Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Cheers and Tears: It's Election Day

Good Day World!

Here we are.

The final act of the reality show we call the midterm elections in the Trump era.

What Time Do Polls Close in Your State?

Leading up to this moment, Americans have seen unbridled racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-immigrant rhetoric take center stage in Trump and his minions campaign strategy.

As usual, Trump pulled the fear factor out and waved it like a Nazi flag to his white supremacist supporters and the rest of his base. 

Let's just see how that plays out today when Americans in all 50 states turn out to vote. I suspect it's going to be a good day for Democrats, and voters will reject his hateful fear mongering tactics.

Periodically, I'm going to give news updates on this post. I'll also be commenting on the results as they come in late today, and up until tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: AP reports Florida Polling Place on Lockdown Over Gun Scare

Am I nervous about the upcoming results? 

Yes. I have to admit that after the 2016 elections anything is still possible, and the Republicans might keep their majority in Congress if Democratic voters don't turn out in record numbers.

I don't think that will happen, however. Hoping for a Blue Wave.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Monday, November 5, 2018

Take a Deep Breath and Don't Forget To Vote Tomorrow

Good Day World!

If you've never tried cannabis-infused coffee, this morning might be a good time to try some.

It's pretty hard to relax with everything that's at stake tomorrow. Basically, we'll either have a safeguard against Trump's attempts to destroy our government, or we won't.

It all depends on who wins the House. If the Democrats take it back then Trump's assaults against minorities and the rule of law will be challenged. 
Not to mention that investigations will be launched into Trump's treason (Russia inquiry) and corruption (emoluments and Trump Foundation).

Just thinking about the consequences if the Republicans manage to hold onto the House is enough for me to blaze a bowl of good weed...excuse me for a moment....

Okay. I'm back. 

Where were we? Oh yeah! Somehow, someway, you need to figure out a way to relax today. Set your anxieties aside through whatever floats your boat.

Pretend there is no Trump. Pretend you don't have heartburn right now because of Trump. Immerse yourself with good vibes and friends and don't talk about politics.

Yes, I know the country's future is at stake, and we're heading towards fascism with the orange anus in charge trying to defile our Constitution (claiming he can toss the 14th Amendment aside with a stroke of his pen). 

Yes, there's a lot of hate and racism running rampant right now, driven by a crazed lunatic in the Oval Office. But that doesn't mean we can't get through this and hope for better days ahead.

They say time heals all wounds...let's hope we get on the right road tomorrow when we vote for a better future.

Time for me to walk on down the road... 

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Rigged: The Voter Suppression Handbook: GOP Strategy Years in the Making

Good Day World!

Since the day President Obama was elected, Republicans promised to thwart every move he made. 

The unhinged losers put together a vile strategy designed to disenfranchise the nation's minority voters (who normally vote for Democrats).

The unholy alliance of radical right-wing Republicans vowed to suppress people who voted Democrat. Ten years later and we're looking at the results of this racist handbook that's led to Republicans gerrymandering districts and shutting down polling places in minority districts across the country.

Related: The Top Ten Most Gerrymandered States in America

To understand how we got to this place there's a great documentary I highly recommend watching: 

Rigged: The Voter Suppression Handbook

After watching this documentary you'll understand how the GOP takeover happened.

The good news is despite these built-in advantages they illegally gained, the Republicans find themselves in extremely tight races in traditional Red States these midterms.

Analysts say the Democrats are very likely to take the House back because of record early turnouts in voter registration, and early voting.

The senate however is another matter. The GOP senate candidates are in the most heavily gerrymandered districts and unlikely to lose their seats...even with a record Democratic turnout. Despite that, the races will be a lot more competitive than they have in the last decade.

It bears keeping in mind that the Republican party decided to do this before Trump waddled into the picture. He just turned out to be a new weapon (unhindered by truth and a blatant racist) in their arsenal of suppression.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Saturday, November 3, 2018

A Last Minute Victory For Georgia Voters and The Big Lie Continues


                                           Good Day World!

This election season voter suppression award goes to the state of Georgia. 

Secretary of State Brian Kemp has done everything possible to rig the election by suppressing voter's rights, but at the last minute a judge ruled against him.

Voting rights groups have been monitoring Kemp's efforts and sued him in district court. Yesterday the judge, Eleanor Ross, said the state's identical match system was illegal.

The judge then ordered Kemp to establish additional procedures to guarantee that voters flagged by the state as potential noncitizens can vote in the 2018 election if they can prove their citizenship.

Kemp had 53,000 potential voters sitting on his desk and refused to release them until the court forced him to.

Georgia's nasty gubernatorial race between Kemp (yes, surprise! He's also the Republican candidate) and Democrat Stacy Abrams, has centered around his efforts to suppress the black vote. About 70  percent of the voters are black.

With Trump leading the way, these midterms have turned into a horror show of spectacular proportions. The Republican party has elected to go long with Trump's divisive rhetoric and lies.

In desperation, Trump has brought out the Big Lie about immigrants from South America. The same hateful lie he campaigned on. Hispanics are murdering rapists trying to invade our country.

In a really deplorable stunt, our liar in chief has ordered 15,000 active duty troops to stop the "invasion." That's more troops than we have in Afghanistan.

His blatant lies about crazed MS-13 members and middle eastern terrorists controlling the group have been exposed...but he keeps repeating them...rally after rally.

Three more days. Are you ready to vote?

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Friday, November 2, 2018

2018 Elections: Vicious Lies, Echo Chambers and Bubbles

Good Day World!

Let's look at the bright side.

In four more days voting will take place and that avalanche of political ads will cease. 

These midterm elections, driven by senseless fears, have already made history as the nastiest midterms ever. 

Fueled by Trump's lies about a group of refugees and immigrants coming from Honduras to invade America, this ad makes the infamous Willie Horton ad look tame. It's a vicious assault based upon lies and conservative propaganda.

Trump and his surrogates are savagely waging a racial warfare between attempted bombings of prominent Democrats and Trump critics, and the Pittsburg synagogue massacre.

Trumpanzees at Fox News and social media web sites like Breitbart are reliable echo chambers for every baseless claim our liar in chief makes.

Then there's Trump's base. This particular group of people live in a bubble where Trump is viewed as a savior because he attacks liberals and tells them things they like to hear...regardless of how racist or hateful the stories are.

In the bubble, Trump can act like the anti Christ and still be hailed as God's servant by the alt-right evangelicals who ignore his sins here on earth in order to further draconian laws against women's right of choice regarding their bodies.

Related: Trump Bears Moral Responsibility For Pipe Bombs. Denying It Makes It Worse

Hate rides the winds this Fall as America prepares to turn out for what may be our most vicious midterm election in history. 

When the dust settles, we'll find out if there's hope of reining in Trump and his minions with a Democratic majority House.

If you haven't already pre-voted, please...vote on Election Day. Democracy is counting on you.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Surviving a Season of Fear in America



"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address

                                         Good Day World!

With midterm madness covering us like a burial shroud, the political winds carry the seeds of fear across the country.

Our liar in chief - a known fear monger - has set the tone for the nastiest midterms in history. His fellow racists and Congressional stooges set up a fantasy invasion of America to gin up support before voting day.

Because Trump uses fear to fuel his base, his bullshit stories, false claims, and outright lies about immigrants, are resonating among conservatives, radical supporters like the KKK, white supremacists, and Sean Hannity from Fox News.

The sad thing is many Americans are fearful of the "caravan" and equate it to an invasion thanks to listening to the alt-right haters with megaphones like Trump.

Like Aristotle said, "He who has overcome his fears will truly be free."

In order to restore the freedoms disappearing under Trump's regime, the House has to flip back to the Democrats who'll hold him accountable for his crimes as a citizen and as the president of the United States.

I predict we'll survive this season of fear and raging hatred...at least, until the next election comes in 2020.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

I'm Back! Time to Expose Trump's Latest Stunt

 Good Day World!

It's good to be back.

It was nice taking a break, but now it's time to take a look at last minute shenanigans that Trump has trotted out for the midterms.

It's all about that base. Anything for the base.

To that end, he's using scare tactics on steroids. Trump knows his base is fearful of Hispanics invading our southern border at any time...because he told them they would if he didn't stop them.

Just to show he means business six days before the elections, Trump is sending 5,000 active duty soldiers to the border to reinforce the 2,000 border patrol agents already on duty there.

Why? Because a caravan of 3,500 refugees from Honduras are going to arrive here and seek asylum. They should be at our border in about two months. So why are 5,000 military men and women being immediately dispatched there?

Hmmmm...let me think.

Why would Trump suddenly order more military personnel to the US southwest that he has serving in some of the world's most contentious combat zones?

Will Fischer, a former Marine who now works for the VoteVets, a progressive veteran's organization knows why:

In an interview with CNN, Fischer said, "Donald Trump thinks unarmed people who are fleeing horrors and are still 1,000 miles away are a national security threat a week before election day. I don't think so. It's a political ploy to blow up the embers of racism and nativism by using the military again as a political prop to advance his own agenda."

I have to agree. Trump's little "Operation Faithful Patriot" (how ironic that name is) is a load of bullshit served up in time for November 6.

Fischer and other veterans point to the unknown cost to taxpayers, given that much smaller deployments of National Guard to the border have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

They also question the cost the military will bear, as the operation pulls troops away from training, other missions and their families. And then, they say, there's the murky legality of the mission, its scope and its purpose.

Just in case that's not enough red meat for his base, he's promising to defile the Constitution by destroying the 14th Amendment. 

It didn't take him long to make a direct attack against our Constitution...just in time for the elections.

Stop Trump's racist agenda by voting.

It's not going to be easy, but if the Democrats take back the House it's a strong first step at curbing our hater in chief.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Blog Break: I'll Be back In Time For Halloween

Good Day World!

It's that time of year...when I step away from my blogs. 

This one, and my Fiction Blog - Stories By Dave Stancliff.

As much fun as I have writing non-fiction and fiction, it never hurts to back away for a while (leaving today, back Oct.30th), and become computer free. 

I think we all need to stop and smell the roses sometimes. This fast-paced world we live in can become mentally (and physically) exhausting for anyone.

I invite you to check out my archives (they go back to 2008) on the right side of this page. The same invitation is extended to my fiction blog archives

If you're a regular reader, I thank you for spending time with me. If you're new, I hope you'll like what you see and subscribe to my blog(s).

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Now, It's Time For the Rest of the Story About Kavanaugh

Good Day World!

There's still a rotten stench lingering after "Beer boy-I like beer, do you like beer?" Kavanaugh's confirmation process.

The aftermath of that stolen confirmation involves a dozen ethics complaints filed against him during the process. Instead of taking care of them in a timely way, they were held up somewhere.

That somewhere, it turns out, was supreme court chief justice John Robert's desk. The complaints sat there until the confirmation farce was over and Kavanaugh was on the supreme court where judges are in effect immune to disciplinary action by lower-court justices. 

T
he court is supposed to police it's own actions. Anyone who really believes they do are painfully naive about our crooked courts. It's apparent to most law observers that the supreme court is now fully politicized. 

So what are the chances that Kavanaugh will be called out for lying under oath, and eleven are charges? Zero. 

To illustrate that point let's look at who Roberts put in charge of reviewing the complaints; a good buddy of Kavanaugh's, Timothy Tymkovich.

Here's what's common knowledge: Kavanaugh once lobbied in support of a controversial judge who is now going to judge him. That judge is Tymkovich.
 

Kavanaugh was involved in a high-stakes campaign to ensure that Timothy Tymkovich, another staunch conservative and a former Colorado solicitor general, would secure a lifetime appointment as a federal judge.

Talk about convenient. Tymkovich's now chief judge on the 10th circuit court of appeals, in Colorado. That means just one thing; the process was a sham from the get-go.

Instead of Robert's going out of his way to choose a judge who did not have any ties to Kavanaugh, such as one nominated by Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, he has added to the perception that the nine supreme court justices are above the law.

Critics, including hundreds of law professors, legal experts and senators, have said that Kavanaugh’s performance, in which he lashed out at Democrats over allegations he committed sexual assault, lacked judicial temperament. There was also that little matter about lying under oath.

In summary, we have a chief justice(Roberts)who thinks he's fooling the world about adhering to a lawful investigative process, when in fact he stacked the deck.

And that, my friends, is the rest of this sorry story.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Monday, October 22, 2018

I Voted Today: Stay Posted For Your Turn


                                            Good Day World!

I love the voting system here in Oregon. It's by mail. This money-saving and secure way of voting went into effect in 1998.

I'm taking advantage of turning in my ballot early today. It's really too bad that most states don't use the mail-in system. There's only a few that currently do.

In 2016 California passed SB 450 which authorizes a roll out of 100% vote by mail across the state. However, only five counties are doing so for the midterms. All counties will be authorized by 2020, except LA County which will be authorized in 2022.

Washington, Colorado, and Utah have 100% vote by mail.

The majority of experts argue it's the safest way of voting in our world today. They nearly unanimous in praising paper trails. Better yet, there's no way in hell anyone can hack a mail-in election because no computers are involved.

It's common sense. Does that mean the rest of the states aren't far behind in adopting the system? Probably not. Most aren't even considering the idea.

There are some successful pilot programs going on this year in Anchorage, Alaska which had record (early voter) turnouts, and in Garden City, Nebraska which saw a much higher turnout versus the state average.

Wherever you live please remember to vote in November, or before, if possible. I truly feel this will be an historic election determining the course of our democracy. 

Trump has made it a referendum on himself so it's a great opportunity to send the narcissist in charge a clear message...we won't take your shit any longer!

Time for me to walk on down the road... 

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Midterm Alert: Georgia's Kemp Is Playing By Trump's Dirty Politics Guide

Good Day World!

The fix is on in Georgia.

Georgia's secretary of state, Republican Brian Kemp, is running for governor...which in itself is no problem, unless you factor in that he's also supervising the election!

He should have recused himself and let another pol take over the supervision of the election because of the obvious conflict of interest.

But that didn't happen. Instead, the bastard doubled down and purged 340,000 current Georgia residents from voting rolls, making them unable to participate in the November 6 election.

A recent analysis of records by the Palast Investigative Fund found that Kemp has overseen the removal of possible voters in the hotly contested race.

He didn't stop there however.

He's facing legal action over claims that he has hindered the voting registration of around 50,000 people, a group that is overwhelmingly black, Latino or Asian American, by implementing a new law just in time for the election.

In addition:

Georgia County Tosses Out Hundreds Of Minority Absentee Ballots


His opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, is running to be the first black female governor in American history.

Kemp is also talking a page from his Trump's Dirty Politics Guide by creating a miasma of fear over voting in Georgia. 

Without a shred of evidence, and taking another page from Trump's vile guide, Kemp claims Abrams wants illegal immigrants to vote.

He told the Republican propaganda outlet, Fox News, that,  I think hard-working Georgians should decide who their governor is, not people here illegally like my opponent wants.”

The claim is, of course, a lie. In Trump's Dirty Playbook of Politics, lying is highly recommended. That and defying reality with an alternate reality conjured up by Republican's who kiss Trump's ass daily.

With just weeks remaining, we're going to find out just how effective a campaign of lies and voter suppression is. 

Time for me to walk on down the road....

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...