Tag: Voting

Every Vote Counts

It’s that magical time again!

Time is closing in for the citizens of America to go to the polls and vote for their choice for president.

And now the opinion pieces will begin for those people that vote outside the two party system.

Some may choose not to vote….and there will be those that will ostracize those people that by not voting they are helping elect this slug over this……and if there is no choice that represents their principles then I say do not vote just because some lay-about wants to chide you into doing something you do not want to do.business as usual no matter the party.

Then there are those voters like myself that could possibly vote for a third party we will not vote for one of the two parties that will do nothing for the country….I do not buy into the popular BS that by voting for a third party you will elect this candidate over that.

Either one of those unpopular options is a personal choice and as such everyone needs to just STFU.

You see my vote is just that…MINE and no one has the right to question what I do with it.

For one reason that I vote other than the two majors…..I feel they have f*cked up our democracy…..

The most compelling theory based on historical patterns of democratic decline is that hyper-polarization cracked the foundations of American democracy, creating the conditions under which a party could break democratic norms with impunity, because winning in the short term became more important than maintaining democracy for the long term.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fades because “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S. 

Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

It is an older story but it still rings true today.

The theory today is that if there is not a good choice in the two parties then the voter should just hold their noses and vote for the least offensive.

Sorry I do not subscribe to this lunacy.

If one has principles then one should vote for the person that best represents those principles….no matter the party.

To recap…..your vote is your vote please do not piss it away on the ‘hold your nose’ vote.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How About A New Lottery?

Lotteries of all sorts are very popular….many buy their chances at a big payday….and lotteries have been used for many things in the past….they were even used for the draft before it was eliminated.

Since they are so damn popular and since damn near half of American citizens do not vote at anytime….how about a election lottery?

America’s presidential election is just next year, but the competitive ugliness on display on social media leading up to it is already making any sane person want to dip their head into boiling acid.

Fortunately, according to a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, there could be a better way: eliminate elections altogether and pick our leaders by lottery. Say what?!

“In the United States, we already use a version of a lottery to select jurors,” Adam Grant wrote in The New York Times. “What if we did the same with mayors, governors, legislators, justices and even presidents?”

Grant makes a persuasive case for picking our leaders randomly from a pool of candidates by pointing to research by Alexander Haslam, another psychologist, who’s run experiments that show that better decisions are made when the group leader is chosen by lottery essentially versus if the group leader is chosen for their leadership skills or if elected by their peers

“‘Systematically selected leaders can undermine group goals,’ Dr. Haslam and his colleagues suggest, because they have a tendency to ‘assert their personal superiority.’ When you’re anointed by the group, it can quickly go to your head: I’m the chosen one,” writes Grant.

Electing leaders by lottery, he points out, does have some historical precedent.

“The ancient Greeks invented democracy, and in Athens many government officials were selected through sortition — a random lottery from a pool of candidates,” says Grant, who says he’s been suggesting the idea to US Congress members.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/professor-suggests-replacing-elections-lottery-system

I would have to do more research but on the surface this seems like a logical way to do the picking.

I know that someone on here has got to have an opinion on this….would this be using technology for our benefit?

Any amazing thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here Come The ‘Independents’

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

It is that time again….yet another election for the leader of the free world….or so we are told.

Time for ‘independents’ to shine.

I am talking about true independents not those people that delude themselves that they are independent because the vote for one party or the other….that is not an independent in my book.

Yes it is early but we have two candidates that have forsaken the two party system to go it as a true independent…..these are RFK, jr and Cornell West

Let’s start with RFK, Jr…..originally he was going to run against Biden in the Democratic primaries but has since changed his mind….

Longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he will run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid, reports the AP. The move adds another wrinkle to a 2024 race heading toward a likely rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Kennedy, a member of one of the most famous Democratic families in politics, was running a longshot primary bid and has better favorability ratings among Republicans than Democrats. It’s unclear whether GOP support would translate to a general election when Kennedy would also be running against Trump. Both Biden and Trump allies have at times questioned whether Kennedy would be a spoiler against their candidate.

Biden’s allies so far have dismissed Kennedy’s primary campaign as unserious. Asked for comment on his potential independent run ahead of the announcement, a Democratic National Committee spokesman responded with an eye roll emoji. Monday’s announcement comes less than a week after the progressive activist Cornel West abandoned his Green Party bid in favor of an independent White House run. Meanwhile, the centrist group No Labels is actively securing ballot access for a yet-to-be-named candidate. Kennedy has spent weeks accusing the DNC of “rigging” the party’s primary against him and threatening that he might need to consider alternatives.

Awaiting Kennedy’s remarks Monday, hundreds of supporters gathered at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, an apt location for the expected launch. Campaign signs teased a potential new slogan: “Declare your independence.” Among Kennedy’s fans in the crowd were several voters who said they don’t identify as Democratic or Republican and view Kennedy as a truth teller and a breath of fresh air. “He tells it how it is,” said Julia Hill, a 23-year-old student from New Jersey. “He doesn’t sound like a politician.”

I personally like his stand on the environment and antiwar stuff but he is an anti-vaxxer and his views on abortion are not in line with my thinking….so I can rule him out for my vote.

Next is Cornell West….

This candidate has the Dems worried…..

If asked to name candidates who pose the biggest threat to President Biden’s reelection, a lot of people would surely pick Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. But Cornel West? As it turns out, more top Democrats are getting seriously worried about the prominent Black academic and civil rights activist, reports Mark Leibovich at the Atlantic. It’s all about his potential to be a spoiler. West is running on the Green Party ticket, and Democrats worry he might pull Democratic voters away from Biden, particularly young, progressive voters. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Democrats say Green Party candidate Jill Stein did to Hillary Clinton in 2016. And as Leibovich points out, Stein is actually West’s campaign manager.

West, for his part, downplays his spoiler potential. He tells the Atlantic that people who vote for him probably wouldn’t vote for Biden anyway—they would just stay home. However, Newsweek points to recent polls that suggest a different story. For example, poll tracker RacetotheWH has Biden leading Trump 44.1 to 42.2 in a one-on-one matchup. Add West to the mix and it’s a different story: Trump has 43, Biden 42, and West 4, according to a poll from Echelon Insights. “We should be concerned,” says Austin Davis, Democratic lieutenant governor in the swing state of Pennsylvania, speaking for Biden supporters.

West has decided to leave the Green Party and go it as an independent.

Cornel West has settled on the third party affiliation of his four-month-old presidential candidacy. The scholar’s campaign announced Thursday that he’s leaving the Green Party to runs as an independent, the Hill reports. “People are hungry for change,” West posted on X, adding that he wants to be president to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy.” The only reason for the switch given by his campaign was a reference to West wanting to focus on the people, rather than on “the intricacies of internal party dynamics,” per Politico.

West began his campaign with the People’s Party, then moved to the Green Party, which is more mainstream and has a history of third-party candidacies. The progressive’s alliance with Sen. Bernie Sanders has won some support among Democrats, while others warn West could ensure a Republican victory by taking votes from President Biden. West now faces the task of placing his name on state ballots without the support of the Green Party’s infrastructure. He’ll have to collect about 550,000 signatures nationally, said his campaign manager, Peter Daou.

These announced independent have both Biden and Trump camps worried.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced he’s running for president as an independent. Cornel West made the same choice last week. While the politics are murky, the fresh frenzy of outsider candidates threatens to weaken both major parties as Democratic President Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump tighten their grip on their party’s presidential nomination. The parties’ concern isn’t so much that independent or third-party candidates would actually win the presidency, but that they could siphon support from the ultimate Democratic and Republican nominees, the AP reports. Democratic officials, especially, see the outsiders as a dangerous wildcard that harkens to 2016, when Green Party nominee Jill Stein may have enabled Trump’s razor-thin victory by winning a small portion of the vote.

Those associated with third-party efforts make no apologies. “The American people have been hungry for options. So, get ready,” Stein said in an interview. “What we’re seeing is a voter rebellion.” The rise of outsider candidates is a reminder of the volatility that hangs over the 2024 presidential election. Both of the major parties’ likely nominees are extraordinarily unpopular. Biden and Trump are running as the nation grapples with dangerous political divisions, economic anxiety, and a deep desire for a new generation of leadership in Washington. Much more activity is expected soon. Stein said the Green Party will likely make an announcement about its plans this month. No Labels expects to make a decision about its presidential nominee in the spring.

The efforts face obstacles. Simply qualifying for the ballot in every state will be a gargantuan task for outsider candidates without the benefit of existing political networks. Jim Messina, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and is now a Biden ally, didn’t play down the possibility that the new candidates could weaken Biden’s coalition. “The threat of a third party needs to be planned for seriously,” Messina said. Noting that no independent or third-party candidate has ever won even a single electoral vote—never mind the 270 needed to claim the presidency—he said Biden’s team still need to be aggressive in warning voters about the threat that long-shot outsider candidates present. “You need to tell people that a vote for a candidate without a path to 270 means they’re lighting their ballot on fire,” Messina said.

Of course these insiders will bad mouth any candidate but theirs….they cannot conceive a world where the parties are not in control and will say and do anything to keep it that way.

Right now my look is for West at least he stands for more issue as I do.

But that can change as the election grows near.

(Any comments about the whole ‘spoiler’ thing will be covered in a later post in this series.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Will This Election Be Different?

I am not talking about the age of the major players…..I am not talking about a third party that all will blame for the favorite party’s loss in 2024….no, I am talking about the American people’s blase attitude toward this coming election, the 2024 election.

Comments here have shown just how much the people could care less (at this point)……

If the idea of talking politics these days feels like a wearying chore, you are not alone. A new study by the Pew Research Center finds that 65% of Americans say they often or always feel “exhausted” when thinking about politics. A smaller majority (55%) feels downright angry. Only 10% feel hopeful at the prospect, and a rarer few (4%) feel optimistic.

  • Almost 3 in 10 people (28%) have unfavorable views of both parties, the highest percentage in 30 years of asking that question. About a quarter of people (25%) say neither party represents them well.
  • Only 4% of people say the American political system is working extremely or even very well, though 23% give it a “somewhat well” rating. Most (63%) have little or no confidence in the system.
  • When asked to describe their views of politics in their own words, 79% used negative words such as “divisive” or “corrupt,” and only 2% chose positive terms. Along those lines, a whopping 86% agreed with the sentiment that “Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems.”
  • Most respondents (63%) say they’re not happy with the current batch of presidential candidates.
  • The results come from two surveys, one of more than 8,000 people in July, and earlier one of more than 5,000 people in June.

With that bit of news……after the election is said and done could there be a repeat of 06 January?  Or maybe something worse?

A report released Monday highlights how state laws across the U.S. fail to protect voters and election workers from the “growing risk of gun violence” tied to increasing firearm deregulation and sales as well as American political leaders fomenting distrust in democracy.

“The 2024 election will unfold in a transformed legal environment,” warns Guns and Voting, the new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and Giffords—a gun violence prevention group founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who survived being shot in the head.

The publication explains that “in 2010, only two states let people carry concealed firearms in public without a permit or background check. Now, 27 states allow ‘permitless carry.’ While other states have strengthened gun regulations during this period, the Supreme Court has threatened their ability to do so.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/guns-at-polling-sites

This coming election will be something to behold….

We cannot talk about this election enough.  This election is going to tear at the very soul of America to the point of ripping it apart.

Any thoughts?  (This ought to be interesting)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Mid-Term Bad News

Just a mere couple of weeks before we Americans head to the voting booth…..the predictions are up and down….depending on which ones you pay attention to in your decision making process……

The latest news is not looking good for the Dems……

With the midterms closing in, a new poll from the New York Times and Sienna College delivers troubling news for Democrats: Worries about the economy are giving Republicans a renewed edge. The big takeaway stat is that likely voters would prefer a Republican to represent them in Congress over a Democrat by a 49-45 margin, a flip from September when Democrats (boosted by concerns over abortion rights) were up by a single point. The stats with independent voters explain the turnaround:

  • Huge flip: Nowhere is the shift more pronounced than among independent women voters. They now favor Republicans by 18 points, but they favored Democrats by 14 in September. The Times, in what may be an understatement, calls this 32-point shift “striking.” The story includes a quote from one such woman who says that while she disagrees with the Supreme Court’s Roe decision “1,000 percent,” it’s not enough to sway her vote.
  • One view: So what’s going on here? “Americans don’t like their Democratic president, and they aren’t happy with the status quo,” writes Charles C.W. Cooke at the conservative National Review. “And what respondents care about—despite all that talk of ‘Roevember’—is the bad economy.”
  • Another poll: A CBS News-YouGov poll also finds that Democratic momentum after the Roe decision has “stalled.” It finds that the “Republicans’ House lead has stabilized today at 224 seats to the Democrats’ 211,” after shrinking in the previous two monthly polls.
  • Big flip: Independents say they favor a GOP candidate by a margin of 51-41. But in September, Democrats had a 3-point lead.

Actually after looking at the population I have seen this scenario playing out for about 6 months…..

For me this is so sad…..the country deserves so much more from its elected officials than the GOP is willing to give.

You can make a difference but only if you care enough about this country to vote.

Be the change you want to see.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Gerrymandering–The Big Bug-A-Boo

The new data from the census is out and the rush by the GOP to redraw voting districts has begun…it is called gerrymandering.

For those that do not understand the term……

Gerrymandering is the act of politicians manipulating the redrawing of legislative district lines in order to help their friends and hurt their enemies. They may seek to help one party win extra seats (a partisan gerrymander), make incumbents of both parties safer (an incumbent-protection gerrymander) or target particular incumbents who have fallen out of favor.

Those engaged in gerrymandering rely heavily on winner-take-all voting rules. That is, when 51% of voters earn 100% of representation, those drawing districts can pack, stack and crack the population in order to make some votes count to their full potential and waste other votes. Gerrymandering has become easier today due to a combination of new technology to precisely draw districts and greater voter partisan rigidity that makes it easier to project the outcome of new districts.

Basically and simply….it is how politicians pick their votes instead of the voter picking their candidates….

The 2020 census has set up a political battle….

… the stage is set for rampant partisan gerrymandering to skew many of those maps in favor of politicians’ preferences over the public’s. 

This undemocratic process has a real impact on the balance of power in Congress and many state legislatures. We saw it at the federal level in the 2010s, when extreme partisan bias in congressional maps gave Republicans a net advantage of some 16 seats in the House. The same has happened on the state level. For example, in 2018 Wisconsin Democrats won the majority of the statewide vote but only 36 of 99 state assembly seats.

Although partisan gerrymandering hurts everyone, often communities of color bear the brunt. Racially polarized voting patterns and residential segregation mean that targeting communities of color can be an effective tool for creating advantages for the party that controls redistricting— whether that party is the Democrats or Republicans.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/08/11/gerrymandering-upcoming-redistricting-battle

Texas (go figure) was the first to slither its policies into law……

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, while much of the country slept, the Republican-dominated Texas House approved a heavily gerrymandered district map that critics have denounced as part of an anti-democratic and racist GOP power grab—one that right-wing lawmakers could try to replicate across the United States.

At around 3:30 am local time, Texas lawmakers passed the GOP’s state House redistricting proposal in a largely party-line vote after roughly 14 hours of debate. The bill, authored by state Rep. Todd Hunter (R-32) and designed to set boundaries for the 150 Texas House districts, now heads to state’s Republican-controlled Senate.

On top of a slew of other right-wing priorities, the Texas legislature is racing to approve state House, state Senate, and congressional district maps before its third special session of the year expires on October 19.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/13/dead-night-texas-house-approves-gops-gerrymandered-map

Gerrymandering hurts ALL voters….

  • Fewer competitive U.S. House districts and safe incumbents after redistricting: In 2010, 70 of 435 U.S. House districts had a competitive partisan balance of 47% to 53%. That was small, but after redistricting in 2011, the number of competitive districts declined to only 53. That number dropped again to 47 seats (only 11% of all seats) after the 2012 election due to shifts in voting behavior. Of 31 vulnerable incumbents (those who won by less than 10% in 2010) affected by redistricting (with a new district drawn with partisanship changing by more than 3%), 26 had their district made safer and only five less safe.
  • Partisan distortions in politically drawn plans: In 2011, Republican lawmakers drew new district lines in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In 2012, Democratic U.S. House candidates won more than Republican candidates in both states, but won only 9 of 31 seats.
  • Partisan distortions in commission drawn plans: In 2011, an independent redistricting commission drew lines in California and a bipartisan commission with a public interest “swing vote” drew lines in New Jersey. In 2013, Republican candidates for the New Jersey assembly won 51% of the vote, but only 32 (40%) of 80 seats. In 2014, Democratic U.S. House candidates won 57% of votes in California’s 53 U.S. House races, but 74% of seats.

Changing this election fixing has only one sure solution….

The only sure way to eliminate gerrymandering – both intentional and unintentional – from American elections is to abandon single-member plurality arrangements and adopt proportional representation. Indeed, the whole purpose of PR is to minimize wasted votes and ensure that the parties are represented in proportion to the votes they receive. This eliminates the possibilities of unfair representation produced by gerrymandering. The key to eliminating partisan gerrymandering is the large multimember districts used in PR systems. As numerous studies have shown, as long as a PR system has at least five seats in every district, it is effectively immune from gerrymandering. These districts largely eliminate the wasted votes that make gerrymandering possible. In such districts, even small political minorities do not waste their votes and are able to elect their fair share of representatives. Thus, under PR arrangements, where voters live or how district lines are drawn makes no difference – fair representation will result.

This political tool will be with us for a very long time for one party has learned just how valuable it is…..

For further info read this…..https://www.fairvote.org/how_proportional_representation_would_finally

More to explain this situation…..https://www.vox.com/22632427/redistricting-gerrymandering-house-republicans

Any ideas how to solve this problem to our elections?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Art Of The Steal

A take-off of the silly book written by our ‘president’, The Art Of The Deal….even after Biden has been certified as the winner Trump continues to fight to throw out the vote in many states because he lost.

In an extraordinary scene of political warfare, a total of 44 of the 50 states have filed briefs with the US Supreme Court arguing for and against honoring the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump. Only six states did not file briefs by the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline set by the high court.

The state of Texas filed the first brief Monday, directed against four “battleground” states won by Biden over Trump: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The brief asked the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the vote in those four states and to refer the appointment of electors to the state legislatures, which are Republican-controlled in each state.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/11/elec-d11.html

AS I wrote…Trump’s Art of the Steal……..

The shock of defeat appears to have dimmed some of the golden boy’s luster as well as whitened his faux blond hair and lightened his spray-on tan. Still, not only has Trump not conceded, he has, at current count, mounted over thirty-eight unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn the election or, at best, stall his ouster from office. Undaunted, the self-avowed stable genius’s latest Wile E. Coyote move has been to pressure Republican state legislators to choose pro-Trump electors when the Electoral College convenes this month. Having apparently failed at that, his only hope now is a Supreme Court Hail Mary. It doesn’t matter that he may fail; it’s the smoke, mirrors, and gaslight that ultimately count. None of this suggests that Trump is even remotely entertaining conceding.

In fact, it’s highly likely Trump will never concede, despite media speculation that his reticence is actually yet another of his three-dimensional chess gambits, the current one, according to some pundits, designed to make possible his own Murdock-like media empire to sustain his brand until he (or one of his felonious spawn) runs again in 2024. All this Occam razor-rejecting media confabulation refuses to accept the simple fact that toddler Trump is throwing a tantrum and that the true intent of his intransigence is to remain in power by any means necessary.

Grab ’Em by the Ballot: The Art of the Steal

I do not think his attempts will be successful….but I do think he is setting the stage for 2022 and 2024.

I like this Tweet as well….

Image

Read the rationale of this proposal…..https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/democrat-wants-to-use-civil-war-law-about-traitors-to-ban-126-republicans-from-being-seated-in-congress/

I say use it!  If they cannot defend the US from enemies domestic or foreign then they should not be allowed to take the oath of office.  PERIOD!

To be fair…my representative Steven Palazzo is one of the signers….(more about him later today)…..another gutless GOP toad….and the sooner the people of my area realize what a d/bag he is the sooner we can eliminate him.

Looks like the Supreme Court is not having any of the silly Trump games…..

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon rejected a lawsuit backed by President Trump to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. The decision ends a desperate attempt to get legal issues rejected by state and federal judges before the nation’s highest court, the AP reports. The court’s order was its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it become involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday. The Electoral College meets Monday to formally elect Biden as the next president.

Per Axios, the court wrote: “The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”

Then there is not moron of the GOP, Alan West, the GOP Chair from Texas……

126 GOP House members and 17 other state attorneys general was rebuffed by the nation’s highest court, Texas GOP Chair Allen West, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and former congressman, issued a statement noting his displeasure, and offering an eyebrow-raising suggestion, per CBS Dallas-Fort Worth. “This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic,” West said. “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.” West’s remarks brought swift backlash from both sides of the aisle, per the Hill.

“I believe @TexasGOP should immediately retract this, apologize, and fire Allen West and anyone else associated with this,” Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii added, “They have lost their minds. … These people are deadly serious about secession and sedition.” Also disappointed in the Supreme Court’s rebuff: President Trump, who was said to have nixed an appearance at a White House holiday party Friday night, per the New York Times. Later that evening, he tweeted, “The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!” He continued mulling over the situation well past midnight, adding his final thoughts on the matter: “It is a legal disgrace, an embarrassment to the USA!!!” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani appeared on Newsmax Friday night, vowing the fight isn’t over. “We’re not finished, believe me,” Giuliani said, per the Times. The Electoral College is set to formally elect Biden as the next president on Monday.

I believe that Alan West has earned his new pair of Trump knee pads for this Christmas.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Has The Fat Lady Sung?

Finally……someone has called this election for Joe Biden……

Joe Biden has reached the magic number of 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency, reports the AP. Details are still emerging, but the AP and CNN report that Biden won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, putting him at 273. The Trump campaign, however, still has legal challenges pending and recounts are likely, meaning it could be days or weeks before the nation has an undisputed winner. Biden addressed the nation late Friday night.

In a statement on Friday, President Trump vowed to continue his legal fight, saying it was “about the integrity of our entire election process,” reports Politico. The outlet notes that Trump has failed to produce any evidence to back up his allegations of fraud during the counting of mail ballots. “We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law,” said Trump. “I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”

Of course that poser on the White House will milk this for all it is worth and feed the bullshit his supporters will believe…..

President Trump is not about to concede. In a statement issued after news outlets declared Joe Biden the winner on Saturday, the president remained defiant:

  • “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed,” he said, per Reuters. “The simple fact is this election is far from over.”

The president, who has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of fraud about the counting of mail ballots, said his legal team would start “prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld,” per CNBC. Earlier, before the race was called, the president tweeted, ” WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” He also traveled to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday morning for a round of golf.

Biden says it is time  for the healing……which is bullshit…..48% of the voters went for Trump and he will not go silently and Biden will have to contend with that.

Please stop believing that the country will find its better angels….it will be just as fucked up as it has been for decades…..

Let’s all hope we can end this nightmare as soon as possible….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Close Elections

As we continue to wait on the official announcement of who actually won this thing I thought I would pass the time with some history….(is that heavy sighs I hear?)

But first a little election news….

Our lousy president spends all his time telling us that the Dems are stealing votes and screaming that since he is ahead in some regions the count should stop and yes there are those “Americans” that believe and support his attacks on our system…..and then there are those crazies that try to enforce Trumpism with guns….

Two armed men were arrested Thursday near the Philadelphia convention center, police said, where an ongoing vote count could decide the presidential election. The men traveled to the city in a Hummer and did not have permits to carry the weapons in Pennsylvania, police said. They were arrested after police received a tip about their plans, the AP reports. A gun was found inside the vehicle, police said.

A silver Hummer with Virginia license plates was parked Friday at the location where police say they found the men. It was adorned with an American flag and a window sticker for the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon. Police said the men will be charged with firearms offenses. Their names have not been made public. They have yet to be arraigned. Information on lawyers who could comment on their behalf was not immediately available.

The same 5 states have been “Too Close To Call” for going on 3 days (81 hours since the polls closures)…..so there is little actual news….just media filler until another update can be found.

The only excitement yesterday was the presser of the president that was pure bullsh*t……

ABC, CBS, and NBC all cut away from President Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him. Trump had tried to commandeer the nation’s airwaves at a time when the evening newscasts are shown on the East Coast, after a day when the slow drip of vote counting revealed his leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia dwindling. MSNBC’s Brian Williams also interrupted the president. Fox News Channel and CNN aired the president’s full address, after which CNN’s Anderson Cooper said Trump was “like an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the hot sun realizing his time was over.” Network personalities had sharply criticized Trump after his angry, middle-of-the-night speech following Election Day but aired that talk in full. Trump was more subdued Thursday, yet offered a litany of complaints about “suppression” polls, mail-in voting and fraud that he never specified.

Let’s move on……First this thought—-

Only 5 presidents have won the election without the popular vote: John Quincy Adams, 1824 Rutherford B. Hayes, 1876 Benjamin Harrison, 1888 George W. Bush, 2000 Donald Trump, 2016

The voting tally….Biden…..74,811,378     Trump……70,554,537

But as close as this election was….it was just one of many……

Will the presidential election of 2020 be a close one?

We don’t yet know.

But the United States has certainly had its share of close elections, dating from the earliest days of the republic to recent history.

The 2016 campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was the 13th closest in the country’s history with Trump losing the popular vote by 3 million but winning the electoral college 304-227.

Here are 10 other races that came down to the slimmest of margins.

Nixon vs Humphrey

The 10 closest presidential elections in U.S. history

Now are you not pleased to have a diversion from the “hurry up and wait” mentality of the media?

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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”