Observations on the 2012 Election 9.28

Some videos just speak for themselves. There is nothing I could possibly add to this other than fill in the beeps but I have faith in your ability fill them in for yourself. If not let me know ....


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9/29 update - The previous link was removed from youtube due to copyright blah, blah, blah so here is a new video and link.

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.26

Today (9.26), in an attempt to shore up their floundering candidate, Willard's campaign released a video in which he tries to convince the 47% that he does indeed care about them. I'm not sure a politician of the caliber of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton could talk their way out of Willard's comments let alone, well, a non-politician.  The new video will be the only one the Romney campaign will air anywhere this weekend. Their only national ad will be a video trying to convince people you didn't mean what they saw and heard you say.

Whatever, the Democratic National Committee, now seemingly out for blood, quickly released this video which also will begin airing nationally on Friday. In it Willard rebuts his own new ad with words from his past. The Romney ad is titled "Too Many Americans" while the DNC video is called simply ....

Those People


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Published on Sep 26, 2012 by DemRapidResponse

For the record, "Romney: Believe In half of America" is just one hell of a line. I may need a t-shirt or one of those things to keep my beer cold.

9/27 update - I saw another good line in The New York Times election blog today. Talking about the knowns and unknowns of the next 40 days it said this; "The fat lady is waiting in the wings and she’s gargling with honey and lemon juice."

On the night of November 1^st, just days before the election, ex-President George W. Bush will deliver the keynote address at something called the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit. The CAIS calls itself "an international conference that will bring together the world's leading institutional investors, fund managers, academics, economists and regulators in the Cayman Islands, the world's leading domicile for investment funds, to discuss and debate the fundamentals of a vibrant future for the alternative investments industry." I'm sure Willard is thrilled.

As always, you can't make this shit up.

Observations from the Edge 9.26

Welcome to the new world. This is a video of the end of a protest in Madrid, Spain yesterday. The protest was over Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy government's plan to impose €39 billion of 'austerity' reforms on the Spanish economy. They would include tax increases, budget cuts, and something called structural reforms to social programs. As in Greece the Spanish recession continues to deepen with each round of cuts yet the government's only answer seems to be yet more cuts.

Recently GOP leaders have accused President Obama of looking to Europe for ideas, not that this is always a bad thing, yet if the Romney/Ryan plans for massive cuts in social programs isn't austerity what is? The question is would the end result of American austerity look something like this? Hopefully we will never know because it seems more and more like Willard is heading for a crash of epic proportions.

25 septiembre 2012


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Observations on the 2012 Election 9.25

I've been watching Bill Maher more and more lately, I always liked him but just never seemed to catch the full show. I really liked what he had to say at the end of Friday's show about voters who are still undecided at this point in the campaign so I thought I would post a transcript of it. Than I ran into the slight problem of Maher himself not posting transcripts so I found myself watching it a few more times and hitting the pause button over and over. Transcribing doesn't seem to be my forte but for what it's worth here is what I came up with.

"To the 5% of American voters who still are undecided on who to vote for, it's okay to admit, you just don't give a shit. Seriously, if you still can't figure out who you like more, Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, stay home because you probably couldn't find your polling place anyway. What more information does a person need? Obama has been President for nearly four years and Mitt Romney has been running for President since 1971. If you can't tell this man from this man (said showing side by side photos) you're not a swing voter, you're a lesbian.

I mean it's okay that there is a tiny percentage of uncommitted voters in a few swing states that will decide the election but please stop treating them as if they were somehow more noble and discerning than the rest of us. Put on a pedestal by the media as if they were Hamlet in a think tank. Searching out every last bit of information, high minded arbiters pouring over policy positions and matching them to their own philosophies. Please, they fall into a category known as low-information voters. Otherwise known as dipshits*. For example according to a PEW research study 40% of Democrats didn't know the Republican was the conservative party. Let me repeat that. No, I would but it's too depressing. Instead let's look at someone who this week announced that she was an undecided voter, Kim Kardashian. She described herself as a liberal Republican. Of course there aren't any of those anymore but pieces of information like that don't reach the low-information voter.

The worst part of all this is that the entire American political process, the debates and conventions and photo-ops with corn dogs, is targeted at this tiny part of the population that just isn't interested. Which would by definition be the least qualified for this deciding role. When are low-information wishy washy people ever desirable to talk to? There is a reason when you have a problem you never seek their advice; "Hey you know who you should talk to about that thing you are going though? Somebody that doesn't know anything about it." This year at the debates instead of them dialing every little moment hook the dials to their foreheads and see if there is any measurable brain activity. Cause I don't need to see another focus group with the nincompoops. I've seen enough to know why they are called focus groups. They are just groups of people that have trouble focusing.

And if I want to see a bunch of uninformed jackasses bullshitting about the election I'll watch Fox and Friends."

*dipshit - A despised person; a moron; an ineffectual person; one with a habit of being wrong, loudly and often.

Observations 9.22 NSFW Edition

Well the video is perfectly safe for work it's the audio that isn't quite safe unless you happen to work in a gallery but being Sarah Silverman that is to be expected. I wasn't going to post this at all but than I decided I had to share it so just put on those earbuds and enjoy ....

Let My People Vote 2012 - Get Nana A Gun

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Observations 9.20

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 20, 2012

Statement by the President on the One Year Anniversary of the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

A year ago today, we upheld the fundamental American values of fairness and equality by finally and formally repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’   Gay and lesbian Americans now no longer need to hide who they love in order to serve the country they love.  It is a testament to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform that this change was implemented in an orderly manner, preserving unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness.   As Commander in Chief, I’ve seen that our national security has been strengthened because we are no longer denied the skills and talents of those patriotic Americans who happen to be gay or lesbian.  The ability of service members to be open and honest about their families and the people they love honors the integrity of the individuals who serve, strengthens the institutions they serve, and is one of the many reasons why our military remains the finest in the world.

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.18

Yesterday one of my favorite reporters, David Corn of Mother Jones, broke a story that seems to have been building for some time. On May 17^th Willard spoke at a $50,000 a plate fund raiser in Florida, unbeknownst to him the comments were secretly recorded by someone who remains unknown. Audio snippets began appearing on YouTube a few weeks later and video in August but there was doubt about their authenticity and they were mainly overlooked by the msm. However Corn, along with Democratic Party video researcher James Carter (grandson of ex-President Jimmy Carter), had been pushing the mysterious owner for the complete videos since the beginning of August.

Since Corn released his original story yesterday there has been so much written about the videos and what they mean so I'll spare you repeating any of it. At the end I'll post some of the main links if anybody is interesting in reading Corn's articles or watching the videos.

I will say that I received an email from a friend this morning in which she commented on Willard saying; "cause you just don't know whether he truly believes this stuff (which is scary) or whether he just says it to get elected (which is scary)." She was commenting on the following segment of Willard's chat that explains where all the 47% headlines are coming from. For the record almost half of those he is talking about are retired seniors on Social Security.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what...These are people who pay no income tax ...  My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Like I said so much has been written about it all does or does not mean but there is one thing I haven't heard anywhere. To me at least it's just another example of how out of touch Willard is in these newfangled times we live in. I can walk down the street and take a hi-def video with my phone yet this man is running for President of the United States and doesn't seem to realize his every spoken word may be recorded. To me this total ignorance says more about the man than all the words he spouted to his rich donor friends.

Last night, after Mother Jones had released the first pieces of the video, Willard hastily called a press conference at which he called for the release of the complete video. He evidently thought that would be a good thing. Also, this morning, a reporter asked him if he would like to retract anything he said, he declined.  Like I said, ignorant.

Maybe we should take it easy on him. Maybe Willie just spent too much time hiding out in France during the Vietnam War because the video appears to be the "let them eat cake" moment of his quickly sinking Presidential campaign.

David Corn's page at Mother Jones
Full Willard video Part 1 and Part 2

9/19 update - Dana Milbank had a good column in today's Washington Post, "Media should go easy on Romney, for their own sake," that includes a list of some of Willard's finest, shall we say, comments. "I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners" is a personal fav of mine. Also Mother Jones released a full transcript of the Willard video that you can find here.

Observations 9.17

It begins tonight, 10 PM, on NBC.
Well yeah, I do have other interests besides art, politics, and sports.

From today's New York Times review, "In a blink of a second, all the power goes out inexplicably all over the planet. Cars don’t drive, planes don’t fly, computers go blank and darkness snuffs out streetlights, Kindles, refrigerators, television sets, dishwashers, iPads and hair dryers. That’s the flashback. The story mostly takes place 15 years later, in Chicago, now a rotting, lawless hellhole, and those who fled the anarchy of the city live in primitive farming communities."

From the looks of this trailer it's all down hill from there ....


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Observations from the Window 9.16

It was still dark when I took my coffee and wandered to the roof early Friday morning. The slimmest of crescent moons hung over the Village in the cool air, simply one of those mornings I lived for in the mountains. Sometimes my mountains seem so far away, like they are from a totally different life. Still, Fall is in the air and if it's not quite the same in the Village there is no missing it on crisp clear mornings like the past few.

I have to say that the past three or four weeks have been rather hectic for me, sometimes excruciatingly so. There was my trip to Paris, the VQs made their return from Boston, and the political conventions didn't give my politically addicted brain much of a rest. On top of those I have been stressing over a personal issue for a couple of months now and I happened turn 30 in August.

So yes I do love this time of year but as with anything involving me it isn't all that clear cut. Fall just seems to be the time of year my brain reboots. I suppose you could call it the start of my mental year probably due to spending too many years at PSU. This year it just seems to be worse than others have been because of all the things I just mentioned. I start to dwell on what I want to do, where I want to be, and how the hell I'm going to get there. Painting, writing, and photography all are competing for limited time. This is also the one time of year I still so miss my mountains and I just don't have the time to get back there as much as I would like. That makes me start to think that maybe I should have just stayed there all along. See what I mean about the mess my brain becomes?

Than again it seems I left myself a clue this year. I did happen to ship all those acrylics back from Paris. There must have been a reason for that.

A brief Fall sports update; the Phillies are making a totally unexpected run at the last playoff spot in the National League (but proceeded to lose 2 out of 3 games to the worst team in baseball), the post-Paterno era of Penn State football is off to a totally expected dismal start (but crushed Navy for their first win), and the Flyers seem to be locked out in an NHL labor dispute (but ... well no buts here, locked out).

Finally a rather fitting quote from Leo Tolstoy that I posted on one of my tumblrs and has been reblogged over a thousand times ....

"If you want to be happy, be"

Observations from the Window 9.13

I've probably mentioned before that there was a time that John McCain was a Republican I actually liked. That was a time before he ran for President, met Sarah Palin, and drank the wingnut kool aid. Every now and than the old McCain screams to get out and he says something that reminds me why I once liked him, yesterday was such a day. On a day when Willard* tried once again to show the world why he shouldn't be President of The United States McCain stood on the U.S. Senate floor and said this ....

"It is with a heavy heart that I rise today to speak about the horrific attack yesterday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans. The two confirmed thus far to be among the dead are Sean Smith, an Air Force veteran turned State Department Information Management Officer – and Ambassador Chris Stevens, one of America’s finest and bravest Foreign Service Officers.

I did not know Sean Smith, but I had gotten to know Chris Stevens quite well. And in Chris’s death, the Libyan people have lost a great champion and believer in the peaceful aspirations of their democratic revolution. The American people have lost a selfless and dedicated servant of our interests and values. And I have lost a friend. My thoughts and prayers today are with Chris’s family and the loved ones of his fallen colleagues. May God grant them comfort in their time of grief ...."

Full text of McCain's statement.

That being said McCain was just on the morning news shows blasting President Obama and rattling the sabers as he is wont to do at the drop of a hat. That kool aid as a long shelf life.

As I write this, a full 24 hours after the event, as far as I know Willard still hasn't even offered his condolences to the families of the diplomats killed in Libya. Maybe today he will or maybe he will just triple down on the ignorant statements he made yesterday. Time will tell but I know what side I'm betting on.

*If you want to know a little more here is a good column on the Willard/Libya subject posted on Forbes yesterday afternoon.
"The Lost Soul of Mitt Romney"

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.9.1

I wanted to quickly wrap up my convention thoughts before they fade into the distant past as the campaign heads into the final stretch run. As I said at the end of my last post the Democratic Convention was something totally different from the Republican one. Mainly because what they did in three days totally surprised me. Whether by plan or by luck the combination of Bill Clinton and President Obama, both of whom are the best politicians of their generation, changed the race from a personal referendum on the President to a decision on what kind of world we want to or do not want to live in.

It was rather fitting for Clinton to quote Ronald Reagan in his speech because probably nobody has been able to captivate an audience like Clinton since at least Reagan and before that JFK. I say again, the man is just the political equivalent of a rock star. Among the Democrats Clinton did the best job of describing the RNC saying their message came down to "We left him a total mess. He hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in." Than he did the same with the Democrats message which he said was "We believe, 'we're all in this together,' is a far better philosophy than, 'you're on your own.'" Clinton also added the word arithmetic to the political discourse as the knowledge of said is something the wingnuts are totally lacking in.

The next night President Obama followed with an acceptance speech that was more theory than Clinton's arithmetic. Where we have been, where we are, and the like. It wasn't one of his best speeches he has ever given but it was a good one and good is all that was needed to top Willard's. One short line that was nice to hear, and got my brother to send a 'hell yeah' text, was "Climate change is not a hoax." Obama also spoke at length about the military, veterans, and the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan which was something Willard didn't mention even once. That brings me to another surprise of the DNC, patriotism once seemed totally owned by the flag draped GOP. Today the President actually leads Willard among military and veteran voters.

So the election comes down to this. Do you want to live in the GOP dream world none of us remember and probably never existed or do we try and work together to climb out of the rabbit hole that was the dubya years? Well do ya punk?

I apologize for the bad Eastwood analogy.

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.9

After an campaign that seems like its been going on forever we are now only sixty days from election day. The party conventions are both over and if they didn't clarify the nominees plans for the future at all at least they did clarify what the election itself is about. Since President Obama was elected the Republicans have had just one goal, keep him from being reelected. When, okay if, Obama wins in November the GOP has no Plan B so for all practical purposes it becomes politically bankrupt party. That fact, combined with the automatic tax increases and spending cuts coming at years' end, should force them to compromise with the Democrats for the first time in years. Should the President win he has the added benefit of not having to worry about reelection ever again so can force some issues he couldn't before.

Convention wrap part 1 ….

The only news of any real value to come out of the Republican National Convention actually happened before it. That would be Willard's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate. The only thing Ryan clarified during his acceptance speech was that he could lie better and with less guilt than any politician in history. Even Fox News itself ran a piece saying just that. It isn't good for you election prospects when all anybody remembers about your three day infomercial is that nature in the form of Hurricane Issac, somehow knowing Willard would mock global warming in his acceptance speech, chased them out of Tampa and Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair in prime time.

For all practical purposes Willard was but an afterthought at his own convention. The RNC was like a political time capsule and much older, whiter (there were possibly fifty African American delegates), and very much richer than the Democratic National Convention. The focus was on how much they literally hate the President, that this country is theirs whether the rest of us like it or not, and on auditioning for the 2016 Presidential race. In essence to them this election isn't about what Willard would do, he has no clue, but against Obama and his policies.

The DNC was a different beast entirely and suddenly changed the dynamics of the election.

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.7

The Four; this November history can be made by winning marriage equality ballot initiatives in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State while in Minnesota the vote is one to stop a total ban on same-sex marriage. The organization was founded by Brian Ellner who was one of the forces behind last years marriage equality passage in New York.

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"Marriage equality is about to take a huge step forward. Momentum is on our side and - if we can create a massive groundswell - we can create a massive victory for marriage equality in the United States."
Do More: www.thefour2012.com

Observations on the 2012 Election 9.6

Watching the final night of the DNC I keep thinking back to last night's speech by former President Bill Clinton. If there is such a thing as a rock star in politics this is the man. One of the most popular politicians in the world he was able to quote the Republican god Ronald Reagan at the Democratic Convention and have it seem totally natural. At the RNC the the Repubes mentioned Reagan endlessly without ever having it seem as natural as when Clinton did. Maybe the fact that he would be way too moderate for today's GOP had something to do with that.

I managed to fall asleep and miss the end of Clinton's speech, and was called a dork because of it, but I saw more than enough. In a speech which was almost half ad lib Clinton made this election not a personality contest but a choice between two worlds. "We believe ‘we’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.’" With that line Clinton said more about what is at stake in this election than any speech that had come before him in either convention.

I talked to a few Republicans today, honestly I do know some, and they told me that listening to Clinton's speech scared them. They say that sometimes the truth hurts, I suppose the truth scares when it is delivered by somebody with Bill Clinton's oratory skills.

Joe Biden currently firing up the DNC for President Obama. Best line of the vintage Biden speech; "A future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector."

Sadly no f-bombs.