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06/14/2004 Archived Entry: "Diebold parody ads"

So much to say has accumulated during my hiatus from McBlog that, altho' I love Lewis Carroll's advice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -- "Start at the beginning, and go until you come to the end, then stop" -- I'd be writing `til midnight if I followed it.

Plunging onward?One rakish fellow offers a novel response to the paperless system of e-voting designed by the Diebold Corporation, which is eliciting cries of "rigged election!" even before a Presidential ballot is cast. (See Electronic Freedom Frontier's archive page for background on the issue.) The fellow has created a page of 18 parody ads that sit above a legal disclaimer, "This page and these images are no way no how affiliated with Diebold Inc., and?are not necessarily representative of the opinions of Diebold's executives, shareholders or worker bees, no, not even in their dark malignant hearts, and did I mention that I hold the legal profession in the highest regard?"

I note with no real surprise that, at the 11th hour, the Supreme Court decided to sidestep the "Pledge of Allegiance" case which concerned removing or retaining the phrase "under God" from that oath. I say `sidestep' because the case was rejected on the technicality that Michael Newdow who originally brought suit on his daughter's behalf did not have "standing" as a parent. In a FOX/ifeminist column entitled "Parental rights and the Pledge" (04/14/04), I expressed suspicion that the Supreme Court would remove rights from noncustodial parents before it would let someone lob in a political grenade like stripping God from the Pledge.

Well?I'm just breaking myself back into the routine. So I'll see you tomorrow.

Cheers,
mac