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If this was happening to someone who planned to vote Republican(esp. in a state with a democrat Gov.) it would probably be HEADLINE NEWS by now.This Definitely needs to be brought to the attention of the DOJ,and if Rick Scott gets in the way he may need to be put on trial for trying to take away a citizens right to vote.
wow! sad, sad, sad!
I think it's going to pick up steam for the election....
No the negative publicity continues and it wont stop untill they win.but we can't fall for the bull that they deliver so cleverly to stop us.
Hey, If we just keep RECYCLING this thread to post all of your other garbage blogs then we can all take credit for having a green job and further inflate job increases.
Well maybe this catastrophe will be what it takes to get people to start working together, because it sounds like pretty soon the form of government may be the least of our problems: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/06/environmental-collapse-now-a-serious-threat-scientists/#.T9C6Ab_tpR0.email
Do or die time... either we do amend the constitution to say corporations are not people and money is not speech, or our democracy dies.
This crisis may just be the opportunity our democracy needs to be made strong.
N
Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts into the stuff you post!!
Anthem PPO
Having lived in texas most of my life I understand your despair. Surely we will never give in to the republicons; but if we give in to despair we certainly lose any chance we have for ourselves and for generations to come.
éirígí
I watched the movie "For Greater Glory" today and, despite being an atheist and having, perhaps, more in common with the Mexican President Calle in the 1920s in that respect, I now can possibly understand why most of the critics gave it such low marks.
Most of the critics work for major media and represents the best interests of the ruling elite who owns them. The movie is about revolution! Yes, it is also about other things... primarily presenting the very strong religious iconography and how the bad old atheist Mexican government persecuted, tortured, and murdered so many people who persisted in rebelling against the dictates of the cruel government and military.
It is also about freedom to believe whatever the hell you want to believe..although the Catholic Church, in it's own history of inquisitions, torture, and murder of people who wanted to believe differently has not always been so "freedom loving" itself. And many people, of whatever religion, often bedevil others who call themselves agnostics, or atheists, or even any other religion or belief. And once there is an overpowering religious force majeure running things, as in the Spanish Inquisition (or Catholic Dominated Mexico, perhaps), those seeking freedom to believe differently will likely be bullied by the more dominant will.
And it was about how the devout Catholics rose up and fought back...some martyring themselves. There was even an old Catholic priest who didn't go any further than merely kissing an alter boy on the forehead. Different times? Yeah, right!
That same alter boy, later, seemed to be played up as a kind of parallel to Jesus, perhaps. I won't give it away entirely. They didn't go so far as to give him a crown of thorns though. And then there was a soldier turned business-man, played by Andy Garcia, who was a "non-believer" unlike his wife and 3 young girls who was convinced to use his old skills as a kind of mercenary on the side of the "Cristeros" (Soldiers for Christ) who were the insurgents or terrorists who fought back against their oppressors. And, of course, he eventually "saw the light" in the end. Won't give that away entirely either. And don't be too hurried to leave the theater in the end if you want to see some real historical photos and text on the screen to fill you in about things.
But the whole idea of a powerful elite forcing their rule against "the people" (especially since the Catholic Church had already brainwashed them with scare stories of Satan and Hell and lured them with prospects of 18 young virgins..oops! wrong religion...I mean pearly gates and streets paved with gold...an eternal life....life after death....the Catholic Church was quite an obstacle to any other competing power over "hearts and minds") and the idea that people could rebel and fight back may have been too close to what is happening in America and around the world today.
Anything that can influence and inspire people today to rebel against our enemies...the ones who have been waging war against us for several decades now....the ruling elite...the banksters...Wall Street...powerful corporations...corrupt politicians....may be a part of the reason why they want to downplay this movie...or any other movies that address ideas of revolution and rebellion as possible answers to today's problems. Of course, there are other highly rated movies that do this...like Hunger Games and Avatar.
And a new version of Les Miserables is coming out this Christmas...love that one...Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Colm Wilkinson and even Sacha Baron Cohen (can he really play a serious part?)....Wow! Can't wait! Viva la revolutions! Even if it is only in the theater...for now!
I throw in the towel, and I'll take whatever comes, just like the rest of us. It's here, full fledged fascism (according to the republicons, thank god it wasn't socialism) - just what they wanted.
Yeah, Democrats won the senate - It was probably a fluke. The Democrats might be able to stop the damage for a while, but you know they will cave. They'll probably offer an "olive branch" to the Koch sucker - everything including the kitchen sink for the right to breathe. They just can't, or won't stand up to them.
3 things caused the failure:
1. money from the right. 8-1 is too much to overcome. Even if we had a strong candidate, I'm not so sure we could have won. the sheeple are too brainwashed by the right. They would rather have an 80 hour work week (and make sure that no one gets ahead of them), a gun in their pocket, and the ability to pray that they can make it through another 80 hour work week. I guess it is easier to close your eyes and do that than to think on your own. If we had a strong candidate, and obama came here and gave some great speeches, we might have made that big 8-1 deficite interesting, but it still may not have been enough.
2. not a strong enough candidate to win. Even our own Russ Feingold from MIddleton wouldn't jump into the race. We need someone to take them on. However, no one will stand up there and call it what it is. a sign of weakness that people know and recognize, and thirst for. There were a few good candidates, but even they couldn't, or wouldn't, call a skunk a skunk. Even 2 weeks ago, Thom called Barrett - Barnett. Face it, Barnett, faulk, all too damn weak.
3. no help from outside the state. Not even "our own president"? no visit to the state. What on earth is going through his mind. Either he was told not to show up because it wasn't necessary, or he truly is one of them. Perhaps someone should tell him that winning los angeles, chicago, and new york won't put him back in there. there is a little thing called the electoral college.
You think obama will carry wisconsin - you're out of your mind. our collective necks are as red as they are in kansas, texas, oklahoma - especially now that our politics are controlled by them. might as well start rolling back the clocks now.
I think I'll save my $120.00 satellite radio subscription (to listen to sensible talk radio) and my political contributions - and spend them on my boat so I can fish better. I suspect our republicon friends will now compete with the chinese and polute everything. I'm sure the pipelines that will criss cross our state (you know the Koch sucker will let that happen) won't at all hurt our water supply and out lakes and streams. It will be funny to hear the "sportsmen" bitch about that. at least they will be able to have a gun at their side.
LindaWyeth: "what matters is that the system is so broken that we cannot even call it democracy any longer. We truly gave this fight our very best shot. But we were, ultimately, betrayed by President Barack Obama and the national Democrats who hung us out to dry."
And when the people are hurting enough, eventually, they may find another way to defend themselves against tyranny..and it won't be with the rigged election system.
Paul Scott: Just curious...how many times have you had to replace expensive batteries (and there are a lot of them in each car) or other electrical parts? I love the idea of EV and using sun power but I have been reluctant because of the possibility that EV may not be as cheap or economical as is initially believed by many. Those batteries and solar cells don't last forever and they are expensive to replace..after the initial warranty runs out. If you are able to go totally on solar...that's great...but most people with EV cars will use electricity to charge the batteries and one has to wonder what creates the electricity...coal, oil, nuclear?
Oh, and electricity may be 100% domestic but where do the batteries and solar cells and other electronic parts come from...most likely China.
I don't drive much anymore because I am retired and really hate to go anywhere anyway...and try to stay away from rush hour traffic. If I was still working....I'd be spending much of what I earned on commuting. I don't see how many people do it...especially if they have to commute very far. Those "affordable" houses 50 or 60 miles away from work don't seem so affordable anymore.
Short of more tax breaks for billionaires, what does the Walker voter think they will gain? You can look forward to lower wages, unsafe working conditions, less beneifits, more pollution of your natural resources, and the comfort of knowing that the rich mothers you really voted for don't give a flying crap about about your general welfare. Let's drown our only representation in a bathtub, that's the ticket!
more is bad......
i m schock .........thom thank u
I don't believe for a second that anyone willing to vote for a Koch-Teabagger like Walker will turn around and vote for President Obama, but the exit polls showed a 51- 45 percent in favor of Obama....nobody questions this....... either voters lied to the pollsters or those figures represent something real foul!!!
The part of the story that was left out of the media and appears to have eluded progressive media was the powerful effort to define the recall solely as a middle-class workers' issue (actually, it was about a range of legally questionable tactics taken by an administration that has been costly and profoundly disruptive to the state). We couldn't talk about the actual consequences of crushing out unions (using the end of public employee unions as a template) because those consequences would require taking a legitimate look at poverty. We won't do that.The middle class has shrunk by nearly 1/3 so far. Every step of the way, during the lead-up to the election, it was made very clear that the participation (votes) of anyone other than middle class workers were unwanted. Note: I don't blame Tom Barrett for that. As a lifelong Wisconsinite, I remain certain that he would be an outstanding governor.
Coming from a slightly different POV... the money is clearly a big problem, if not the biggest problem. Much of it comes from the oil & gas industry. We now have a means of driving without oil in cars that run on electricity. Electricity is 100% domestic and costs abotu 20% that of oil per mile driven. Over 25,000 Americans have bought electric cars in the past two years. For the most part, these folks stopped giving the oil companies any of their money. In my case, I got solar panels and my first EV in 2002. I've driven 105,000 miles on sunlight without giving the oil companies a single sime.
Progressives should be buying these cars as fast as they are made. If you can't beat them, then at least stop giving them your money. Use some of the money you save to support progressive causes.
BTW, a nice byproduct of this is a clean environment.
Raidiof
Bless you. That's the only thing we can do now. Keep the lights on and keep trying to educate people.
We could have learned from our own history. This isn't the first time that the richest few gained the upper hand, to the great harm of the nation. The Gilded Age is probably the most striking example. Historically, when the richest few gained the upper hand, the poor and middle classes united to successfully push back, to the benefit of both. Not this time. This time, the poor and middle classes were sharply divided, and Bill Clinton pounded in the final wedge to "divide and conquer" the masses. The middle class has already shrunk by 1/3 so far. Those pushed out of the middle class are now the poor. Tensions just keep growing, and something's going to break.
With the onslaught of Corporate Money flowing from the Citizens United decision from the Robert’s Supreme Court, I find it difficult to understand why a person would vote against his/her best self-interest. I can understand why a Rich person would vote Republican because it is in their best self-interest, but for a working person to vote Republican must be because they are cruel, or ignorant, i.e., a low information voter.
Robert Reich on PoliticsNation with Rev Al Sharpton said tonight, and I’m paraphrasing, that trickle down economics is a “cruel joke”. But the Republicans continue with this lie of “job creators” and if you keep telling the same lie, people will believe.
We Progressives have to message differently. We have to tell the truth over, and over again that the “cruel joke” being perpetuated is a lie.
Renegrippo,
The Republicans had a very narrow margin of control in the state Senate after 2010. They had a commanding margin in the state Assembly. Last summer we tried to recall 6 or 8 Republicans but managed to recall only two. (Republicans tried to recall several Dems, but did not succeed in getting all of their recall efforts off the ground and did not recall any Dems.)
After last year, the Republicand had a one vote majority in the Senate, but one of them sometimes voted with Democrats on key issues. Now the Democrats will have a one-vote actual majority.
But how long do you think it will last?
Another thing, in 2010 Wisconsin sent empty-headed millionaire Tea Party candidate Ron Johnson to the US Senate instead of Russ Feingold. How stupid was that? This year Representative Tammy Baldwin is running for the seat of retiring Democrat Herb Kohl. We don't know who the Republican candidate will be yet, but the field is pretty awful. Tammy has been an awesome reprentative; we used to live in her district. But after yesterday, I think her chances are not good at all.
So, no, all is not well here in Wisconsin. We had this one last great shot at changing things, but we did not succeed. Not even close.
Dianasaurus,
Good question. In our small rural county each polling place has one ES&S electronic machine to comply with HAVA (Help America Vote Act). The rest of the ballots are paper optical scanned ballots. I participated in a recount last year for a very close state Supreme Court election. There were problems with some of the electronic machines. Both the local Democratic and Republican observers felt we should get rid of the electronic machines entirely.
There are rumors of major problems with these machines state wide in this election. I have not yet had time and energy to read the information I have received to decide if it is or is not credible.
The other major problem we are seeing is a big discrepancy on how many votes were cast. Reports from the field yesterday indicated a huge huge turnout everywhere, far more voters than there were in 2010. But when the total votes were tallied up, it seems the turnout was comparable to 2010, when turnout was very low. That makes absolutely no sense to those of us who were poll watching all over the state, not just in heavily partisan areas.
But when all is said and done here, it really does not matter how they won, whether it was by hacked voting machines, or buying the election, or by the many really dirty tactics and tricks they used -- what matters is that the system is so broken that we cannot even call it democracy any longer. We truly gave this fight our very best shot. But we were, ultimately, betrayed by President Barack Obama and the national Democrats who hung us out to dry.
Uncle Geo,
I live in Wisconsin, in one of the senate districts where a Walker rubber stamp was up for recall. I have been to countless demonstrations and rallies all over the state, attended numerous public hearings on issues, donated money we couldn't afford to candidates brave enough to stand up for democracy here, collected recall signature, and knocked on hundreds of doors in our district. We worked our butts off, dammit! And so did thousands of other volunteers. But democracy died yesterday anyway. So now I am retiring from the war. We here in Wisconsin gave this our all, and still it was not good enough.