Tag: Politics

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I thought it was just tit for tat, not anymore.

When some pundits and politicians started calling for a cognitive test for President Biden, I honestly thought it was them just being dicks. I thought is was probably payback for calls for similar tests during Trump’s presidency.

I don’t think Biden is the sharpest knife in the drawer generally, but after reading about his performance trying to put bicycle handles on a bike at a Toys for Tots event, I can sort of see their point.

Apparently The President couldn’t put a round tube inside another round tube. Makes you wonder if he has similar problems in the bedroom.

At this point, I’d love to see him working with one of those child’s toys where you match the different shaped wooden blocks with the appropriately shaped holes. That’s a toy that while exercising a child’s mind also serves as a cognitive reasoning test allowing parents to gauge a child’s development.

Perhaps I’m being unkind, but come on. Now, it’s possible that he couldn’t focus properly on the top of the bike, but if that’s true he needs to get to the White House Ophthalmologist for a check up. Perhaps it’s time for sleepy Joe to get a pair of glasses. If he’s having a visual focusing problem, it begs the question; Is he reading the stuff coming across his desk?

Generally speaking I don’t read anything the Joe or the White House put out. Most anything they say gets retracted a day later so it’s best to wait for the dust to settle before getting worked up about it. Even after the dust has settled, most of the time I find myself shaking my head in dumbfounded amazement that these are the people in control. This one though, was even more dumbfounding than usual so I read it when it came out.

I’ve dealt with an assortment of pretty insane, and stupid people over my lifetime. The saddest part, is that I’d rather have them running things instead of what we’ve got now.

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Just a random thought about Twitter.

I’ve noticed that more and more politicians are claiming that Twitter is becoming more bigoted.

I’m looking at you Adam Schiff!

Adam schiff

What I wondered is this;

What would happen if people just randomly sent a tweet to people like Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, John Fetterman, Katie Hobbs, Nancy Pelosi, and whoever else popped to mind saying, “I Don’t like you.”

Nothing more than that. I realize that my list is all Democrats but hey why not give every politician the same treatment equally?

What would happen on Twitter? It’s not hate speech, it’s not a threat, it’s not a call for violence, or any of the other “banned” interactions. It’s simply telling the person in question unequivocally that you, as a person don’t like them. 

This could be for any reason, you don’t like their politics, you don’t like their stance on gun control, you don’t think they’re doing a good job, whatever the reason, a simple generic, “I don’t like you,” shouldn’t be banned, it’s not bigoted, and it leaves the interpretation of your message open to the recipient.

Given that so many of these people seem to live for the adulation of the press, and attention from the public. I’ve wondered what receiving thousands or millions of generic messages like this would do to their collective psyches.

These people claim to want to protect democracy, how would they react to a completely egalitarian registration of people simply not liking them? What would they do if a preponderance of “I Don’t Like You” messages was all they received via their Twitter feed? I wonder if they’d get the message.

In the case of Adam Schiff who is claiming that he’s getting more bigoted remarks in the wake of Elon Musk taking the helm of Twitter, I think that perhaps Mr. Schiff is missing the point. Perhaps it’s not bigoted, perhaps the negative comments have nothing to do with his religion or appearance, but instead have to do with him personally. 

I find Mr. Schiff to be a thoroughly unlikable person. Every time I’ve seen him giving speeches or appearing on chat shows he simply comes across as a nasty piece of work. So I don’t like him. Politically, he’s milquetoast except in his rabid hatred of all things Trump. To see him whining on CNN about bigotry on Twitter does nothing more than than confirm to me he’s a weak individual struggling to hold onto power.

Most of the rest of the Twitterati, (of which I was one,) have lived under draconian, arbitrary, capriciously enforced “rules”. Twitter users could say, “I wish Trump was dead,” or “All infidels in Synagog X should be killed.” But other Twitter users couldn’t say The Transgender agenda is more far reaching than has been said and I think they’re after our kids. A Twitter user who said something negative about transgenders would be banned instantly.

Now that censorship is not protecting Adam Schiff from real people that don’t like him, his feelings are hurt and he views people speaking their mind as an affront.

I think Adam Schiff should grow a pair, and perhaps should grow some thicker skin too. If he actually believes in what he’s doing and is committed to his position, then it doesn’t matter what people say about him.

That’s what I mean by saying he’s proving to me, with every single appearance where he’s bitching and whining about bad things being said about him or to him on Twitter, that he’s a terribly weak individual with weak commitment to his values. He’s changeable as the wind, last month he liked Twitter, because he was protected from the slings and arrows of the American Public. This month Twitter is bad, for no other reason than he gets to see what people really think.

Politicians getting direct engagement from their constituents could be a good thing. If for no other reason than politicians would have a less filtered and isolated view of what is important to the people they govern.

I suppose this was why I was thinking about a simple concise message, “I don’t like you,” might be useful. It’s up to the politician to reach out and ask why. If they choose not to engage, then the American People would have another valuable data point for the next election.

On the other hand, if a politician chose to ask why 900,000 people sent him or her, “I don’t like you,” on a particular day and found that their position of a particular issue had been misreported. They would have the opportunity to explain themselves and perhaps get a message back from the American People that said, “Okay I get it. Thank you for the clarification.” They may not win everyone over, but at least they’d be in contact with the people and not acting as if they lived in a bubble.

If we’re really all about democracy then let’s be democratic.

It is things like this thought that make me almost ready to engage in Twitter again. I just can’t quite decide if it’s worth my time or effort yet.

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Ding Dong The Witch is gone…

I couldn’t help myself! 

Nancy Pelosi is stepping down. 

NancyPelosi20221117

This fossil has been banging around Congress for 35 years it’s about damn time that she stepped aside. I can only hope that she retires completely soon.

She said something that as humiliating as it is to admit, I agree with. 

It was something like, it’s time to pass the torch to younger politicians.

I agree wholeheartedly.

It’s time to move the old fossils out of Congress.

I also think it’s time to remove the lobbyists as well. Our leaders shouldn’t be listening to specialized well funded lobbying organizations. The leaders should be listening to the people of their states and making decisions that are in the best interests of the people, not special interest groups.

I’m not holding my breath about the lobbyists being done away with, but Nancy getting the hell out of the way is a good start!

I’ll try not to dance when Nancy hands the gavel to someone else.

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Red Wave? My Ass, more like bathtub ring.

I’ve made a bigger wave dropping a deuce in my toilet.

Sorry for the crudeness but damn!

I’m guessing that the lawsuits will start immediately, the demands for recounts will provide entertainment through the Winter and in the end, nothing will have substantially changed.

It’s the same as is ever was.

Watching the election night coverage on ABC last night there were some things that really bothered me. The pundits kept talking about election deniers on the ballot, that was expected. One of the things that I found really annoying was how many times the pundits pointed out that Candidate X, Y, or Z was “at the capital on January 6th,”

I kept thinking, “So What?” There were a TON of people at the Capital on Jan 6th. It makes sense that some fractional part of those people may have chosen to run for office, to legally correct what they saw as a problem is not surprising. That’s called patriotism and following the law.

It’s the way the system is supposed to work. If you think the government is doing it wrong you have the right to protest.

If the protest doesn’t cause changes, then by God, if you think you can do a better job, you have the right to run for office. That’s not “Wrong”, “Suspicious”, or “Criminal”, it should be acknowledged and appreciated for what it is, The Love of Country.

What I saw last night on ABC was the pundits using someone’s mere presence at the capitol on Jan 6th as a cudgel. There are a lot of reasons people might have been at The Capitol on Jan 6th. They might have been there to simply voice their opinion without engaging in riots, guess what? That’s totally acceptable!

AOC and Nancy Pelosi were at the Capital on Jan 6th, you don’t see them being maligned by the media. There were people who were there to wait for the results in person, you know, folks who innocently wanted to be physically present for a little bit of history.

ABC kept mentioning the military candidates running. As if that was a bad thing or somehow wrong. Those military candidates already served the country, especially those who were career military. It is unsurprising that they would be among folks who, if they thought the country was on the wrong track would seek to correct course through the legal and peaceful mechanism of election.

I was very disappointed in the way ABC chose to cover the election results. I was reminded again why I don’t like main stream media.

When I went to bed last night, I knew John Fetterman would win. He got the pity vote from Pennsylvania. Yeah, he had a stroke that’s sad.

But it doesn’t qualify him to be a United States Senator. The man is cognitively challenged, plain and simple. But if Pennsylvania is moronic enough to want Fetterman as a Senator, more power to them. For my part, I’m not going to take any problem in Pennsylvania seriously. The people of that state electing someone who is obviously a mess cognitively, speaks volumes about the people of the state in toto.

Don’t mistake my comments about Fetterman as an endorsement of Dr. Oz. I’m not sure Dr. Oz has the right stuff to be a Senator, but at least his brain is fully operational.

On the plus side, Joe Biden will have someone to hang with at parties.

ABC was harping on about “Election Deniers”. I kept thinking, “So what? Why is that a thing, or even an issue? These election deniers are participating in an election, so clearly this still believe the system can work.”

I guess I think differently than most people. I will be interested to see how the media handles Democrats that lose and demand recounts and file lawsuits. By definition those candidates will be election deniers. Stacy Abrams I’m looking at you! Although Stacy did apparently concede to Kemp this time.

ABC was also mentioning abortion every 7 minutes. Then they started reporting the states who had amended their constitution to enshrine abortion rights. ABC didn’t once mention that this process was exactly what was supposed to happen.

Overturning Roe v Wade, kicked the issue back to the States.

Many States, including California accepted that responsibility, and guess what? They let the voters decide. Again, this is what was supposed to happen, Overturning Roe v Wade didn’t destroy the country, all the hand wringing, protesting, and wailing was completely unnecessary. The Supreme Court simply corrected Judicial over-reach on their part. Congress had almost 50 years to put forward an amendment to the US Constitution and they did nothing. So the Supreme Court returned the question to the states. Big Deal! So What?

Even the bastion of “oppression” that is Florida, says abortion is legal for 15 weeks, and they have exceptions in the case of rape, incest, and danger to the mother. Yes, I looked it up.

Why? Because my Stepfather was spouting on about how awful Florida was in its abortion stance. When I asked if he’d actually looked up the law he said, “no”. I pulled up the Florida Law, from the Florida Website, and showed it to him. He’d bought hook, line, and sinker, the abortion activists spin as reported by the media that Florida was completely abortion free.

My stepfather tried to make the argument that there have been cases of women not knowing they were pregnant. My reply was, “Then abortion rights to them, is irrelevant because if they didn’t know they were pregnant, they wouldn’t have sought an abortion in the first place.” That shut down the abortion discussion at my parents home.

Going into the election I thought perhaps we had a chance at making course corrections that would actually help the whole country. Now I’m wondering if the system irrevocably broken and just how dumb my fellow Americans are.

If the system is irrevocably broken then I have no desire to pay attention to, or participate in it. In my mind, that’s the equivalent of masturbating but never quite getting to the “Money Shot” for years on end. It’s not about my “side” winning or losing. This is about continuing to vote, participating in the system, and nothing ever changing except to get worse.

Even more frightening, is the possibility that the American People really are too stupid to survive. Maybe our nation is descending into 3rd world status not by nefarious design, but though natural processes. Perhaps, the “Great Experiment” is winding down to failure and America is getting what it actually deserves.

I hope that is not the case, but evidence does seem to be mounting.

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Election Day!

Happy Election Day!

It’s a cold rainy day here on the mountain. On the plus side, at least I’m not having to walk through snow to the polling place and back. Yes, I’ve done that in past elections. It’s been raining enough here that if it was only a few degrees colder we’d have a foot or more of snow.

If it’s raining where you are, don’t let that stop you from casting your vote!

I don’t buy the hyperbole about voting for the soul of the nation. 

In fact I don’t care what your politics are, or your party preference. 

What I do care about is that you vote. Vote your conscience, vote for candidates that represent your beliefs, vote because it’s your civic duty.

If you can’t be bothered to do this one thing, then you have no voice and I’m not going to listen to you whining about the results after the election.

IVoted

Personally, I’m hoping to see Gavin Newsom tossed out, unfortunately here in California that won’t make much of a difference because there are a lot of bad ideas that have ossified into the dreaded, “We’ve always done it this way,” mindset in this state.

I would enjoy seeing Gavin standing there with his hair blown back in surprise. I know it’s kind of a cheap shot but I’d love to see his smug arrogance take a nice uppercut. For clarity’s sake, I’m not advocating physical violence to Gavin, I’m speaking metaphorically about his attitude and arrogance taking a hit.

There was a time when such disclaimers weren’t necessary, these days though, people seem to be searching for anything they can spin into something it’s not.

I pray that Newsom takes such a drubbing that any presidential aspirations he may have, get flushed down the toilet. The whole country knows what Newsom has done to California. I’m hoping that they remember it in 2024 and decide they don’t want the rest of the country to follow California’s lead. Let the wonder that is Kamala Harris be a warning to everyone.

I’ve been fascinated by the Democrat messaging over the past week or so. (Spending hours on end in a car means you listen to a lot of radio.) The message seems almost like they’re expecting to take a major hit. Some candidates sounded like they just expected to win without really putting in the work.

These candidates seem quite surprised that they’re being challenged strongly by their opponents. When asked why their opponent is doing so well in polls they’re unable to answer. To me that speaks to a profound disconnect between the incumbents and their constituents. In a nutshell, that’s the answer.  Many of them appear to be blindsided that their voters are interested in much more basic issues than special interest stuff. Most of us are really focused on basic necessities.

How can so many candidates have missed or ignored that?

The Republican Party appears to have capitalized on the concerns most Americans have. What remains to be seen is if they were lying to get into office or if the candidates really meant what they said on the campaign trail. 

Time and vote counts will tell.

There was a piece in Politico that says in part, “The 2020 presidential election was rife with allegations of voting machine hacks that were later debunked. Yet there are real risks that hackers could tunnel into voting equipment and other election infrastructure to try to undermine Tuesday’s vote.” 

That one was a head snapper. I thought there was no possibility that the election could be tampered with. Isn’t that what we were told after the 2020 election? So what’s changed?

More from Politico

Wireless modems enabling hacks of voting machines or vote tallies

At least seven states and Washington, D.C., use wireless modems to transmit unofficial election-night results to their central offices. These modems use telecommunications networks that are vulnerable to hackers, and malicious actors could exploit them to tamper with unofficial vote data, corrupt voting machines or compromise the computers used to tally official results.

Really? So are we to assume that since the 2020 election which was “perfect and secure”, that some states have taken steps to make the voting process more vulnerable? If these states haven’t made the process less secure, then can we assume that these states were as vulnerable in 2020 as they are today?

Does that mean that law suits filed by Trump which were dismissed as having no standing should be re-evaluated? 

I’m sorry, but I’m kind of a binary guy. Either something is a problem or it’s not, Politico seems to be playing both sides depending on which party wins. How about we just settle for reporting the actual facts, and let the chips fall where they may? That would seem to be a simpler way to deal with politics and life in general. 

President Biden’s speech may have muddied the voting waters as well. Listening to his speech I couldn’t help but think he was setting us all up for endless challenges about ballot counts and election integrity. As if we haven’t had quite enough of all of that over the past two years. What happens when the Democrats become “Election Deniers”? How does that play out?

If both parties become election deniers, does that mean both groups are domestic terrorists?

I’m looking for a change in this election.

I’d like to see someone tap the brakes on the excessive spending in Washington.

Instead of hiking the interest rates to curb inflation, how about we fix the supply chain issues? More products on the shelves and in the pipeline would also curb inflation.

I hope that our politicians pay more attention to the immediate issues that we’re all facing.

Go Vote, and have a good day!

 

The rain has picked up quite a bit. The normally dry creek bed behind the house is roaring, rocks the size of small cars are tumbling down the mountain. It’s causing the ground to shake almost as if there’s an earthquake.

When I think of all the water rushing down to the desert floor, I’m hoping that it makes it into the ground and replenishes the aquifers a bit.

Before all the streets and rain culverts, water ran down and soaked right in. On old aerial maps a perfect example of an alluvial plain was clearly visible. Today, with all the streets, parking lots, and pavement, localized flooding is becoming more common at the base of the mountain. Builders and City officials literally paved over the alluvial plain and now spend tons of taxpayer’s money combating the flooding. It would have been simpler to take the hint from nature and not allow building there in the first place.

For all our knowledge, humans miss the obvious more often than not.

I’ve often thought there should be wilderness buffer zones between communities. I picture areas that provide habitat for wildlife and access for runoff to soak into the ground. Zones as I envision them, would provide places for walking, hiking and communing with nature. I’m not talking about miles wide buffers, I’m talking about 1/4 of a mile or so green belts.

I guess the problem is that some people would see wilderness areas as places to dump their trash and do bad things.