Americans for the Arts provides links to position papers of where the presidential candidates stand on issues relating to the arts.

Take a gander at what they say and know that just because a link no longer works doesn’t mean the candidate doesn’t have a position. I’m looking at your shifty website, Huckabee.

Among the Democrats, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama express strong support for the arts and education. Bonus points go to Clinton, who pointed out how NCLB left the arts (and, by extension, the children) behind. Bonus points go to Barack Obama for proposing new, innovative programs to bring the arts to places where they are needed the most. Additional bonus points go to Mike Huckabee, who has the courage among Republicans to say anything, and to take a very strong position at that — calling the arts, “weapons of mass instruction.”

Streetsblog has done an excellent job of researching the presidential candidates’ records on transportation. What they brought up, combined with the additional comments on each post, reveals much about how each of the candidates stand not only on transportation reform, but also on energy and the environment.

Part one discusses the Republicans.

Part two discusses the Democrats.

In case you’re on the fence one way or another, this is a little-discussed issue of real substance that may help sway you one way or another.

Robert makes a terrific point:

Second, nearly all the people polled answered in socio-political terms. In so doing they made a more important error: they confused freedom with liberty. All liberties are freedoms, but not all freedoms are liberties and confusing the two is serious business.

Why is the Bush administration secretive? If you think it’s for reasons of national security, you guessed wrong.

Here’s one piece of the puzzle, courtesy of the New York Times:

If you want to know something as simple as who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, don’t bother to ask the safety agency’s communications office. Without special permission, officials there are no longer allowed to provide information to reporters except on a background basis, which means it cannot be attributed to a spokesman.

NHTSA is the best resource out there on automobile safety. To close that resource — except on a megalomaniacal quest to control the information — can only place Americans in danger. The only group this protects is auto manufacturers, who are more concerned about selling cars than selling safe cars. Remember: this is the same group that insisted that seatbelt and airbag requirements would make cars too unaffordable to too many consumers.

There is clearly no intention here to protect American lives. Should the Bush administration have any concern for actual human life, they would let the sunshine in.

This poem is based on a 1994 speech by former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

Respect government authority.
Obey government authority.
But don’t depend on the government.
Let government authorities tell you what to do.
But the government’s not going to do anything for you.

Family.
Personal responsibility.
Religious authority.
Shared values.
Listen to my free speech.

Government authority is the solution.
Government is not the solution.
Society must figure out families.
Schools train responsible citizens.
Government solutions figure out citizen families.

Government.
No government
Citizenship.
Family solutions.
Listen to my free speech.

Definitions

• Giulianitri: An act of dizzying rhetorical acrobatics that advocate unlimited government authority in an environment free of government authority.
• Hannititus: A highly contagious psychological disease that causes a blind subservience to military power, despite a vile hatred of government. Symptoms include: an ignorance of the extent to which tax money is spent on the perception of security; an unwillingness to pay taxes, even if more of the money is spent on the perception of security; and generalized paranoia.
• Boortzamungus: A mass hysteria form of Hannititus. If you are planning a trip to Georgia, you would be wise to receive Boortzamnugus vaccinations before traveling.