[jQuery] IE only browsers that break - need help

[jQuery] IE only browsers that break - need help


My code runs great in every browser but IE6 IE7 and IE8. it breaks and
causes all scripts to fail.
i setup Visual Web Developer in my VM like a blog post told me, and
when i load the page i get
Microsoft JScript runtime error: Object doesn't support this property
or method
that seem to break on this line
login_button = $('#login_button');
its basically my setup for the jQuery UI dialog.
This is the entire piece
$(document).ready(function() {
// buttons
login_button = $('#login_button');
whistle_button = $('#whistle_banner_btn');
victim_button = $('#victim_banner_btn');
join_button = $('#join_fight_banner_btn');
sub_blow_button = $('#blow_the_whistle');
sub_spread_word = $('#spread_the_word');
// divs
login_box = $('#login_box');
whistle_box = $('#whistle_box');
join_box = $('#join_box');
login_box.hide();
whistle_box.hide();
join_box.hide();
// div setups
login_box.dialog({width: 400, modal: true, resizable: false,
autoOpen: false});
whistle_box.dialog({width: 500, modal: true, resizable: false,
autoOpen: false});
join_box.dialog({width: 500, modal: true, resizable: false,
autoOpen: false});
// actions
login_button.click(function() {
login_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
whistle_button.click(function() {
whistle_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
victim_button.click(function() {
join_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
join_button.click(function() {
join_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
sub_blow_button.click(function() {
whistle_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
sub_spread_word.click(function() {
join_box.dialog("open");
return false;
});
});
im not a js expert, so im hoping someone can point me in the right
direction..