Beau Babka Campaign Breaking the Law

I go to vote this morning, and what do I see parked in front of my polling place?

Tacky? Yes.

Illegal? Yes.

From the Salt Lake County Poll Worker Manual, page 48:

Campaigning or other activities that interfere with voting or influence voters is prohibited. Ask the offenders politely to stop or refrain from their activities. If the activity does not cease, call the Elections Division. Any threatening or dangerous behavior should be immediately reported to local law enforcement first, then to the Elections Division. Electioneering includes oral or written attempts to persuade voters to refrain from voting or to vote for or against a candidate or issue. No electioneering or campaigning is allowed within 150 feet of the polling place.

And that truck is definitely less than 150 feet from the polling place(the building right behind the truck).

To be fair, the truck was removed by the time we left our polling place.

I'm Not Surprised -- Crandal Canyon, Chinese Lead, Katrina, Iraq, Osama, Hanging Chads

I'm not surprised.

I'm not surprised that the government seems so clueless on mine safety. Upset, but not surprised.

This is, after all, the same government that can't seem to keep lead-contaminated toys off our shelves. The lead is coming in from China. China. The Communists. Surely, you would think that neocons could figure out that communists can't be trusted. That's what they won election with for many, many years. They'll still throw the C-word out when they are backed into a corner. I'm surprised they haven't tried to say that Saddam was a commie.

But, at the same time, I'm not surprised.

This is the same government that couldn't figure out how to get life-saving supplies like food and water into New Orleans. For 100 hours, they said it was impossible. Who cares that NBC and CNN were able to get private cars in and out. Fox News was able to get two satellite trucks in. But, the government, they couldn't figure it out. And that's not to mention they fact that we can airlift food and water into Pakistan 36 hours after an earthquake, but we can't pull it off in our own country. Let's not mention the fact that they turned private-sector charities away at gunpoint from going in.

Guess What? I'm not surprised.

After all, this is the government with the most powerful army in the world that has taken four and a half years to wage a war that we are no closer to winning than we were four and a half years ago.

But, I'm not surprised. This is the same government that has taken 6 years to catch the man who masterminded the worst terrorist attack on our soil. Except we haven't caught him.

But really, should I be surprised? This is the same government that, in answer to an election fiasco, has never addressed the causes of that fiasco. The problem wasn't the hanging chad, it was the fact that there was no definition of what constituted a vote on the ballot. Should we be surprised to learn that there is still no definition in most states?

No. Because it's par for the course.

-Bob