Thursday, April 28, 2016

Doubly Pink


11 comments:

  1. Let's make a Third Party first!

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  2. "We really need a better system than just two major parties that lock out millions of voters and keep them from having a say in democracy." ~ Susan

    I've been thinking of this all evening. The beauty of a third party is that a party will have to attract folks from more than one view to win. That could go a long way to depolarising the country.

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  3. One huge barrier to a third party is ballot access. Only the Green and Libertarian parties have ballot access in states with 270 or more electoral votes combined. [Click]

    I have not had any perceptible drop-off in solicitations from Bernie's campaign. And as I understand it, the paid staff reductions are in states that have already voted, which seems sensible.

    To Discredit the Two-Party System, Vote Your Conscience [Click] Essay contains an interesting thought experiment.

    And, having got my work prettymuch caught up, I am going to see if I can find some recordings of Gene Debs on YouTube, listen to one or two, and hit the sack. Today was a typical Wednesday--very busy--and I hope that Thursday will also be typical--slow.

    --Alan

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  4. To get rid of the two party system, you have to have enough worker bees to sustain the alternative. I haven't observed that we do. I'm not going to google this, but my general impression is that the teapotty has about 11% of the rePublican vote. The progressives have about 15% of the Dem's. About 40% of the total electorate isn't willing to work for or fund any party. I remember the caucus nights of my childhood, when my parents sat in our living room and waited for even one other member of their precinct to show up. . . .

    And there seem to me to be fewer willing now than in my childhood.

    Running a party is a huge amount of work, all the time, not just six months before an election. Until there are enough people willing to do that work, nothing is going to change.

    For me, personally, the Supreme Court is enough. Trying to imagine 2 Trump appointed Supremes is enough to make me ill. [Scalia's Death Prompts Dow to Settle Suits for $835 Million ...]

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  5. A few notes...--Alan

    The Hill: How Sanders is actually winning [Click] This seems to understate the case in several particulars, but it is worth a quick once-through IMO.

    The Coming World of "Peak Oil Demand" [Click] Debacle at Doha and the collapse of the 'Old Oil Order'

    How to Redistribute Wealth—Without the Guillotine [Click] We can't just tax billionaires’ paychecks. We should tax the wealth they've already amassed.
    Guillotines are SO messy….—Alan

    Opening the Closed Political Culture [Click]

    puddle--I missed the story about Dow. Will have to look it up.--Alan

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  6. (Sort of) off topic, if choosing between a Demopublican and a Republicrat, I would vote for the former, on the assumption that a publican would be more copacetic than a rat.

    --Alan

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  7. Here's just a sample of some of the conversations I get on Facebook when I talk about not voting for Hillary: "Tony Salvatore Trump thanks you for your shortsighted ignorance. This election has little to do with the president and everything to do with the senate and house and scotus. Things that will effect life for everyone for decades.
    Like · Reply · 13 mins
    Susan Davidson
    Susan Davidson Tony Salvatore If that's supposed to make me feel bad, it doesn't. I intend to vote for down-ballot Democrats but Hillary is a neoliberal and I will not vote for her. Your approval is nether needed nor required.

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  8. Susan, that's got to be tiresome! I see a lot of it, and worse at Kos. Peeps have their own poles, and I assume know where their hearts are. Going around pounding those that don't agree with you seems pointless.

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  9. I hear you, Susan…and I love your comeback. It reminds me of Beatrix Potter's response to land developers when she overpaid for land to keep it out of their hands!

    I was surprised to be beat upon by folks on Maura's page yesterday…including even Maura herself at one point, because I wasn't going to give up my right to vote for someone I approve of to protect their SCOTUS agenda. Seems to me the Dems should have thought of that before they threw Hillary at us again. My right to vote as I choose is more sacred than anyone's agenda. And it does indeed matter who the President is.

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    1. That sort of poor behavior seems to be rife on anti-social media; it makes me leery of giving it a try. Staying here on the blog backwater suits me just fine. Re the President, it certainly does make a difference--the President is not reduced to a puppet or figurehead like the later Ottoman sultans; indeed, because the Congress has not been doing its work, the President is if anything stronger than ever! Too strong, in all likelihood. Well, I will do my part come May 9th (that's when voting starts in California). No time, energy or inclination to do the phoning, door knocking and suchlike. Now to bed, morning comes very early.


      --Alan Barbour

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