Archive for the Elections Category

Breaking News: Supreme Court Elects To Decide 2012 Presidential Election (January 16, 2012)

Posted in Constitution, Courts, Elections, Health Care, O'Bama, Presidency, Supreme Court on January 16, 2012 by e-ssay.org

. . .

L1          “It really is so much easier.”

L2          “And they are so smart.  . . . .  Right.”

L1          “The outspoken opponents of judicial activism are awfully active judicially.”

L2          “And their actions and decisions are actively awful.”

L1          “In Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court held that it has the authority to appoint the President.”

L2          “Nothing is inconceivable today.  Laugh at me if you will, but I still maintain that allowing the Supremes to select the President is an ill-advised practice and a terrible precedent.”

L1          “The Five Lobbyists – our friends Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and Alito – announced that they will decide who wins the Presidency in 2012.  They will issue their decision in the context of the health care hullaballoo.”

L2          “Seems so.  When they review the constitutionality of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care,’ they may be confused by Romney’s ever changing positions.”

L1          “From what I hear, first Romney is in favor of Romney Care and then against Romney Care and then in favor and then against and then in favor and then against and then in favor.”

L2          “And then against.  I’m telling you, he is giving flip-flopping a bad name.”

L1          “What if the Five Lobbyists uphold ‘Romney – O’Bama Care’ and don’t taint the campaign?”   

L2          “You mean because ‘Romney – O’Bama Care’ is constitutional, albeit not the most sound public policy.”

L1          “That really should be a relevant consideration.  At least I think so.”

L2          “When do you think they will issue their decision?”

L1          “June.  Before heading off to the beach.”

L2          “They would need to hijack another case to select the President.”

L1          “They come back from the beach in October and could distort any old case lying around to declare the winner in November.”

L2          “I wouldn’t put it past them.”

. . .

[MLK – getting his words right is right and a nice birthday present.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Who says one vote does not matter?  5-4 was enough

The SCOTUS determining the POTUS is decidedly FUBAR

Incite, Sarah, Indict? (January 10, 2011)

Posted in Courts, Crime/Punishment, Elections, First Amendment, Guns, Health Care, Law, Press/Media, Society, Supreme Court, Tea Party on January 10, 2011 by e-ssay.org

. . .

R          “You cannot get out of bed in the morning without violating some section of Title 18 of the United States Code, the federal criminal code.  In fact, and as a matter of law, you cannot stay in bed in the morning without violating some section of Title 18 of the United States Code.”

S          “So why not indict her?  She incited and directed others to kill and targeted the targets by first and last name and address.  She created a mindset and a market for death.  She legitimized killing.  The specific nature of the killer’s mind and his motives are still emerging.  Maybe he did not do it for her or for some specific political purpose.  Nonetheless, he took her specific message and tactics to heart.”

R          “Perhaps her twisted comments about death panels and the like confused a twisted and confused mind.  Others stridently proclaim they have not heard anything inflammatory, yet he heard the shrill dog whistle.”

S          “Her comments were one of the legal, moral and proximate causes of the death and maiming in Arizona.  Look, she took down the targets on her website recently which is an admission of guilt.”

R          “A subsequent remedial measure?”

S          “What about the bull’s eyes?  Listen to others who now opine that political discourse has taken a turn for the worse.  The political discourse has not changed course one degree in recent years.  The entreaties to kill have simply reached their predictable and inevitable outcome.  Why is everyone now so shocked and stupefied?  What happened was intended.  It was only a matter of time.”

R          “During the 2008 and 2010 elections, a few commentators noticed that she promoted and encouraged violence against specific candidates.  Her threats of violence against specific candidates were and are not protected by the First Amendment and were and are clear violations of provisions of Title 18 when they target federal officials or occur on federal property.”

S          “She is white and connected, so she will be given a pass.  U.S. Attorneys expend considerable tax dollars prosecuting some harmless jaywalker on federal property who has the misfortune to be non-white and unconnected.”

R          “The Supreme Court decreed that corporations are legal persons.  The nattering news network is a legal person.  Persons can be indicted.  Another option is to indict the network, the president, the board of directors and the pitch men and women on tv.  We need to return to personal responsibility as a governor of behavior.  Law plays a role.”

S          “White.  Extraordinarily well connected.  And capable of getting a U.S. Attorney fired.  Same story.  Same outcome.  Those in power get a pass.  Carte blanc, the White Card.”

R          “Her vitriolic rants against a sitting President may be her undoing.  Title 18 criminalizes threats against a sitting President.  The grand irony would be to watch on YouTube after one of her tirades as her Secret Service protective detail turns and cuffs her for direct threats against the President.”

S          “That might go viral.”

R          “America sports a billion laws and yet has become such a lawless nation.  In the absence of personal responsibility and without some rules and the rule of law, affairs can and will get worse.”

S          “So why not simply allow a dozen jurors to decide?”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “In The Land Of Fury And The Home Of The Fearful (November 1, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Incite, Sarah, Indict

Incite, Sarah, Indict Sarah

There oughta be a law; no, there are laws but there oughta be some law enforcement.

What happens when you take an arrow out of the quiver, nock it with care, draw back purposefully, release while slowly exhaling and then look up to see that you have hit the bull’s eye?

I was walking across a bridge one day and saw a man standing on the edge and about to jump off.  So I ran over and said, “Stop! Don’t do it!”  “Why shouldn’t I?” he said.  I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”  He said, “Like what?”  I said, “Well, are you religious or atheist?”  He said, “Religious.”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Christian or Buddhist?”  He said, “Christian.”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?”  He said, “Protestant.”  I said, “Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”  He said, “Baptist!”  I said, “Wow!  Me too!  Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”  He said, “Baptist Church of God!”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”  He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God!”  I said, “Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”  He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!”  I said, “Die, heretic scum!” and pushed him over the edge.

The First Look At The “Second Political Party” (January 3, 2011)

Posted in Abortion, Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Drugs, Economics, Elections, Gay Politics, Government Regulation, Kleptocracy, Political Parties, Politics, Society on January 3, 2011 by e-ssay.org

. . .

R         “I’ve been shut out by the venal and feral nut cases in my party.”

D         “I’ve been sold out by the effete and craven fruits in my party.”

R         “My team is fraudulent; yours is feckless.”

D         “Your team markets fear; mine peddles hope.  No one addresses problems or provides answers.”

. . .

D         “Your team caters to the very rich; you’re not very rich.”

R         “But I can be.”

D         “Not any longer.  They let you nourish that delusion to string you along.”

R         “But I could have been.”

. . .

R         “We need a third party.”

D         “We already have a third party, but it is a rabid and toxic mix of nuts and fruits.  We need a fourth party.”

R         “At core, both parties are owned hook, line and over the barrel by the same corporate and financial interests.  The Repubocrats and the Demolicans.  Maybe we need a second party.”

D         “Our country has transformed from a democracy to a kleptocracy.  Each party protects and serves the kleptocrats and banksters who keep the public diverted and entertained with frivolous diversions and entertainments.”

R         “The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United was designed to promote the interests of my party and also has doomed the prospect of any other party emerging in America.”

. . .

D         “We need less government involvement in our personal lives.  No government definition of marriage.  No government regulation of abortion.  No government criminalization of marijuana.”

R         “We need government to dictate the definition of marriage.  It is what I say it is, between a man and a woman.  We need government to invade each bedroom and demand delivery of every conceivable baby.  If the little tyke steps out of line, we need capital punishment.  Remember that life begins at conception and ends at birth.  We need government to imprison people for smoking marijuana when it is still legal to drink all the alcohol they want.”

. . .

D         “So now once again what are the essential bedrock policies of the ‘Second Political Party’?”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

TPTB America has abandoned the Middle Class; what is interesting to watch is how the Middle Class abandons TPTB America.

In The Land Of Fury And The Home Of The Fearful (November 1, 2010)

Posted in Elections, Politics, Race, Society, Tea Party on November 1, 2010 by e-ssay.org

. . .

J          “So much unfocused rage and undigested anger is raging across the countryside.”

K         “And Anger Mongering (AM) radio and Fox tv are the primary mouthpieces for the furor.  Follow the money.  A staggering amount of money is being amassed marketing hate and fear to the masses, one of the last growth industries in America.  Those inciting the masses are doing so for their own very narrow self-interest.  The cunning and the cynical are playing some voters for chumps and stooges.  Stun and cripple a person with fear and take his vote and his money.  Yet there is a perception that something is wrong grounded in the fact that something is wrong.  The frustration is magnified because it cannot be articulated.”

J          “And an articulate, informed and serene Black President who displays upper class sensibilities and syntax reminds Americans of the two underlying schisms and fissures in America – race and class.  Race is not an acknowledged issue, but race is an issue in most of the political races this year.”

K         “Confidence even devoid of arrogance and pretense threatens the insecure.  Look at the numbers.  Forty-five percent of the electorate responds to fear.  Market and exploit fear and appeal to another five percent and then get just one more vote.  Political victory.  That arithmetic really explains politics in America.  The real kicker is that the problems are far worse than all but the most informed realize and are far less likely to be resolved by current thinking.”

J          “It is all about jobs.  Ironic that some in France are rioting because they are to be given the opportunity to work an additional two years, albeit delaying their retirement, and Americans may riot to be given the opportunity to work.  When there are job openings, Americans are there hustling to get them.”

K         “True, yet Americans have not experienced any real hardship in recent decades and simply do not have the emotional software to deal with adversity with any perspective or dignity.”

J          “When the present and the future are so bleak, the past is strained through a filter to make it look far more idyllic than it ever was.”

K         “It is so much easier to hate and fear without reflection.”

. . .

Bumper stickers (signs) of the week:

45% + 5% + 1 = Victory

“The trouble with the world is the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.”                      Bertrand Russell

At the Stewart/Colbert Rally on October 30 on the National Mall:

I don’t want my country back, I want my country forward.

Those who work for the government should want the government to work.

God hates hate.

God fears fear.

God fears hate.

God hates fear.

Use your indoor voice

Although I don’t agree with you, I don’t think you’re Hitler

Bill/Melinda and Warren, It Is Time To Get Into The Game (January 25, 2010)

Posted in Elections, Political Parties, Politics, Society, Supreme Court on January 25, 2010 by e-ssay.org

Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.  Bill/Melinda and Warren are still playing at the margins.  Now is the time to get off the sidelines and get into the game.  Funding vaccines is commendable in particular because preventive medicine is the exception in our society.  However, the body politic is sick.

The Supreme Court recently decided that democracy is a commodity to be sold in the market place to the highest bidder.  The United States of Exxon (USE).  You need to join the bidding.  The next presidential election will cost over a billion dollars.  Now is the time to invest $50 – $100 million dollars into each of six senatorial campaigns this year and elect half a dozen senators who commit to occasional independent thinking.  Political activities are not as tidy or as pretty as traditional charitable giving.  However, at this time, your country needs aid.

Bumper sticker of the week:

The best democracy money can buy.

A New Day (January 26, 2009)

Posted in Elections, O'Bama on January 26, 2009 by e-ssay.org

There is real joy in watching others experiencing joy.  A great speech?  Perhaps.  Sacrifice was mentioned.  Some truths were uttered.

Geithner is problematic.  He will be confirmed.  His tax obligation was simple.  He was obligated to pay.  There were no buts, ands or ifs.  He did not pay.  When he was to directed to pay, he did not.  The statute of limitations provided a convenient defense.  Now he finds religion and pays.  Perhaps every taxpayer should be nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury for fifteen minutes.  The bigger concern is that he did not tell “. . . the whole truth . . .” to the Senate when the members asked for an explanation.  Business as usual.  [See the e-ssay dated February 20, 2006 entitled “Perjury, the American Way.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Our long national nightmare is not over.

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Hope

Democrats Behaving Like Republicans

U.S.A. – 1 (Won); World – 1 (Won) (November 10, 2008)

Posted in Elections, O'Bama on November 10, 2008 by e-ssay.org

We have met our friend and he is us.  Pogo.

McCain very likely would be President-elect of the United States of America today if the first wave of the Bush Depression had not crashed ashore in mid-September.  September 15 may be the high water (or low water) mark when McCain proclaimed:  “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.”  Americans were not fooled.  They were afraid, very afraid.  It was the stupid economy.

Obama’s guerdon and lagniappe — the privilege to deal with the Great Tsunami, the “Bush/Greenspan/Gramm Depression,” and World War III now festering in at least two theaters on a planet in ill health.

Reverend Wright incited the Right and left others feeling that something was not right; seems that everyone on the national stage sports a Rev. John Hagee in their entourage.  Some white Republicans could accept an African-Thai-American named Tiger but were not ready to accept an African-Saxon as the Lion.  However, others conquered their fears and anxieties and played through them.  Many Americans had gotten a preview by watching two different African-Americans play the President OTUS on the television show “24.”  In this episode, Alexander “Scotty” Scott goes to the White House.  Illinois finally sends Adlai Stevenson to the Casa Blanca.

Obama may be the Transformative Candidate or the Transitional Candidate, yet he is clearly the Technological Candidate.  The toxic a.m. radio shows and the venomous robo-calls from the Franchise Republicans marketing fear were matched and exceeded by a relentless stream of e-mails from Team Obama offering hope, promising change and soliciting funds.  Intimidation for your ears; inspiration for your eyes.  The Internet won handily.

Money talks; McCain walks.  McCain-Feingold has been replaced by Obama-Plouffe.  The billion dollar Presidential race in 2012.

Washington presided when the country was forming; Lincoln when the country was dissolving; Roosevelt when the country was segregated and disintegrating economically.  The man from Hope brought some semblance of prosperity and peace and now the man promising hope confronts the Bush Depression and World War III.  Obama will preside in one of the dozen most uncertain periods in American history.  He appears to be up to the challenge.  One can only hope.

A profound development.  The first African-Irish-American in the White House.  Barack Hussein “Steve” O’Bama.

Bumper stickers of the week:

Hope and Money and Fear

Esperanza

Si, se puede

Yes he/we can (maybe)

Do It (November 3, 2008)

Posted in Elections on November 3, 2008 by e-ssay.org

It’s the thing to do on the first Tuesday in November.  Vote.  Hope over Fear.

Bumper sticker of the week:

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF AMERICA’S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?  Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget.  The president does.  You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.  The House of Representatives does.  You and I don’t write the tax code.  Congress does.  You and I don’t set fiscal policy.  Congress does.  You and I don’t control monetary policy.  The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 235 million – are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.  In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.  They have no legal authority.  They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.  I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.  The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don’t you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians?  Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.  He cannot force the Congress to accept it.  The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

O’Neill is the speaker of the House.  He is the leader of the majority party.  He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want.  If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.  If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.  If the Marines are in Lebanon, it’s because they want them in Lebanon.

There are no insoluble government problems.  Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible.  They and they alone have the power.  They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses – provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

[This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper.]

Hope Triumphs (November 13, 2006)

Posted in Elections on November 13, 2006 by e-ssay.org

God bless the American voters.  Enough voters last Tuesday said that enough is more than enough.

The public witnessed looting in Baghdad and looting in Washington.  The Republicans emphasized national security and the Democrats focused on the failed war in Iraq.  Exit polls indicate that the public elected to challenge “corruption” among those in Washington who got America involved in Iraq and enmeshed in other scandals domestic.

Fear almost always triumphs over hope.  On Tuesday, the fear of Bush triumphed over the fear pandered by Bush.  Bush could not even muster the image of the devil incarnate, Osama bin Laden, to triumph over the public’s fears of him and his failed policies.  Bush was not even able to muster fear by raising the specter of the antichrist, a granny named Nancy Pelosi, assuming a position of power.  Hope triumphed.

The good people of Minnesota’s Fifth District made an election heard ’round the world.  Endorsing Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, is a compelling statement to the world of America’s fundamental decency and inclusiveness.

Harold Ford, Jr. and Tammy Duckworth, stay in the fray.  You are still needed.

After the thumpin’, the most incompetent Commander-in-Chief in American history relieved the most incompetent Secretary of Defense in American history of his mismanagement of the worst foreign policy blunder in American history.  Progress happens.

Bridges should not be burned; bridges to nowhere should not be built.  The Democrats are reaching out and building bridges to the Republicans.  The Republic will benefit from that political infrastructure.

The Supreme Court may be safe.

The Democrats now have an opportunity to fail or flourish.  Time will tell.

Bumper sticker of the week:

A woman’s place is in the House
. . . and in the Senate

Vote (November 6, 2006)

Posted in Elections on November 6, 2006 by e-ssay.org

George Carlin, the comedian and political philosopher, refuses to vote.  Samuel Beckett, the dramatist, novelist and playwright, rarely if ever voted.  Anthony Downs, the political theorist and economist, suggested that it may not be rational for an individual to vote. 

Is voting a joke, absurd or irrational?  Some recent elections have been rigged.  One of the vote counters–Diebold, the manufacturer of the voting machines–is run by a Bush supporter.  Support efforts to unrig elections.  And vote so that the only way to steal an election from the populace is to steal it.  Stealing all elections is much harder to accomplish than stealing a few.

Many VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) posts observe that “Freedom Is Not Free.”  Thomas Jefferson, the guy on the two dollar bill, observed that the “price of freedom is constant vigilance.”  Voting is vigilance.  Pay the price to be free.  Vote. 

Election Day should be a holiday.  Vote.  And vote to celebrate Veterans Day every even-numbered year on Election Day to celebrate the veterans who made and make it possible to vote.  As the Canadian philosopher Wayne Gretzky once observed:  “You miss 100 % of the shots you don’t take.”

Bumper stickers of the week:

My vote cancels your vote

Don’t blame me, I voted for __________

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