Not Too Early for the Soap Box

Well, well. Nate Silver's 538.com now (post RNC bump) has Trump taking the majority of electoral college votes in November. It's way too early to get upset but not too early to say this for what will probably be 20 times before now and then.

Realistically you can vote for Donald Trump and what he stands for or you can vote for Hillary Clinton and what she stands for. That’s it. Those are the choices. If you choose NOT to vote for either or vote for Trump, you are responsible if Trump wins. Hillary is making her pitch in spite of the lies and obstruction thrown at her by the GOP and Donald is making his but in the end it is the voters who will decide, and to quote some lyrics, “if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.”

It troubles me that people don’t understand that elections aren’t about their feelings and emotions. You look at which candidate is more likely to do things you like and which one is more likely to do things you don't like, and depending on your level of psychosis, you choose accordingly. Your emotions may impact how involved you get or if you donate or if you are enthusiastic about voting or if you go out and work to elect a candidate, but your emotions shouldn’t be shaping your decision. It's math and logic, get emotions out of it. Judging by how many poor and middle-class people have been voting GOP and against their self interest of the last few elections there is some serious psychosis out there.

Oh, and don't bother with reminding me that there is a Green Party and a Libertarian Party. They are there for people who refuse to think clearly and insist that emotion plays a part in all of this. Spare me.

h/t J.Cole for the inspiration

Simple Enough Reason to Support Hillary

No I am not going to unreservedly support Hillary but if she turns out to be the nominee then I will support her. I won't agree with her on everything but when you consider the current GOP alternatives she is the Goddess of all that is good.

Jonathan Chait offers five reasons why Hillary Clinton will win the presidency in 2016. But in the end, his sixth reason may be the only one that matters:

The argument for Clinton in 2016 is that she is the candidate of the only major American political party not run by lunatics.

"That sums it up for me."

via Digby

Good Reasons to Vote this November

This list appeared on Twitter but I thought it needed to be shared here as well. This is an important election coming up and no Democrat or Liberal Independent can afford to sit it out. We are facing momentous problems and the GOP is not interested in solving any of them. We can win if we all vote.

Ugly and Getting Uglier

The following chart speaks volumes about what has been going on in the U.S. for the last 20 or so years. The fat cats are getting fatter and the rest of us are getting screwed. This is what money in politics translates into when all is said and done. If we don't get the GOP out of government as well as all those Democrats beholding to big money then we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Get out and vote in 48 days and vote Democratic. It won't solve all the problems but it might let us begin to focus on them.  h/t to Digby

Getting What They Want

A lot of folks may be unclear as to why we are facing a government shutdown in a few hours. The reason is quite clear and the shutdown is exactly what the craziest side of the GOP wanted. Steve Benen makes it clear here.

The Senate and the House both passed budget bills months and months ago and in the normal way of governing would have gone into conference and resolved their differences through compromise. The radicals in the Republican House have refused to conference in favor of getting us to the point of shutdown hoping that they would get enough "leverage" so that they wouldn't have to compromise at all. Yes, it's insane but don't every think it is not on purpose.

Dead Is Dead

It sure looks like the moneyed elite are going to get their way and have as commit war crimes again. It doesn't look good for us pacifists. They've dragged out the old lie that getting dead from poison gas is so much worse and some kind of "red line" that it just absolutely requires us to kill some more. You know it's a lie and a damned silly one at that. All the people dead from the alleged poison gas are just as dead as if they were blown up by a car bomb or shot point blank with a handgun or picked off at 400 yards by a sniper. Dead is dead and they don't care how they died.

The reality is that it is too late to make whimpering noises about how awful it was that these poor folks died by poison gas and not by a bullet. Is it going to make it all better if some more of them die at the hands of a Tomahawk cruise missile or an F-16 strafing run? The time for action was some 100,000 Syrians ago when there was some chance of heading off a generation of hate. We're pretty much too late now.

An accurate "test" of any action and especially any action that will likely result in the loss of innocent lives is to assess who will benefit from the action and who will benefit if there is no action. From my perspective the only folks that will benefit from spending 20 or more million dollars "making a statement" are those selling cruise missiles and other weaponry and it should go without saying that this includes those elected using copious amounts of money from the "bomb and gun sellers". I sure can't see how anyone(except maybe grave diggers) are going to benefit from more of the same crap that has killed so many of them over the last few years. Show me where I am wrong here.

In the end we'll just have another Middle Eastern population that justifiably hates us and is an active recruiting ground for terrorists. On the bright side, that many more haters will give the NSA and CIA all the more reason to listen to every grunt you make on the toilet. Freedom!

The Least Of My Brothers

The New York Times Editorial Page tells it like it is:

On two crucial issues this week, the extremists who dominate the Republican majority in the House of Representatives made it clear how little interest they have in the future prosperity of their country, or its reputation for fairness and decency. The House will refuse to consider a comprehensive immigration bill that could lead to citizenship for millions of immigrants, Republican leaders said on Wednesday, and will slowly and casually consider a few border-security measures that have no chance of passing on their own.
And, on Thursday, the House passed a farm bill that stripped out the food stamp program, breaking a pact that for decades has protected the nutrition needs of low-income Americans. It was the first time since 1973 that food stamps haven’t been part of a farm bill, and it reflected the contempt of the far right for anyone desperate enough to rely on the government for help to buy groceries.
These actions show how far the House has retreated from the national mainstream into a cave of indifference and ignorance. House members don’t want to know that millions of Americans remain hungry (in an economy held back by their own austerity ideology), and they don’t want to deal with the desperation of immigrant families who want nothing more than a chance to work and feed themselves without fear of deportation.

 ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

Republic Lost

Something very worthwhile over at the Orange Satan. Mark Sumner points us at Lawrence Lessig's recent TED talk. Here is  the money quote from Mr. Sumner.

Lawrence Lessig's new TED talk starts off in the fictional semi-democracy of Lesterland, then, with statistics that are no less shocking for their familiarity, reminds us that this land of the few, by the few, for the few is the land we call home. Worried about the 1 percent? Don't be. Worry about the 0.05 percent. That's the percentage of Americans who maxed out their contribution to any political candidate in the last election. Or the 0.01 percent who made contributions of $10,000 or more. That's the number of Americans who actually show up on the radar of politicians. But those are only flyspecks on the screen. Save your real worry for the 0.000042 percent. That's 132 people. Those 132 people provided 60 percent of all the money that ended up in Super PACs.
If you're a politician, and you spend between 30 and 70 percent of your time begging for funds for the next election cycle, as American politicians do ... who you gonna call?

The talk is not too long but very sobering.

Lose The Pricey Coffee

So Much for Starbucks

from the Starbuck's CEO

In the spirit of the Holiday season and the Starbucks tradition of bringing people together, we have a unique opportunity to unite and take action on an incredibly important topic. As many of you know, our elected officials in Washington D.C. have been unable to come together and compromise to solve the tremendously important, time-sensitive issue to fix the national debt. You can learn more about this impending crisis at www.fixthedebt.org.

Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity—and I believe a responsibility—to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue. This week through December 28, partners in our Washington D.C. area stores are writing “Come Together” on customers’ cups.

I, personally, think this is way out of line for a public company. I have a good friend who is a store manager here in the Atlanta burbs and I would be interested to hear her take on this. For some reason I have always seemed to work for right wingers and I have been very careful not to spew too much of hippie pinko stuff and even though most of my bosses knew I was a dirty hippie socialist whatever they didn't make a big deal out of it probably because I didn't make a lot of noise.

Regardless, and even though I don't visit there often I guess I won't be patronizing Starbucks anymore. I really only drink one good strong cup a day anyway and that I make myself from fresh ground free trade organic French roasted bean and it beats the hell out of anything you can get at Starbucks.Not to mention that for little more than the price of a couple of double tall latte I can buy a whole can of my beans from Trader Joe's.

Like I said in a post a while back; "Every dollar you spend is a vote for the world you want to live in." and I am making an extra effort to live by my words.

Vinegar

Another word for sour grapes. I worked yesterday and I couldn't count the number of people that I checked out that had some disgruntled comment about the election...a lot of pissed off people. I just smiled as I have found out it is best to just let them simmer. I don't like to upset their fragile alternate reality so I don't mention how much better things are now than when President Obama took office. They wouldn't listen anyway.

Not Too Bad

Madam and I were at the polls before they opened but so were a lot of other people. Still it only took a little over an hour to get it done. The big snag was getting your ID verified before issuing a ballot. There were always a few free machines available but the line for verification snaked all around. Best guess was that 75% of the time to vote was spent getting verified.

Cold and rainy here in the Northern Atlanta burbs today but it doesn't appear to be stopping people from getting out. Beside my vote for The President and against Tom Price I voted no on Amendment 1 which would create a state commission to create charter schools. The millions of dollars of outside money that poured into the state to support it was enough for me to be against it. To spend that kind of money means somebody thinks that they will make a lot more if they can water down the public education system with charter schools.

Almost Over

Well, I missed the early voting here in my county mainly because the lone voting place offered is very inconvenient and the last time Madam and I voted early it was a very painful process that required hours and hours. My actual polling place is just around the corner and if it weren't for the trees I could see it and there is actually a polling place next door but mine is 500 yards further. I'll get there for the opening and hopefully get out quickly as I have to be at work at noon.

No surprises when it comes to my choices though I am excited to vote against the Mittster and even more so against Tom Price. Voting here in the deeply red state of Georgia is frustrating but I persevere. It does make one feel, somehow, a bit proud to know you are probably the only one in line at the polls to be voting for Obama and against Price.

If you, as I, haven't voted yet please go out and vote for Obama and against the GOP slimeball in your local district.

Car Damage

Ok, I've put the Obama-Biden sticker on the back windshield so I should expect some car damage in the next couple of weeks. This place is lousy with mouth breathing Rethugs and Tea Party cretins so it is just a matter of time. This is especially true as my car will be in the Home Depot parking lot for extended periods. Oh the price of choice.

Lesser Evilism

My friends at Adgitadiaries have an article posted about the dangers of voting for the lesser of two evils....pretty much the situation we are facing with this election and the differences between the Democrats and Republicans. You can read it there.

Here is the thing. We have to acknowledge that the current system is corrupt—both parties are poisoned by big money, big banks and big corporations. When you look at the money required to run for President today it says it all. Morality and ideals are not really a part of  today's political reality. As liberals and progressives we are in a war and when you are at war you have to think and act strategically. In our current situation it would be a colossal strategic failure to allow the GOP to regain control of the White House.  Regardless of how we do it we have to prevent Romney from getting to the White House. Romney as President would be a catastrophe for the elderly and the poor not to mention the middle class. There are lives at stake here and millions of them. If I was strategically allowed to vote my moral conscience I would probably vote for Jill Stein but it would be a strategic disaster. The strategic vote in our current situation is for President Obama as it is the least negative vote with respect to the lives of most Americans and especially the poor and regular working folks. Someday we may become a truly enlightened society where we can carry our morals to the polls but we aren't anywhere close.

Dumb as a Fox

In retrospect it seems that President Obama was wise in not using the 47% gaffe during the debate as a cudgel. He apparently suspected that Rmoney would already be expecting it and have a tested response at the ready. Instead of giving Mitt a huge audience for his mea culpa Mitt has to use it on the Hannity show last night to a much, much smaller audience.

Going to Miss It

Gotta work tonight so I am going to miss the debate live. I'm going to have my Nexus 7 with me just in case I get a chance to sneak a peek. I'm scheduled for the pro register and it is usually pretty quiet at night so I may....regardless I have it scheduled to record so I can see it when I get home.

I honestly don't think it will make much difference and I just don't think Rmoney is capable of changing his stripes at this late date. All the pressure is on the Mittster and people have realized that there is no substance to his campaign. The President is a known entity and can point to the accomplishments he has made in spite of the insane opposition of the GOP.

Never forget that their number one objective was to make him a one term president and it looks like they are going to fail at that as well.

A True Gentleman

I was reading about this morning and with all the stories about Rmoney and his misadventures as well as  his duplicity something triggered a memory of a bit of Virginia history. John Walker Wayland was a Virginian and while he spent many years teaching, his true interest was in genealogy and especially Virginia history. Oddly, he is most remembered by a short piece he wrote for  a contest in The Baltimore Sun for the best definition of a true gentleman. "The True Gentleman" won and since has been adopted as the creed of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
This is something I think the Mittster needs to read and understand. It probably wouldn't hurt Paul Ryan to give it a going over as well.

"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."

- John Walter Wayland. Virginia, 1899

Fancy That

Sort of slow day around here. Got a little garden work done this morning while it was still bearable but other than that I'm being a slug and avoiding the heat. I am enjoying watch the Mittster step on his crank repeatedly whilst touring England. Insinuates they will screw up the Olympics which makes Cameron a little cranky. Then he goes on to insist that he doesn't want America to go the way of Europe. It seems like it is one flub after another. Maybe we should get him out before we are at war again.
The British tabloids (even the Mail) is having a good time at his expense. It is being described by some as a "Palinesque" performance. Ouch!


Update: forgot the link to Huffpo for the excitement

Murder By Any Name

There has been quite a dust up regarding the Attorney General's comments on the Executive branch's need and justification for killing American citizens without "due process". Let me just start out by saying that I don't agree that "due process" justifies killing anybody whether friend or foe. I do, however, want to try and bring some perspective to the issue.

The harsh reality is that our government has been killing American citizens without "due process" since before it was actually our government and that has been through the inhuman act of war. Thousands and thousands of American soldiers have been killed since our country's founding in war without "due process". You can argue that a Declaration of War by the Congress is "due process" but I beg to differ. Regardless of whether an official Declaration of War is, in fact, "due process" the point becomes effectively mute when you consider the actions of our government since the Authorization to Use Military Force was granted after 9/11. You can argue until you are blue in the face that the AUMF was "due process" but the fact remains that thousands of American lives were lost and are still being lost based on lies and without "due process".

The idea that killing/murder/death of your own or others for any reason that you might decided upon is wrong, regardless of reason whether it be for revenge, oil, politics or religion. Nothing justifies it.

So here is the deal. It is wrong for the Executive branch to effect this power but let's be real...it is just another flavor of government sanctioned killing/murder/death. If we are going to get our skivvies in a knot let's, at least, get them in a knot over the whole enchilada and not as some half-baked excuse to accuse this President of some grievous crime against the Constitution.

While I am at it I might as well go the next step and mention that our current sanctions against Iran are just another way of killing/murder/death without the bullets. Just like the sanctions we imposed on Iraq, these sanctions are going to kill the poor, the children and the least able to protect themselves. None of the powerful in Iran will suffer just like none of the powerful in Iraq suffered. The sanctions will, just like Iraq, kill thousands of the least able to protect themselves and it will all be without "due process".

We Have Tomatoes

The majick happens once again. Most of the tomato seed I planted last week have now sprouted. It just never ceases to amaze me. Anyhow, off to work in a bit for the fifth day in a row(some part time job!) and I have to work again tomorrow but a day off Wednesday, short (4 hours) Thursday and another day off Friday. Might have a chance to get some garden work done since there is no rain forecast and it might get dry enough to till. Fingers crossed.

On the political front the GOP troglodytes have been here in Georgia and I have felt a weakening of the force. We'll have Super Tuesday out of the way tomorrow and the infestation will go away before we have to resort to drugs. Newt will win in these parts since I am surrounded by idiots.