COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, November 05, 2012

Romney was not my first choice, Obama was my last choice.








I have already voted. Suffice it to say it was not for Obama. Sometime tomorrow night and I believe earlier than people think, we will have a new president elect. I do not believe Obama will win. I believe there is a stealth anti-Obama percentage that does not show up in polling and it will give Romney a win. Will the better man win and is that important? Does the better man make the best president? Here is a list of  candidates over the past 60 years. Did the better man win or lose in these races?


167 comments:

  1. If you need a refresher on some of the candidates, most of the names are linked.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have voted for Romney as well. And he is not my first choice either.

    I would rather live in Salt Lake City, than Chicago, though.

    And have a businessman as President, rather than a Marxist and muslim influenced smart ass community organizer, who began with styrofoam pillars and ends with a repugnant ad implying a young lady's first vote ought to be a sexual affair with his very self.

    I have lived around Mormons my entire life. I have never felt endangered by them.

    My wife has voted for Romney too. She wants some decorum in the White House.

    I don't care what kind of underpants he wears, or even if he wears any at all.

    Besides, I love the Mormon Choir. A friend of mine played 2nd cello there, until the mandatory retirement at age 50.



    ReplyDelete
  3. Look at this insane ad for instance -

    http://hotair.com/archives/2012/11/05/video-dont-forget-to-vote-for-abortion-rights-tomorrow-mommy/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Crackieblackie out of teepee.

    Chief Plenty Coups

    ReplyDelete
  5. That asshole is out of the ranch house.

    Buck

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hate it that IBD/TIPP hasn't been able to poll the last week. But, their last poll was interesting in that it had Obama down 16% among Whites.

    Can you win a Nationl Election while losing Whites by 16%? Has the country changed That much?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has and Obama is the architect. That is the stealth vote I referred to. It is not racist, it is people sick of the double standard and their being referred to as racist.

      Delete
  7. And can you tell, O Sir, just why it is that working whites should vote for unworking blacks?

    They have, after all, an up in college admissions, they have affirmitive action all over hell.

    Yet there is not one of them will give whitey a break, for being a 'good guy'.

    O no, it is all racism, and some stuff from the past.

    It is a game.

    That is all it is, a game where blacky accuses whitey, and I think it is coming to an end.

    Because whitey is finally getting pissed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, you sir, are just a racist asshole.

      Delete
    2. And, YOU brought up "Race;" I didn't.

      Delete
    3. "losing Whites "

      O no, drunk pecker, you brought in racism right here and were the first to do so

      Delete
  8. .

    I like IKE.

    As for the rest, it's impossible to tell. Only a sucker thinks a politician will keep all the promises he makes while campaigning. Therefore, every vote is like buying a pig in a poke. You can only judge a politician by his actions after he is elected.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fully with you there, Q. And of course admire Eisenhower (of all people) for being the one to warn against the military-industrial complex and any idea that America could function by being made subordinate to it. Pity nobody reacted.

      Delete
  9. Presidential Candidate Obama promised to do all he could to get Healthcare Reform -

    He passed the Affordable Care Act


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised to end the War in Iraq -

    He Ended the War in Iraq


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised to sign the Lily Ledbetter Act -

    He signed the Lily Ledbetter Act


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised tax cuts for Small businesses, and Lower and Middle Income Taxpayers

    He passed 18 tax cuts for small businesses, and poor, and middle class Americans.


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised Wall St Reform.

    President Obama passed Wall St. Reform


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised more money for Alternative Energy.

    He delivered more money for Alternative Energy than any President in History.


    Presidential Candidate Obama promised that he would get Osama Bin Laden, even if he had to go into Pakistan to do it.

    He went into Pakistan, and got him.


    Some Candidates are better at keeping promises than others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      If you literally judge Obama on promises kept, there is no denying that he has accomplished more than many presidents.

      If you judge him on the totality of his actions while in office, on the effectiveness of his solutions, on actions taken that were never 'promised', ah...well, there is the rub. Those are the areas on which there is much disagreement.

      .

      Delete
    2. Well, he Did bring us back from the brink of Depression.

      And, he Did save the American Auto Industry.

      And, he Did institute, and Win, 10, or so, Trade Actions against Chinese Unfair Trade programs.

      He Has presided over the Creation of 5 Million Jobs since the bottom of the recession brought on by the previous administration.

      He Has eliminated DADT.

      He Has given those young people brought here as children a chance at a future.

      He Has signed (after fighting for, and winning, retraining programs) 3 Free Trade Agreements.


      In his spare time, of course.

      Delete
    3. "losing Whites "

      O no, drunk pecker, you brought in racism right here and were the first to do so

      Delete
    4. .

      Well, he Did bring us back from the brink of Depression.

      Nonsense, TARP and Time and a little push from 'Helicopter Ben' did.


      And, he Did save the American Auto Industry.

      As with TARP the auto rescue was begun by Bush. While Obama continued the rescue there are many who question the settlement he brokered and the winners and losers he came up with.

      And, he Did institute, and Win, 10, or so, Trade Actions against Chinese Unfair Trade programs.

      I'm at a loss to comment since I was/am unaware of this.


      He Has presided over the Creation of 5 Million Jobs since the bottom of the recession brought on by the previous administration.

      That claim earns you four Pinnocios for repeating it. I know that at least the WaPo and CNN have taken the president to task for repeating it.


      He Has eliminated DADT.

      Perhaps this impresses you; however, it means very little to me one way or the other.


      He Has given those young people brought here as children a chance at a future.

      He has, for purely political reasons, elected to not enforce the laws of the US which he swore to uphold. This is not the first instance of him messing with the laws and constitution.


      He Has signed (after fighting for, and winning, retraining programs) 3 Free Trade Agreements.

      You say this as if it is a good thing.

      .


      Delete
    5. .

      He passed the Affordable Care Act

      The ACA fails in its primary objectives: universal coverage and controlling health care costs.


      He Ended the War in Iraq

      Granted. Obama declared the end of the Iraq war on August 31, 2011. Of course, the legal agreement, the Status of Forces agreement, signed by George Bush and Iraq spelled out the agreement that all US troops minus a small contingent for the embassy had to be out by December 31, 2011. I won't bring up the 'promise' Obama made that if he were elected, he would start bringing out the troops on day 1 and have them all out within 16 months.


      He signed the Lily Ledbetter Act

      Are you saying this is some huge win for women or makes it easier to win discrimination lawsuits. The law merely overturned a narrow ruling by SCOTUS that established a six month time limit for filing a lawsuit from the point the alleged discrimination took place. The law extended the time for filing to the same level it was under Bush prior to the SCOTUS decision. I mean there was nothing wrong with the law but it certainly didn't turn discrimination law on its head.


      He passed 18 tax cuts for small businesses, and poor, and middle class Americans.

      He has also driven up the the national debt by a few trillion. I don't know all the tax cuts you are talking about; however, I do know a few. First, there was the extension of the Bush tax cuts. That was the biggest one. Sure they affected the groups you are talking about. They also continued the breaks to the Big Dogs that Obama has been moaning about since campaign season started. As part of the stimulus package, he also cut payroll taxes which are admittedly regressive. However, what did we get out of these tax cuts? Stimulus? I don't think so. The big boys kept their money. The banks kept their money. Corporations are sitting on their money. The people you are talking about paid down debt. And, at least on the payroll tax, social security suffered. And the debt and barrowing rose. For people who needed help, those without a job, the tax cuts did nada.

      President Obama passed Wall St. Reform

      True. Dodd-Frank has some good things in it. However, hardly enough. Under Obama (and Geitner), TBTF has become MTBTF. Damn Rufus, your the hero of the left here now. You read Clean Technica and the Huffington Post. Surely, you read Rolliong Stone.

      How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform


      He delivered more money for Alternative Energy than any President in History

      I can't argue with that. How effective he's been I'll leave to others to discuss.


      He went into Pakistan, and got him.


      Again, I can't argue with that. However, you will remember the other considerations I pointed out to you in an earlier post today.

      .









      Delete
    6. Do you really believe that Obama improved racial tensions? After all, Obama got elected, naively IMO, by idealistic white people that wanted to give a black man every chance to lower the temperature on racial issues and achieve racial neutrality and relegate racial identification to indifference. Obama took a petty pass whenever he had an opportunity to do so. The Boston cop was the typical Obama play on race. Obama was hardly a stalwart for racial neutrality. Obama even changed his vocal cadence and dialect to re-identify himself to his cause and got 97% support in doing so.

      Delete
    7. Barack Obama:

      • First President to Violate the War Powers Act
      (Unilaterally Executing American Military Operations in Libya Without
      Informing Congress In the Required Time Period - Source: Huffington Post)

      • First President to Triple the Number of Warrantless Wiretaps of U.S. Citizens (Source: ACLU)

      • First President to Sign into Law a Bill That Permits the
      Government to "Hold Anyone Suspected of Being Associated With Terrorism
      Indefinitely, Without Any Form of Due Process. No Indictment. No Judge
      or Jury. No Evidence. No Trial. Just an Indefinite Jail Sentence" (NDAA Bill - Source: Business Insider)

      • First President to Have His Attorney General Held in Criminal Contempt of Congress For His Efforts to Cover Up Operation Fast and Furious, That Killed Over 300 Individuals (Source: Politico)
      • First President to claim
      Executive Privilege to shield a sitting Attorney General from a
      Contempt of Congress finding for perjury and withholding evidence from
      lawful subpoenas (Source: Business Insider)

      • First President to Issue Unlawful "Recess-Appointments" Over a Long Weekend -- While the U.S. Senate Remained in Session (against the advice of his own Justice Department - Source: Heritage Foundation)

      • First President to Fire an Inspector General of Americorps for Catching One of His Friends in a Corruption Case (Source: Gawker)

      • First President to "Order
      a Secret Amnesty Program that Stopped the Deportations of Illegal
      Immigrants Across the U.S., Including Those With Criminal Convictions" (Source: DHS documents uncovered by Judicial Watch)

      Delete
  10. You are a begger, Rufus, a natural born begger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you can't play the class card you can always play the race card.

      Delete
    2. I prefer the "fact" card.

      You are the one that keeps bringing up racial groups/ethnic groups/religious superiorities, etc.

      Delete
    3. Or your stupid 'religion' card.

      Delete
    4. At least I know how to spell "beggar."

      Delete
    5. With practice comes perfection.

      But begger is an accepted alternative spelling.

      Delete
  11. "Crackieblackie" at 09:22


    Besides, mine was simply an intellectual/demographic question. No "value judgements" made.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What racist about that?

    I can understand a red saying in disgust they are both a bunch of crap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A "red?"

      There are no individuals with racists. Everyone is just a member of some "group."

      Delete
    2. Wrong O dumb shit.

      I have, if you have been reading with any comprehension, praising Plenty Coups, as I think he did well under the circumstances he was dealt.

      Delete
    3. Racism doesn't mean you have every individual of other races; it simply means you can't see individuals except in the "context of race."

      You're a racist, bob. You know it. I know it. Everyone that reads this blog knows it. Why try to deny it. It just wastes cyberspace.

      Delete
  13. "losing Whites "

    Why bring race into it?

    And, by the way, what is Affirmative Action?

    Other than racism?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Plenty Coups threw Crackieblackie out of teepee.

    For being disgusting.

    Not for being black. Or black/white.

    But for being disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, yeah, the Start Treaty. Forgot about that one.

    And, he reformed the Student Loan Program, lowering the interest rates, and making College accessible to virtually All American kids.

    And, he expanded the Pell Grant Program.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, he helped turn Egypt to the Brotherhood. Same as Libya and Syria perhaps to come. He betrayed the Poles and the Czechs. He whispers into the ear of Putin's second banana.

      Lowered the interest rates?

      You got to be kidding.

      The interest rates are zero now. Reflect the interest rates, maybe.

      The economy is so bad I can get a loan for alfalfa storage at one percent.

      And am thinking of doing it. After all, why not?

      The only thing he has done that is worth a shit is take the wolves off the endangered species list, and I doubt he even ever heard of that.

      Delete
    2. The Banks were robbing the kids on those government guaranteed student loans (and robbing the taxpayers in the process.)

      The govt. is also paying you Not to farm part of your land; but, you don't seem too upset over That welfare program.

      Delete
    3. And, actually, he stayed out of the way, and allowed the Egyptians to throw off a dictator, and elect their own government.

      Delete
    4. You are a moron, it is no use.

      Delete
    5. Yeah, I'm a moron; but, you're the one that doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground about the Polish/Czech Missile Defense situation. It's still on asshole. Obama merely indulged the Russians with a bit of diplomacy, and then continued the program.

      Delete
    6. The govt. is also paying you Not to farm part of your land; but, you don't seem too upset over That welfare program.

      But, but I pay over 25 k a year in property taxes to pay for medical care for the indigent.

      I am a net loser, by far, by far....

      Since you bring up personal shit, you get money from the Casino Cherokee, do you not?

      And your father got some farm payments, did he not?

      And you go to the VA, do you not?

      Delete
    7. Where did you ever dream up this goofy Cherokee Casino shit? You would have to live ON THE RESERVATION, and be "verifiably" 1/4 Cherokee for that.

      And, actually, the only farm program I remember from the 50's was that they would only allow us to plant a certain cotton acreage.

      As for the V.A. - I, also, DO NOT use the Medicare that I've been paying into for 45 years.

      Delete
  16. http://hotair.com/archives/2012/11/05/video-dont-forget-to-vote-for-abortion-rights-tomorrow-mommy/

    Crackieblackie out of teepee.

    Chief Plenty Coups

    ReplyDelete
  17. So far, I've listed 17 Significant Achievements of Barack Obama.

    And, you've answered with "crackieblackie?"

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your significant acheivements are mostly not significant achievements in any other minds except yours.

    I see you say "He got Osama"


    hahahahhaar

    The United States Military got Osama.

    You are missing "He killed the Ambassador, and sundry others."

    ReplyDelete
  19. Lets see now, unemployment is higher than when he took office.


    A significant achievement.

    Net wealth is way way down.

    Another significant achievement.


    More people on food stamps, more people on welfare, these are significant achievements.

    Our culture is degraded, we urge our young women to vote for Zero as if it were the perfect first sexual experience.

    That is a significant achievement.

    Even his cousin in Kenya would vote this sucker out if he could. And has said so.

    That is a truly significant achievement.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Bush Team-induced implosion gave him an 850,000 Jobs Lost the month he took the oath. By the time the smoke had cleared we were at 10.2% Unemployment. He's slowly and steadily brought it down to 7.9%.

      Median Family Income fell steadily the entire Bush Administration. Then completely tanked with the Bush Super-Meltdown. It's, actually, ticked up a bit in the last couple of months.

      And, of course, Food Stamps are up. The Economy was falling off a cliff, thanks to the Bushies, when he took office.

      Delete
    2. Net Wealth is headed back up, thanks to a large extent by a DOUBLING of the Stock Market under Obama.

      Delete
    3. And the price of farmland has Exploded.

      Even residential real estate has turned the corner and is making YOY increases.

      Delete
    4. .

      Good heavens, Ruf, its been four years. Will it still be Bush's fault in four more years?

      You have definately drunk deeply of the Kool-aid, old-timer.

      .

      Delete
    5. You're mixing apples and oranges, Q. When someone says "unemployment is higher than when Obama took office," it Has to be explained that Obama took office in the "Middle" of a Crash.

      I mean, if a new pilot takes over an airliner that has two dead engines, and is losing 10,000 ft/minute . . . . . well, you can't possibly blame him for the next 20,000 feet of lost altitude.

      This is all common-sense stuff.

      Delete
    6. .

      Common-sense or just and excuse?

      It's been four years, Ruf. Obama has accomplished little. You can blame Bush all you want. Excuses are like assholes. Everyones got one.

      .

      Delete
    7. I have, so far, named 17 accomplishments. What did you expect, "Lasting World Peace?"

      Delete
    8. .

      See the replies to your "17 acomplishments" listed by those above.

      .

      Delete
  20. Ruf, you live in your own world.

    Bush the Bastard warned against Freddie and Fanny EIGHT TIMES.

    You could blame Bwarney Franks, but that doesn't suit you purpose.

    Net wealth is increasing? Well praise be that is something to applaud. When you have lost half of it, it's good to get a little something back.

    Good night, Ruf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean when he wasn't dancing around on the stage singing the praises of "The Ownership Society?"

      And, I don't see how you could be hurt too badly; Farm Prices are way higher than they were, and so are alfalfa prices.

      Delete
  21. BREAKING: Obama Winning by 2:1 Margin in New Hampshire

    Dixon Notch Obama 5 Romney 5

    Harts Location Obama 23 Romney 9

    ReplyDelete
  22. "One of the things the decider-in-chief has to do is decide whether he’s going to bring this country together across all its diversity or let it drift apart. Look at how much stronger the American military is because it is less racist, less sexist and less homophobic and we’re just looking for people who can do the job,” said Clinton, veteran of draft dodging and master shirker of military service.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dang, if I wasn't so tired I think we could have some fun with this.

      Ah, well, I am, so Good Nite. :)

      Gotta go vote, tomorry.

      Delete
  23. The DNA of most tyrants include four markers:

    Hope, Change, Forward, Revenge.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Actually Obama has not achieved tyranny in all its nuances, but he has been seduced by the temptations of power. He does not enjoy democracy or the art of persuasion and compromise. His political arts are colored by his experience and it will be some time till we understand just who Barack Obama really is.

    ReplyDelete
  25. That the election of November 6, 2012, has the potential to be a definitive moment in American history is now almost a truism. This conception may sound overblown to the ignorant and disengaged, but in fact it is a great understatement. As America is the only nation left in which freedom is still on the ballot, this definitive U.S. election means even more, in truth, than most voters may realize. It is a referendum on the survival of modern civilization.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/the_us_election_is_a_referendum_on_civilization.html


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great nations cannot be understood independently of the defining spiritual impulse that creates and propels them. Any worthwhile analysis of ancient Greek civilization, for example, must contribute to our understanding of the central theme of Greece: the flowering of the human soul. The long history of the Greek world, seen from the outside, embodies the process whereby humanity came into its own. At last, representation became art -- man's attempt to understand his relationship to the divine, to other men, and to himself; and knowledge evolved from an acceptance of ancient rules and customs into a submission of nature's and man's rules to the rigors of rational inquiry.

      The rigors of rational inquiry. I tell you, this is what Joseph Campbell was for, the rigors of rational inquiry. For a nation, and its international relations based on mutual benefit as best as can be done, and an understanding of mythology so that we can finally see, we are our own freedom.

      Fully understanding of course, that those rigors can take you only so far.

      Let us not now go into rigor mortis; let us try to put our own government in its proper place, a servant to us, and not our overlord.




      Delete
  26. Obama has no understanding of the term loyalty and sold out to the people that supported him. I was taken aback with Barack the first time tv cameras followed him into Air Force One and right up through his campaigning in that ridiculous leather forty-mission military flight jacket. I knew the seduction was complete when he returned salutes to anyone wearing a military uniform. Eisenhower never did. It was the movie star, Reagan, that played roles in the military, that started that nonsense.

    Obama never had the courage to show the military establishment who was the boss. He forgot who were his friends and supporters. The margin that took Obama over the top and out of the Chrysler 300 to Air Force One will not be there today. Obama will lose to a man who has less of an understanding about foreign affairs than most who post on this blog.

    I will not have Obama to kick around. Unfortunately, Romney will probably rise to be a worthy candidate for rebuke and criticism. I really do hope he does not salute.

    ReplyDelete
  27. :)

    Well, for what it is worth, maybe a bale of alfalfa, or a half, the boys in the bunkhouse out here in eastern Oregon are all saddled up and voting for Romney this morning.

    Then we will let the Mormons celebrate in the Temple, as we go out to round up the cattle.

    Buck

    ReplyDelete
  28. It would be so refreshing to have a president, that believes in America first without wearing an American flag lapel pin. A president that believes in a strong defense that does not include foreign intrusion and military offense in areas that are not of our business or concern. A president that shares reverence for our constitution and states so. A president that has the courage to not end every speech with the obligatory, “May God bless America.”

    ReplyDelete
  29. Actually God and Obama have something in common. Neither can produce a birth certificate.

    ReplyDelete
  30. OMG! :)

    Personally, I believed this election was over since the Republican primaries. I don't hold the American electorate in particularly high regard. But, I do not think a majority of this country is stupid enough to elect anyone from the GOP clown car to be President.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you are concerned about clowns, you might consider Joe Biden. Think if over.

      Actually, you might consider O himself.

      Delete
    2. There was another long article on World Net Daily a few days ago that I almost posted. I am no expert in this stuff at all, but it could be a phoney.

      I have always thought, for years now, that O is ineligible because he does not have two American citizen parents, but the court have refused to rule.

      It is not a laughing matter, Jenny.

      Delete
    3. Which is worse?

      clowns

      gangsters

      Check one.

      Delete
  31. :0

    I don't hold the American electorate in particularly high regard.

    heh, you and Mencken, but for obviously different reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I hope Melody puts up some music today. It is going to be a long day.

    ReplyDelete
  33. If Obama wins, he can claim that he has inherited a mess from the previous administration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My advice to the Winner of this election is the same as my advice to the winner of the last election.

      Demand an Immediate Recount!!!

      Delete
  34. There are some very twitchy faces at MSNBC.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Here's the Good News: Starting tomorrow, we could likely go a year before we hear the word "Ohio," again. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Which will leave us free to talk about what we really want to talk about - Ethanol!!!

      :)

      Delete
  36. http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2012/11/06/Report-Obama-Attempts-to-Steal-Philly-Black-Panthers-In-Repub-Poll-Work


    What do you call this, Rufus? How about voter suppression?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been watching big-time, systemic voter suppression in Ohio, and Fla on TV for weeks now.

      Now, breitbart puts up some kind of dog-whistle, black panthers in Pa article? gimmee a break.

      Delete
    2. County officials received a complaint shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday that Republicans outside a polling location on Maple Street in Homestead were stopping people outside the polls and asking for identification.

      The order states: “Individuals outside the polls are prohibited from questioning, obstructing, interrogating or asking about any form of identification and/demanding any form of identification from any prospective voter.”


      Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/2904078-74/outside-county-identification-judge-polls-order-asking-homestead-voters-allegheny#ixzz2BSxhmed1
      Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

      Delete

    3. Read even more and you come to following, which Ruf did not cite:



      In Philadelphia, the Republican Party said dozens of legally credentialed minority voting inspectors were removed from polling places in Philadelphia on Tuesday, reports being looked into by investigators with the District Attorney’s office.

      State GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said 75 Republican election workers were prohibited from accessing polling places in the heavily Democratic city, prompting the party to seek a court order. The incidents, Gleason said, ranged from judges of elections refusing to seat minority inspectors to reports of Democrats saying “No Republicans will be allowed in the polling place.”




      Delete
    4. Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams, says the office is investigating a series of complaints regarding such minority voting inspectors. She did not have specifics on what kinds of complaints there were about the minority voting inspectors, but said the office was fielding a higher volume of complaints than normal.

      A message left with the state’s Democratic Party was not immediately returned.

      The Committee of Seventy, an election watchdog group, also says it’s dealing with issues of Republican inspectors being denied access to polling places in the city.

      Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/2904078-74/outside-county-identification-judge-polls-order-asking-homestead-voters-allegheny#ixzz2BTevVF9H
      Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

      Delete
  37. .

    Just heard on the radio that NJ voters who are unable to get to the polls because of the storm will be allowed to vote by e-mail or FAX.

    I can see the e-mail but how does the FAX work?

    .

    ReplyDelete
  38. Racism or something else?

    Robert Reich: The Real Reason Why America is So Divided:

    But I think the degree of venom we’re experiencing has deeper roots.

    The nation is becoming browner and blacker....

    In other words, white working-class men have been on the losing end of a huge demographic and economic shift. That’s made them a tinder-box of frustration and anger – eagerly ignited by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and other peddlers of petulance, including an increasing number of Republicans who have gained political power by fanning the flames.

    USA is treated to semi-regular outbursts of such-and-such country doing so much better in some subject area: Switzerland has better healthcare; Iceland fixed it's banking crisis; Canada never had a banking crisis; and so on. One commonality of all these Star Performers is a (significantly) smaller population, and one that is (strongly) ethnically and racially homogeneous.

    USA society is becoming increasingly segregated by increased ethnic/racial diversity and increased disparity between those who are making it and those who are not, usually measured by income. To reduce the complexities of this social discohesion to a solitary causation of "racism" is superficial and, frankly, unhelpful. I think the short guy put his finger on it.

    Not even this degree of divisiveness would have taken root had America preserved the social solidarity we had two generations ago. The Great Depression and World War II reminded us we were all in it together. We had to depend on each other in order to survive. That sense of mutual dependence transcended our disagreements. My father, a “Rockefeller” Republican, strongly supported civil rights and voting rights, Medicare and Medicaid. I remember him saying “we’re all Americans, aren’t we?

    Doris shrugs again. Wanna run with the big dogs, can't piss like a puppy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I think everybody will go back to work after the election, and hope it all works out.

      Delete
    2. Racism has been a part of this campaign, but it wouldn't have been nearly as big a part if we weren't undergoing such hard economic times. People get grouchy during hard times, and tend to circle the wagons. Get "Tribal," if you will.

      Delete
    3. Duece says the stealth vote is driven by whites who are tired of being labelled racists. I am pretty sure if I resided in Philadelphia, I would have issues. There are some very touchy realities under some of the crime demographics that may or may not be resolvable without addressing innate skill sets. Doing so outside the context of "race-based analytics" is close to impossible. Obama became the lightning rod for all these issues, particularly but not exclusively so, when he had the temerity to express empathy for the black underdog.

      The Republican base has a serious "cracker factor" that almost invisibly transforms into the more reality-based concerns of social dividers such as minority-dominated crime. (None of which encapsulated POV's such as those from small rural communities.)

      I have to leave this unfinished. I have to go.

      Delete
    4. All I know is, I don't like to bet on humans; however, having said that, I wish I knew where I could get some of that Nate Silver 9:1 action. I'd have to go to the lock-box for some of that.

      The whole Obama-wins meme is based on young, single women showing up to vote. I'm not saying they won't, but, damn, it doesn't look like a nine to one proposition to me.

      I'm sticking with a one-point (or less) proposition.

      Delete
  39. UN poll-watchers 'amazed' US doesn't require ID's to vote... REPORT: Video Shows Electronic Voting Machine Changing Vote... FL Robocall Tells Thousands They Have Until Wednesday Evening To Vote... REPORT: Woman Wearing 'MIT' Shirt Barred from Voting in Florida... VIDEO: Man in gorilla suit allowed to vote... Poll watcher in Detroit threatened with gun, 911 call rejected... Election Judge Wears Obama Cap While Checking in Voters in Chicago Ward...

    Black Panthers Return to Philly Polling Site...

    VIDEO...

    GOP poll inspectors being forcibly removed -- replaced by Democrats...

    Judge issues order to reinstate...

    ReplyDelete
  40. Why 2012 Turned Small

    *******************

    Gary Hart, the Colorado Democrat who ran twice for president in the 1980s, in a POLITICO interview condemned a campaign marked by “a dumbing down of the message to elementary rhetoric that does not contain big ideas or challenging ideas.”

    At the core of these complaints is a paradox: The 2012 campaign seemed grotesquely bloated and all-pervasive, at the same time it seemed the opposite — miniaturized and ephemeral.

    The Side Show Became the Main Show

    A summary of this election cycle’s media frenzies sounds like it could be put to music like Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”: Michele Bachmann and the straw poll, Rick Perry’s “Oops,” “Nine, Nine, Nine,” Donald Trump, Herman Cain and harassment, “I like firing people,” “You didn’t build that,” “Put y’all back in chains,” “47 percent,” “Big Bird,” “binders full of women,” all the way to Election Day.

    ...

    Of the media, she said: “Sensationalism has killed civility. If you’re not being sensational, you can’t get any attention. It’s really hard to break through.”

    ...

    “It’s not just the candidates. It’s all of us. There’s no upside to doing anything big,” said Prince, adding that the Twitter era “empowers a mob mentality where loud, vocal extreme forces light bonfires and cause campaigns to move away from doing anything risky.”

    [Everyone remembers what happened to health care. Tax Reform anyone??]

    It is an Anti-Leader Movement

    A Pew Research Center survey earlier this year found that just 33 percent of the electorate has a favorable view of the federal government — a 15-year low.

    Until that changes, American politics most likely will be colored by a phenomenon the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. described a generation ago: “A major source of the anxiety and frustration that darken the climate of democratic politics is surely the gnawing fear that our masters are intellectually baffled and analytically impotent before the long-term crises of our age — that they know neither causes nor cures and are desperately improvising on the edge of catastrophe.”

    Candidates are Marginalized

    A presidential nominee, obviously, is responsible for his own campaign. A pervasive theme, however, of POLITICO interviews is that the smallness of this campaign is the way that candidates allow themselves to be run off the road — to lose control of the argument — by a combination of political operatives and outside money.

    ...

    Still, he expressed dismay that Obama did not push against these forces by waging a more substantive, future-oriented campaign. “I cannot account for why President Obama did not lay out a vision or an agenda for the next four years,” he said. “Nothing on what needs to be done, new thoughts on how to do it or at least some uplifting, challenging thoughtful ideas. I guess somebody was telling him not to do it.”

    [Valerie Jarrett and David Plouffe]

    Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, was similarly down on the thin substance of the 2012 campaign, and pinned particular blame on the outside groups spending millions to motivate ideological base voters — a trend allowed by the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United case.

    “Campaigns are always full of bluster, bombast and the other B-word, and this is not different. But this has been worse because of Citizens United,” Conrad said. “It’s an absolute perversion of our democracy.”

    ********************

    OTOH, this essay could be recycled after every modern presidential election, as Deuce's pictorial history above suggests.

    OTOH, the financial fraud leading to 2008 succeeded wildly in getting everybody's attention - we are now fully engaged - and this is the campaign that was delivered to us.

    My own view, part of it, is that Obama navigated these waters fairly well.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Millions of people that don't follow football all that closely, make a big party out of watching, and pontificating on "The Super Bowl."


    Millions, and Millions, and Millions of people that don't know (or care) squat about Politics, or the positions of the Candidates about Anything, go out and "Vote" on the first tuesday of November.

    All the information has been out there, but any network that spends much time talking about it will, very quickly, hear the clicks of their viewers' remotes as they search out something of interest - Honey boo-boo, WWF, the latest Kardasian sex tape, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. About half of the USA population is considered middle class by income (upper and lower.) Enough to sway a federal election. That leaves the 1% and the lower half. Arguably the middle class has always maintained some degree of political focus, but 2008 sharpened their collective lens. I know nothing about the 1%, other than what I learned during the 2008-2010 time frame, which was enough, or the lower half, other than that there must be an audience for the drudge that slimes across cable TV. So we're both right I guess.


      Another view of the Politico article above is that more than a couple of "big ideas" were raised - tax increases & tax reform, health care policy, the role of government, not to mention the role of private equity - but no consensus was reached, leading back to Robert Reich's premise that the Republicans have taken their policy marbles and gone home - don't want to play anymore, unless the big ideas lead to small government.

      And I have to go again. Car stuff.

      Delete
  42. Can Obama catch a ride with you?

    http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/

    ReplyDelete
  43. Just heard that in the heavy Republican precincts of Hamilton County, Ohio 68% of the registered voters had voted by 3:30. Election officials predict an 80% turnout in these areas. They have not seen such heavy voting since 1960.

    ReplyDelete
  44. 9 takeaways from the 2012 election

    8. Both parties have soul-searching to do

    This is less true for whichever party wins. But the Democrats and Republicans are facing questions about who will lead them, and what they will make their defining platforms, heading into 2016.

    Obama has shown almost no interest in party-building, which is part of why Clinton has been able to enjoy the seventh or eighth of his nine political lives this year. He doesn’t want to do the grip-and-grins on behalf of other candidates.

    Neither does Romney, who has never quite warmed to the world of retail politicking. If he becomes president, the party will need someone else — perhaps a Vice President Paul Ryan? — to tend to that effort in the way that Vice President Joe Biden has for Obama.

    But Romney’s party is weighted with conservatives who may not embrace him in primaries, just as moderate Democrats held Obama at arm’s length in 2010 and this year.

    That leaves an opening on both sides for someone to become the face of the party, if not the de facto leader.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 9. Neither party has a deep female bench

      In terms of field teams, most of the attention this cycle has been on Hispanic candidates — Julian Castro for Democrats, and Marco Rubio for Republicans.

      Yet it’s notable how thin the benches on both sides are in terms of credible female candidates for the presidency (there were a large number of female Senate candidates running in 2012).

      The obvious exception, of course, is Hillary Clinton, who may consider a 2016 bid — she has said she isn’t, but people close to the family are not convinced — and would likely be field-clearing if she does launch another campaign.

      Beyond Clinton, there’s New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar for the Democrats. On the Republican side, there’s New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez — a friendly Hispanic face who is pro-abortion rights, meaning she would have difficulties in the party primaries.

      The decades of candidate-grooming on the GOP side has been largely focused on black and Hispanic officials at the local and state level. And the Democrats have not quite figured out what the next wave of strong female candidates looks like in the post-Clinton era, whenever that arrives.

      Given that this is probably the last cycle in which a ticket will be all white and all male, it’s something both sides have to work toward.

      Delete
  45. One time, a long time ago, an "acquaintance" asked me to make him a line on the Ariz/Ariz St game. I had seen the line earlier in the day, and said, Arizona -21. My "acquaintnce" immediately said, I'll take $500.00 on Az State +21.

    Since that guy didn't have a reputation as a "nickel" bettor, I gulped, and said, Okay.

    I went back, and looked at the paper again, and to my horror, I'd turned the line "upside down." I'd bet $500.00, and taken 42 points the worst of it. Yikes!

    I ran into a friend a little later that just happened to be a long-time bookie, told him what I'd done, and asked, not seriously, "What are my odds of winning THAT BET?"

    50/50, he said, laughing; You either win it, or you don't.

    "Yeah," I said, "Thanks," and shuffled off.



    Arizona pulled off the upset of the Century, and I won the impossible bet.

    50/50. You either do, or you don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Except on Wall St, where it's all about the spread.

      Delete
  46. I'll be watching the Netflix movie Battleground (2012) where "insanity meets criminality" while enjoying a ginger brandy, which is rather good but sightly syrupy. You kids have fun now. And bear in mind, nobody but nobody is going to be happy tomorrow. Nobody.


    ReplyDelete
  47. It looks like Florida and Virginia could go to Romney with a squeak.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Pennsy stays with Obama which means do or die in Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Ryan could not bring Wisconsin to the table.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Looks like it might be a good night for Obama.

    Definitely a big night for Harry Reid.

    ReplyDelete
  51. There certainly is no mandate for anymore wars in the ME.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not ezzackly a mandate for "Tea Partiers," either.

      Delete
    2. The only thing that is going to keep the Republican Party from sliding into irrelevance, mos skosche, was the serendipitous confluence of the 2010 Tea Party Wave with the Census.

      Take away the "Redistricting" bonanza resulting from that happy coincidence, and . . . . . well, who knows?

      Delete
  52. Romney lost New Hampshire and that means Romney has to run the table.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Four more years of torture listening to Obama. Romney sounds like he is locked and loaded to concede.

    ReplyDelete
  54. It is only 10 pm in the East and it looks like the crepe is appearing on some hats.

    ReplyDelete
  55. The two religious nuts with their theory on conception during rape have been sent packing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's one of the "Good" things that have happened for the Republicans.

      Delete
    2. They have to be the two most politically inept pols ever.

      Delete
  56. Press “one” for Spanish, “two” for English.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as it's not "Bruce from Bangalore." :)

      Looks like the polls were pretty accurate.

      Delete
  57. The retread George Allen goes down in the Ol Dominion.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Poor Peggy Noonan looks like she had a stroke.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George Bush was dead on right about one thing; Republicans have to learn to "Speak Hispaniole."

      Delete
  59. Well, the theme to the post is about the better man winning or losing.

    On balance Obama is not the better man.

    I expressed the opinion that I thought Romney would be a foreign affairs disaster with his absurd pledge to make his first visit to Israel.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Replies
    1. Romney is going to get somewhere between 60 and 61% of the White vote, and is, almost certainly, going to lose the electoral college.

      George H.W. Bush got about the same percentage of the White vote, and was rewarded with 400 Electoral College votes.

      Delete
  61. 3J wins re-election from the Mayo Clinic~

    ReplyDelete
  62. I cannot listen to an Obama speech.

    ReplyDelete
  63. The American people got their revenge, against themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  64. The kingmakers are smiling. The dopes took it hook line and sinker.

    ReplyDelete
  65. .

    Well, you can take satisfaction (or not) that November 7 will be pretty much as is November 6 in the good old USA.

    Fun and games.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  66. Mitt “Nuts” Romney does a General Anthony Clement “Nuts” McAuliffe. The problem is Romney in not in Bastogne, he is in Boston.

    ReplyDelete
  67. The primary process has been a disaster for the Republican Party and the US in general, mainly because of the US media.

    ReplyDelete
  68. You can probably thank the Bush family and their cavalier attitude towards illegal immigration from south of the border. We will see with the post election analysis, but I am confident it will show that the Latino vote threw a lot of support to Obama as a reward to his pandering to this imported benefit-dependent class.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      That's just one of the moves he made in the last six months or so. He changed his opposition to gay marriage to full throated support. Whereas, he passed the Bush tax cuts at the end of last year with no qualms, this year that became a major campaign issue. There are no doubt others but I've lost interest.

      It's the way the games is played.

      .

      Delete
  69. Montana: Tester Leads Rehberg 54-42%

    ReplyDelete
  70. President Barack Obama claimed victory in the Keystone State Tuesday night and its 20 electoral votes, thanks in part to Pennsylvania’s Latino voters.

    According to Fox News exit polls conducted in the state, Obama claimed 82 percent of Pennsylvania’s Latin voters. The Hispanic population in the so-called battleground state is about 7 percent.

    Fox News also reported that Obama claimed 54 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania, with Romney grabbing 45 percent after just under 70 percent of the votes were reported.

    ReplyDelete
  71. The burden placed on social security, food stamps, health care and education will be staggering. The numbers, due to family reunions, in the US of course, will create a dependent class that will be a net transfer tax in the hundreds of billions.

    The Mexican plutocrats will welcome this as it transfers the social burdens of Mexico to the US.

    The spoils of cultural defeatism.

    ReplyDelete