democrats backfired to the detriment of our nation. For all who have a desire to barricade our country against right wing troglodytes and Tea Partiers, please take time to read Parry's story.

3) With the day of voting approaching, I read an article in Talking Points Memo about speakers at recent seminars of the Republican National Lawyers Association. This read as a Who's Who of voter fraud fear mongering. After reading this piece, I was reminded to put this in the back of my brain before anyone casts a ballot. The story can be found here.

Three Cheers of the Week

1) To Isabel MacDonald for her cover story in The Nation about Lou Dobbs. The article showed another example of a prominent right wing hypocrite.

2) To Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, co-hosts of ABC-TV's The View for walking off the set during the group's interview with Bill O'Reilly. I hope other members of the media extend the same message especially after Mr. O'Reilly's past incendiary remarks.

3) To the people who operate WikiLeaks for continuing to show mettle in getting ready to reveal more documents in relation to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Three Boos of the Week

1) To Ken Buck, the GOP candidate for governor of Colorado, for the comparison of being gay to alcoholism during a debate on NBC's Meet The Press. I ask Mr. Buck to treat everyone with respect even if you don't like them.

2) To Glenn Beck for his demonizing of the Tides Foundation, an oraganization dedicated to economic justice. Mr. Beck, why don't you donate some of your book royalties to the Tides?

3) To Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., for his donations to the Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Governors Association. Mr. Murdoch, if you have any spare change, why don't you donate to organizations such as the Progressive Democrats of America and the People For The American Way.

That is all I have to say for now. This is the Adirondack Howler signing off on the 268th day after the Citizens United decision in the Supreme Court, opening up the spigots of corporate cash and poisoning the well of our democracy.