It's small comfort to know that if the GOP takes the Senate, they will do so much the way GeeDubya Bush took the 2000 presidency... specifically, by cheating. C'mon, get to the polls and at least make them sweat.
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Monday, November 3, 2014
The Great GOP Voter Purge
The GOP generally does better when fewer people vote, especially fewer women and racial minorities. So rather than changing their execrable policy goals to appeal to a greater portion of the electorate, they set out to purge the voter rolls of people likely to vote for Democratic candidates. Ian Millhiser at Think Progress tells us about "The Enormous, Secretive Effort To Purge Thousands Of Minorities From 27 States’ Voter Rolls."
It's small comfort to know that if the GOP takes the Senate, they will do so much the way GeeDubya Bush took the 2000 presidency... specifically, by cheating. C'mon, get to the polls and at least make them sweat.
It's small comfort to know that if the GOP takes the Senate, they will do so much the way GeeDubya Bush took the 2000 presidency... specifically, by cheating. C'mon, get to the polls and at least make them sweat.
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http://billmoyers.com/episode/bernie-sanders-breaking-big-moneys-grip-elections/
ReplyDeleteFull Show: Bernie Sanders on Breaking Big Money’s Grip on Elections
October 31, 2014
Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s independent senator, is angry about what he sees as big money’s wholesale purchase of political power. It’s a grave threat, he believes, not only to our electoral process but to democracy itself.
Two weeks ago, Sanders visited a town hall meeting in Richmond, California, to fire up supporters of Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and a slate of progressive city council candidates. They’re running against a ticket backed by the energy giant Chevron, the third largest corporation in the United States. Chevron owns an enormous refinery in Richmond and is spending $3 million to defeat the progressives, who have charged the oil company with damaging the city’s economy and environment.
Chevron’s Richmond money – they’re spending more than $100 per voter – is just a fraction of the billions being spent this year on the most expensive midterm elections in history, money unleashed by Citizens United, McCutcheon and other court decisions that have turned voting into what feels more like an auction than ‘one person, one vote.’ Because the Supreme Court says money is speech and big business can buy all it wants, corporations are trying to drown out the voice of anyone trying to speak out against them, whether in Congress or a state legislature, on a judge’s bench or in city hall.
“Apparently for these guys, owning and controlling our economy is not enough,” Sanders told the rally. “They now want to own and control the government. And we are not going to allow them to do that. Not in Richmond, not anywhere.”
Producer: Gina Kim. Segment Producer: Robert Booth. Editor: Rob Kuhns. Intro Editor: Sikay Tang.
City in the shadow of Chevron fights back: Vote Team Richmond
ReplyDeletehttp://sfbayview.com/2014/10/city-in-the-shadow-of-chevron-fights-back-vote-team-richmond/
Big-money Chevron muscles local government election
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/big-money-chevron-muscles-local-government-341981251673
Purchase of Election by Chevron Shows We Have 'Oligarchy, Not Democracy': Sanders
ReplyDeletehttp://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/17/purchase-election-chevron-shows-we-have-oligarchy-not-democracy-sanders
Thanks, Enfant; I'll read them tomorrow morning, as my schedule is free after Stella's operation was postponed (or canceled; we won't know which until late this week). I particularly look forward to Moyers's interview of Sanders; I admire both of them very much.
DeleteBTW, regarding the other articles, I have canceled two gasoline credit cards in my life, one Exxon, one Chevron, each for the company's "bad behavior" in environmental matters. Mostly these days I pay cash; that gives me complete freedom to switch instantly if I become dissatisfied with one or another company. I'd love to buy a new car, a Tesla, Nissan Leaf, etc., and be rid of oil-burning altogether, but in Houston that would mean my electric car would be nuclear-powered... besides, those are out of my budget for the foreseeable future.
DeleteUS midterm elections: Undercover investigation exposes 'easy' electoral fraud in North Carolina
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-midterm-elections-undercover-investigation-exposes-easy-electoral-fraud-in-north-carolina-9837753.html
Steve,
ReplyDeleteWhere are my answers?
Thanks1
Sorry, Enfant; between an election, Stella's medical problems, and my full-time housekeeping job while Stella is incapacitated and cannot share the duties, I haven't gotten around to reading the articles. I would offer the (American) student's classic answer, "The dog ate my homework," but I've never had a dog...
DeleteI took a break and watched Bill Moyers interview Bernie Sanders. Listening to these two magnificent men, I was reminded of what Gandhi said, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." But we don't win. Over and over again, the powers-that-be (Obama, for example) sententiously preach all the right words at us, then do things that assure that we are ignored, laughed at and fought against... but never allowed to win.
DeleteIt also occurs to me that Moyers and Sanders are OLD... Moyers is 80; Sanders, 73. I believe the bastards in charge here in the US may just be biding their time, waiting for all the truly committed troublemakers like Moyers and Sanders to die off. "No man, no problem," Stalin is quoted as saying; women live longer, of course, but I suspect the Koch brothers would just as readily tell their friends, "No woman, no problem."
The 1% has been doing this, moving toward a fascist state, since at least 1980, and they know they have all the time in the world. Democracy is a powerful metaphor for a form of government that has the potential to work in the real world, but whatever its virtues, democracy is not quick to remedy problems, and democracy is fragile. The wealthy can bide their time, enjoying their eight homes, 15 cars, four-star restaurants and $200 bottles of wine (for comparison, my car was built in 1994 and I usually spend $3.33 on a bottle of wine) while their money does the real work for them toward their ambition to take over the world. I suppose it's a great life if you can get it, and they are doing every thing possible to assure that you do not get a lifestyle even remotely comparable to theirs.
I do not know what happens next. But I am too old and jaded to believe that Bill and Bernie and you and I will actually win within our lifetimes.
No problem Steve!
ReplyDelete"No problem, Steve!"
DeleteBut not (at least not yet) no (wo)man! All in good time; read what William Oldys had to say in the 18th century.