tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post5836467044564288723..comments2024-03-17T12:51:46.412-07:00Comments on Cutting Through The Crap: The StakesSid Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-19827724368507838322016-02-12T18:29:33.877-08:002016-02-12T18:29:33.877-08:00As always, Sid, right on the money. Oh how tedious...As always, Sid, right on the money. Oh how tedious it is to keep harping on the same old, same old all the time, eh? I hope you can somehow find the strength to keep it up - we need you.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696956304503307263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-76299669826854731922016-02-06T14:11:03.044-08:002016-02-06T14:11:03.044-08:00Thanks, DW. I will.Thanks, DW. I will.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-41519954661487961252016-02-06T12:58:54.117-08:002016-02-06T12:58:54.117-08:00Agree with you, Sid. Completely. But I might cry...Agree with you, Sid. Completely. But I might cry if Hillary wins because this feminist doesn't have too many election cycles left to see the day a woman becomes president. <br /><br />I've been watching a UW election season lecture series on-line presented by the chair of the UW Communications Dept. The static camera placement is annoying, but this guy is an informative and engaging lecturer. Check it out if ya wanna: http://www.washington.edu/alumni/election16/<br /><br />Thanks always, DWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-18921771782972785142016-02-06T10:09:44.404-08:002016-02-06T10:09:44.404-08:00Kasich is "only slightly less horrible than S...Kasich is "only slightly less horrible than Scott Walker" because Ohio voters were able to overturn his signature anti-public employees law. . . Wisconsin voters were not able to recall Scott Walker.<br /><br />He is unbearable. . . "if you’re not on the bus, we will run over you with the bus. And I’m not kidding.” and the ever popular “Have you ever been stopped by a policeman who was an idiot?” he said. “I had this idiot pull me over on 315…He’s an idiot."<br /><br />He's term-limited here, so that's a plus for us. But I suspect he will be in the VP conversation (although he has said he would never want to be VP..that he "would be the worst vice president anybody could ever imagine.") That's probably true; he's already the worst governor I can imagine.<br /><br />My prediction? Rubio-Kasich '16. . . If I had a gun to my head, I agree with you. . .I hope I'd have the guts to say "Just shoot me". But I know I wouldn't vote for Kasich.<br /><br />------------------------------------<br /><br />No, Sandysphotos not mine. . . it's my mother's. . . I edited my profile to reflect that. And yes, I'm a teacher. :) <br />Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315250115848931224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-34277578673280178932016-02-05T17:08:01.592-08:002016-02-05T17:08:01.592-08:00That's an excellent comment, "Anonymous.&...That's an excellent comment, "Anonymous." I'd request that you include some kind of identifier -- you can do so without having to set up an account -- so I'll know you if you return. Initials at the end of the comment, for example. Or a made-up name. <br /><br />Thanks. And thanks for a sadly prescient view.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-74352044900874754692016-02-05T16:44:29.014-08:002016-02-05T16:44:29.014-08:00If you want to understand how this plays out, Engl...If you want to understand how this plays out, England provides an illustrative example. The wealthy blocked a cleanup of the Thames (via their puppets in gov't) in the 1800s because were so opposed to gov't spending. And you can be sure those country houses we love to see on PBS shows were nowhere near that river. It was only after the "Great Stink" in the late 1850's that they finally gave in. Learning little from the episode about public goods, they managed to eventually sink their entire economy by refusing to invest in education. After all why should Sir Blowhard pay taxes to educate the offspring of those commoners? So England had a far lower proportion of educated people compared to the rest of the Continent or the US. Even though many of the Industrial Revolution breakthroughs happened in England, the process of continuing improvement as well as efficient operation of the economy required a modicum of education, which they flatly resisted providing. <br /><br />Gradually we'll almost all come to live like they do in Appalachia. A wealthy few will ride along for a generation or two; with no estate tax and no capital gains the plutocrats will be able to pass wealth down almost unhindered. But as a few decades march by technology will advance and our country will be another footnote in history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-31827320508490068932016-02-05T14:44:42.748-08:002016-02-05T14:44:42.748-08:00I was referring to Sandysphotos, which I figured i...I was referring to Sandysphotos, which I figured is yours based on the link to it. <br /><br />Yeah, I don't much like Kasich. If I had a gun to my head and was forced to vote for one of them, I guess it might be him. Or, if I had the guts, I'd say "Just shoot me." He's nearly as much of a religion-pusher as the rest, for one thing; and I'm aware of his dealings with public employees, only slightly less horrible than Scott Walker. Teachers like yourself (again, an assumption based on your link) deserve far better than what they've been getting from various R governors. Same with unions in general.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-31853849831485513552016-02-05T14:26:22.560-08:002016-02-05T14:26:22.560-08:00Kasich's shtick is to appear 'sorta reason...Kasich's shtick is to appear 'sorta reasonable'. . . but as an Ohio public employee, I know different. . . <br /><br />Also, Plunderbund isn't mine. . .I just follow it religiously, and thought you might enjoy it.<br /><br />Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315250115848931224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-56595703406943128462016-02-05T06:29:03.603-08:002016-02-05T06:29:03.603-08:00Thanks, Stephanie. In a field like the current one...Thanks, Stephanie. In a field like the current one, a guy like Kasich seems, on first blush, to be sorta reasonable. But he's not, as you said, and the article shows. <br /><br />NIce photos on your blog, BTW. Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-5638200614715397822016-02-04T20:16:20.693-08:002016-02-04T20:16:20.693-08:00every single one of their prospective nominees (Ka...every single one of their prospective nominees (Kasich who has zero chance, excepted maybe) is a flat-out liar<br /><br />Kasich absolutely NOT excepted. . . just FYI. Check out www.plunderbund.com. . .I think you'd like it.Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315250115848931224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-60722672439234979902016-02-04T19:54:33.367-08:002016-02-04T19:54:33.367-08:00I have the same reservations about Hillary, Mr Tho...I have the same reservations about Hillary, Mr Thompson (I also have close to the same number of years.) My concerns about Bernie, with whom I agree on pretty much everything, is his style; I wish he'd frame the income/wealth disparity issue in less "us vs. them" terms, because I think the argument can be made that the wealthy (and Wall Street) have something to gain from seeing to it that more Americans have a living wage. Were he to do that he might get less virulent pushback. <br /><br />It's also the case, as Bernie says, that he'd not be able to get much done unless people wake up and elect representatives of similar inclination. It's an uphill battle, given the entrenched gerrymandered districts throughout the South; but it doesn't seem impossible, assuming he, or Hillary if it's her, pushes hard the obvious consequences of Rs keeping control of Congress, and getting the White House. Democrats haven't been good at making that argument, despite how easy it ought to be.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-78216402902883330572016-02-04T19:32:53.670-08:002016-02-04T19:32:53.670-08:00I voted for President Obama in both elections, and...I voted for President Obama in both elections, and while I still love the guy, he really disappointed me. He needed to be tough against the Koch driven R's, instead, he tried to offer olive branches, which resulted in him being viewed as timid, not only in the eyes of his enemies, but in much of the country as well.<br />Was he a victim of vicious and blatant racism? Hell yes! Should he have "played the race card"?; I think he should. His overwhelming support from the black community, now largely disillusioned, would have been solidly behind him, along with the growing progressive (not "liberal wave in the wind" Democrats.<br />Oh well, what's done is done, but I believe we have another chance to right the "rising tides raise all boats) ship in the coming election, and it ain't Ms Clinton, it's Bernie Sanders.He has captured the youth vote, who realize that without some major changes in their government, they're going to be permanently screwed. This is a huge advantage that, that because of her image as an "establishment" candidate, Hillary will not carry. If Hillary (the DNC choice)wins, I predict that: 1)The R's will eat her alive over Bengazi (they'e already started) and "Obamacare", (the (R name for the ACA), and 2) the youth vote will be lost having been screwed again along with the black vote, when Hillary caves and the current status quo not only remains but grows stronger after realizing that no matter what party wins, they can't lose.<br />At 75+ I don't expect to see 2 more presidential elections (nor do I expect Bernie to run again in 2020. The time is now...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09334216999800272837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-16615142071073099632016-02-04T12:32:38.493-08:002016-02-04T12:32:38.493-08:00Amen. When I read that Pierce installment this mor...Amen. When I read that Pierce installment this morning I'm pretty sure that my pulse rate and blood pressure began to rise, a good reaction. Moderate, Democratic, and liberal candidates have been given a gift by Michigan's governor. They should all latch onto that like a pit bull on a piece of meat and not let go of it!<br /><br />The consequences of handing the presidency to the GOP, with a GOP House and Senate would be a disaster, as you describe, with all sorts of secondary and tertiary effects. I just finished reading <i>Just Mercy</i> by Bryan Stevenson, a black lawyer who has spent his life fighting for justice for the innocent, poor, black, mentally ill, and children wrongly or cruelly imprisoned in the South and elsewhere in the U.S. It's an excellent read.<br /><br />One of the topics he discusses is the increase in incarceration and death penalty sentences as a result of conservative (former Dixiecrats) and Republican legislation, but also Supreme Court rulings, in the latter half of the last century. He also points a finger at the companies who built the prisons. They were busy handing out campaign donations and lobbying dollars in return for the changes in the laws. Prisons are good business for everybody in the chain, except of course the weak, poor, and innocent.<br /><br />And today, although incarceration rates have declined in recent years, we face Republican commitment to for-profit prisons:<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/<br /><br />If that happens we will see laws changed, incarceration rates explode, and more prison abuses. If prisons are good business, then profit prisons are even better. All in the name of shrinking that government, of course!Dr Strangelovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14603758423399991937noreply@blogger.com