Mira
Mira's JournalSo we squeaked by as a red state, but NC will slowly turn blue for good. One LTE at a time.
Read this smart, heart-warming, compassionate letter to the editor published in my Winston-Salem Journal this morning.You will like it.
Post-election haze
Republicans aren’t really such sore losers. But the election is fresh and they’ll need a little time to calm down and realize that the sky hasn’t fallen on them. When that happens, I’m sure they’ll understand that:
Nobody sees President Obama as a “savior.”
Nobody thinks they’re not going to have to work hard anymore.
Nobody thinks they’re going to get a bunch of “free stuff.”
These are all exaggerated clichés that baffle liberals who hear them. We can’t imagine who they’re talking about.
The truth is that we admire a good leader, just like they do; we want a just reward for our hard work, just like they do; and we don’t think families should be thrown out into the streets because of a medical bill, just like — well, I’m not sure how they feel about that anymore. But they have to say something to make themselves feel better. Even if it makes their fellow hard-working Americans, neighbors and relatives sound like a bunch of moochers.
Of course, losing hurts. I felt the same way after those two elections we lost to George W. Bush. We survived Bush; they’ll survive Obama.
Still, I can promise my conservative friends this: Every good thing we receive as a result of President Obama’s leadership, we’ll share with you.
We didn’t vote so we could “take America back” — we voted so that we could share it.
TOMMY H. SIMMONS
source:
http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article_a4f5b23e-2dea-11e2-906d-0019bb30f31a.html
Unattributed story sent by a lawyer friend in TX. I so want it to be true
This is what the header said in my inbox just now, and I fell all over myself reading it. My friend who sent it is a state wide involved Democrat with good sources across the country. I suspect we at DU would all get a kick out of it, probably believe it, and hope along with the sender that this really happened.This is not from "The Onion"
Former U.S. president George W. Bush accidentally voted for Barack Obama today at a polling place near his Crawford, TX home.
According to local reports, the two-term Republican was confused by the instructions on his electronic voting machine and mistakenly cast a ballot he intended to discard.
Witnesses say Bush argued with poll workers for several minutes afterwards in a effort to redo his vote, but in accordance with state law they ultimately denied his request.
The embarrassing incident may have gone unnoticed if it weren't for a local newspaper reporter who happened to be voting in the next booth. Suzanna Everett, a politics correspondent for the Waco Times witnessed the entire ordeal and crafted a cunning scheme to make it public.
Left On Red
Barred by ethics rules from using knowledge gained within a polling station, Everett waited for Bush to leave the facility and ambushed him with a trick question designed to fool him into revealing the news himself:
"Mr. President Fox News is reporting that you've accidentally voted for Barack Obama. Would you care to comment?"
Thinking that his mistake had already been found out, Bush sought to minimize the damage:
"Yes unfortunately because of the incompetence of the folks who designed the ballot, my vote counted for the other guy," Bush responded. He then attempted to explain exactly how the mishap occurred:
"First of all, everything was very mismaladjusted on the screen. You shouldn't put the senators and the congress people and the presidents all jumbled together like that. It's too crowded. Just confuses folks."
Bush then explained that after marking the wrong candidate, he sought to correct his error by clicking the red "Cast Ballot" button, thinking that it was designed to 'cast away' the ballot and bring up a fresh one:
"Usually red means stop and green means go. I thought I was stopping"
A New Legacy
Bush is no stranger to election day controversy, having been pushed into office himself by the Florida fiasco of 2000. In that election hundreds of votes intended for Democratic rival Al Gore went to protest candidate Pat Buchanan instead due to poor ballot design.
In an official statement released shortly after the event, former President Bush said his experiences today have inspired him to make electoral reform the signature cause of his post-presidency:
"Laura and I will be dedicating the next few years to fixing our electoral system. Every American deserves a clear, simple ballot when they go to the polling place."
However, the system Bush used has been deployed successfully around the country with little incident. A spokesperson for the company that manufactures the machines says they stand by their product:
"Until today we have never had a single instance of someone confusing the "cast ballot" button for a "cast away ballot" button. This is a problem unique to Mr. Bush, and we have no plans to change our machines."
edited to add:
Maybe this is a joke after all. Just because of the principal involved, to me one of the most inept men on the planet, I tend to believe it happened. Maybe time will tell. At least I did say it was unattributed.
Had I run across this vision last week I would have all but been on my knees beside it
But today, finding it in a cemetery I've never been to before, it just elicited a very grateful smile.
We dodged a big bullet my friends. And I am walking in gratitude.
Moving on...I bet Bill Maher's show tonight will be celebratory. His Million Bucks paid off. Guests:
Cory Booker - James Carville - S.E. Cupp - Samuel L Jackson - Andrew Sullivan10 pm HBO
repeat at 11 pm
The Photographer speaks of "The photo" - the 4 more years tweet photo
http://gizmodo.com/5959053/exclusive-the-story-behind-the-internets-most-popular-photoIn too much of a hurry to check for Dupes: Rachel on with Steven Colbert
in just a few minutes
A pause that refreshed me after our ecstatic win - I calmly got to blow off an Ignoramus
As I do I went to the Y a couple of hours ago, it's within walking distance. I took reading material, and sat in the Hot Tub.
3 others in the water with me, a young man about 30, and a pasty white man about 65 along with what looked like maybe his wife.
The older man swished up and down in the water, looked at me and said ." I have to wash off the awful election."
"Say what?"
I made him repeat it.
"OK" I said "I'll enjoy it for both of us, I'm deliriously happy about how it came out."
Now here comes the part that is completely out of character for me since I can be quite belligerent and preachy.
Let me call it the pause in the work of the last few weeks that refreshes.
And it took only about a minute and left me very unruffled.
"Yeah, just wait and see what shape we'll be in when we've given all our money away". - "I'm waiting,I'm sure I'll see, but isn't it wonderful it's over".
"You won't be so glad when you're paying 5 dollars a gallon for gas" - "Probably not, but it's still only half of what they pay in Europe. Like I said, I'm so glad the election is behind us."
"We have the most oil in the world, don't you realize that, and we are being denied it" - "Oh yes I know we have lots of it, I just don't want to tear up our country side to get it out. Aren't we lucky this election is all over now?"
"Denying the pipe line was the dumbest thing to do, it's just a criminal way to run the country" -"Well, I for one don't want it going through our parks and yards - but haven't you heard me, I'm so glad the election is finished.
I don't want to talk about it, it's history. I am just wanting to be quietly happy and celebrate."
Just the two of us, the others stared.
I went on reading and he was quiet, but he no longer swished up and down in the water.
Republicans Consider Welcoming People Who Believe in Math and Science - Andy Borowitz carries on
The New Yorker
The Borowitz Report
Nation Spends $2.5 Billion on Nothing
November 8, 2012
Republicans Consider Welcoming People Who Believe in Math and Science
Posted by Andy Borowitz
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Opting for a bold “big tent” strategy to rebuild the party, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, told reporters today, “We need to welcome people who believe in different things than we do, like math and science.”
After disappointing results in Tuesday’s election, Mr. Priebus said that it was time for Republicans to become “more tolerant of those with a math-and-science lifestyle.”
“Just because we don’t believe in those things doesn’t mean we can’t get along with people who do,” he said. “We want to send this message: math and science Americans are Americans, too.”
In the biggest departure from its previous electoral strategy, Mr. Priebus said, the Republican Party is “even considering trying to appeal to women.”
“I read recently that women are as much as fifty-one per cent of the population,” he said. “That number sounded crazy high to me, but maybe one of our new math Republicans can check on it for us.”
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2012/11/republicans-consider-welcoming-people-who-believe-in-math-and-science.html#ixzz2BeFzwpCa
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