Open Thread
Well kids, I’m beat. Tomorrow I’ll have an election analysis for The Huffington Post and will be hosting a chat at The Washington Post, talking about the Alaska election. I’ll post more details when I have them.
For now, goodnight. Tomorrow we rise to fight again.
I’m sad Barb Norton lost. She is/was a great candidate.
“Progressives Caucus remains intact, becomes a plurality of House Dems”
Up on Daily Kos. some good news.
I’m not sure if having the far right and thefar left coming out ss the winners is the best of all worlds but the above is good news and the other is the Blue Dogs are almost a thing of the past.
Margaret and Helen have a new post on their blog – fantastic!
http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/oh-happy-day/
Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber finally pulled it out by the slimmest of margins. I can’t imagine Oregon with anything but a Democratic Governor.
I remember the days of Republicans in Oregon. Tom McCall even allowed a free anti-war “Biodegradable Festival of Life” in one of the State Parks. Atiyeh started Oregon’s first food bank, and was instrumental in the passage of Measure 49, which repealed most of Measure 37, the largest boondoggle against Oregon in decades.
But, Republicans aren’t what they used to be.
…and Chris Dudley was not EVEN a Tom McCall.
Interesting article on HuffPo about how the ballot measure results are much more indicative of the general mood of the country than the wins/lossoes of the individual candidates, because the elections are based on personality and the ballots are more objective measures of the politcal climate. In this election, most far right wing ballots were defeated and that’s a good sign.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/forget-the-media-conflict_b_778425.html
Yes, but will they listen?
And, President Obama still is rating well in the likeability category. Americans don’t like either party serving in Congress and the Republicans are going to be under great pressure to actually work. If they continue to ‘obstruct’ they will be in trouble! I hate that they are announcing they want to make President Obama a one-term president. So hope that he gets real, real tough with them. No doubt, he has done a great job in his first near two years….even w/o the support of that other damned party!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385×522046
Up date of the Hitler You Tube video
Waiting with baited breath for your election results. Kitzhaber just got Oregon, so there’s a mild sigh of relief here.
Some good news among the sad: Bennett in CO, Kucinich in Cleveland, NYC did well AND the Green Party keeps their line on the ballot (I voted Howie Hawkins – Green – for Governor because I don’t like Andrew personally, and knew he had it in the bag without a vote from me), and Sowah’s favorites (Sharron Angle, Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Christine O’Donnell) went down in flames. Coulda been worse.
And Patty Murray is ahead, with 71% voter turnout in King County. Will update when I know more.
I feel for you, Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, etc.
http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/
Laughter is the best mediine
Driving home from work yesterday I saw Scott out on Minnesota at Northern Lights. I honked, he waved, and I knew no matter what I’d feel good for him after the polls closed. When enough people wake up to what a solid, decent man he is, he’ll get his shot to represent us all. I know this is one guy that will never let this state down.
I hope he takes another chance, we need more like him.
Agree – Murkowski should not have won but I know Scott McAdams can beat her if he tries again later.
Why are folks saying Murkowski won? Not one ballot has been counted as yet.
Here’s the thing: I’m discouraged but ultimately, this is democracy. Policy and politics and the people having a say. One thing I am happy about – the Blue Dog caucus was decimated yesterday. These Dems were useless – when we needed them to vote the party line the most, they bailed on us. I say good riddance.
The loss of seats is not a surprise but the amount of seats lost in the House was. But tomorrow is a new day and we keep fighting. No one, not even Boehner weeping on the House floor, can take away the accomplishments of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, President Obama and the 111th Congress. We live to fight another day.
I am most pleased that Palin ended up costing the GOP the Senate – they deserve each other. I know she will mad as hell. Good.
Barack Obama is still our President. If the new GOP House wants gridlock, govt shut down or even impeachment shenanigans, it will be unfortunate but they will pay in the end. The economy is still bad – if they don’t help, they WILL be voted out. Full stop.
My hope is that the Dems will finally all RALLY behind President Obama and take the fight to the GOP. If we’re going to lose – let’s lose with some dignity. 2012 is not far away at all and I honest to goodness DO NOT want to wake up to President Palin. GAH!
I HOPE THE REPUGS (THUGS) SHUT THE DOOR ON THEIR ‘POLITICAL’
PROSTITUTE, $ARAH. KARL R. IS NO FOOL. IT DOESN’T APPEAR THAT
SISTER $ARAH HAS PASSED HIS IQ TEST.
Here is my take on it. The GOP were expected to make inroads. They did, but without…. PALIN’S HELP they could have taken the senate.
if the GOP are serious about this….Palin is done.
If the GOP doesn’t man up, then I will be forced to do something, 🙂
For sure Palin was humiliated this time – and you are right, her meddling cost GOP the Senate, a fact that will not go unnoticed.
I’m not too sure that they will throw her away just yet. They could just be cooking up a plan B- she still has some power with her base, which they need. They’ll try to find a way to use her to their benefit, before resorting to plan C. 🙂
If they are smart, they will make sure she sinks herself- her fans will forgive no one for a smack down of their quitter queen, and the GOP can’t afford that.
You know it…….GOP will try to tame this “rogue” but Palin, as we all know, is INSANE and beholden to no-one. Either way – win for Dems and win for the President.
Like I said – they deserve each other.
Here in San Francisco we get a polished old governor and a new mayor to boot. Hopefully not a shiny new mayor (we had one of those already). And the measure to allow state budgets to pass on a simple majority vote is a huge step forward.
Local election results are a whole lot better than the rest of the country; it definitely softens the blow.
I share all your feelings toward Scott McAdams — it will be interesting to see what the experience of running prepares him for, plus influences his vision and effectiveness as mayor. Thanks, AKM, Shannon, Linda, and all the AK mudpups for your energy toward his campaign.
I sure hope Joe Miller didn’t actually buy any office furniture while in DC.
Yay. Michael Bennet from Colorado survived. And Patty Murray from WA hanging in there by slim margin.
So why did California go blue while the rest of the nation did a “throw the bums out” thing? Well, I could write a huge article about it myself, but somebody already did–and with better writing style! I would say this article is right on the money.
California voters tend to be better educated at voters. I think California does a better job getting actual information out there and getting people to think! I’ve always been amazed at the number of people from other states that I meet that just don’t think about what candidates say or do (unless it gets really weird, like O’Donnell). I run into it here in CA, too, but not nearly as much.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/2010/1103/In-all-blue-California-election-results-lessons-for-Democratic-Party
Good on California!!
When you also realize that CA leads the way in being the 5th, I believe, largest economy in the world, has lead the way in many movements from stopping off shore drilling to introducing new food styles you have to wonder what they know that the rest of the country doesn’t seem to get?
I wonder if, because entertainment is such a big industry in California, the people are a little more skeptical about what they are shown on a television screen. Perhaps they are a little more aware of how a good script, good makeup and good lighting can make a lousy performer look better than they really are!
Whatever the reason, do ya think California can give the rest of the country some lessons in how to cut through all the BS and focus on the REAL issues before the next election? Pretty please?
read it and weep
Asked If Untaxed Corporations Like Exxon Are Taxed Too Much, Tea Party Leaders Say Yes
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/03/tea-party-corporations/#comments
To all the Alaskan mudpups, my deepest sympathies for the election results. The first thing I did when I arrived at work this morning was check the ADN website for information. I was NOT pleased.
I was sooo hoping that Scott McAdams would pull it out. I also hoped (but with far less confidence) that Mr. Congealed Oatmeal would also be defeated.
I AM convinced however that, with the kind of positive, energetic and determined campaign we saw Scott run, we have not heard the last of him, and that he has a bright and promising future in public service ahead of him.
Glad you are making the best of your time at work, leenie17! 🙂
Shhhhhhhh…….
It was before I was officially on the clock, the kids were still eating breakfast in the cafeteria, the announcements and Pledge hadn’t started yet…
and nobody else was in the basement where my desk is! 😉
And I just HAD to know!!!
Okay my sad fellow mudpups, I’m trying very hard to find the proverbial silver lining in this particular supercell of storm clouds we’re experiencing today. Here goes:
1. If Dems managed to keep the House, the Repubs would have had 2 more years to blame them for everything they were not able to accomplish because of Republican obstructionism. The further we are from the Bush administration, the easier it is to convince people that the gigantic, Chilean-mine-size sinkhole we’re in was NOT Georgie’s fault.
2. Now that the Republicans have control over the House, the newly riled-up voters who put them there will expect them to actually DO something instead of whining and complaining like a 14-year-old girl with PMS. Of course, WE all realize that they have no real plans to improve our country, but 2 years of stagnation and blundering will bring the point home to more of the currently uninformed.
3. We still have control of the White House and Senate (thank goodness!) so the damage the House tries to inflict will be tempered and/or blocked.
4. By 2 years from now, whatever legislation the right has been able to repeal may come back to haunt them as people start to realize that there are parts of the health care and financial reforms that are actually GOOD for the middle class and the Repubs want to get rid of it all. If they actually attempt to touch SS, Medicare or veterans benefits, their happy followers will suddenly start throwing away their dangly-teabag hats and collecting torches and pitchforks instead.
5. People from both sides of the aisle have been frustrated by the intractability in Congress. The folks on the right may THINK they want Congress to stop Obama in his tracks, but they will soon come to realize that bad things happen to all of us when nothing gets done in Washington.
6. By 2012, many of the economic fixes and other reforms that Obama has put in place will actually start showing some benefits to the people in the middle class.
7. After this painful defeat and the election of increasingly radical right wing candidates, Democrats will be far more energized (or scared spitless…either way works!) and will work that much harder to win power back in 2012. Any of them who decided to sit this election out because of impatience with President Obama will be damn sure to get their tushies to the polls next time.
8. People will be VERY tired of adjusting the color settings on their TVs to compensate for the irritating orange glow emanating from their screen every time Boehner appears on camera!
Soooooo, what may seem like a devastating shift in political power to the RWNJs will actually be a GOOD thing for the prospects of a Dem resurgence in 2012!!!
Sorry for the ~105 postings with the live chat link at The Washington Post.
They just didn’t show up right away, so I figured it had something to do with our firewall. I hope everyone has a chance to read Jeanne’s q&a.
I think America needs more time in the crapper, apparently, to realize where shit actually comes from and how unpleasant the whole process is to the vast others that inhabit the planet.
I am hoping that defeats for the bluedogs will turn into jobs in WA where they can effect some positive change in other ways. I am sorry for them that they were voted out by the angry mobs, but perhaps that can be turned into a positive in the short- and long-term.
This morning I said to my husband that now Obama needs to give the GOP the middle finger and let those tax cuts expire. So what headline did I just see? That he is willing to compromise on tax cuts. If he does that I am going to give him the middle finger and work toward a primary challenger for 2012. That is complete and utter b.s.
What did the Dems NOT understand about the low turnout due to being discouraged by their unceasing compromising away the farm? WTF???????????????????
I did vote, and I do acknowledge the wonderful things that he did, but there were too many places and ways that the Dems made compromises and got nothing but a knife in the back for their efforts.
NO MORE COMPROMISE!
I agree. I love your President, but I do think he is disappointing people with this hand across the aisle bs. The man needs to take ownership of his ideas, and fight for them.
Sorry, SMR, but I think the situation is more complex than just the question of compromise. Sarah Jones has a post on PoliticusUSA entitled “Betrayal from Within: A Tale of Democratic Disintegration” which I think addresses more accurately where the real loss of governing power originates…the base. Excerpt below:
“This (midterm election) is the result of a bad economy and predictable midterm electoral struggles, but also a failure on our part to support our party and our President. We allowed the Right to inaccurately attack them daily. Soon after the GOP hissed their talking points in the morning, liberals would be screaming the same exact complaints in the afternoon, all the while claiming to be independent and thinking for themselves. And then they are shocked when the blood bath comes.
This blood bath could not have happened without two years of bitter, it’s not good enough tantrum throwing from the left. This has been said before, but no one wanted to hear it. We would rather parrot the Right by playing outraged and offended, but it’s the truth.
We chose not to grow up and so we lost power, as we should. Until we can govern like we mean it and until our base has the stomach and the fortitude to be loyal supporters while being fierce critics – the sort who would encircle our own when they are under attack instead of stepping aside and letting the right wing kill them – we won’t have power for long.”
Read the complete post at the following link:
http://www.politicususa.com/en/dem-disintegration
The people on the far right will walk through molten lava in blind support of their leaders, even when those leaders are doing everything they can to betray those regular folks in order to befit the rich corporations, while convincing their constituents that being betrayed is actually good for them.
The people on the far left abandon their leaders if they don’t manage to pass sweeping legislation that decimates the corporations, repairs 8 years of economic collapse, ends all wars in all parts of the world and turns our former enemies into BFFs, reverses climate change and repairs all previous damage, invents new energy sources that don’t rely on fossil fuels, don’t cost much and help the environment instead of damaging it, and re-establishes healthy populations of carrier pigeons and dodo birds. Oh, and all of this must be done within the first six months of the new administration.
Can we PLEASE find some middle ground here, people?!?!
I am so far left on the left-left spectrum (http://www.politicalcompass.org/index)
I almost fall off the bottom left hand quadrant.
Really truly in the basement there…
I have not given up on this president nor thought all the things I want will ever come to pass, and dang well know they won’t in 2 years.
I am standing on neutral ground on a whole lot of things, or doing my best to, and getting awful dang tired of there being about 4 other people here at most times…
there is no middle ground…
only neutral ground…
the white flag is flying…
we have work to hammer out
every day I feel like this prez might have let me down I pour a dose of reality in my cup and remind myself the other choice would have sunk the ship in the first year…
and it stiffens my spine a bit…
we have work to do
Arrggghhhh!!!
I had a carefully thought-out response written but accidentally clicked on the wrong thing and it disappeared. My cough meds are starting to kick in now (woo hoo!) and I know I’ll never be able to recreate it but…
The main point was that, although you say you are far, far, far left, I’ve read enough of your posts to know that you are intelligent, get your information from many sources, question what you are told and have strong beliefs BUT are still willing to listen to other’s opinions. That is what I meant by ‘middle ground’ (or neutral if you prefer!). You are realistic enough to know that we never get everything we want as quickly as we want it, but you still support your president even when he sometimes disappoints you.
We HAVE to do that dreaded ‘compromise’ thingie if we ever want to accomplish anything in Washington and I hope that, campaign hot air aside, the far right and the far left can figure out a way to meet somewhere in the middle to fix the problems of this country and make it a better place to live for everyone, not just the wealthy.
Not quite as eloquent as the pre-medication comment, but you get the idea!
By the way, I went to the link you listed and I’m not too far from you on the bottom left of the graph!
Thanks for the link…very interesting.
I know what you meant 🙂
I’m trying out a new way to think about it all.
I’m thinking middle ground sounds and feels too much like the few bloody tidbits left over after all the brawling we’ve been blasted with the last 2 years.
All must come to the table in dignity and parity
( theoretically, that is – I have a heckuva a time granting that some of the fruitloops we are calling US Reps and Senators right now have any dignity and that any of us should offer them parity ! )
Banning the stupenagle word “bipartisan ”
Compromise means nothing unless each gains and each gives…
not seeing that in the offing the way things are shaping up
Neutral ground with a white flag, knowing none of us agree makes more sense
and is maybe more honest…
“All must come to the table in dignity and parity”
Ooooh, I like that!!!
Neutral ground with a white flag may be a problem…there are too many people I’d want to bop on the head with that flag, at the moment. And that would NOT be a good way to start the conversation! 🙂
yeah well, am thinking we’d have to be hanging that white flag outta anyone’s reach 🙂
but neutral ground is a must, I’m pretty sure.
Alaska Pi, hope you don’t mind having company in that lower left corner because I have moved in with you! Yes, we have work to do!
What utter hogwash. Democrats lost the House becuase we didn’t support the President enough? This is crap… utter crap. And it’s no different then the Press secretary whining daily about the “professional left”. I suggest you read a little more about results (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-elections-2010-turnout-says-a-lot):
[quote]
three big top-line differences:
1. The 2008 electorate was 74% white, plus 13% black and 9% Latino. The 2010 numbers were 78, 10 and 8. So it was a considerably whiter electorate.
2. In 2008, 18-to-29-year-olds made up 18% and those 65-plus made up 16%. Young people actually outvoted old people. This year, the young cohort was down to 11%, and the seniors were up to a whopping 23% of the electorate. That’s a 24-point flip.
3. The liberal-moderate-conservative numbers in 2008 were 22%, 44% and 34%. Those numbers for yesterday were 20%, 39% and 41%. A big conservative jump, but in all likelihood because liberals didn’t vote in big numbers.
[/quote]
What this election shows is that if you elect a president who instantly turns his back on his base in favor of things like escalating war and capitulating to big business then his base will abandon him.
Well- since these mid terms were dominated by voters who think there are too many restrictions on business and de-regulation and other neo-liberal feel goodies are the order of business there’s something haywire with a base that won’t get off it’s duff and vote in a whole different batch of folks to take the fight away from the neolibs…
Abandoning themselves is more like it…
“What this election shows is that if you elect a president who instantly turns his back on his base in favor of things like escalating war and capitulating to big business then his base will abandon him.”
Overlooking the unwarranted hyperbole of “instantly turns his back on his base,” your point about his base abandoning him is actually a recapitulation of my previous post.
The “all-or-nothing” mentality with respect to progressive goals is not much different than the “purity test” which is currently popular amongst conservative circles. So, have at it. Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to work with reality which falls somewhere between “all” and “nothing.”
I have never been one of those who thought Obama didn’t do enough in his first <2 years in office.
I would like to DADT go away, but I also want it to go away in a way that means that it can't be ushered back in the next time there's a Repug president. I wish that they could have gotten around to it, but they gave it a good shot, and now the fight will be harder, but I believe they'll keep throwing the punches, maybe not solid punches, but one can hope.
Universal health care would have been great, but the HCR that was passed was a great first step.
Lily Ledbetter, tax cuts for the middle class, there's a nice long list.
There are a lot of people upset about what DIDN'T get done. I'm not one of them. But if the tax cuts get extended I am going to be angry. That is one bit of compromise that is not going to be acknowledged or reciprocated. Polling a year after or 2 years after will still show teaparty effing nutbars thinking Obama has been raising their taxes AGAIN. Someone above posted a link to the nutbars thinking Exxon has been overtaxed. That is the stupid that we are up against. That is the misinformation that we are up against. What's the point of extending the tax cuts?
It will affect us. BFD. It still doesn't even approach the level of taxation of other countries. Someone who is earning above $250k can't afford another $1000 in taxes? Give me a break. I'm not shouting it down from below that barrier. I am saying it will affect my family, but go for it! Reduce the government's debt and deficit. Great! If we (meaning my family) do not spend that money in taxes now we will spend it later on health care or education or state/property taxes or something that has gone through the roof because the US economy has been decimated. I cannot abide the deranged shouting about kids/grandkids/etc being bankrupted by the socialist agenda bookended by don't take away my medicare/social security and don't raise my taxes.
Amen, Lee !
And for those progressives who want to play the purity game, who was Mr Obama running against?
What is the reality of the choices we had?
Mr Obama was not running against anyone better…
Far from it.
Where might we be had Mr McCain won?
THAT is where it started and that is where it has all flowed from since…
Thinking that suddenly the earth flipped on it’s axis and all would automatically be different is horsepunky.
Personally, I would like to see a full reversal of 30+ years of neoliberal economic policy… a full reversal of the sociological damage that policy has wrought on ALL of us- except the socialist-welfare supported uber rich … many, many more things.
Not gonna happen anytime soon and not the province of the President . Any movement on those things has to come from the American people and right now they are too busy having food fights with each other.
War: In August we surpassed the number of troop deaths under Bush in Afghanistan (575). We’re now at 617. This means the rate of deaths in Afghanistan have doubled since Obama took office.
Environment: The democrats fought tooth and nail for 20 years to make off-shore drilling off-limitis. In one day Obama undid all their efforts from Virginia to Texas.
Economy: On the same day that Obama comes to work to find the Republicans have control of the house he announced the Federal Reserve would buy up $900 Billion in debt. That $900 billion buyout applies the same trickle down economics we saw under Reagan – except now Democrats are praising the move and saying it “doesn’t go far enough”.
And the list goes on….
Sorry – but the “oh how quickly you forget” argument is lost on most progressives. They look around and see that things are changing – but that change is increased war, increased unemployment and increased environmental devastation. It hasn’t changed under Obama and until the Democrats stop pandering to centrist reform and return to their base it won’t change.
Well- now you finally hit it… when the Dems finally quit pandering to centrist reform…
That means they better get off their duffs and start electing representatives who will do that…
Ain’t happened yet…
Work to do…
Some really odd (and to my way of thinking, frightening) things happened yesterday with the elections. The GOP (and Baggers) are touting the results as a “mandate against Obama” and as a call to roll-back the changes he’s instituted [or started to institute]…they are insisting it’s what all the American people “want.”
I would beg to differ. The American people do not want *all* of it undone…just the part(s) they, personally, do not like — the GOP leadership [and wanna-be leadership] seem to be confusing the two. And here’s where the GOP/Baggers are wrong in their interpretation of the results: In essence, the people voted ‘single issue’ yesterday. That single issue was: no more taxes on the upper 2% (no matter that it would help balance the budget) OR no more regulatory legislation (no matter that regulations keep the workforce, environment, and economy safe(er)) OR no more mandate that *everyone* have health insurance (no matter that such a mandate makes *everyone’s* health insurance more affordable…the larger the pool, and all that) OR no more incumbents (no matter that continuity is sometimes a darned good thing *and* that some incumbents were really, really, good) OR, OR, OR.
In their so-called “referendum against Obama” [as interpreted by the GOP, T-baggers, and some ‘pundits’], those are the single-issue, the personal issue, things the electorate was voting against….it was *not* –except in the case of die-hard rabids (think $P, Beckers, Boehners and bots)– the entire package that was being voted against.
For the GOP, Baggers, or anyone (think: jealous-as-hell-she-isn’t-in-Blair-or-White-House Quitter-Twitterer) to take yesterday’s results as a vindication or verification of *all* they’ve been b1tching about and obstructing for the past 18-months, is ludicrous. People *like* that the medicare donut hole is filled, people *like* that their credit card company can’t run rough-shod over them anymore, people *like* that they can still buy American-made cars, people *like* —really like– all sorts of things that have been instituted. Tons of things…many of which they aren’t even (consciously) aware of, but which have made their lives that much better.
The GOP/Baggers are today insisting, though, the American people have spoken and it is their ‘duty’ now to reverse all that’s been accomplished. I call: Bullchit. The American people do *not* want a complete reversal – they do *not* want the baby thrown out with the bathwater…but that’s exactly how the GOP/Baggers are ‘reading’ it. What a bunch of myopic, self-centered, fact-challenged, truth-warping, fools. beth.
@ Akiceman:
There’s a glitch on your last comment 27.1.1.2 that I cannot hit the reply button to. I’ve been trying to find this excellent article I read that laid it all out very simply. I thought it was on one of the Alaska political blogs, but can’t find it right now and because of this storm, my internet is moving slowly.
Basically, as I understand it, Iraq owns their oil, just like we do. Even in a war torn country, they have insisted on the oil companies contractually paying for all their infrastructure, development and remediation work to be paid for before they take ANY profits from the field. The profits are calculated from the net left over, not the gross of what they’ve pumped. And the profit margin is incredibly low, like below 12% (If I’m remembering the number right) while here in Alaska the oil companies do not have any contract that requires them to invest, clean up and repair before they can make any money off what they are pumping. Also the profit margin is extremely high, up in the 20-30% margin.
So while the Oil companies are telling Alaska that any more taxes they have to pay us is going to kill oil projects in the state, they are literally begging to be allowed to drill in Iraq for incredibly less in a much more volitile environment.
Doesn’t Alaska provide Exxon something like 30% of their total world profits?
I think you can only reply 4 deep.
I agree with all of the above — which is why I think ACES is working. ACES imposed a 25% profits tax. But in lean years the state reverts to a 10% gross revenue tax on legacy fields that do not require massive continuing inputs of new capital. ACES imposed the most highest tax on oil companies in the US. Repealing it means we give in to oil industry rhetoric about lost production incentive due to over-taxation.
Some further reading for you:
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/7925
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122057543526201877.html
For background you can read Berkowitz’s take at the following URL (make sure you read the follow-up comments):
https://themudflats.net/2010/02/12/voices-from-the-flats-ethan-berkowitz/
In 2008, although the thought of McCain and Palin getting elected made me sick to my stomach, with the economy the way it was, I often thought re Obama – are you really sure you WANT to win? Sure enough, two years in, the voters have forgotten who got them into this sh*t hole of an economy and the Dems get the blame. I guess that’s the way it works. The Repubs have spent the last 2 years sitting back and watching the train wreck, doing nothing to help, but then, doing nothing to be directly blamed for.
Now the worm turns. With control of the House and all their big promises that they have all the answers – it’s now going to be THEIR turn to put up or STFU.
I’ve read from other politial analysts that this roll back was very much expected and not so much out of the realm of ordinary when you look at U.S. political history. Obama has the opportunity to make to make this a positive situation for his Administration’s re-election in 2012. If the GOP majority in the House and republican block in the Senate continue to stop all the progress that the people want, which is why they voted out so many incumbents and put new people in, then the President in 2012 can go into the election saying, “see the GOP just wants power, but they have no constructive ideas or are willing to work bi-partisianly”.
Don’t expect any new stuff in the next two years. We are going to be on the defensive just to hold the ground we gained this past 2 years.
Well, that’s just it, isn’t it. The things they say they want to do – repeal everything that was accomplished in the last two years, that might actually make life better for all of us – aren’t the thing that are going to move us forward toward getting people back to work. It sounds to me like the repubs just want to go back to the Bush years while doing everything to make President Obama look bad.
Historically, though? This is good for Obama getting a second term.
Hope you are right!
One more vent.
REALLY Alaska? We elected PARNELL??? Palin’s butt boy? REALLY?
Well, we’ll see how well that’s gonna work out for us. NOT!
I voted for Berkowitz but I did so grudgingly. ACES is a truly progressive tax program and Berkowitz wanted to dismantle it. I found it very hard to support a Democratic candidate who’s sole platform was to rewrite progressive legislation that benefits our state.
In my opinion ACES is just a huge giveaway to the oil companies disguised as a bi-partisian program. ACES isn’t working and Parnell doesn’t have the – may I use a term that Palin likes- the cajones – to stand up to the Oil Companies and fight for our share. Also, Parnell won’t do anything for getting us off the oil addiction and developing renewable energy resources. We can probably kiss the Fire Island Wind project goodbye.
A huge giveaway? I think you need to read a little more about ACES. Here’s a primer for you:
http://www.adn.com/2010/07/21/1376478/oil-companies-state-prosper-under.html
If you look at it from what we had to what we got from ACES, then yes, we got more -kinda. But if you look at other countries and even U.S. states such as LA and the tax structure that they operate under, then not so much.
skunkcabbage – can you please explain your last note better? Perhaps with some literature?
I don’t usually re-post other sites but this was too good a quote from over on Daily Kos, asking folks to remember the day Bush was elected. “[the Republicans] had the House. They had the Senate. They had the press. They had a plan to destroy every social safety net and grind away the last vestiges of programs it had taken decades to build. First we stopped them. Then we beat them. It’s too bad that we have to do it again, but hell, that’s democracy. You get up in the morning, you put on your shoes, and you go back to work.”
… boots… shoes… sandals… barefoot… we shall, we must keep at it!
Thanks for that reminder that all is not lost.
Everyone should have this bumper sticker::
Out of a job yet? Keep voting Republican
Love it! If anyone sees one for sale – let us know!
Trying not to get too depressed. It’s really back to the same ol’ fight we’ve had all along. No rest for the weary.
Here’s what we’re gonna have to deal with now: Push to open Pebble Mine, the opening of Chuitna coal mine, continued law suits against the federal government on everthing, no money for senior citizens, the poor or the socially disadvantaged, push for more war (especially Iran), no money for health care, education or science. But plently of money poured into the coffers of Big Oil, the Health Insurance lobby and the military industrial complex.
If you are gay, poor, sick, or under-educated – well, you’re just gonna have to pull up your boot straps and suck it up. You know its all your fault you didn’t prepare correctly for contingencies, don’t ya?
I am so disappointed that I should not be writing, but here is my irritation.
“If you are gay, poor, sick, or under-educated – well, you’re just gonna have to pull up your boot straps and suck it up. You know its all your fault you didn’t prepare correctly for contingencies, don’t ya?”
I have always believed, he’s my brother, he ain’t heavy. Well, no matter how much I care and want life to be better for the above, if they continue to vote Rethug, there’s not a whole lot I can do. Maybe I should just put my feet up, and enjoy those lower taxes. When they totally repeal the death taxes, my kids can just sit back and enjoy as well.
Tomorrow will be a better day. Reckon as they say down here in the Southland?
If the pictures about the TeaParty/Beck dewmonstrations are correct, the majority of the participants enjoy the comforts of Social Security and Medicare. Oxygen bottles and whellchair/scooters abound to give them the opportunity to protest Obamacare, yet they also carry signs of “Don’t take my Social Security”. This disconnect makes my brain stutter.
I wanted to write this before, and now I shall, because the way I see it, their attitude is:
“I got mine, F*ck you!”
What they do not realize is this: their candidates will vote not for them, but for the corporations who paid to put them into office.
Go Figure… I reckon…
correction… strike the “w” in demonstration!
“If you are gay, poor, sick, or under-educated – well, you’re just gonna have to pull up your boot straps and suck it up. You know its all your fault you didn’t prepare correctly for contingencies, don’t ya?”
Smokey, I’d like to add, after under-educated, “wrongly educated”, wrongly here meaning any education that does not get you a fabulously well-paid job, like most artists, and most teachers. We are very well educated, we spent a lot of money on that education and for the most part know exactly what we are getting into.
“.. didn’t prepare correctly for contingencies” is code-speak for “you didn’t decide to work for a Giant Corporation that has a benefit plan”. (I realize that’s not you speaking, but just you repeating the ‘other side’s’ talking point).
My parents (dad passed away almost exactly two years ago) were thrilled when I changed from Undeclared at college to a Music Major.
Four years later they were less than thrilled when, after I graduated, I had no full-time job because in their minds apparently “music major” meant “full-time employed as a public school band director”, which I never wanted to be.
Even if I had, that would still be me living off the ‘government teat’, which could at any moment be cut.
I really do think people who were born in 1963, 1964, 1965 particularly (the Tweeners), somehow saw this coming and made their choices accordingly. We knew the corporate road many of our parents took was not going to be there for us.
So Smokey, what you are saying is right – the whole argument anyone gives me when I complain I can’t afford health insurance, is that I should not have been a free-lancer, but that I should have taken a job with benefits (i.e., corporate job). I should have taken that ‘contingency’ into account before choosing my career.
How does that align with being a friend of small businesses? It doesn’t. If people should have thught about contingencies and planned for them, no one could ever go into business for themselves.
But then, I think that’s really what GW Bush and others would like: Everyone to be working for corporations, corporations controlling the government and the media, and we can all be happy little ‘bots.
Ahhh SmokeyBlue……i like the way you express my thoughts so perfectly. and yes. tomorrow will be a better day, i reckon.
We were down in Wasilla for the past two days. Shoring up doctor visits and getting eyeglasses for the kids. We left about 6 last night. The roads sure did freeze up come dark. We basically ice skated up the Parks Highway.
We didnt log on to anything or fire up the TV last night. We stoked up the woodstove, drank our evening cup of tea and cracked open our newly purchased novels.
So it seems Joe is out and Lisa is in and my gosh Scott is still a gentleman with a honor the size of a boat sized killer whale.
Hugs you all, big hugs.
Just posted about Oregon, but the comment appears to have been “eaten”, so I’ll try again. We have good news overall, Sen Wyden was easily re-elected and all 4 of the Dem congressmen, bucking the red riptide, were as well (the other district is red and the republican was re-elected). Rep. Peter DeFazio beat out Art Robinson, that nutjob who was on Maddow a few weeks ago. Robinson was bankrolled by a hedge fund manager unhappy with legislation DeFazio sponsored. Our governor’s race is too close to call, but speculation is that Dem John Kitzhaber will pull it out. My theory is that people liked the novelty of voting for a former NBA player (Republican Chris Dudley). Dudley the stud, when he’s really Dudley the dud.
Hopefully Kitz, and Sen. Murray in WA, and Sen. Bennet in CO will pull through.
Looks like Bennet is going to win. I think it’ll be a long time before we know if Murray pulls it out. For the life of me, I don’t understand why people vote for Rossi- he always looks like he’s trying to smile, no matter what he’s talking about, but it comes out like a grimmace and his mouth doesn’t move. And he just says the same old repub talking points over and over.
Believe me when I say I watched those races closely with all of you in OR. My hope is the Gov can stay as is.
Continue to watch and hope 🙂
As Rachel would say, I need someone to talk me down.
Our electorit is brain dead. They have no memory. I mean how can the American public elect and re-elect the people and the political concepts which put us in this bad situation in the first place?
The only consolation that i have is perhaps as the next two years progress with even more obstructionism, even more lack of progress, even more dept being piled up and more calls for endless war, that we’ll have a resurgance of progressive thought by 2012.
If I don’t think like that, then I start thinking about my friend who moved to Canada when Bush Jr. got re-elected. She washed her hands of America after that. Me, I think I’ll have to go down fighting for the country that I was born to and which I love – despite our many, many disfunctional people.
Yes..and one ..very large problem..is how many people..spend hours..(HOURS)..per DAY..playing (how ever you wish to ‘delineate’ ..’playing’)..on all their plethera of …techno-toys. Thinkers in this world..use them spareingly..like a bandaid. Playtimers..dissappear INto them..and ..never notice……(only those of us..well to the outside notice)..that velvetsoft..sucking-sound..of hours of newness..melting away as people..repeatrepeatrepeatrepeat…
Brain dead? Let’s look at the accomplishments of the past 2 years:
War: We’ve increased troop presence in Afghanistan and are waging a secret war in Pakistan. Iraq still maintains 50K troops… and 180K contractors. However due to the Orwellian nature of things they have been renamed as “peace-keeping troops”.
Economy: The first thing the Obama administration did upon entering office was appoint Geithner. Talk about the wolf guarding the sheep.
Health-care: We had a “super-majority” in the senate and a wide margin in the house yet the health care package was a give-away to insurance agencies and the Obama admin killed the public option. This left nothing for the middle class other than a forced buyin and increasing rates.
Energy: The Obama admin completely abandoned the Copenhagen talks and entered into discussions with energy companies shortly after the Senate released their version of the energy bill. Cap-and-Trade was never an option for the White House or Senate. This was shortly after the Obama admin gave the go-ahead to the first new nuclear plants since the 80s and opened up vast areas to offshore drilling.
The people aren’t brain-dead. They’re wondering why they voted for someone who promised so much only offers policy the benefits the power-elite. Until policies start benefiting the middle class this power shift will continue.
Not today, please. Go enjoy your ‘victories’, and may you be as happy with them in the months ahead as you are today.
the Teabagger initiative lost big time over all. O’Donnell, Fiorello, Paladino, Angle, etc and if it weren’t for Murkowski spoiling the Alaskan senate elections Scott McAdams would be packing his bags this morning.
now having said that. i believe i will leave you to the tender mercies of the Alaskan pups.
they know how to deal with you.
“now having said that. i believe i will leave you to the tender mercies of the Alaskan pups.
they know how to deal with you.”
Efficiently, of course.
we don’t have any tender mercies today, mz bubbles.
a heckuva of lot of the so-called power elite is pretty unhappy with this prez…
today that’s good enough
if the middle class ever gets real about how little it means to the so-called power elite , it might change some things…
right now, folks are still hanging out on the sofa and playing armchair sports and not taking any risk to change things themselves.
they can say all they want about this election and all the tomfoolery about the tea parties being something…
but it’s really doodly squat…
we’re just 3 steps back
and still waiting for some hero to ride over the ridge and wave us into the promised land…
yahoobadooby!
like that is ever gonna happen…
pffft.
Baby spot..over here please, red filter..good, ..yeah.. now catch his good side..there we go. (Preen a bit it’s ok..this isn’t the end..ya know..of the Saga. Check back in 5 years..to see..how it ..Really turns out. 🙂
Skunkcabbage… I was not born to this country, but I love it and will do my best to add my life experience to the discussion.
To somewhat paraphrase Winston Churchill’s statement from decades ago: “Democracy is a messy system, but I take it over all others”. I do take comfort in that notion, but Citizens United has shaken my belief to its core. Yet…
I will not give up on it, no matter how many of the electorate have permitted themselves to be herded into that giant corral of fear.
I have left some messages on this thread earlier, and won’t repeat myself, but we all need to remain united as a forward looking group in order to make our own mark upon the easily fear-manipulated masses in this nation.
Yes!
well said.
Alex Sink just conceded FL gov. race.
Not happy, but pretty sure a long, lengthy, expensive recount would yield little fruit.
Am far more mortified of this repub gov. than I was the last one (I didn’t vote for Crist in 2006).
All I know is that when I came to South Florida, two weeks before Hurricane Andrew did (that was not a warm welcome), FL was under Dem. gov. Lawton Chiles, and had money in the state coffers.
Then Jeb Bush gave tax cuts, mostly to those already wealthy (no state income tax but there was an intangibles tax he repealed) and that meant the state had to start digging into that emergency coffer to continue to function.
That’s what Crist inherited – a tough budget. Cuts, cuts and more cuts he had to do.
Now we’ve got Rick Scott who has already pledged to cut government jobs so his ‘bottom line’ will look good in next year’s budget.
I usually do not like to engage in meanness, but I truly hope that every single person who voted for this crook simply because they couldn’t be bothered to look at Alex Sink’s real record (and find she is really quite fiscally conservative after all) and/or just simply could not stomach voting for a democrat, feel the pain of their choice in some real way – burdening higher taxes/fees, losing their job or pension, or being forced to work more hours for no more pay because others in their workplace have been laid off, and then having to take a drug test before they can apply for unemployment benefits. Those are just some of the things that are going to happen to real people, real people I know if not myself, and I can tell you for fact, Broward County, where I live did NOT vote for any of that!
I’ll stop before I pop a vein. Me and thatcrowwoman and all Florida mudpups need some mudlove today.
OK {{{{{{{{{Terpsichore}}}}}}}}}… Love and Peace from the Suncoast!
Though the sun is bright, the dark crankiness is still gnawing at me. But together we will find a way to surface in a while to begin anew the long Don Quixote struggle of tilting windmills.
Doesn’t sound very uplifting? I know, but there is always the old saying of “Yes We Can” and maybe one day we shall fly again. So! Let’s Go! we have nothing to lose by trying!
I’m here in the Florida Panhandle, too, and feeling the pain – we’re stuck with Southerland as our Representative, along with Rubio in the Senate and Scott in the Governor’s office. I’m thinking of writing them letters saying they’d better represent ALL Floridians, not just those who voted for them. And I’ll be keeping watch over what they do. At least hubby and I did what we could do, which was to vote for who we thought were the best people for the offices. I’ve been feeling horrible all day, worse than any other election before. Mostly because I’m afraid too many Americans are acting stupidly, out of emotion rather than reason, and we’re all going to suffer for it.
Yeah, we gotta keep trying. But tonight I’m going to pout a little more, okay?
‘I usually do not like to engage in meanness, but ..’ I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been fighting hard all morning to NOT let my feeling of ‘I hope you all get what you deserve (voted for)’ overpower me. I’m fighting the feeling because part of me knows that they are not the only ones who will get what they deserve – so will the sane people in their states who voted intelligently. Sigh! Sigh! Sigh!
Maybe I should just go fill out those forms that I’ve been pushing aside for weeks now while I got caught up in election fever. If nothing else, that should send my mind in another direction for a little while.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ love to Florida mudpuppies }}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Maybe the mildew makes brains as well as houses rot?
Hey, Zyxomma! I “resemble” that remark! There is lots of curly mildew on top of my head, but I am still a rolling stone gathering no moss! (OK, just a bit of gallows humor here!)
IMO, Crist was the spoiler. He takes the blame for Marco Rubio, just as McCain takes the blame for $P.
I agree.
Our mostly republican state,Tennessee, turned more red in 2008. Last night it got redder still. What worries me is that this year this republican controlled state gets to redraw the districts.
Laurie, I am right there with you. I am bummed. Our really great hard working state representative was defeated last night. How bad does it have to get before people wake up. My friend who can’t afford to get her teeth fixed, has no medical insurance and a poverty level job is crowing about how AL has a Rethug legislature now. But, I guess her teenage daughter will be safe with all the abstinence programs they’ll be instituting.
Oh, and I am so hoping that Bredesen will run against Alexander for Senator when the time comes.
That is about my only home right now.
Good news in Oregon as well, though the governor’s race is still undecided. Ron Wyden was easily re-elected to the US Senate, and, bucking the red riptide, all of the incumbent Representatives (4 out of 5 are Dems) were re-elected (the one R district is red). Even Peter DeFazio, who was challenged by that nutjob (Art Robinson) who was on Rachel’s show a few weeks ago (Robinson was bankrolled by a hedge fund manager angry at legislation DeFazio sponsored – guess that guy wasted his $150K, boo hoo ::snort::). Even the Dem State Treasurer, who was appointed not long ago after the sitting Treasurer died a too early death from cancer :-(, won easily.
Re the governor’s race, apparently the votes left to be counted are in the Portland area, which so far has gone 70% to John Kitzhaber (the Dem), so we are hopeful that a former professional basketball player (Dudley the dud) won’t be our governor. Kitzhaber is our former two-term governor, did a great job, and I can only speculate that people (he was preferred by men) voted for the BB player as a novelty (Dudley the stud?).
Now let’s hope that Kitz, Sen. Patty Murray in Washington and Sen. Bennet in Colorado win. So sorry about McAdams. Wish I could have voted for him since Wyden won by a comfortable margin.
Morning everyone! I’m still scraping my chin off the floor. Yeah, I know what ‘the polls’ had been saying, but I just thought that sensible people would show them how wrong they all had been. I am shocked to realize (and be forced to accept) that the majority of Americans, as evidenced by their votes, could accept the bigotry, hatred and irrationality of so many GOP candidates. I am demoralized, I tell you. Sigh! I have to distance myself and give my spirits time to recover. Sigh!
well, me too, but go read Helen. It will help: http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/oh-happy-day/
Thanks, Hannah! It did help.
Reading Helen ALWAYS helps!
I know – I really didn’t want to believe that people are so stupid that they would vote for people just because they are angry without really paying attention to what they are saying they want to do if they are elected. Any gains that the average person got are going to be stalled by the rethugs that are now in power in the house. Disgusting and so very sad.
CT voted primarily Dem, but our governor’s race is still too close to call with both having 49%.
Also, we elected the first gay Comptroller! I met the guy at a house party a couple weeks ago. I’d like to think I helped get him elected 😉
Look at it this way AK; You dodged a bullet. You need to keep working to get a Dem into your other Senate seat. Begich is getting lonesome!
Sorry if this goes through more than once, but I’ve posted twice about Oregon, but the comments appear to have been “eaten”, so I’ll try again. We have good news overall, Sen Wyden was easily re-elected and all 4 of the Dem congressmen, bucking the red riptide, were as well (the other district is red and the republican was re-elected). Rep. Peter DeFazio beat out Art Robinson, that nutjob who was on Maddow a few weeks ago. Robinson was bankrolled by a hedge fund manager unhappy with legislation DeFazio sponsored. Our governor’s race is too close to call, but speculation is that Dem John Kitzhaber will pull it out. My theory is that people liked the novelty of voting for a former NBA player (Republican Chris Dudley). Dudley the stud, when he’s really Dudley the dud.
Hopefully Kitz, and Sen. Murray in WA, and Sen. Bennet in CO will pull through.
Gosh, thanks! I was wondering how the DeFazio-Robinson race ended. So relieved. One of the lessons we’ve learned is that money can’t buy elections everywhere. So glad DeFazio won!
Well, I must have done something wrong, but will try again.
I was trying to congratulate you on the fact that DeFazio won instead of that nut job Robinson. Just goes to show that money can’t win every race!
From the very first time I saw that Dudley was running..I nicknamed him..Dudders…. 😉 for all the right..motives..
It was unfortunate to hear that selfish, hyper-entitled ego beat out a commitment to serve in Alaska.
For my part I am doing a happy dance (the Whitman Whomp?) at the margins of victory for Brown and Boxer here in California.
Me too! A nice uplift from my early morning slouching in disgust over here in Florida. There is hope after all that sanity will prevail at some point in our future! Let’s just hope we won’t have to go too far down into the ditch again in order to begin shoveling to clear out the obstructionists,
I’m so sorry that Mr. McAdams didn’t win. He really behaved in an honourable, classy, honest manner. In six years though, I expect to see him around town.
You have your assignment, there will be a test!
I hope Alaskans help to keep Mr. McAdams in the headlines. Perhaps in two years he’ll be the state’s Congressional representative then in six its new Senator. His career is only beginning.
My sentiment entirely! Mr. McAdams is young and his intelligence shines. He has time to polish what is already there and though it is so easy to become a cynic, I think he will excel at whatever his next endeavor may be.
Yes, McAdams is a man on the move. Now that everyone has noticed him, he has a great future ahead if he wants it. I so hope he does. We need more candidates like McAdams. Even if he lost this race, he has so much to be proud of and will restore honor to Alaska one day.
Looking at 2012, not all Palin’s Pals are ready to endorse her:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/nikki-haley-balks-on-endorsing-sarah-palin-in-2012-20101103
It’s payback time for Sarah, she uses people and discards them…so what’s so wrong with others doing the same to her? Ah Karma!
I have a feeling there will be a whole lot of people backing away from Sarah in the next few months.
But they will have huge smiles on their faces so her bots won’t burn down their homes and kidnap their pets.
kinda nailed that one, Leota!
One of my most favorite mudpuppy friends (Hi, alaskapi!) shared this with me yesterday, and I think it’s a great thing to pass along today to our friends here.
“We who believe in freedom cannot rest….”
Sweet Honey in the Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Uus–gFrc&feature=related
Waving back at ya Elsie, spiffy mudpup friend o mine!
The “I remember ” thing reminded me that it’s likely there will be losses and upsets for one or all of us – so after we kick a rock, say bad words, and have a glass of wine, beer, cup o coffee, whatever, we will have to go back to work.
It is dynamic this living, freedom, voting thingy… it only ends when we die.
And me, I want to die in my footsteps
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/let-me-die-in-my-footsteps
Keep ’em comin’, alaskapi. We need LOTS of good music to heal our wounded spirits today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baiOAROK_xQ
Come on , friend …. here we go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az9Az6S1nus
And feed them on your dreams…
🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjgvuKobpKk&feature=related
make your wishes come true!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpapdB-bCFI
And step right up !
from the goodlands!
Good stuff, Kemo Sabe! I got some laughs which are sorely needed today! Thank you.
Love Sweet Honey in the Rock!
Nice thing about progressives – we don’t whine for long, we don’t crumble. We step back, reassess and bounce right back. We don’t give up and don’t stay mad – we just get going.
There were many races where things could have gone much worse, so we do have many positives to build upon.
Nice thing – we all can handle challenges with a smile. I read an article yesterday that said people with positive attitudes live longer — I think they must be progressives, don’t you? Only progressives and moderates can find things to smile about on a day like today. We look forward, not back. We dig deeper and find more energy and make our own fresh starts.
Someone sent me this quote a couple of years ago. I printed it and have it hanging behind my computer for days like today:
“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”
– Herm Albright
Fresh post by Margaret and Helen.
http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/oh-happy-day/
this cracked me up first thing this morning 🙂
Good people..they nailed it! I’m going to ..bake a pie..and have some..and share some. That slack-eyed ..middle IQ wanderer..those who really do..have the attention span of a gnat..are like a backwater..slooshing forward and back, forward and back..and it will take 2 years..for them to begin to ‘see’..what happened now..and then..unfolded..for 24 months. I’m smilin’ already..I love a good..Zoo Trip… 😉
Helen is a genius.
Does anyone have a link to the WP discussion, I don’t want to miss it!
I bet that AKM will put up a link to it when it becomes available. She said that she will post the details when she has them. It’s still pretty early right now in Alaska after a very long night.
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
Tomorrow (3 November) at 2 p.m. EDT.
I can SEE the link, right here, on another tab. BUT the mudflats won’t let me post it. I’ve tried 4x now.
Here’s the skinny.
2 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. for you), Discussions/live Q&A
live.washingtonpost.com 2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
Just squeeze all of that together. You can submit your questions NOW. It’s a 2 p.m. EDT time slot.
http://live.washingtonpost.com
There’s a second part to it, but everytime I try to post it, my reply gets sucked into a black hole.
Basically, go to the home page, put “Alaska” into the search engine box and it’s the 2nd or 3rd item that pops up. Submit questions now.
Thank you for all your good efforts to get the word out to us.
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
here it is
Anyone got a spare igloo….I am going to need a place to live when I lose my income due to downsizing and tea bag crap.
There will be gridlock for the next two years and in this case, that may be the best we can hope for.
Whoa! Hosting a chat with the Washington Post?! Tried to slip that one by us, eh Ms. Modest AKM? Sounds like a great gig, tell us more!
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
It’s Wednesday, at 2 p.m. (our time). You CAN submit your questions today, though.
Trying again!
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
3 November, 2 p.m. EDT. You can submit your questions now, though.
Trying yet again, from a different computer (*shhhh* looks around shiftily)
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
3 November, at 2 p.m. EDT.
Wednesday, 2 p.m. EDT. Discussions/live Q & A
Trying to post the link, one more time.
http://live.washingtonpost.com/2010-election-alaska-jeanne-devon.html
live.washingtonpost.com
Maybe it will let me post it this time.
The Campaign for 2012 starts……Jan 2, 2011 ! I’m gonna wind down, play some golf and enjoy the Holidays before gearing up again…
Ya gonna play with Boehner ?? He plays a lot of golf.
http://wonkette.com/429181/liveblogging-part-vii-this-drunken-ashtray-mouth-is-weeping-again
lord, lord…I don’t know how ya do it, austintx! I just can’t go there, but thanks for sharing it anyway….I tried, I rilly, rilly tried, but it’s too much too soon!
austintx….Thank You!! I read this comment there and haven’t stopped laughing. Could be the shock but it’s basically how I feel this morning.
Do not let us Americans out in the rain, we will drown.
Yep, just like turkeys. They turn their little heads up and open their mouths whenever the big bad thunder and rains come. They also go crazy when they lose their Big Tom leader. I remember watching our flock start pecking each other in wild abandon once my Mom had accidentally selected the dominate Tom for our Thanksgiving dinner way back when. Hopefully, the TP and GOP will behave in a similar fashion soon – their leadership is going to split for 2012 for sure.
Boehner is weeping because now he has to put up or shut up and he is incapable of either! Ohio is gonna trash him in two years! The Rust belt will be out for blood after these clowns cost them more jobs.
He’s boo hooing because he knows that just saying “no” is not an option anymore.
Boehner has to actually do some work now. He can’t just go to fund-raising parties and golf tournaments. You know – I hope he tries though. It would be lovely to watch him self-destruct.
Kentucky’s second-largest city has elected an openly gay man as its next mayor.
http://www.gaypolitics.com/2010/11/02/breaking-lexington-kentucky-elects-openly-gay-mayor/
That’s pretty good, but when you’re the fourth largest city in the *country* with an openly gay mayor, it’s hard to be super impressed. 😀
Houston. I’m here now.
(waving to austintx!)
Hey, I’m in Houston, too. Welcome here, you bright shining star of funny intellect and incredible Intertubes resources!
It’s amazing how the Houston mayoral elections continue to go to the person receiving a majority of votes, regardless of party affiliation. That’s one good thing to remember today out of an abyss of misery.
Houston is a great town, and I grew up in Dallas. I’ve always considered DFW to be far behind Houston socially, but after watching that Ft Worth councilman’s “It Gets Better” vid, I may have to re-evaluate my old town–slightly. Glad to see progress, but I’m a Houston gal now.
Houston at the moment (doing some recuperating at mom’s), too! I lived here for 20 years before moving to New Orleans last year.
Any time a person is elected for what they can bring to the job, instead of being rejected for their sexual orientation, it’s a good day.
Very best wishes to the new mayor, especially in that red state that actually elected Rand Paul yesterday. (Yikes!)
Yes, yes, and yes again. Maybe change is happening on less obvious but still important ways. I am not giving up. People are going to see the error of their far-right choices in the next two years. Meanwhile, real change is happening as in these mayoral races. Hurrah!
Where I live they (RWNJ) voted out three Supreme Court Justices because they dared to uphold state law and let Gays get married. We lost the Chief Justice and two others,so now we will have a really activist Supreme Court like their big brother. Only in Iowa. Is this Heaven? Steeerike One.
This is a bright moment on a dark morning! Best wishes for success in Lexington!
Ah-h-h yes……..
http://i.imgur.com/9coj1.jpg
sweet!
Hope Florida’s Rick Scott faces a similar fate in our Governor’s race!
ARRRGH!!! That unfortunately did not happen…just read that Alex Sink has conceded!
I thought Brownback was a bad choice for Governor here, but Scott wins the rotten choice award. My sympathies.
Agreed!
The saddest result is that Alan Grayson in FL lost his seat. It also seems like the places where the right wing Koch suckers spent the most did not result in their candidate’s victory, and it was great to see Meg & Carly lose in CA!
Wanna stop all that runaway spending? Now is your chance: Stop all these unjustified, immoral wars and military spending.
I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the last of Alan Grayson, though. With his smarts and his passion, he’ll find a way to make a difference in the Sunshine State and beyond.
Now if we can do something about Corporate “Citizens” United, and the shady funding of campaigns…if ever there was a good argument for public funding of campaigns to level the playing field, we’re living it now, eh?
Agreed on both counts!
Mr. Grayson, he of the bulldog face, has exhibited the tenacity of that breed, and I am sure he will continue on fighting for what he considers the right things to do.
Let me amend that: This morning the word “right” leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. So let me say “the” proper” things to do!
As for Citizens United, there is no way that ruling can be overturned in the foreseeable future and we are now on fast forward to becoming the biggest corporatocracy. The new dictionaries had better incorporate that word into their vocabularies!
This morning I am dispirited, but I will not give up. Born in 1940 in Germany, I am more than alert to what follows when a nations permits itself to be herded by the demagoguery of those who magnify the fears of the masses. These agitators, both religious and secular, do nothing but serve the military/industrial complex. Eisenhower was right in his warnings…
Apparently he’s a self-made millionaire businessman, I’m sure he’ll be back one way or another. I will miss him, but he blew it when he called his opponent the Taliban.
Agreed. He is impolitic at best, yet the multitude of epithets slung by the “rightwingers” are usually ignored by the media and greeted enthusiastically by their followers. Could it be that because we think and reason we do not tolerate a whole lot of intemperate remarks by our partners in discussions?
Those who appeal to the fears of others have throughout history be able to incite mass insanity.
I do think that was a mistake and made me cringe when I heard it. I’m really sorry that he is out though. There were too few democrats who would speak up and Grayson was a breath of fresh air.
I agree. I love his pithy snark, but he took it too far with that one. I think there were a lot of people who missed his point with that choice of words.
If you look at Alan Grayson’s breathtaking Wikipedia biography you can see that Congress is way beneath him and his brains, talent and passion.
Shoot – any lame teabagger can be a congresscritter …..
All tea-baggers are lame. Shoot ’em all. I liked Grayson,I couldn’t vote for him and I find it strange that there are lot’s of people I would vote for if they were in my state,instead of somewhere else. I did write in Brian the Moose in every slot where a Rethug ran unopposed.
May I remind everyone that Howard Dean turned ignominious defeat into a grassroots effort that elected Barack Obama as President, and led us to the most productive Congress we have had in decades. Let us all refine our investigative skills, review our state laws on recalls and impeachment, and obtain heavy duty ear plugs for the whines and screams of anguish when all the tea party activists find out that they royally screwed themselves. We will be there to pick up the pieces in two years after they have soiled themselves where they live!
Okay. That’s it. Here’s your gold star for making me feel better today.
Thanks!
In fact, here’s a galaxy of stars….You rock!
YES!!!!
Quyana, many thanks, Gramiam, and 10 bonus points from this librarian, also, too!
You know, I wish Howard Dean was still head of the DNC. Most people cannot even name Tim Kaine – and for good reason: he was ineffectual. Every time I saw him being interviewed, I would cringe, thinking “this guy doesn’t get it. He doesn’t know how to create enthusiasm and effective strategy.” Not that I place all the blame on him, but Dean’s approach was better.
If he could curb-in some of his excesses, I would like to see Alan Grayson head the DNC. Now there is a go-getter. Perhaps he could move from there into the Senate. Alan is such a firebrand. I think he’s smart enough to tamp down some of his fire to use it to get people moving. We really do need to have Kaine step-down before 2012, though.
I, too, was so disappointed that Granson lost. He was a very intelligent politcian with great sense of ethics and had no fear. He and Representative Weiner from NY were the two fearless new faces who fought hard for what’s right. They were the faces of change. Perhaps we can email Grayson by showing our support and our hope that he will run for another office soon. He was defeated by someone who has much less heart, espcially in things that “liberals” believe in. (I am a registered independent who vote with my heart and conscience — right now, one would call me a liberal).
Here is Grayson’s contact page: https://alangrayson.house.gov/Contact/default.aspxral
Senator Rubio from Florida, oy vey!
Alex Sink refuses to concede to the lying, cheating, super-sleazy one, citing irregularities with voting machines (surprise, surprise) that triggered a rescan of many ballots, and ballots in heavily Democratic precincts still to be counted. It’s VERY close, but Florida has until Saturday to report official results.
Hoping and praying that since we have to be “represented” by Rubio, we can temper it with a win for Alex.
On a happier note, the challenge to the class size amendment was shot down…Folks voted NO on 8. Here’s to a quality public education for EVERY child!
thatcrowwoman: Why would FL, a state with a lot of seniors, go for a guy who bilked Medicare? Real question, can you explain?
I have no explanation, Hannah.
I cannot wrap my mind around the very idea at all…unless they just don’t think a woman and or a Democrat is fit to lead this Bush bastion of an oh-too-red state. And they watch too much TV and don’t read or question or think for themselves? sigh
I am in TX and remember Scott well. He made a mess. It is said that he left Tx practically because nobody wanted him here. He is a cook and I feel sorry for FL.
“Crook”–I guess cook too as in cooked the books.
I thought I just heard something that Scott won and that Alex conceded, no?
oh. no, it’s true, Alex conceded at ~10:30 this morning.
Big business wanted Rick Scott, and big business got him.
My heart is breaking, so I’m off to swim some laps in the pool before my 4:00 teen author’s panel…
Guess I’ll have to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it yet again…hope the elastic doesn’t break or I may really show my…tuchus! 🙂
Back tonight, with wine…
Congratulations on the class size amendment. I wish more people realized how important that is for a quality education.
What is the class size mandated by the amendment?
“Voters adopted the existing class-size limits through a citizen initiative in 2002 over the opposition of then-Gov. Jeb Bush. It has been phased in since then and for the first time this fall it’s going into full effect by requiring every core curriculum class to have no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eight grade and 25 in high school.”
Non-core classes will no-doubt get larger, except that so many students have to take remedial double-block reading and math classes….
At least the legislature will now be forced to fully fund public education…though with Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, we can expect new legislative shenanigans. Senate Bill 6 may well raise its ugly head as Senate Bill #1.
*praying my elastic holds!*
Good morning. Coffee, nap, doctor’s appointment, and meeting w/local organizers to rehash the past months. Don’t know what we could have done differently at our level. Things need to change at the national and state levels if we hope to make a danged difference at the grass roots level around here.
Shouting that last line through the forest, jimzmum!
Stupid Senate race.
With ‘Write In’ ahead by 10,500 votes, the division of elections is going to have to count all of ’em, to determine whether Murkowski or Miller won this thing. Considering how many of those votes will be for Mickey Mouse, how many will be illegible, and how many might be thrown out, I’d say this race is still almost a toss-up between Murkowski and Miller, and I’d be almost shocked if it’s certified before December. Here come the lawyers…
just checked again, difference between Miller and Miller Lite is 13,500 votes now. Maybe Murkowski win will this.
Let’s hope.