The System That Couldn't Count
We hear these same platitudes each and every election cycle.
"Voting is your civic duty!"
"If you don't vote, don't complaint."
"Voting is our greatest right as free citizens!"
The problem is that "Your Vote Counts" are empty words if there is no one responsible enough to accurately and fairly count the votes. Once again we see, this time in Iowa, that addition is a really difficult task for some members of our society. And we seem to allow these math challenged people to run our elections.
Apparently Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucus a couple of weeks ago but Mitt Romney got the boost going into New Hampshire when the counting in Iowa went less than perfectly. Now it seems that eight precincts in Iowa have completely lost their ballots so the republican party of Iowa is calling it a draw, a tie, a non-decision. But what we really have is an admission that there was no fair and legal vote in Iowa. Voters in 8 precincts have had their "greatest right" which they exercised as their "civic duty" - well for lack of a better word - 'lost' or perhaps 'taken away' or simply 'not counted.'
After all the sound and fury, after all the campaign noize and money spewed around Iowa for over a year, they couldn't count the damn votes. OK, so it was only Iowa. But need I remind you that we had a similar problem a few years ago in Florida, which led to the supreme court picking the president.
Now I am sure my liberal friends are waiting for me to go off on the current republican campaign to restrict voter access in the November election. Yes, of course, they are doing that - it's called politics. Need I remind you that the democrats feel you need only be breathing to vote, which of course leads to voter fraud on the other side of the shaky two-party scale. Sorry partisan folks, I just don't care. Why should I? Why should you? Have you not been paying attention - the vote is not fixed by who does or doesn't get to enter the sanctuary of the polling place; the vote is fixed by who does or doesn't do the counting.
It's all about the math and who is holding the abacus in a few key states. You trust this system? Really? Ask the voters in Iowa.
Closed for Today
Much of the internet is dark today to protest a grossly overreaching bill in the US Congress. While the bill purports to halt online piracy, it does so at the expense of free speech and gives unnamed and unknown government agencies the right to shut down any part of the net they feel threatens whatever they believe should not be threatened. Egypt, Libya, China and other countries have attempted to shutdown free speech over the internet when those fine examples of democracy felt that their citizens should not be speaking up about the restriction of human rights.
This is not a justified cause of governmental authority and needs to be stopped. Email your senators and tell them you oppose Protect IP Act in the senate and contact your house member as they consider the Stop Internet Piracy (SOPA) act in the house.
Do It Tomorrow
Tomorrow marks another in a year-long list of Occupy actions to bring economic sanity and fairness back to the American people. If you are in or around Washington D.C. please consider participating in any of the planned events for Occupy Congress.
Not in the capitol area, then take a moment to write to your elected senators and congresspersons and ask them to take the time meet with Occupy members who are there to make our needs known.
We can't all be there for every demonstration or every cause, but we can lend our support and our voice to those who are. Do It Tomorrow.
Find contact information for your congressional representatives.
Top Seven Articles of the Recent Past
Here are seven of the best articles I have surfed across in the past month or so. With my added commentary of course.
#1 (Politics)*
"In the wake of the Tea Party, the Occupy movement, and a dozen or more episodes of real rebellion on the streets, in the legislatures of cities and towns, and in state and federal courthouses, this presidential race now feels like a banal bureaucratic sideshow to the real event – the real event being a looming confrontation between huge masses of disaffected citizens on both sides of the aisle, and a corrupt and increasingly ideologically bankrupt political establishment, represented in large part by the two parties dominating this race."
-from The Meaningless Sideshow Begins in Rolling Stone
*This comes as close as anything to capturing my own rationale for and disgust with the 2012 U.S. election.
"It took a relatively obscure former British academic to propagate a theory of the financial crisis that would confirm what many people suspected all along: The “corporate psychopaths” at the helm of our financial institutions are to blame."
"President Obama has betrayed the voters who elected him. He ran like a populist, but he has governed like a plutocrat, or at least a friend of plutocrats."
What I liked most about this piece was the rolling argument the reviewer has with the "liberal elitist" views of Thomas Frank, the author of the book - Pity the Billionaire. Very informative to see the left wrestling with itself.
*This comes as close as anything to capturing my own rationale for and disgust with the 2012 U.S. election.
#2 (Media)
We all know that what passes for Main Stream Media has become at best infotaintment, if not outright sleazy reality tv instead of news. But have you noticed recently that the political stories, particularly those on the presidential election have become more like the Sunday NFL pregame show. The SportsCenterization of Politics.#3 (Psychology)
Bloomberg.com asks and answers the burning question: Did Psychopaths Take Over Wall Street?"It took a relatively obscure former British academic to propagate a theory of the financial crisis that would confirm what many people suspected all along: The “corporate psychopaths” at the helm of our financial institutions are to blame."
#4 (Politics)
This next one is a book review from the New York Times, but before my conservative readers pass this one by... let me say that you will probably like this a lot more than my liberal visitors. Take for instance this quote:
What I liked most about this piece was the rolling argument the reviewer has with the "liberal elitist" views of Thomas Frank, the author of the book - Pity the Billionaire. Very informative to see the left wrestling with itself.
#5 (Tech)
This one comes from Tina Fields a good friend of mine. Her post is about the reaction she had to a really wonderful radio piece by Mike Daisey. I recommend my friend's blog post as a contextual teaser to the actual radio program which can be found on NPR's This American Life website. Both of these links are mandatory for progressive Mac users.
#6 (Marginalia & Fun)
If you are a fan of marginalia and fun (both are necessary) take a look at this NYT piece on both. And did you know you can share marginalia between many eReaders, which means if you and I are reading the same book on your kindle we can trade liner notes. I understand the archives of several great marginalists (Twain, Coleridge, Plath, Nabokov, Melville) are planning to make such available for eReaders.
#7 (Bizarro)
The estate of a deceased teenage boy is being sued by a woman who has hit by parts of the dead youths body after he was struck and killed by a locomotive. Really you just can't make these things up. The Illinois court ruled that the boy's death was "reasonably foreseeable" and that his estate (no he wasn't rich) can be held responsible for his negligence. Full story.
And the Losers Are . . .
Results 2008 New Hampshire Primary
John McCain 86,571 7 delegates
Mitt Romney 75,546 4 delegates
Mike Huckabee 26,859 1 delegate
Ron Paul 18,308 0 delegate
Hillary Clinton 112,404 9 delegates
Barack Obama 104,815 9 delegates
John Edwards 48,699 4 delegates
Results 2012 New Hampshire Primary*
Mitt Romney 97,532 7 delegates
Ron Paul 56,848 3 delegates
John Huntsman 41,945 2 delegates
Newt Gingich loser
Rick Santorum loser
Rick Perry loser
*Only 12 delegates at stake reduced from 23 by the republican national committee for moving the primary up to January.
Speaking of relevance, the Jan. 31st republican primary in Florida already has more absentee ballots requests than all the votes cast in Iowa and New Hampshire combined.
2286 - number of delegates to republican convention
1144 - number of delegates to win nomination
37 - number of delegates decided thus far
20 - number of delegates committed to Mitt Romney
So how is it possible that Mr. Romney is now being declared the winner by so many knowledgeable sources or when did 20 become 1144?
Pie Chart Your President
Mother Jones magazine has this really cool interactive tool that allows you to predict who will win, lose or draw each of the upcoming republican presidential primaries. They call it the GOP Primary Predictor: Play Along at Home. You can prognosticate on what percentage of the votes each of the candidates will get in all of the upcoming 55 primaries. Yes, I did say fifty-five.
Here is a list of the primaries along with my less than scientific commentary.
Jan. 3 Iowa - Santorum or Romney they don't really know yet
Jan. 10 New Hampshire - Romney wins big
Jan. 21 South Carolina - the last real chance to derail the Mitt
Jan. 31 Florida - 50/50 chance for Romney to wrap it up
Feb. 4 Nevada
Feb. 7 Colorado
Feb. 7 Minnesota
Feb. 11 Maine
Feb. 25 Mariana Islands
Feb. 28 Arizona - it's over, Romney wins both; everyone else quits
Feb. 28 Michigan - it's over, Romney wins both; everyone else quits
None of the remaining 44 primaries matter as far as the presidential nominations go
Mar. 3 Washington
Mar. 6 Alabama
Mar. 6 Georgia - March 6th: eleven states in one day with no meaning
Mar. 6 Idaho
Mar. 6 Massachusetts
Mar. 6 North Dakota
Mar. 6 Ohio
Mar. 6 Oklahoma
Mar. 6 Tennessee
Mar. 6 Vermont
Mar. 6 Virginia
Mar. 6 Virgin Islands
Mar. 10 Kansas
Mar. 10 Wyoming
Mar. 12 Guam
Mar. 13 Hawaii
Mar. 13 Mississippi
Mar. 13 American Samoa
Mar. 17 Missouri
Mar. 20 Illinois
Mar. 24 Louisiana
Mar. 24 Puerto Rico
Apr. 3 Washington
Apr. 3 Maryland
Apr. 3 Wisconsin
Apr. 6 Alaska
Apr. 6 Texas - Rick Perry who?
Apr. 24 Connecticut
Apr. 24 Delaware
Apr. 24 New York - sorry it was Romney two months ago
Apr. 24 Pennsylvania
Apr. 24 Rhode Island
May 8 Indiana
May 8 North Carolina
May 8 West Virginia
May 15 Nebraska
May 15 Oregon
May 22 Arkansas
May 22 Kentucky
June 5 California - largest single electoral state votes 3 months too late
June 5 Montana
June 5 New Jersey
June 5 New Mexico
June 5 South Dakota
June 26 Utah
Jan. 21 South Carolina - the last real chance to derail the Mitt
Jan. 31 Florida - 50/50 chance for Romney to wrap it up
Feb. 4 Nevada
Feb. 7 Colorado
Feb. 7 Minnesota
Feb. 11 Maine
Feb. 25 Mariana Islands
Feb. 28 Arizona - it's over, Romney wins both; everyone else quits
Feb. 28 Michigan - it's over, Romney wins both; everyone else quits
None of the remaining 44 primaries matter as far as the presidential nominations go
Mar. 3 Washington
Mar. 6 Alabama
Mar. 6 Georgia - March 6th: eleven states in one day with no meaning
Mar. 6 Idaho
Mar. 6 Massachusetts
Mar. 6 North Dakota
Mar. 6 Ohio
Mar. 6 Oklahoma
Mar. 6 Tennessee
Mar. 6 Vermont
Mar. 6 Virginia
Mar. 6 Virgin Islands
Mar. 10 Kansas
Mar. 10 Wyoming
Mar. 12 Guam
Mar. 13 Hawaii
Mar. 13 Mississippi
Mar. 13 American Samoa
Mar. 17 Missouri
Mar. 20 Illinois
Mar. 24 Louisiana
Mar. 24 Puerto Rico
Apr. 3 Washington
Apr. 3 Maryland
Apr. 3 Wisconsin
Apr. 6 Alaska
Apr. 6 Texas - Rick Perry who?
Apr. 24 Connecticut
Apr. 24 Delaware
Apr. 24 New York - sorry it was Romney two months ago
Apr. 24 Pennsylvania
Apr. 24 Rhode Island
May 8 Indiana
May 8 North Carolina
May 8 West Virginia
May 15 Nebraska
May 15 Oregon
May 22 Arkansas
May 22 Kentucky
June 5 California - largest single electoral state votes 3 months too late
June 5 Montana
June 5 New Jersey
June 5 New Mexico
June 5 South Dakota
June 26 Utah
Now I would be happy to be wrong about this, if only for the entertainment value a longer race would give to The Daily Show and Colbert Report. But my overall 2012 position remains the same - whether you are choosing the lesser of two evils or seven, you still get evil.
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