Welcome political bettors!Step up and place your bets!
This diary is to give you all a chance now to get your wagers down on what skull-duggery, dirty tricks, rat-fucking and other nastiness the Republicans will come up with to TRY to steal the elections yet again! No political entity on earth is better at lying, cheating and rigging elections than the Grand Old Party and we can....we must...we HAVE A SACRED DUTY to anticipate, expose and defeat their strategies this cycle.
Here is one possibility! That was from '04, so they have kept in reserve for this cycle, apparently. They fail in the article to point out a secondary advantage of enriching the oil cartel even more. Plus a Hummer giveaway would never gull the discerning and intelligent American voter....would it?
Some historical perspective courtesy of Wikipedia
1968 Humphrey vs. Nixon
Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced to the nation on March 31, 1968 that he had ordered a cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" above the 20th parallel. Additionally, and quite surprisingly, Johnson stated that he would not accept the Democratic nomination for a second term. As the race between Humphrey and Nixon was winding down by October 1968, with the polls indicating Nixon was in the lead, Johnson announced on October 31 a complete bombing halt of North Vietnam, once again citing that progress had been made in the Paris negotiations. Johnson hoped that the negotiations would bear fruit by the time of the election, and the Vietnam War would be officially over. However, Nixon and his team pulled off an "October surprise" by secretly convincing the South Vietnamese to pull out of the talks. With the war continuing, many liberal voters would not vote for Humphrey, and Nixon won by only 500,000 popular votes (though he did gain 110 more electoral votes than Humphrey - 301 to Humphrey's 191). Bombing above the 20th parallel in North Vietnam would not resume again until May 1972 with Operation Linebacker. A vast majority of the sorties that had been flown over North Vietnam would be shifted to Vietnamese strongholds in Laos and later in Cambodia.
1976 Carter vs. Ford
The 1970s Team B experiment to study Soviet military capabilities was created by conservative cold warriors determined to stop détente and the SALT process. Panel members were all hard-liners. The experiment was leaked to the press in an unsuccessful attempt at an October surprise to derail Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential bid.
1980 Carter vs. Reagan
Main article: October surprise conspiracy
During the Iran hostage crisis, the Republican challenger Ronald Reagan feared a last-minute deal to release the hostages, which would hand incumbent Jimmy Carter a goodwill vote winning the election.
Due to the release of the hostages at the precise moment of Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981, rumors surfaced that the Reagan campaign made a "secret hostage deal with the Iranian government" whereby the Iranians would hold the hostages until Reagan was inaugurated, ensuring that Carter would lose the election. Two separate congressional investigations as well as several investigative journalists looked into the charges, both concluding evidence was insufficient.
Three books, all titled October Surprise are major sources detailing the allegations by senior Carter and Reagan staffs (Gary Sick, Barbara Hoeneger) and Robert Parry (an investigative journalist).
1992 Bush vs. Clinton
Just four days before the vote that year, Ronald Reagan's defense secretary Caspar Weinberger was implicated during Iran-Contra. Though he claims to have been opposed to the sale on principle, Weinberger participated in the transfer of United States TOW missiles to Iran, and was later indicted on several felony charges of lying to the Iran-Contra independent counsel during its investigation. The relevance of the situation stopped a late Bush surge in the polls and Republicans howled at the timing. Weinberger received a Presidential pardon from President George H.W. Bush on December 24, 1992, just days before his trial was scheduled to begin..(emphasis mine)
2004 Bush vs. Kerry
The 2004 presidential campaign saw more than its share of "October surprises". On September 8, CBS anchor Dan Rather presented a report on 60 Minutes II that alleged that George W. Bush dishonorably avoided full service in the Texas Air National Guard during the 1960's. The report was discovered to have flaws in its journalistic standards, and the authenticity of key documents was never established; the ensuing scandal became known as "Rathergate". On its face the story was potentially damaging to Bush, but the outcome generated debate about anti-Republican or liberal bias in mainstream media. Many analysts considered the incident a wash as far as voting outcomes, as it chiefly reinforced entrenched opinion.
On October 27, reports surfaced about the disappearance of huge cache of explosives from a warehouse in al Qa'qaa (see Missing explosives in Iraq). The John Kerry campaign blamed the Bush administration for this supposed mismanagement, while many conservatives cited Kerry's position as a "flip-flop" from his previous statements decrying the Bush administration for misleading the public on the issue of Saddam Hussein's pre-war weapons programs and WMD capabilities.
On October 29, the Arabic news agency Al Jazeera aired a video of Osama bin Laden (see 2004 Osama bin Laden video). In a speech that justifies and takes responsibility for the actions of September 11th, bin Laden calls out the Bush administration and the American position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Your security does not lie in the hands of Kerry, Bush, or al-Qaeda," Osama claimed; "Your security is in your own hands." This is believed to have helped President Bush's campaign as it thrust the War on Terrorism back into the public eye. There is debate as to whether OBL was aware of the effect the video would have on the elections; the "Bush bounce" from the video did not surprise most outside observers of the 2004 election.
As I have said many times here, the Republicans have EVERYTHING to lose. It's Karl's last election and they know that its a dire survival situation for them. Win...or impeachment, war crimes trials, prison time, book deals, big speaking fees, etc. Consider the stops thrown out, the gloves off, and any remaining shreds of integrity out the window. It's Do or Do Time time!!! (hey, a boy can still dream right?)
So what will those little democracy killing, election stealing, totalitarian scamps come up with this time???
By Dood Abides ......... {Dood! In all the image surfing I do, this is the first time I've seen yer stuff I was thrilled!}
Conversely, will the Dems have it together to perhaps come up with a Surprise of their own this year? Wouldn't that be a fun development, for a change? Lot's of juicy speculation possible there! Something to do with Diebold and hard evidence perhaps?
And speaking of speculation, this certainly is! Don't worry about getting banned for speculating about future conspiracies, go frikkin nuts if you want!
Place your bets, ladies and germs! Write what you think this years October Surprise is and after we have taken back the House and Senate I will publish the winner!
What do you win....well a pony of coursebut you will also recieve other warm and joyous pixels in various forms from your fellow Kossacks and Kossovarians, mucho mojo, and a half hour shopping spree at The Tradin' Post!
Have fun!!
p.s. I tried to do a Katrina diary, but it still just hurts too much, maybe after these guys are in jail, or when their heinous crime of negligent homicide and let them eat cake-ism has been karmic-ly punished somehow, I will be able to write about the fact that they have allowed, abetted, encouraged, a major American city and millions of lives to be destroyed. WHILE THEY SAT AND WATCHED AND DID NOTHING. Iraq is one thing, there have been many, many horrible unjust wars in history. I've absorbed that level of inhumanity, but wilfully killing one of your own cities is IMO, a new wrinkle in the Oligarchies huge book of crimes against humanity. I guess I'm not yet a strong enough person to absorb this level of horror and hubris. REMEMBER NOLA!