September 9, 2012

We should not forget Rasmussen is a whore...

Take a trip over to FR and you will see they are giddy as school children because it is a very close reelection

They quote the Daily Swing State tracking poll that looks at "Swing States." This poll is for September 09.

To them it's a razor thin election because the swing states, at least according to Rasmussen, are all within a point.

Democrats are looking at a broader view, Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. This is also for September 09.

This is the same data, looked at from different points of view. One seems constructed to appeal to Democrats so they believe Obama is winning comfortably. The other way of looking at the polls is to put it together to bolster Republican view that it is an incredibly tight election that they can buy our suppress to victory.

Which one is accurate?

Well, none of them are because the data is put together in such a way to appeal to different markets. Rasmussen is selling himself to everyone by giving them massaged results.

Rasmussen is a whore who will sell himself to everyone.

August 28, 2012

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. [Isaiah 2:4]

That is a beautiful sentiment, but it is end of the word gobbledygook. I was born seven years after the end of WWII. My father was a veteran of WWII and Korea.

I am anti unnecessary war, which is to say I am not a pacifist but am opposed to the use of war for political, territorial gain, resources, or because some leader wants to get a one up on his daddy. I do think the use of the military to aid people who are seeking to throw off a real tyrant busy murdering his people is a legitimate use of power.

WWII was a necessary war that was brought to us. Some here will disagree. Korea was political, part of that post WWII period when the U.S. and Russia were fighting proxy wars and encouraging proxy wars to see had the who was boss. We interfered because had we not, the whole Korean Peninsula would be like North Korea is today; a tiny, starving nation, lead by a dynasty of isolationist zealots. If we are going to complain about South Korea's political laws, we should seriously consider North Korea's Laws.

Vietnam was similar to Korea, though it had a long history of war, having with China, the French, Japanese, and the U.S. Still, I oppose getting involved because it was never necessary to our national survival.

Panama was essentially a police action using the military. Norriega was indicted, so we went, we arrested him, we left. Would our nation have survived if we left that petty dictator in place? Yes, so it wasn't necessary in that way, but we could have hardly sent in U.S. Marshals and arrested him.

Because the perpetrators of 9/11 were terrorists and not nation states, I felt they should have been pursued as criminals rather than sending the military to kick ass and take names. We fought Iraq because we stupidly thought we could create a Jeffersonian Democracy that would make the middle east love us, and to gain control of their oil. Both of those goals were unmet. It was a stupid waste of time, resources, and a monumental waste of lives.

Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. Fighting there is stupid. We are not going to make them like us and they will pretty much go back to the way they were before we or the Russians, or the British were there. It was a war fought stupidly in its beginning a pointlessly as it winds down.

Libya, I supported it because the people asked us to help and we did not have to invade and occupy to do it. My view of the war is tainted by my sense that a great part of our reason to help them was because Europe benefited with Libya's oil. If we did the same with Syria, I would think better of the exercise, because the Syrian people are being treated the same way the Libyans were. The difference is that the Russians don't want us playing in their pumpkin patch, so it is a political standoff while Syria murders its citizens. It appears to me, that it will cause the death toll to go higher, but the government will change as demanded by the people. They have the right to change their government.

So clearly, I am not anti all war, and I do not buy the notion that at the end of times some deity will come and force us to play nice. I am anti-unnecessary war, and feel the military is a legitimate tool to aid others who are being abused by their government if they ask for help.

August 28, 2012

My earliest memory of a nominating convention was 1968...

I was 17 and thought it was cool. My grandfather sat around making disparaging remarks. He was a Rockefeller Republican and did not think Nixon could polish Eisenhower's shoes. My grandmother, a Democrat true and blue, supported Senator Eugene McCarthy against Hubert Humphrey, especially after several local boys we all knew died in Vietnam. That convention was what led to the adoption of binding primaries and zero surprises. But it was also surrounded by riots outside and Dan Rather was roughed up inside when he attempted to talk to a delegate. Walter Cronkite called them thugs.

I was unaware of any of what went on behind the scenes at those conventions. The pageantry of the whole thing was a hell of a spectacle. I remember Goldwater from 1964, because he appeared at our school and handed out cans of "Goldwater" soda, that tasted like Orange Crush.

I find the current Republican National Convention, with the Party elite attempting to push out Paul's delegations, and even Texas in one report, to be interesting and telling concerning the fight inside the Republican Party between Party big business Corporate Conservative leadership and the Teaparty and radical Christian insurgents. But I read reports only and don't watch. I get enough political advertisements on regularly scheduled television to last me a lifetime.

August 27, 2012

For first time, Californians will be able to register to vote online

For first time, Californians will be able to register to vote online

SACRAMENTO — Beginning next month, Californians for the first time will be able to use the Internet to register to vote, giving them about six weeks of online access to register in time to participate in the Nov. 6 presidential election.

In an advisory sent late Wednesday, the office of Secretary of State Debra Bowen informed the state's 58 county elections officers that the California Online Voter Registration System is in its final stages of testing and will become operational in early September. Software upgrades are scheduled to be electronically transmitted to the counties Friday, with online training for local officials to be conducted next week.

"It's really huge," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen. "I think it will be extremely popular and am very hopeful it will increase voter registration."

Anything that makes it easier to register and vote is a benefit to citizens.

I'll be the very idea of this Chaps Republican's arse.

Remember, if you know anyone who is not registered, the article says that October 22 is the last day to register to vote in California.