July 31, 2012

Backers of California gay marriage ban ask US Supreme Court to review appeals court decision

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/backers-of-calif-gay-marriage-ban-ask-us-supreme-court-to-uphold/2012/07/31/gJQAjij6MX_story.html

OK gang, the enemy has walked right into a trap.

If the Supes decide not to review it, it means that Tony and his goons realize that the eyes of the nation are on them, and that they dare not try to strike down rights until Mitt can pack the court. This plays right into the fact that the next few Supreme court picks really DO matter.

If they review it, and decide to uphold the appeals court, Doma DIES.

And if Tony tries to revive DOMA, then it will make the GOP led Supreme court front and center just in time for the election. Even the most lukewarm of Democrats will then be forced to ask who they really want to win this, and it shall be a major GOTV tool.

Of course, we can squander this, but lately, we have been going for the jugular.

July 31, 2012

U.S. Justice Department says Florida's voter purge violates federal law

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1243421.ece

From the Article:

"The latest federal action follows a defeat. Judge Robert Hinkle ruled in June that a law that bars the systematic removal of voters less than 90 days before a federal election does not specifically include noncitizens. The same Justice Department lawyer who unsuccessfully argued that case, John Albert Russ IV, filed the latest protest.

Directing its argument at Gov. Rick Scott's top elections official, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the feds wrote: "The Secretary of State cannot now allege that the voting practice he initiated (and that the covered counties implemented at his direction) is completely abandoned, because the change has already affected voters in the covered counties. The implementation of these new practices and procedures without preclearance violates Section 5."

In other words, they have been caught. Now let's see if Washington is willing to crack the whip.

July 30, 2012

So you don't want to vote

because you hate Obama and the DLC?
because you think that if America suffers, there will be a bloom of leftish ideas?
because you wanted Hillary/Dennis/Howard/Ralph to be president?
because you think you will be able to move abroad?
because you are tired of caring?
because you do not think it will matter?

OK, let's grant all of this:
Will that change the fact that the only people that could keep Mitt out of power are you?
Will that wash your hands clean of what Mitt does with that power?
Will that change the fact that people outside of America,
who would die and kill to have your chance to keep Mitt out,
will die and be killed,
because you stayed away from the vote,
just like Mitt wants you to?

You know the answer,
so do the people in Iran
so do the people in the FORMER Soviet Union,
for that matter,
so do the people in England.
and they will not be amused,
when we say,
"Voting did not matter!"

China will be amused,
because you will have confirmed
that you will let Wal-Mart boil your bones
into their soup,
that people are too stupid
to rule themselves.

At least the pig tries to bite the butcher
before it becomes Bacon.

July 30, 2012

Red and Blue states?

Every election, there is a lot of talk of "Red" and "Blue" states. I realize that , thanks to our outdated Electoral college, it is easy to think that everyone in Texas is conservative, and everyone in California is liberal. But that is exactly the illusion that needs to die. I say this as someone who has lived in New Jersey and Florida.

The fact is, the real divide is between Urban America, and Non-rural, which covers everything from Hyper expensive Bedroom suburbs to rural patches.
What do I offer as proof? I know some here see any antecodal evidence as worse than a lie, so, I say this: Check the Urban areas in any state, even Red states, you will see they all are patches of Blue. New Orleans, Houston, Jacksonville, Austin, Tampa all of them show up as Blue, and most have Democratic mayors.

Now, on the contrary, go to the Rural or Suburban parts of Blue States. Orange County California is one of the more Infamous GOP hotbeds, to say nothing of parts of New Jersey that are owned by people who live in Manhattan (the yuppies that put Christie in.)

I am not downplaying Geography, but we do need to realize that, yes, there is such a thing as class in America, and yes, Class is the big factor in this election. Urban areas are ignored because they have become the home of the underclass. The rural places have love shown on them because they are told that the Urban working class has cheated them, that education is worthless, and that religion should be the dominant force in all culture, as it is in the rural areas.

July 23, 2012

Republican convention protesters unveil threats of violence against them

http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/republican-convention-protesters-unveil-threats-of-violence-against-them

Keep in mind, this is in Tampa, where the creeps are already joking about shooting hippies, and where they won the right to carry guns into the convention.

July 21, 2012

Of guns, batman and rights.

Before you go ahead and say "Don is a gun grabber!" Let me say this: I believe that a ban on ALL guns would make as much sense as a ban on ALL drugs. It would target the poor, urban and rural, not the rich yuppies who could easily get their hands on a dime bag of weed or a Glock, and know that even if caught, they could get a lawyer. All a ban on all guns would do is make the prison industry and criminal syndicates happy, as the only way to stop the sale of anything is to make people stop wanting it.

Before you go ahead and say "Don is a gun nut!" Let me say this: There is absolutely NO reason why the average person needs assault weapons, OR pistols. If you are going to scare a criminal away from you, the same weapons used for hunting, rifles and shotguns, will do the trick; while they will kill a deer or burglar very nicely, they cannot be concealed, and used to do massive shootings. There is NO reason why anyone would need Military grade weapons, unless they want to kill PEOPLE, period. We also have every right to make sure that if someone buys a gun, they are held accountable for what they do with it, and yes, that most certainly includes selling the damn things! The idea that buying a Ford truck involves more paperwork and background checks than to buy an ak-47 is not acceptable!

So, am I a libertarian?, no. What I am saying is this, we need to actually have meaty, toothy, yes invasive regulations on Guns, the same we do on medicine, food, and everything else we buy in a store. Anyone who cannot wait for a background check has NO business buying a gun, period. We have every right to demand that people who ship a gun across state lines without permission be guilty of crimes. Just like we have to renew our paperwork for a thousand other things, we should be able to file paperwork for the guns and what we do with them, if not, go home. People who want the power of arms should take responsibility. If George Zimmerman was a cop, he would have had to turn in his gun while Internal affairs investigated, so why should he have been able to keep it for more than a month?

It is no secret that the GOP wants weak gun regulations, as it gives them an armed mob of crazies, and makes people think that their owning guns will actually help them revolt. Sorry, while farmers may beat armed Gis in Iraq, that trick will not work on the hometurf. However, as far as people thinking they can ban all guns, sorry, that will work as wel as banning guns, especially as the Chinese will make and ship anything to anywhere. Yes, Europe has less people owning guns, but funny how the terrorists who tend to kill people on a more regular basis are always well armed, whether they are Anders Brevik or the folks that shot Theo van Gogh or Pym Fortyn.

The way to lessen guns is to make them legal, but a PAIN IN THE ASS. There was a time when most Americans smoked cigarettes, when even Cartoons smoked. We did not ban cigarettes, but we made it inconvenient, and made it documented. Of course, the law abiders that still smoked grumble a bit (as we see here in DU on occasion) but they comply, and gradually, combined with ads discouraging the use, and education in schools, less people started smoking.

Now, imagine if we tried to outright ban them. Imagine DU, and the people that would carry the flag for smokers, running right over the non smokers. You KNOW it would happen .

So, the moral is, we regulate, we tax, we ban military grade weapons.

And also, let's improve the state of mental health care in this country while we are at it?

July 19, 2012

Bishop Romney question

As far as I know, Willard is a Bishop in the Mormon church.

This brings up two questions:

One, has a clergyman ever been president?
Two, will his clergy title affect his duties?

Keep in mind, JFK was a lay person, at best. There is a lot of potential for discussion as this might be the first time an active clergyman ever ran for POTUS.

July 19, 2012

why we should outright distrust polls, for bad and good.

Let's be honest, the media wants this to be dragged out. If they can drag it till next Summer, they will. There is also the fact that a lot of people want to hear that Mitt is not all that weak, because that will let loose the Billion dollar floodgates of ads they are depending on. They like the idea that Citizens United will force at least a Billion dollars into their pockets every 4 years.

We simply cannot trust media...however, we can do our best to remind the weak info voters we know that the media is Bullshit. if nothing else, remind them how they took the Kardashian wedding and made it a gala event.

July 16, 2012

Paul Krugman on the tut-tutters

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/opinion/krugman-policy-and-the-personal.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Article excerpt:

"The point is that talking about Mr. Romney’s personal history isn’t a diversion from substantive policy discussion. On the contrary, in a political and media environment strongly biased against substance, talking about Bain and offshore accounts is the only way to bring the real policy issues into focus. And we should applaud, not condemn, the Obama campaign for standing up to the tut-tutters. "

In other words, for the Bill Clintons, Cory Bookers, and possible plants and trolls, stuff it. Obama is not bringing a knife to a gunfight anymore.

July 5, 2012

GOP VP, who is in the lead?

and what ramifications does it have?