Day: November 6, 2020

Closing Thought–06Nov20

We wait….and wait…..and wait…..

5 states are still in the “Too Close To Call” category…..and it has been this way for 2 days…..is there a plan to use this to drive the news cycle….just asking.

I did not vote for Joe Biden!

Let me explain……Biden is a bad candidate even by progressive standards. He doesn’t support Medicare for All. He is pro-fracking and refuses to commit to even the minimal reforms of the Green New Deal. As part of the Obama administration, he supported record high detainments and deportations of immigrants who were already within the United States. He masterminded Plan Columbia, which has been described as the Central American equivalent of the 1994 Crime Bill (i.e. incredibly damaging).  He supports the police, Zionism, and bombing people in the Middle East. Joe Biden is no good. But most people I know agree with all of this, yet are voting for him anyway.

I just cannot go against my principles and vote for someone that does not embrace the ideals that I support….even to rid ourselves of a slug like Trump…..without principles we would be NO better than the spineless coward in the White House Now.

By voting for Biden I would be turning my back on people that are struggling with poverty, health issues, the reality of living in this society….we can always try to justify it by stating that “at least he, Biden, is better than Trump”……is that true?

If the daily lives of Americans do not improve then that slogan and/or belief is just a lie told ourselves…..and is NO better than the lies told to us by Trump.

In case you are wondering….I did not vote Libertarian or Green…..I voted with a write-in…..and will continue to do so until the Dems learn to be a Party of the people.

A final thought…..all progressives in Congress have won re-election….and yet the DNC wants you to think that they are dragging the Party down…..sorry but old fart ideas and candidates are dragging the Party down…..time for the Democrats to replace the dinosaurs in the Party leadership with fresh leaders and ideas.  We already have one Party that lives in the past and it is called the GOP…we need a fresh Party of ideas and actions….that looks to the future.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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Democrats Have Screwed Themselves

Will they or won’t they…..win the presidency in the 2020 election…..I have always stated that the Dems have great ideas but cannot translate those ideas into action…..for instance……In the midst of a killer pandemic and mass unemployment, the Democrats could have offered the nation a universal health care plan, a moratorium on evictions and a guaranteed basic income. Instead, they believed that the key to victory over Trump was to meld neoliberal economics with a neoconservative foreign policy.

If Biden wins and the Senate stays in GOP hands then any “Progressive” ideas will be dashed on the rocks of progress…there will be NO minimum wage increase……nor any substantial action on climate change……health care will be the same f**ked up mess it was in the Obama years…..I really do not see much happening with criminal justice reform either…..just a Congress that goes through the exercise so they can claim they are working….

And after “Progressives” broke for Biden….and they will get nothing in return…..my thought is screw them!….from this point on keep progressives ideals in the forefront and stop showing your lack of spine.

All in all nothing about a Biden win should be applauded….other than a change in the executive bathroom in the White House….however the Dem strategists are making like the election was all blue skies and unicorns…..spin at its best!

It was a disaster……Dems lost Latino voters…..Black voters…..lost female votes as well…..gained a few white men…..

But there were plenty of complaints to go around—over faulty polling, Republican attack ads, and more—as expectations had been raised sky high for election night gains and that made the setbacks all the more disorienting. Rather than bolstering their majority, as planned, Democrats lost a handful of freshman lawmakers who had just won in a 2018 midterm election backlash against the president. Among the shortcomings lawmakers complained about in the Thursday call:

  • They focused too narrowly on health care, when voters were also worried about the economy.
  • They failed to fight back when Republicans labeled them “socialists” aligned with the party’s most liberal firebrands.
  • They didn’t knock on doors to meet voters, focusing instead on phone calls, digital outreach, and TV ads, due to the health risks of campaigning during the pandemic.
  • They lost Latino voters in some places, and white, working class men in others.
  • They did not pass more COVID aid through Congress when Americans needed help most.

Other Democrats argued it was always going to be difficult to defend the House majority. It was won in 2018 with more women and minority candidates in history, reaching into districts Trump had won in 2016. Holding onto those seats would be tougher once the president was back on the ballot. Democratic freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who won re-election in Michigan, did so with a more narrow margin than she did in 2018. “With President Trump on the ballot, it just drove enormous turnout that was almost impossible to surmount” in some areas, she said.

“We did not win every battle but we did win the war,” Pelosi said.

Winning the war would be a livable minimum wage…..health care for all….climate actions…..but none of those ill be possible because these dinosaurs control the Party and the Party owes too much to money to be effective……oh Nancy you guys have failed miserably!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s Called “Criminal Justice Reform”

While we wait and wait for the tally on the votes in the 5 remaining states…let’s look at an issue that should become very important to the next administration…..criminal justice…..FOX News has called Arizona for Biden…that ought to piss Donald the Orange right the Hell off.

This is a piece of legislation that has been hailed as a new day for the American criminal justice system….it is called the First Step Act of 2018 and was signed by new president Donald Trump…..

But before I crap on this “Act”…..read it for yourself….

Click to access FY21-Fact-Sheet-Criminal-Justice-Reform.pdf

Now I think this is a limp dick approach like most of the so-called bi-partisan efforts…..it does little to stop the private prison system….it does little to address the root causes that cause the recidivism….in essence it is just a bunch of words that accomplishes one thing…..the players can get a back slap for a job well done….even if it is basically a job done half ass.

Then there is Biden’s promises on criminal justice.

The Biden Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice is based on several core principles:

  • We can and must reduce the number of people incarcerated in this country while also reducing crime. No one should be incarcerated for drug use alone. Instead, they should be diverted to drug courts and treatment. Reducing the number of incarcerated individuals will reduce federal spending on incarceration. These savings should be reinvested in the communities impacted by mass incarceration.
  • Our criminal justice system cannot be just unless we root out the racial, gender, and income-based disparities in the system. Black mothers and fathers should feel confident that their children are safe walking the streets of America. And, when a police officer pins on that shield and walks out the door, the officer’s family should know they’ll come home at the end of the day. Additionally, women and children are uniquely impacted by the criminal justice system, and the system needs to address their unique needs.
  • Our criminal justice system must be focused on redemption and rehabilitation. Making sure formerly incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to be productive members of our society is not only the right thing to do, it will also grow our economy.
  • No one should be profiteering off of our criminal justice system.

I see he has retained parts of the “Act”…..and promised some wonderful sounding planks of this policy….but it  will be a pipe dream.

Biden may well believe that he can make a difference but his donors may have a different outlook for his so-called “reform”.

Learn Stuff!

Be Smart!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Relax Those Drug Laws

Marijuana, the medical type, was on the ballot in my state of Mississippi and it appears that it has been made official…..and Mississippi was not alone in the vote on so-called illegal drugs….

In states across the country, voters sent a clear message they wanted restrictions on recreational drug use eased. On Tuesday, residents of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota voted to join the ranks of 11 other states that have done so.

In 2012, Colorado and Washington made the leap to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Colorado has collected $1.23 billion in marijuana taxes and fees since 2014, including more than $302 million last year alone. Washington eclipsed Colorado that same year, collecting $395.5 million.

Oregon, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2014, went a step further Tuesday and voted to decriminalize illicit drugs. Measure 110 makes the possession of small quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and other drugs a civil violation subject to a $100 fine, but no jail time. However, the measure does not go so far as to decriminalize the manufacture or sale of drugs.

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/04/931507602/from-marijuana-to-mushrooms-voters-want-drug-laws-eased

After 50 years of a War on Drugs and the failures plus the cost of over $1 trillion and all that and the program is a dismal failure.

Society is now looking into the necessity for a War on Drugs.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”