Polygon, the Dancing Bear

Occasional notes on politics, history, technology, architecture,
and the life of a county clerk

2002:
May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2003:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2004:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2005:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2006:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2007:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2008:
January / February / March
April / May

Current entries

Sunday, October 31, 2004, 3:55 pm

Michigan Daily Won't Cover County Races. Citing a lack of staff and column space, the Michigan Daily student newspaper will not cover any of the Washtenaw County races in Tuesday's election.

Two editors I spoke with this afternoon acknowledged that U-M students play a big role in county politics, but politely declined to do anything to inform them.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Sunday, October 31, 2004, 1:19 pm

Ann Arbor News Endorses, um... The Ann Arbor News has a very liberal readership and a very conservative publisher. So how do they come down in the presidential race?

Fascinating to relate, they endorsed George W. Bush — but left his name out of the headline!

Unlike their other endorsements, there is no photo of the chosen candidate alongside the headline.

It reminds me of those oddball Michigan Supreme Court decisions where a vote changed at the last minute, and the dissent, almost unedited, is presented as the majority opinion.

Earlier, the News endorsed my opponent (no link, because they didn't put it online), but did say some nice things about me:

Peggy Haines faces a challenge Nov. 2 from Democrat Larry Kestenbaum, a prinicipled technology and elections expert with a solid background in county government... We're convinced Kestenbaum's experience in elections administrations, computer databases and security would prove an asset to any county clerk's office.

Meanwhile, Greg Hlatky, my politically conservative mentor in blogging, who earlier endorsed my candidacy for County Clerk, posts an (apparently unserious) endorsement of John Kerry.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Friday, October 15, 2004, 10:13 am

You're invited! Please join David Bonior, former Democratic Whip of the U.S. Congress, at a rally for the Kestenbaum for County Clerk/Register campaign, at 6:00 pm, Thursday, October 28, at UAW Local 849, 454 Chidester, Ypsilanti, Michigan (click address for location map). Entertainment, cider and donuts, donation requested.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Friday, October 8, 2004, 8:07 am

New Aspect of Campaigning Door-to-Door. Voters who immediately blog about it!

Belated thanks, as well, for AnnArborIsOverrated's endorsement of my candidacy.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Wednesday, October 6, 2004, 11:42 pm

Proposal 1. One of the two statewide proposals on Michigan's ballot November 2 is as follows:

No law enacted after January 1, 2004, that authorizes any form of gambling shall be effective, nor after January 1, 2004, shall any new state lottery games utilizing table games or player operated mechanical or electronic devices be established, without the approval of a majority of electors voting in a statewide general election and a majority of electors voting in the township or city where gambling will take place. This section shall not apply to gambling in up to three casinos in the city of Detroit or to Indian tribal gaming.

I'm voting "yes" on this.

Casino gambling destroys lives and corrupts politics. I strongly opposed the original gambling ballot proposal, which passed on a close vote and allowed the creation of several casinos in Detroit. This new proposal doesn't undo the damage caused by the original, of course, but limiting the opening of new casinos is a good thing, even if it means the existing ones make slightly more money.

I grew up in mid-Michigan, at a time when large-scale gambling was a distant rumor. It didn't affect anyone I knew.

But my wife comes from Kentucky, where betting on horse races is embedded in the culture. Just about every male in her ancestry, on both sides, going back generations, had a gambling problem. In other words, they had an addiction to betting on horses with money they couldn't afford to lose, and their wives and children suffered.

You can see this kind of family drama being played out again wherever casinos are. The whole point of a casino is to fool people and take their money. Folks who lightheartedly bet a few dollars when they're on vacation in a casino town are not the ones paying for all those fancy palaces.

Nor does gambling deliver on promises of being an economic panacea to depressed urban areas. Detroit and Atlantic City are both examples of how little good casinos do for a community.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Monday, October 4, 2004, 12:52 pm

Two Faces. Digby has a great essay about GWB. Some excerpts:

...after 9/11, the media cast Bush in the role of strong, resolute leader, perhaps because the nation needed him to be that, at least for a little while. And the people gratefully laid that mantle on him and he took it because the office demanded no less. The narrative of the nation at war required a warrior leader and George W. Bush was all we had. Karl Rove and others understood that they could use this veil to soothe the American people and flatter the president to take actions that no prudent, thoughtful leader would have taken after our initial successes in Afghanistan. This “man with the bullhorn” image of Bush crystallized in the minds of many Americans and has not been revisited until now....

On Thursday night sixty-one million people watched George W. Bush for the first time since 9/11 not as that symbol, but as a man. And for those who had not reassessed their belief in his personal leadership since 9/11, it was quite a shock. Their strong leader was inarticulate, arrogant, confused and immature. They must be wondering who that man was.

The truth is that since George W. Bush entered politics he has always had two faces. In fact, virtually everything you know about his public persona is the opposite of the real person....

George W. Bush is a man with two faces— a public image of manly strength and a private reality of childish weakness. His verbal miscues and malapropisms are the natural consequence of a man struggling with internal contradictions and a lack of self-knowledge. He can'’t keep track of what he is supposed to think and say in public.

Go read it all..

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

2002:
May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2003:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December