November 2010 Election Help

A friend, voting for the first time and bewildered by the choices (and more than the choices - frustrated by all the obfuscation from the media), got me thinking about where to find good advice on how to vote. First of all - ads can't be trusted. Of course, if an ad is spreading fear and lies about the opponent, it makes me think much less of the candidate! So pay attention to ads, but look into their claims. News can't be trusted. Pick your channel to have opposing perspectives and get thoroughly confused. Of course, generally if it is being endorsed by the far right, the "tea party," wing nuts, I would seriously question it!

So, how do you get good information? Well, start with reading the ballot information, pros and cons, and then pay close attention to who is supporting or opposing various measures and candidates. And look beyond the name! Some groups have very misleading names. Follow the money - who is funding it, and what do they have to gain or lose?

A simpler solution, after you've read the basics, is to go to organizations you trust and review their recommendations. Choose several organizations, and read their reasoning behind the endorsements and opposition. Try to find opposing viewpoints among organizations whose values you also share. Weigh the ideas presented. As always, think for yourself! If you really don't know (or care) about an issue or candidate, maybe you should leave that one blank - it's legal to do that! :)

Here are some resources I've found to help with unraveling the ballot this November:

• California Choices - this one is a new one to me - it shares a whole list of organizations' recommendations and endorsements all on one page! You can then make it easier to compare by checking only the organizations and/or the measures you want to see. Very useful.
• Calvoter.org has information about the propositions including the top 5 donors for each. AND it has "The Proposition Song"! :)
• Ballotopedia is another new-to-me resource, and it's especially useful to see the donors for the various propositions - follow the money! This site would also be useful if you want to study the measures and don't have your voter information booklet.
• Smart Voter is another non-partisan resource you may find helpful.
• I always check the California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, NRDC, and other environmental groups' recommendations. Most all of these are represented in the California Choices page, but you can get more in depth rationale behind the recommendations at their individual websites.
• League of Women Voters and NOW are good to check
• Other organizations like the ACLU, Equality California, or any other groups you like and respect are also good to check.

Once you've rounded up the opinions of others, have fun making up your own mind!!

And don't forget to vote!

Immigration Problems

From The Manitoba Herald

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they’ll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.

Canadian border farmers say it’s not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, news paper writers, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

“I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,” said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota . “The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?”

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. “Not real effective,” he said. “The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows.”

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Subarus and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves.

“A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions,” an Ontario border patrolman said. “I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though.”

When liberals are caught, they’re sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer, watch NASCAR, deny evolution, and act out drills preparing them for the Rapture.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half- dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the ‘50s. “If they can’t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age,” an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Susan Sarandon movies. “I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can’t support them,” an Ottawa resident said. “How many art-history, women's studies and, English majors does one country need?”


(I first saw a version of this in 2004 - it's still funny. We'll see how far the "Tea Party" GOP faction gets next election - please stick around at least until after you vote!)

People For the American Way: Palin-Beck 2012: Vote on the Best Campaign Slogan!

People For the American Way: Palin-Beck 2012: Vote on the Best Campaign Slogan!

Vote for the best Palin-Beck 2012 slogans! These are awesome! Which one do YOU like best?

Click the link and vote for your favorite, and you'll get a bumper sticker of the winner!

Stephen Colbert's Testimony Before Congress

After spending a day as a migrant farmworker, through the Take Our Jobs campaign by United Farmworkers, as part of his series "Stephen Colbert's Fallback Position," Colbert testifies before congress. He does this in character, manages to be really funny, and yet make a powerful point at the same time. Watch it:

I found it on this blog post: Shit that Bugs Smart People: C-Span Entertainment (oh boy, a new blog to check out!)

Gross National Product

This is wonderful:

Our gross national product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwoods, and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm, nuclear warheads, and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

~ Robert F. Kennedy

(from this article: http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/what-is-real-wealth)

Food for thought.

Nation Once Again Comes Under Sway Of Pink-Faced Half-Wit | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

This is awesome: Nation Once Again Comes Under Sway Of Pink-Faced Half-Wit

HAHAHA - Frothing, Shouting Dim-Bulbs: An American Tradition

I can't tell you how much I love The Onion. How much I need to laugh about the complete circus politics has become in this country. I am so grateful for Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Bill Maher, Lewis Black... sometimes it seems like the comedians are the only ones who see the situation clearly!

Oh, as another example of this, CRACKED published an article about the "Ground Zero Mosque" that was the most reasoned, rational thing I've seen on it. Cracked. It's like Mad Magazine for the Internet. WTF? Can I go live in a comediocracy? Seriously! The comedians are the only ones that get it these days.

The media is out of control. Just the way we like it in a free country, of course, but where is their sense of responsibility? It's all about creating controversy, sensationalism, self-righteous anger, and utter bullshit. I had a conversation at a party this weekend about the "Ground Zero Mosque" with a woman who, quite naturally based on how it's being reported, thought the mosque was being proposed literally ON TOP OF ground zero. I told her it was 3 blocks away, which in lower Manhattan, may as well be three miles. There are porn shops closer. She immediately switched to, "oh, well that's different" and saw that the MEDIA was the problem here, not the mosque. Ugh. So nice when people, shown some simple facts, can be so reasonable. Most people are, in person, one on one. But when you get a Pink-Faced Half-Wit that just makes shit up to get them riled up and indignant, using words they are supposed to fear or revere, like communism, socialism, fascism, god, country, freedom, etc, to manipulate them into believing just about anything, people become stupid sheep.

It makes me start to wonder... what was so bad about voter apathy? Stupid people shouldn't vote. Or breed. But that's another rant! Enough for now - enjoy the article!

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Glen Beck has Nazi Tourettes!

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while - enjoy (god I love Lewis Black):

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

That Hopey Changey Stuff May Just Work Out After All...

Passing Health Care (Insurance, at least) Reform is a huge accomplishment. Yes, the bill is not perfect, and doesn't have as much as some of us would like, has many compromises... but just passing it at all in this political climate is a huge accomplishment. Huge.

Some thoughts after watching the voting last night...

Bart Stupak.

I'm pro-choice, but I'm not pro-abortion - I'm pro-reproductive freedom. I don't think anyone likes abortions and wants them to increase! I think we would all like the numbers to go down - Planned Parenthood's motto is "Every Child a Wanted Child" and I believe in that. Education and empowerment of women, full access to and stigma removed from taking charge of contraception, and viable alternatives made readily and easily available and again, stigma removed... all of these things together will make abortion truly a last resort. But the anti-reproductive freedom camp (yeah, they call themselves pro-life, but only if it's still in the womb, apparently) wants to take away the option, even as a last resort. I'm all for abortion reduction, but not to the point of legal action. Women should be in full charge of their own wombs, NOT the government! Talk about government takeovers... sheesh.

But I liked Bart Stupak last night. Not just because he voted for the bill, but because of what he said - if you care about the unborn, give mothers pre-natal health care! Give babies health care! Duh! I understand people not wanting tax money to go toward abortions - I'd prefer my tax money not to go toward war. It bothers me that something that is legal and a woman's right (to control her womb, to choose whether or not to reproduce) would not be covered. It is inequitable. But I understand people not wanting it and it is something I am willing to compromise on to get health care passed. That and abortions are not that expensive.

Stupak has values, he stood up for them, and actually meant it - I know that because he accepted compromise instead of just changing what he was opposed to like so many who were just using their supposed "values" politically.

Over the Top Rhetoric and Hyperbole

omg. Devin Nunes. Government Takeover. Blah blah blah.

There are rational objections conservatives have - these are mostly fiscal. The ideological ones are mostly just hot air. And then there is Nunez.

I don't know how they can stand up there and LIE like that! They must believe their own lies. Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Totalitarianism, Ghosts of the failed Soviet State...

Flip-Floppers

I can't tell you how much I hate that this is considered an insult. How the HELL can we ever move forward and get anything at all done if our representatives decide ahead of time where they stand on issues, and never change their mind, no matter what arguments or compromises are made? We can't! If you, as Colbert famously described George W. Bush, think the same thing on Tuesday as you did on Sunday, no matter WHAT happens on Monday, then you are an IDIOT.

New Year, New Hope?

Well, they say hope does spring eternal.

After my last post I read a few things that made me feel better, although not much. The best was Paul Krugman's Tidings of Comfort, about the health care bill:

And for all its flaws and limitations, it’s a great achievement. It will provide real, concrete help to tens of millions of Americans and greater security to everyone. And it establishes the principle — even if it falls somewhat short in practice — that all Americans are entitled to essential health care.

But the economy... ugh.

Disillusionment

The Honeymoon is over, people.

I haven't posted on here for some time, because I've been taking a "wait and see" attitude, wanting to give the new administration a chance to fix the sins of the previous administration, to accomplish something on their own. Anything.

What we've seen is Wall Street bailouts, and rampant spending with no plan on how to pay for it, the health care reform so badly needed gutted to something that has all of the costs and few of the benefits we hoped for, a plan for a surge in troops to Afghanistan with no real end in sight to Iraq, little progress in other areas where we'd hoped for change... Ugh. All my favorite comedy commentators on politics have seemingly turned on Obama - Jon Stewart, as usual, has been spot on. SNL has lampooned the lack of actual accomplishments. Colbert, Bill Maher... And my favorite bloggers and writers have also "turned" - Krugman, even Rolling Stone and the Huffington Post! (see bookmarks in the sidebar -->)

Yet I've hesitated to write anything because, you know, if you can't say anything nice...

And we can't blame it ALL on "the other side"...

Although, the lunatic fringe is still out there being crazy - Palin and her supporters, still provides fodder for comedians - love the SNL 2012 parody. But it also scares the HELL out of me, with the state of things currently - there is so much discontent from left, right and center she might just win, which would really be an apocalypse, as far as I'm concerned. The Birthers are still crazy, the jerkwad conservatives who are only out to stop ANYTHING from being accomplished, at the cost of the American public still at it. The fillibustering and dysfunctionality of our government at an all--time high. The stupidity of people...

Sometimes I feel like the internet, while a great source of information and learning for those with the critical thinking skills to sort out the nuggets of truth from the hogwash, has become a Pandora's box for the illiterate and stupid sheep who forward any dire warning to everyone on their email contacts - these same morons are the true believers that Obama is Kenyan, that "Death Panels" were ever a part of the health care bill, that Obama is a Socialist/Communist/Terrorist whatever. These people believe anything the Fox News and other conservative nutjobs like Glen Beck, Laura Ingraham, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Ann Coulter tell them to believe. And they are a pack of liars. And inciters of violence and hatred and fear. I wish them all to just disappear from the face of the earth. But honestly? I don't like Olbermann much better. I hate the snide, sneering attitudes and name-calling that has become the norm for TV politics "reporting" - it's horrible and is hurting our country. Rachel Maddow is slightly better since she seems to focus a bit more on news, but her little smirks when she reports negative things about conservative just annoy me at this point and only serve to keep people in their respective corners. This is one of the reasons I love Jon Stewart. Yeah, he's a comedian, but sometimes his reporting on the issues is far superior than real news stations! AND he makes us laugh. When we laugh, we can gain perspective, on ourselves, and on each other, which helps us get past our differences and move FORWARD.

I want people to start thinking for themselves. I want people to stop hating other points of view. I want people to start actually listening to each other. I want politicians to focus on getting things done for America and Americans, NOT on political games.

I WANT MY DAMN COUNTRY BACK!!

We've got problems, people! We need to WORK TOGETHER to fix them!!! Pretty speeches alone won't do the trick. Sorry Obama. I agree with Bill Maher when he said you need to "stand up for the 70% of Americans who aren't crazy." I like to think I'm one of them.

Shatner Does Palin

This is truly wonderful!



I think that this part of her speech is one of the only parts that really made sense, and it makes even more sense as a poem - an ode to Alaska. Hat tip to Robert Service.

John Hodgman: Nerds vs. Jocks and Obama

 

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