Saturday, August 18, 2012

Voting Rights and Wrongs


"Hear me, people: We have now to deal with another race - small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They have taken their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule."

-Sitting Bull, Powder River Conference, 1877

Not to make my
self appear more scholarly that I really am, I have to confess to you that the quote above was lifted from Hunter S. Thompson's classic, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. I just finished reading it yet again. I've read it every presidential election cycle since I first discovered it thirty years ago. By my reckoning this is the ninth time I've dissolved it from cover to cover. What the Great Chief Sitting Bull had to say in 1877 still resonates one-hundred and thirty-five years later. What Dr. Thompson wrote at the end of that same chapter also strikes a resonant chord forty years after the fact:

"This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it - that we ar
e really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable."

Indeed. At least in 1972 we were at a point where we could comfort ourselves by the (delusional
as it turns out) notion that the worst aspects of out national character had been eternally consigned to history's shit pile. The Jim Crow laws that had for over a century denied certain "undesirables" the opportunity to cast their precious ballots were forever behind us. Progress would move slowly, we lied to ourselves, but it would move surely. It was a case of mass self-deception. Any hope for progress in this doomed country is going the way of the Passenger Pigeon and Betamax videotapes.

WHITES ONLY


Four years ago the Plutocratic (WHITE) Power Structure in this diseased land became apoplectic when the first African American in history successfully bulldozed that most sacred of all racial barriers and was handed the keys to the Executive Mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, 20500. "HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN???" they asked themselves positively aghast. They never made a serious inquiry into finding out the answer to that question. Had they done so they would have realized that America was at the dawn of a major (and inevitable) sociological shift in its voting demographic. But the answer didn't matter in the least to them. All that mattered was the fact that they were determined, come hell or high water, to make goddamned-good-and-sure that it never happen again.

What to do? The same thing reactionaries always do; the same thing Hitler did eighty years ago: conjure up phantoms.

It was an epidemic that did not exist. It was all make believe: the "plague" of voter fraud. But they were desp
erate for an excuse - any one would do - to crack down on this nonexistent crime wave, despite the fact that during the last twenty years, the proven cases of fraudulent voting nationwide are of a number so miniscule that no one ever bothered to pay attention to them - until now.

Incredibly, they still deny the very real epidemic of election fraud - which allowed them to steal the White House in 2000 and 2004 - which will assist them in stealing it again in 2012. But that was beside the point to these tre
asonous assholes. 2000 and 2004 produced a rock-ribbed, right winged good ol' boy they could relate to - not some slick, commie nigger from Chicago. Stop frettin', Bubbah! THE MAN is gonna be running the minstrel show again come Inauguration Day 2013. Jes you wait and see! Ain't nothin' like Barack Obama ever gonna happen again! Now shut up and pass me them grits, ya hear?

Of course the proposed Voter ID laws would be expected in dear old Dixie. They kinda have a history of this sort of weird behavior, and we're not too many generations removed from it. I could live with that. Honest! But now Jim Crow has taken his strange act on a Nationwide Comeback Tour. And the targets this time around are not only black people, but college kids, the elderly, city dwellers, Latinos - in other words, the traditional progressive constituency. What the right wing extremists who control the Republican party have in mind for this November the sixth is nothing less than an electoral coup d'etat. If you're not deeply alarmed by that observation you really should be. And bear in mind that these murderous jackasses usually get their way.

The Voter ID Law has ju
st been upheld in Pennsylvania. It's now being appealed to a higher court. If it is upheld again - and given to the Supremes to ponder - you might as well start singing democracy's requiem. If Mitt Romney is elected in November (as it appears he very well might be) and is allowed the appointment of even one more hard-line, dim-witted extremist to the highest court in the land, it's all over. So long, America. It's been good to know you. Bye bye!

FUN FACT: Two months ago the Texas State Republican Party announced that part of their platform at the 2012 National Convention will be the demand that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 be repealed as unconstitutional. Since they made that announcement there has not been a single word of reprimand toward them from the RNC - nary a peep. Was this a great country or what!


Dick Gregory once said that repression is more detrimental to the ones doing the repressing than it is to the ones being repressed. Now there's something to think about, boys and girls. The plutocracy has seen the writing on the wall. They have no intention of going down - with or without a fight. They are attempting to avoid the unavoidable truth - the undeniable truth - that within a matter of a quarter century this will no longer be a "white man's world". It is my belief that if they have their way, within a decade dissent in America will be federally outlawed. Denying the ballot to so huge a segment of the American electorate is merely the first, baby step on the road to totalitarianism. If these hideous thugs have their way, in ten years you won't recognize this fucking place. It can't happen here? Don't be too sure.

Do you think I'm overreacting? Do you think I'm being just bit paranoid? I'll tell you what: let's all vote for the Republicans on Election Day and see what happens. On that happy note....

I get weary and sick of tryin'
I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'
But old man river, he just keeps rollin' along....

-Oscar Hammerstein II

 
On Election Night 1972 when George McGovern went down to defeat at the hands of Dick Nixon, Hunter Thompson was also a man defeated - bitterly so. Here is how he concluded his book on the '72 Campaign:

"
The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes and all his imprecise talk about 'new politics' and 'honesty in government' is one of the few men who've run for President of the United States in this century who really understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon."

On February 2
0, 2005, at his home in Woody Creek, Colorado, Hunter Thompson pointed a gun to his head and ended his life. Years of hard living were starting to catch up with him, and his chronic health problems had made his life nearly unbearable. By all accounts he also sank into a deep depression when George W. Bush was reelected three months earlier. As despairing as he felt at the end of the Campaign of 1972, Election Day 2004 was the final nail in the coffin. The good Doctor was quite a perceptive guy. It's a fairly good bet that he saw the future all-too-clearly and wanted to cash in his chips - get out while the getting was good as it were. I won't stand in judgement of Hunter Thompson. I can't.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

SUGGESTED READING:

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
by Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
by Hunter S. Thompson

The Great Shark Hunt
by Hunter S. Thompson

ANYTHING BY HUNTER THOMPSONSUGGESTED VIEWING:

GONZO: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

This is a warts-and-all documentary on one of the most important American journalists of the twentieth century. It is well worth a look. Hunter's writings are spoken by Johnny Depp. Here is a link to order it off of Amazon.com:


GONZO!!!

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-Hunter Thompson


For more recent postings on this diseased site please go to the link below:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan

Tada!

69 Comments:

At 2:03 PM, Anonymous John said...

Hunter certainly knew what was going on - I wouldn't have guessed the part about pissing on them - apparently he took advantage of the Bush opportunity when he had the chance.

 
At 2:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dave Dubya is a liar.

 
At 3:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

nation at war. duh could that have been because of 9-11?

Just asking.

 
At 3:36 PM, Anonymous Michael said...

Well I suppose I don't speak for people who don't have IDs regardless of race, social class. But I think everyone who comments here wants to protect the integrity of our elections. I really dont think there are any other ways to confirm citizenship.

 
At 5:21 PM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

"The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes and all his imprecise talk about 'new politics' and 'honesty in government' is one of the few men who've run for President of the United States in this century who really understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon."


Tom Degan we are kindred spirits on George, its too bad George McGovern didn't first try to run a business and then serve in Government. Read his story about starting a small business here: What I Know Now: Nibbled to Death. I actually changed my view on George for the better after reading about his experience and his objectiveness on how harmful the unknown consequences of government polices can be.

Here are some excerpts:

"After a run for the presidency and a quarter century on Capitol Hill, George McGovern left public service and became the owner of a business -- a punishingly revelatory experience. If only, he says now, his career sequence had been the other way around."

"Calvin Coolidge was too simplistic when he observed that "the business of America is business." But like most sweeping political statements, even Coolidge's contains some truth -- enough, as I've learned, to make me wish I had known more firsthand about the concerns and problems of American businesspeople while I was a U.S. senator and later a presidential nominee. That knowledge would have made me a better legislator and a more worthy aspirant to the White House."

"I'm for protecting the health and well-being of both workers and consumers. I'm for a clean environment and economic justice. But I'm convinced we can pursue those worthy goals and still cut down vastly on the incredible paperwork, the complicated tax forms, the number of minute regulations, and the seemingly endless reporting requirements that afflict American business. Many businesses, especially small independents such as the Stratford Inn, simply can't pass such costs on to their customers and remain competitive or profitable.

I'm not expert enough after only two and a half years as a business owner to know the solutions to all those concerns. I do know that if I were back in the U.S. Senate or in the White House, I would ask a lot of questions before I voted for any more burdens on the thousands of struggling businesses across the nation.

I'm lucky. I can recover eventually from the loss of the Stratford Inn because I'm still able to generate income from lectures and other services. But what about the 60 people who worked for me in Stratford? While running my struggling hotel, I never once missed a payroll. What happens to the people who counted on that, and to their families and community, when an owner goes under? Those questions worry me, and they ought to worry all of us who love this country as a land of promise and opportunity."




While we can't expect someone like Obama, who has never had a real job, or a naive prison guard to understand what it takes to risk your own savings and run a business and not be crucified for "making a profit", it is the candid stories of wagon pullers like George whose taxes pay the government and create real jobs that we should understand better. Maybe the "greedy little hustlers" are the government employees who produce almost nothing but are only good at "nibbling to death" small business through execessive taxes and regulations.

 
At 5:31 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I don't necessarily have an problem with Voter I.D. laws. With over 300 million people in the country, it isn't an awful idea.

The timing however sucks! As many have reported, this is relatively a non-issue. It wasn't an issue in 2008, 2009, or 2010. But as we came close to the Federal election...well...then...THEN it's an issue.

Who are these guys shitting? (Stupid people I know).

I personally, would be embarrassed if the Democrats, while out of power and with a track record of "zero" since 2008 took Voter I.D. as their 'pet issue.' Why not register rocks instead?

This isn't so much about I.D. as it is about voter suppression. If it wasn't about voter suppression, why wasn't this "stellar idea" thought up in 2008 or 2009?

 
At 5:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"This isn't so much about I.D. as it is about voter suppression. If it wasn't about voter suppression, why wasn't this "stellar idea" thought up in 2008 or 2009?" Jody, what rock have you been living under?

"A former Ohio University student paid to canvass for Voters First Ohio petition signatures was arrested August 14 by the Cincinnati Police Department. Timothy Noel Zureick was booked on 22 counts of signing false signatures and one count of election falsification, both fifth-degree felonies.

As reported by the Athens News, Zureick, age 21, was arrested for crimes allegedly committed while working in Athens for Working America, a campaign arm of the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC. Zureick’s August 14 arrest is the first known prosecution to stem from the numerous allegations of fraud during the union-driven Voters First campaign.

According to authorities, on or around June 12 Zureick forged the signatures of a number of prominent Athens County Democratic Party figures. Athens County Board of Elections employees who had not signed Voters First petitions alerted the county prosecutor’s office after finding their signatures on petitions Zureick submitted."
The truth is its still going on!!

 
At 5:55 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

And don't forget that what can not be accomplished by voter ID or voter suppression can be manipulated courtesy of Diebold voting machines.

 
At 6:19 PM, Blogger Cirze said...

Love you Tom (and Dave and Hunter)!

The trolls are well paid to spread lies and vicious evil egregiously everywhere they are allowed to roam.

So sorry it's the whole USA now.

When Bush was allowed to steal 2000 by Gore and Clinton who never went on record about what had really happened (and make no mistake about how many were in on it), I knew there would be no fair future for me or mine.

Still haven't changed my mind.

And I wished that I had been able to talk with Hunter before he left as I'm sure he'd just gotten really bad news for us all.

Because he was a fighter and wouldn't have left without a final fight if there had been any chance at all to triumph.

Love you guys!

S

 
At 6:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

P. Henry said...

Tom's most recent "rant" is another liberal attempt to deflect voters from the real issues of this election. Based on his performance of past four years, why should Obama be given another 4 years?
It's very clear that Obama's team recognizes this themselves. If not they would be running on Obama's record, not running from it. Instead they are running on FEAR (Medicare Grandma over a cliff) LIES(I saved GM, take a look at GM's stock if you want the truth), more LIES (Harry Reid) RACIAL DIVISION (Joe Biden and chains) to CLASS WARFARE(You didn't build this business).

If Obama had a great track record from the past four years why isn't he running on it instead of what he is doing? Simply said, he can't because to do so would mean his defeat.
Thanks Tom for again being the mouth piece for this failed Administration.

 
At 7:08 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Anonymous ""A former Ohio University student paid to canvass for Voters First Ohio petition signatures was arrested August 14 by the Cincinnati Police Department..."
You do realize that ID requirements would in no way effect the story you copy/pasted, right?
There are reasons why a quarter to a full third of all signatures on petitions get crossed off. One is duplicates, two is people signing who can't sign (out-of-state, ex-con, etc, and three is fraudulent signings (either by people signing false names, Bart Simpson being a popular one, or, as in this case, the canvasser padding his pages so that he'll get it done quicker or get paid more).

 
At 7:15 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Anonymous "Instead they are running on FEAR (Medicare Grandma over a cliff)"
Well, it's no "Death Panels!", but "Here's a RyanCare coupon. Now go get yourself private insurance. No, it won't cover it, Grandma." just doesn't have the same ring.

"LIES(I saved GM, take a look at GM's stock if you want the truth)"
Yes. GM's not doing well.

"more LIES (Harry Reid)"
Okay, okay. So Harry really doesn't have a third testicle. Can we move on now, please?

"RACIAL DIVISION (Joe Biden and chains)"
Quick! Run to the fainting couch, the party of the Southern Strategy is now insisting that it's the Dems who are the real racists!

"...to CLASS WARFARE(You didn't build this business)."
In context, that's not what he meant. Jeeze, Anonymous, you're a sponge for rightwing nuttery.

 
At 8:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Could be that MR's tax returns will reveal his lapse of truth?

The 'distribution of wealth' to foreign accounts is one thing. The redacted info regarding his true vs claimed residence may prove a felony.

Voter fraud exists . . on all sides.

 
At 9:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MO continues to be a bold face pathological liar.

Anonymous said...

"Could be that MR's tax returns will reveal his lapse of truth?

I don't know, but then again maybe they won't. I'd think you would be more interested in getting the CURRENT Presidents grades from college, copies of his papers, interviews from his students. We know more real facts about "MR's" taxes, his high school and college records, business dealings and his wife's medical history and her hobbies than we do about Obama's years in college.
Aren't you the lest bit interested in those?

Deflection deflection deflection deflection from the miserable record of the last four years as P. Henry just started to outline.

 
At 11:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why does the Democratic Party fight so hard to allow and encourage, fraudulent voting? With photo voter IDs being required to vote, how could there be voter fraud?

 
At 11:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prosecutors in South Bend, Ind., filed charges Monday against four St. Joseph County Democratic officials and deputies as part of a multiple-felony case involving the alleged forging of Democratic presidential primary petitions in the 2008 election, which put then-candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Indiana ballot.

February 3, 2012

A local Florida station invented an unprecedented way to check for voter fraud: jury excusal forms. NBC2 compiled a list of jury excusals based on not being a citizen of the United States and compared it to a list of registered voters in two counties. They discovered almost 100 illegally registered voters, many of whom had voted multiple times. “I vote every year,” one woman told NBC2, despite the fact that she is not a US citizen. The woman had told the court that she couldn’t serve on a jury because she wasn’t a US citizen, but she doesn’t seem to have a problem voting like one.

Here is one to add to the growing list of individuals arrested for actual voter fraud- meaning they voted more than once in an given election.

The NAACP is up in arms over the arrests saying the FBI is some how suppressing minority voters by arresting and charging minorities for actually illegally voting.

November 1, 2011 – 8 were arrested for absentee voter fraud in Madison County, Florida.

The case began when the Florida’s Division of Elections notified FDLE ad FBI that “an extraordinarily disproportionate amount of absentee votes,” had been cast in the District 1 school board race. The eight suspects were arrested on November 1, 2011.

Before I post the names of those arrested for voting more than once in an election, they are ALL registered Democrats:

Tina Johnson was arrested on 10 counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote, and two counts of absentee ballots and voting violations.

Johnson Jr. was charged with 11 counts of fraud in connection with casting votes, as well as corruptly influencing voting, and perjury by false written declaration.

Williams was charged with 17 counts of neglect of duty and corrupt practices for allowing the distribution of these absentee ballots.

The following Madison residents were each charged with one count of proving a false report to law enforcement as well addition charges as listed:
• Shalonda Michaelle Brinson, 36, nine counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote
• Judy Ann Crumitie, 51, four counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote
• Laverne V. Haynes, 57, two counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote, two counts of perjury by false written declaration
• Ora Bell Rivers, 41, seven counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote, three counts of perjury by false written declaration
• Raven Simona Williams, 20, two counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote, two counts of perjury by false written declaration

7 Democrats Arrested in New York for actual Voter Fraud via Absentee Ballots
4 Plead Guilty while the other 3 opt for a trial. The group forged signatures on applications for absentee ballots and on the ballots themselves in a 2009 primary of the Working Families Party, which was affiliated with now-defunct community group ACORN.

Voters whose signatures were forged expressed outrage to Fox. “I feel extremely violated,” said Brian Suozzo.

In November 2009, Democratic operative Anthony DeFiglio told New York State police investigators that faking absentee ballots was a commonplace and accepted practice in political circles, all intended to swing an election.

 
At 11:18 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

PAGE TWO
12 Democrats have been Charged in Georgia for Absentee Ballot Voter Fraud
November 23, 2011 – 12 people have been charged in Georgia for voter fraud as they used absentee ballots to skew an in election in Georgia. The 12 people charged are ALL with the Democrat Party. The defendants include some workers in the voter registrar’s office and some school board members. They are Angela Bryant, April Proctor, Brenda Monds, Debra Denard, Lula Smart, Kechia Harrison, Robert Denard, Sandra Cody, Elizabeth Thomas, Linda Troutman, Latashia Head, and Nancy Denard.

The charges followed a bitter November 2010 school board election in Brooks County in which the final tally was changed by an unusually large wave of absentee ballots.

NAACP Executive Sentence to 10 Years in Prison for Voting for Obama 10 Times in 2008

4 Wake County, North Carolina Democrats have Admitted to Voting for Obama TWICE Each in 2008

Daytona Beach City Democrat Commissioner and his Campaign Manager arrested for Absentee Ballot Voter Fraud

Illegal alien from the Philippines Arrested and Charged on 17 counts of Voter fraud in Lake County, Illinois

Indiana Voter Fraud – Please note that we have TWO Separate voter fraud issues in this state to address: 1. Absentee Ballot Voter Fraud; 2. Obama’s Signature Fraud

The chairman of the St. Joseph County Democratic Party has resigned amid a scandal that reveals hundreds of signatures on petitions for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to appear on the state’s 2008 primary ballot were faked.

 
At 11:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...


FDR - filthy rich
Kennedy - filthy rich

These men are saints in the left's pantheon.

But Romney's money stains him as a 1%-er.

Is it because he's not also a philanderer? Maybe that would make him more attractive. I don't know. Seems like it calls for an explanation.

 
At 12:12 AM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Anonymous "Why does the Democratic Party fight so hard to allow and encourage, fraudulent voting? With photo voter IDs being required to vote, how could there be voter fraud?"
I picked two at random:
"Prosecutors in South Bend, Ind., filed charges Monday against four St. Joseph County Democratic officials and deputies as part of a multiple-felony case involving the alleged forging of Democratic presidential primary petitions in the 2008 election, which put then-candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Indiana ballot."
Hey, look, a case of fraud in which voter ID would have made no difference.

"The following Madison residents were each charged with one count of proving a false report to law enforcement as well addition charges as listed:"
Another great example, Anonymous. By that, I mean one that doesn't support your case. The investigation revealed that Johnson and her husband, Ernest Sinclair Johnson, Jr., approached voters and obtained their agreement to vote, after which the voters were asked to sign an “Absentee Ballot Request Form.” Without the voters’ knowledge or consent, an alternate address was handwritten on the form, causing the ballots to be mailed to a third party rather than directly to the registered voters.

You really should start researching these stories people give you.
And you're forgetting that voter ID laws are just a small part of voter suppression. From under-manning polls (but only in "urban" districts, wink wink) to curtailing early voting (again, "urban") to robocalls that say "Don't forget to vote tomorrow" (when the election is today), they're not trying to "maintain the integrity of the vote"; they're trying to limit groups that tend to vote for the other party from voting. That's the opposite of integrity.

 
At 11:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"case of fraud in which voter ID would have made no difference."
They why do it if it makes no difference? If it makes no difference then why is it against the law?

Again, cant tell me why I should vote for Obama in NOV, just a lot mud slinging to explain why liberals cant win elections unless there is early voting, no photo id, not enough poll workers and no robocalls cause they confuse their high IQ voters on which day the election is to be held.




 
At 12:08 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Anonymous "They why do it if it makes no difference? If it makes no difference then why is it against the law?"
Whether or not you have ID makes no difference when registering if the person holding the clipboard is writing in whatever he wants, whether or not you're there. That's voter registration fraud. That's the one that comes up with some regularity. You remember ACORN, don't you, the group that found registration fraud on its own registration sheets, reported that fraud, and got destroyed for doing so?

"Again, cant tell me why I should vote for Obama in NOV"
Because where Obama is bad I see no indication that Romney would be better (State Secrets Privilege, the drone war, etc), but where Romney is bad he's worse than Obama (Women's rights, particularly poor or virile women. The Ryan Budget, which Romney says they haven't discussed and also they have and his own plan is different and also it's the same. And his Constitutional adviser is Bork, who thinks [among other terrible ideas] that the 1st Amendment applies only to explicitly political speech. Also his security adviser is Bolton, who never met a country he couldn't beat by walking up to it and punching it in the face).

"....just a lot mud slinging to explain why liberals cant win elections unless there is early voting, no photo id, not enough poll workers and no robocalls cause they confuse their high IQ voters on which day the election is to be held."
Mental exercise: the Democrats gain control of your state and bring in voter suppressing laws and tactics that effect people and groups that commonly vote Republican? Okay or not?

 
At 4:05 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Modusoperandi: "...the Democrats gain control of your state and bring in voter suppressing laws and tactics that effect people and groups that commonly vote Republican? Okay or not?"

Great idea! As Bill Maher suggested last evening, require that all those having provincial, conservative, or bigoted attitudes, take literacy tests for proper spelling and grammatical correctness, and mandate that they must be able to count to twenty without taking off their shoes and socks.

I'm sure this would adequately suppress the voting rights of most of the trolls who infect this site.

 
At 7:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeff Guard lies, again.


MO
Look at cover of this weeks issue of Newsweek, a far right wing magazine owned by the Koch brothers I'm sure. Do you mean to tell me that you really think MR could do worse than the failed Obama Administration?
Here is just a part of that front page article.

"Yet the question confronting the country nearly four years later is not who was the better candidate four years ago. It is whether the winner has delivered on his promises. And the sad truth is that he has not.

In his inaugural address, Obama promised “not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.” He promised to “build the roads and bridges, the electric grids, and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.” He promised to “restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.” And he promised to “transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.” Unfortunately the president’s scorecard on every single one of those bold pledges is pitiful.

In an unguarded moment earlier this year, the president commented that the private sector of the economy was “doing fine.” Certainly, the stock market is well up (by 74 percent) relative to the close on Inauguration Day 2009. But the total number of private-sector jobs is still 4.3 million below the January 2008 peak. Meanwhile, since 2008, a staggering 3.6 million Americans have been added to Social Security’s disability insurance program. This is one of many ways unemployment is being concealed.

In his fiscal year 2010 budget—the first he presented—the president envisaged growth of 3.2 percent in 2010, 4.0 percent in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012. The actual numbers were 2.4 percent in 2010 and 1.8 percent in 2011; few forecasters now expect it to be much above 2.3 percent this year.

Unemployment was supposed to be 6 percent by now. It has averaged 8.2 percent this year so far. Meanwhile real median annual household income has dropped more than 5 percent since June 2009. Nearly 110 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011, mostly Medicaid or food stamps.

Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit. We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits."

I know what you are thinking, "but, but MR made his dog ride on the roof of his car and Harry Reid said he hasn't paid taxes for 10 year." And "those evil republicans they want to keep our voters from voting 2-9 times each with their voter suppression actions, voter fraud doesn't effect the outcome of elections."
I say bull shit, less than 30% of those polled in the USA call themselves liberals. The truth is you can not give any reason why Obama should get four more years!

 
At 7:40 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Anonymous: "...less than 30% of those polled in the USA call themselves liberals. The truth is you can not give any reason why Obama should get four more years!"

But Obama isn't a liberal. He's a corporatist centrist. It's not the liberals he's courting, and it's not the liberals who will take him to victory.

Why haven't you figured that out yet?

 
At 7:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"But Obama isn't a liberal."

That's another lie from Jeff Guard.

 
At 7:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

J.G.
Would I be making a bad bet that even with Obama's record of the past 4 years and his not being a liberal as you claim, you will still be voting for him?

WHY?

 
At 9:32 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

MO,
Oh, oh...

I know what you are thinking,

He’s got us now.

"those evil republicans they want to keep our voters from voting 2-9 times each”

Are those numbers in the ballpark? Let’s get real. I’m leaning more towards about 666 times each.

I have to say I’m comforted by his estimate around 30% of us being liberal. That’s a pretty good indication that close to a third of Americans possess a rational perspective on their needs and interests.

Another comfort is the fact there are more liberals than authoritarian personalities. They may well consist being anywhere up to a quarter of a population, though, so it’s worth a word to the wise that, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

Maybe Burke didn’t say that exactly, but he did say, "when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. “

And that seems to make the point a bit sharper.


JG,

Why haven't you figured that out yet?

We know why he never answers questions.

He hasn’t figured anything out yet.

It’s beyond his comprehension that people vote for Obama because he is NOT a Republican. Sane folks remember Obama was handed the wreckage of a “Bush America” and know damn well that the Republicans' number one priority is funneling the public’s money into corporate pockets. They hate seeing all those tax dollars going into public safety nets, and want to redistribute that wealth to insurance companies and banks.

Republicans need to redirect their dupes’ attention away from their outrageous ripping off of America, and direct their anger into blaming Democrats and liberals for all the damage done by both parties.

They are conditioned to resent us for disagreeing with their indoctrination and pointing to the truth, and conditioned to believe only their authoritarian leaders. This is how the propaganda technique of “mobilizing resentments” helps keep them from figuring that out.

There, at least I answered your question. Trolls are not here to answer anything. They are here to take personal shots, spew hate, and sow disinformation.

HST nailed them:

They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character.

 
At 9:42 PM, Anonymous Picard said...

"Another comfort is the fact there are more liberals than authoritarian personalities. They may well consist being anywhere up to a quarter of a population, though, so it’s worth a word to the wise that, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"."

Authoritarian Personalities? The people that want the government to leave them alone? You and the your liberal buddies belong in the thought police, Dave. All I hear from Liberals these days is "blah blah blah give women free birth control, pay for my education, make the taxpayer fund my lavish union kickbacks" you guys a the epitome of a soft tyranny and we look authoritarian because you guys and your profligate policies

 
At 10:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

More lies from DAVE DUBYA

 
At 12:46 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

This is the precisely resentment I'm talking about:

You and the your liberal buddies belong in the thought police, Dave. All I hear from Liberals these days is "blah blah blah give women free birth control, pay for my education, make the taxpayer fund my lavish union kickbacks" you guys a the epitome of a soft tyranny

Thank you Picard, for the textbook example of authoritarian manipulated resentments.

"Oh, the tyranny of the evil liberals!" They howl as their corporate masters plunder the public pockets. while more of our nation's wealth is redistributed upward to the elites.

They perfect "divide and conquer" to pull off their scam.



 
At 2:34 AM, Anonymous Picard said...

Well apparently YOURE allowed to call my philosophy 'authoritarian' and 'evil' I'm not allowed to "resent" yours.
no I disagree with the brilliance of Dave Dubya. Must be some form of indoctrination.

And pointing to the truth? All your talk is innuendo. I haven't gotten a single damn good reason why people can't get their own ID. Regardless of the incidence of voter fraud.The election is in a little less than 3 months. If you have the energy to complain about this law but somehow getting photo ID (that is recquired for just about everything else serious people do) is too much for you than I'm sorry you're not voting. This republic doesn't bend the legitmacy of our election process because Al Sharpton and the liberal democrats needs to race bait before an election.

Seriously fine me someone who's actually complaining about this law instead of picking up ID and I'll find you a lazy sack of......."well some people need to get there birth certificate and it's a whole trip to a government building and they're really poor, what if they stub there toe on the way to the DMV? And theyre really poor and IDs cost like a million dollars these days and that's a whole lot of work to exercise our highest civic duty, you know? It's not like anyone ever tried to cast fraudulent votes"

By the way there are over 1.8 million dead people still registered. If I were trying to rig an election I'd be skimming the obituaries right now.

 
At 5:17 AM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Picard "I haven't gotten a single damn good reason why people can't get their own ID."
Because it's fighting a problem small enough to be statistical noise. "10% of Pennsylvanians have to go out of their way to accommodate my fear of a problem that even the people who tell us we need voter ID laws tell judges it isn't a problem" is a terrible justification for law.

"Regardless of the incidence of voter fraud."
How come low tax/Small Government conservatives are so willing to spend money eradicating not-problems, fearing the terrible tyranny of The State turning on them while simultaneously rushing to give it more power to fight their "Other"?

"This republic doesn't bend the legitmacy of our election process because Al Sharpton and the liberal democrats needs to race bait before an election."
Holy crap, man, the entire "maintaining the integrity of the vote" faux-outrage plan (voter ID, no early voting, voting early [but just for military members], voting early on weekdays and Saturdays [but not the Sunday before the election], voting early [but only during working hours], voting early with extendend hours [but limited to working hours in "urban" districts], etc) specifically excludes minority voters.
Pointing out that racist policies are racist isn't "race baiting". Race baiting is race baiting. Just because they aren't saying "Nigger, nigger, nigger" anymore doesn't mean that the Southern Strategy has gone away. Whether they're using it to get blue collar whites to vote to gut the Social Safety net or to suppress groups that tend to vote for the other party, it's still in use. Because it works.

 
At 5:19 AM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

con't

"By the way there are over 1.8 million dead people still registered. If I were trying to rig an election I'd be skimming the obituaries right now."
Husted announced earlier this week that a review by his office, in which voting records were cross-checked with a list of dead Ohioans, found nearly 18,500 dead people on the state’s voter rolls. Adams said deceased Lorain County voters are removed monthly after the board receives information from the Ohio Department of Health noting which residents have died in the county. That list is then checked against the more than 200,000 registered voters in the county. The dead voters who were still on the county’s rolls didn’t die in Lorain County and so weren’t part of the list sent to the elections board, Adams said. Of the dead voters listed in the letter from Husted, 383 died in another Ohio county and one died in another state, Adams said. Under state law, Adams said, the county can only remove voters from the rolls if they receive official notification from a department of health." (emphasis mine)
(Shorter version: "It's the state's responisibity to remove the deceased from voter rolls".

South Carolina State Election Commission ~ "In 197 of [the 207 cases examined], the records show no indication of votes being cast fraudulently in the name of deceased voters. Research found each of these cases to be the result of clerical errors, bad data matching, errors in assigning voter participation, or voters dying after being issued an absentee ballot. In 10 cases, the records were insufficient to make a determination."
(Shorter version: "It's so much of a problem that when we look for it it's not there.")

 
At 11:49 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Picard,

And pointing to the truth? All your talk is innuendo. I haven't gotten a single damn good reason why people can't get their own ID.

"Oh, the tyranny of the evil liberals!" They howl as their corporate masters plunder the public pockets, while more of our nation's wealth is redistributed upward to the elites.

Innuendo? No, it is reality you choose to ignore.

No driver’s license is one damn good reason someone can’t drive to get their politically dictated ID. What’s a single damn good reason to deny the person's rights who’s been registered and voting in past elections?

Why do you have a problem with someone who has been registered for decades, voted for decades, but has no politically correct photo ID? Why should they be deprived of their right to vote?

Why not take photos of them at the polls? That way they would be covered for next time as well, or in the extreme unlikelihood, be caught red-handed committing voter impersonation fraud?

Why is there so much outrage over a couple dozen votes amid millions and no problem with shutting people out of exercising their most fundamental right?

Never mind. You guys don’t answer questions and really don’t care...

You can only promote the agenda of the elite plutocracy. You are incapable of disagreeing with the demands of the economic elites.

Yes that is the essence of your “opinion”.

 
At 12:08 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Anonymous: "Would I be making a bad bet that even with Obama's record of the past 4 years and his not being a liberal as you claim, you will still be voting for him? WHY?"

I'll answer your question once you answer my question from the previous thread. Here it is, once again, for your convenience:

"Correct me if I'm misunderstanding your statements, but am I to assume all (or most) of the manufacturing jobs that were relocated by the 'job creators', were relocated in the last 3-1/2 years?"

 
At 4:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

worried about the cost of Obama care and how they were going to pay for it is where they were.
You really don't understand how the private sector works, do you.

 
At 4:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And don't forget who controlled the House and Senate the last two years of Bush's Presidency, it was the democrats, run Nancy and Harry.
With their anti private business tax ideas along with Fanny Mae following the plan set in motion by Cinton and controlled by Frank and Dodd, well you know the rest of the story.

Or do you?

 
At 4:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And don't for get it was the Republican run Congress that provided Clinton with a balanced budget and true Welfare Reform which Obama just wiped out with a stroke of his pen.
Yup, I'd say the democrats must have hated Clinton based on what they have done since they took over, plus there is what they did to Hillary.

 
At 6:39 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Anonymous "And don't for get it was the Republican run Congress that provided Clinton with a balanced budget..."
And just imagine how much of the debt they could've paid off if they'd had a Republican president!

"...and true Welfare Reform which Obama just wiped out with a stroke of his pen."
The workarounds were asked for by several governors, including Republican ones. "Workfare" doesn't work so well when there's no work to be had, apparently.

 
At 7:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

More Lies From MO.

 
At 1:55 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

"More lies from MO"

You twit. Is that the only way you can make an argument - by accusing someone of being a liar? Make your case or keep quiet.

Seriously

 
At 8:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm using Harry Reid's sources to support my claim. MO needs to prove he is not what OUR sources says he is.

 
At 4:51 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Golly, Anonymous. Normally I cite sources. That's the opposite of Reid's "anonymous Bain insider".
And the only thing I could've cited in the comment before yours was the "welfare" bit, which I didn't cite because I wasn't where my files were.
So
here
they
are.
Although, looking back at the previous page, you say the same thing even when I do provide citations. Again, I note that my providing my sources makes me the opposite of Reid. I don't know what your obstinate heel-diggery, not only in the absense of cites (which could be commendable), but in spite of them (which is not) makes you. A Partisan tool, probably.

 
At 7:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MO!
Our sources (Harrys and now mine) tell me that your sources are liberal partisan and therefore suspect to being lies.

 
At 8:19 PM, Anonymous Picard said...

Ross perot wouldve dominated the debt.

 
At 3:21 PM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

Suzan, I think we are finding out now what it was that Hunter knew when he lost all hope....that being Amerika is a lost cause with no hope of redemption. Have a nice day !!

 
At 4:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ellis, you sure are right about being lost of Obama wins in NOV.

 
At 4:18 PM, Blogger Yellowstone said...

What in the world were my parents thinking once they heard this - then they closed down their saloon business in Bohemia?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Someone needs to mask that quote - so we don't fool ourselves!

 
At 4:27 PM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

Anonymous....and no hope of redemption if Robmey and Ruin were to win !!

 
At 4:40 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Ellis D., Esq.: "...Robmey and Ruin..."

Priceless!

 
At 7:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

AH poor liberal babies, they want more of the fruits of other peoples work. Wawawawa.

 
At 9:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is this what you mean by voter suppression ?

Mrs. Obama in a speech yesterday encourage her listeners to get to the polls and vote on Nov. 2 The election is Nov 6.

Robocalls?

 
At 12:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"What to do? The same thing reactionaries always do; the same thing Hitler did eighty years ago: conjure up phantoms."


LIST OF PHANTOM FACTS:

23 million unemployed

43 straight months of 8+% unemployment

45 million on food stamps

Black poverty at record highs

The middle class has lost 40% of its net worth under Obama

Black youth unemployment over 50%

Hispanic unemployment at 11.3%

Food prices up 15% under Obama

Gas prices doubled under Obama

Obama has the worst job creation record since 1945 (BLS)

Obama recovery the worst in 75 years

Median household income $4,300 declines under Obama

Average family health insurance up $1,500 under Obama

Added $6 trillion to our debt...more than all Prezs. Combined

Presided over only US credit downgrade

 
At 1:40 PM, Anonymous Picard said...

Not to mention hes the blakest president in US History!
Thats what really gets me!

 
At 6:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gee, I didn't know the president was the "blakest" ever.

 
At 7:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obama talks about the auto bailout frequently, since it's one of the few things in his record that gets positive responses in the polls. But he's probably wise to avoid probing questions, since the GM bailout is not at all the success he claims.

GM has been selling cars in the U.S. at deep discount and, while it's making money in China -- and is outsourcing operations there and elsewhere -- it's bleeding losses in Europe. It's spending billions to ditch its Opel brand there in favor of Chevrolet, including $559 million to put the Chevy logo on Manchester United soccer team uniforms -- and just fired the marketing exec who cut that deal.

It botched the launch of its new Chevrolet Malibu by starting with the green-friendly Eco version, which pleased its government shareholders but which got lousy reviews. And it's selling only about 10,000 electric-powered Chevy Volts a year, a puny contribution toward Obama's goal of 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

"GM is going from bad to worse," reads the headline on Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain's analysis. That's certainly true of its stock price.

The government still owns 500 million shares of GM, 26 percent of the total. It needs to sell them for $53 a share to recover its $49.5 billion bailout. But the stock price is about $20 a share, and the Treasury now estimates that the government will lose more than $25 billion if and when it sells.

That's in addition to the revenue lost when the Obama administration permitted GM to continue to deduct previous losses from current profits, even though such deductions are ordinarily wiped out in bankruptcy proceedings.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that GM is bleeding money because of decisions made by a management eager to please its political masters -- and by the terms of the bankruptcy arranged by Obama car czars Ron Bloom and Steven Rattner.

Rattner himself admitted late last year, in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, that "We should have asked the [United Auto Workers] to do a bit more. We did not ask any UAW member to take a cut in their pay." Nonunion employees of GM spin-off Delphi lost their pensions. UAW members didn't.

The UAW got its political payoff. And GM, according to Forbes writer Louis Woodhill, is headed to bankruptcy again.

Is this really what Obama wants to do for all manufacturing across America? Let's hope not.

Michael Barone

 
At 10:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

FOUR MORE YEARS!!!!

mericans nearing retirement age have suffered disproportionately after the financial crisis: along with the declining value of their homes, which were intended to cushion their final years, their incomes have fallen sharply.

The typical household income for people age 55 to 64 years old is almost 10 percent less in today’s dollars than it was when the recovery officially began three years ago, according to a new report from Sentier Research, a data analysis company that specializes in demographic and income data.

Across the country, in almost every demographic, Americans earn less today than they did in June 2009, when the recovery technically started. As of June, the median household income for all Americans was $50,964, or 4.8 percent lower than its level three years earlier, when the inflation-adjusted median income was $53,508.

The decline looks even worse when comparing today’s incomes to those when the recession began in December 2007. Then, the median household income was $54,916, meaning that incomes have fallen 7.2 percent since the economy last peaked.

 
At 6:01 PM, Anonymous Rosalynn Carter said...

I want everyone on Tom's blog to know that Jimmy has never been happier! Jimmy has been doing triple summersaults, even when leaving church, out of impulse.
Jimmy says thanks to the unvetted bullshitter Obama, he will not go down in history as the America's worst President!

 
At 8:04 PM, Blogger edwin_ said...

Rosalynn Carter implied that Jimmy Carter was a bad president. I think that JC gets bad press from Faux News but historey shows otherwise :
1) the price of oil trippled under JC becaus of failed foreign from the previous admin. (remember the shah?) increaseing the already bad inflation
2) JC inheireted high inflation from the previous admin ( remember the WIN Whip Inflation Now buttons.
3) paul Volker of the Fed raised interest rates to break inflation .
The high intrest rate was very bad for the economy .
The corrupt Reagan admin ( google October Suprise)inheireted an economy that was on the upswing.
I'm sure that there will be many childish replies to this posr

 
At 9:55 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Rosalynn Carter: "Jimmy [Carter]...will not go down in history as the America's worst President!"

Of course not! George W. Bush already takes that honor!

 
At 10:44 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Carter? Superfund creator, Camp David and SALT II negotiator and, most importantly, beer deregulator?

Dubya? That good thing he did, that other and that other thing and, most importantly, Medicare D (good, if unfunded)?

They only look bad because they're close enough to be in memory. Carter was well meaning but ineffective and Dubya was also well meaning but lazy, but Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding were all really awful. For that matter, the "Hurray for slavery/Secession/Nullfication" presidents far exceed mere "malaise" or "invading the wrong country".

 
At 11:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

More liberal lies from JG and MO

 
At 8:00 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Modusoperandi: "...most importantly, beer deregulator?"

Really? I did not know that!

In that case, Carter was the BEST president ever! ;-)

 
At 1:15 PM, Blogger LCS said...

RE: THE LIST OF PHANTOM FACTS

Can you wingers please post a list of what you think should be done to address each one of these facts and what outcome you predict? Thanks!

 
At 3:49 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Laneman "Can you wingers please post a list of what you think should be done to address each one of these facts and what outcome you predict?"
1. Cut taxes.
2. Deregulate.
3. ????
4. Profit!

 
At 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clinton was a big believer on the deregulation of banks and did same. Wonder why Obama is having him speak at the DNC 'really big show"?

 
At 1:24 PM, Blogger LCS said...

I know you think Clinton was sort of flaming liberal. But many of his policies were conservative like free trade and deregulation.

So are you going to answer my question or what?

 
At 3:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

what question are you talking about

 
At 1:23 PM, Blogger Darlene said...

Ann Coulter is Sarah Palin without the cute wink. Did you see our idiot of a governor on "Meet the Press" last Sunday morning? Jan Brewer has nothing going for her at all, yet there she was with her stupid smirk acting like she had a brain. What's the matter with these nuts that make the panel selections?

I agree with you on Phyllis Diller. I quote her often. My favorite line was "I clean my house once a year whether it needs it or not." (If I got that wrong, forgive me. I am an old gal with a faulty memory). And then there's Fang ---.

 

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