As this is an off year election which normally means low voter turn out, it is a prime opportunity to sneak bad ideas onto the ballots.

In Washington state there is Referendum 71 which is a law already passed by the state legislature, but opponents of the law have put it on the ballot in order to defeat it. Referendum 71 extends some rights already given to married couples, to people who have domestic partnerships. It isn’t a “gay marriage law”, it simply covers issues like probate that are already given to married couples.

A “yes” vote means the extra rights are extended to a new group of people. A “no” vote IMHO means that you want to discriminate.

In the state of Maine, there is Question 1, which is an attempt to repeal the existing law on same-sex marriages. A “yes” vote IMHO means that you want to discriminate. A “no” vote means you want all of the income generated by marriages, or you don’t think that the state should tell people who they can marry.

Maine also has Question 4. Before anyone considers voting “yes” on Question 4, they should take a good, hard look at the shape the state of California is in. Look at the mess that has been created by tying the hands of the legislature when attempting to fashion a budget, and ask yourself “Is this what I want for Maine?”

If you have elections tomorrow, vote. Let the politicians know you are paying attention.

should be recalled and fed the Congress all 2000 pages.

Lambert at Corrente notes in Nancy’s band-aid the preliminary analysis of the bill by letsgetitdone at FDL. He’s right, the main reason that nothing really happens until 2013 is because none of the people in charge want to run on what is going to happen.

Jack at the Grumpy Forester notes in Reform And My Half A Loaf that it’s probably better than nothing, but not much for his son with diabetes. Jack also coins the term “Beaten Dog Democrat™” to described the current leadership in Congress.

George at skippy’s notes that the Democrats offer him nothing after all his support. There is no help for his child with autism in this mess.

Digby notes that the Democrats are throwing women under the bus in catering to the Blue Dogs. This bill may extend the reach of the Hyde amendment even to private insurance if there are any subsidies.

Let’s be clear: the Republicans and Blue Dogs can’t stop a bill unless they are aided and abetted by the Beaten Dog Democrats™. If they aren’t going to pass a bill that will actually do more good than harm, there is no point in continuing to waste time on this mess.

If the Democrats won’t help the people who voted for them, there isn’t much point in voting for them again. Pick your favorite third party and give them your support, because the top two parties don’t care if you live or die.

Government appoint Drugs Rasputin to make drugs seem really really sinister

Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has appointed an evil Russian mystic as the government’s new drugs adviser. His role will be to tell the government exactly what they want to hear and to make drugs seem far more dangerous than they actually are.

Jehovah’s Witness kept talking all evening after making mistake of opening door to trick-or-treaters

The family of Mark Loveday, a 38-year-old Jehovah’s Witness from Lewisham, South London, was today regretting his ever having opened the front door to trick-or-treaters after he became embroiled in a painful three-hour discussion about the true meaning of the festival and its significance to modern society.

It makes as much sense as anything in the media, and they have better proofreaders.