It's all about "sex"

[crfriend]

Well Ray, all I can say is that no matter what happens, many of us here in the U.S. didn't ask for this. Our politics are split almost 50/50.

All the more reason for making voting mandatory and assessing fines on those who do not cast ballots -- or at least show up at the polling place to be counting as having voted -- and to have a minimum quorum set at 75% or so so we get a decent idea whether this really is the will of We The People or a small slice thereof. And, a blank ballot means "No acceptable candidate." The USA desperately needs that option.

Yes, its more socially acceptable to state that there may not be a God (Elohim [0]) and to say that Jesus might not have existed than to speak even the slightest criticism of Trump... there's something wrong with this picture here, and that's why I'm not kidding when I say he has been elevated to God status among his followers.

That's the genesis of the common cracks about the "C of T" ("Church of Trump", a play on "Church of England", which appeared in Stanley Kubrick's movie A Clockwork Orange which retains resonances and relevance to this day).

The division is a real and present problem. Some might even go so far as to call it an existential threat. We need a way to iron all of that out and to strongly encourage all eligible voters to cast ballots. Sure, there's going to be a lot of random noise in there, but there is in general society. But then there's the problem of "eligibility"; I may no longer be eligible to vote in my little town because of a screw-up with the census. I need to get that sorted out.

I know that if there is an "election" this year I shall be voting in it. If allowed to, that is.

[moonshadow]

I may no longer be eligible to vote in my little town because of a screw-up with the census. I need to get that sorted out.

What?

Now that statement warrants further discussion... what's this all about? A census shouldn't disenfranchise an otherwise eligible voter....

[crfriend]

A census shouldn't disenfranchise an otherwise eligible voter....

As I said, I need to get it sorted out. Film when it gets developed.

[Elisabetta]

So in other news I've been listening to a radio station and a song came on that I think you Oldsalt would like among other members. I'm a country girl and also like Prince so I hope you don't mind the song being country. I'll post the lyrics with the song below. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/XfzJ8UBr-c0

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench an old man was sitting there
I said, your old courthouse is kinda run down
He said, naw, it'll do for our little town
I said, your old flagpole has leaned a little bit
And that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it
He said, have a seat, and I sat down
Is this the first time you've been to our little town?
I said, I think it is
He said, I don't like to brag
But we're kinda proud of that ragged old flag
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when
Washington took it across the Delaware
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing say can you see
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the texas flag, but she waved on though
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg
And the south wind blew hard on that ragged old flag
On Flanders field in World War one
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun
She turned blood red in World War Two
She hung limp and low a time or two
She was in Korea and Vietnam
She went where she was sent by Uncle Sam
She waved from our ships upon the Briny foam
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home
In her own good land here she's been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more
So we raise her up every morning
We take her down every night
We don't let her touch the ground and we fold her up right
On second thought, I do like to brag
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Cash
Ragged Old Flag lyrics © BMG Rights Management

[beachlion]

The solution to a lot of problems is so simple and it works in most democracies. Get rid of the primaries, people can vote for every candidate on the list and the one with the most votes wins and calls the shots. New parties may see the light of day and congress has to learn how to compromise.

[Kirbstone]

Jenn,

What a splendid post. Wasn't Johnny Cash a National Treasure in his time ! I have always been a great fan and recently experienced a private tear-jerker.
MOH's younger brother frequently sang 'Big Bad John' as a party piece for the family's enjoyment at gatherings and very sadly only in April this year was taken from us by Cancer. He had just passed his 70th birthday. He was a big man and a star rugby player in his youth.

At his funeral Service they played Johnny Cash's 'Big Bad John' and there wasn't a dry eye in the building.

Thank you for that. There's certainly no room for political sniping, for sure.

Tom

[Elisabetta]

Jenn,

What a splendid post. Wasn't Johnny Cash a National Treasure in his time ! I have always been a great fan and recently experienced a private tear-jerker.
MOH's younger brother frequently sang 'Big Bad John' as a party piece for the family's enjoyment at gatherings and very sadly only in April this year was taken from us by Cancer. He had just passed his 70th birthday. He was a big man and a star rugby player in his youth.

At his funeral Service they played Johnny Cash's 'Big Bad John' and there wasn't a dry eye in the building.

Thank you for that. There's certainly no room for political sniping, for sure.

Tom

So very sorry for your loss. You're welcome thought you all would like it

[Pdxfashionpioneer]

Tom, I too am sorry for your loss.

Our overseas friends, you won't find anything uplifting or unifying in Trump's tweets. According to his biographers, Trump has lived all of his life believing that human existence is nothing but dog eat dog, because that's what Daddy taught him.

OldSalt1, in fact the polls got it exactly right. They're prediction on the popular vote was off by only one percentage point. The only reason Trump won was that he won the right combination of battleground states. Hence, all of the recent talk of dispensing with the Electoral College. It was created as a compromise between those who wanted the President elected by the people and those who wanted the President elected by the House & Senate. If you read the US Constitution in its entirety, you'll see that originally the Senators were elected by the several states' legislatures. Once the Constitution was amended to have them elected by the respective states' citizens, I wish someone had thought to finish the job by eliminating the Electoral College.

Carl, if you would like to hear the world news from the BBC, tune in your local PBS news radio station in the wee hours. By the way, PBS was recently voted the least biased news channel in the US. For the benefit of our special friends and cousins across the pond, I've always enjoyed listening to the BBC world news when I happened to be listening to the radio that late at night because they cover events in the world I had no idea were going on because, as one of you said, US media is pretty insular. So are my countrymen. Before we found they were helpful for getting onto airliners, only 10% of US citizens had a passport. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that was probably the lowest percentage amongst the developed nations.

In our defense, the US is one of the few countries in the world that spans its continent. My brother was in industrial sales his whole career and often hosted international customers. They were always amazed at the size of the US. These were intelligent people who had presumably looked at maps with understanding before they left home and knew intellectually how many miles they were in for, but I guess you have to see it to believe it. What I'm getting at, is that an American can do lots of travelling, see lots of different scenery and meet lots of different people without leaving his home country.

To get back on topic, I would also like to say, the BBC World News always struck me as straightforward, objective reporting.

It's not quite accurate to say people in the US are split 50/50 in their views. It's closer to even thirds. About one-third of our registered voters are Republicans (Red), one-third are Democrats (Blue) and the final third are referred to as "Independents." The so-called Independents may belong to one or another of our splinter parties, though most don't declare an affiliation at all. All up, as Moonshadow suggested, they're about evenly split between between leaning Red or Blue, but they're persuadable.

What has bogged the US down is that politics has become personal. Sociologists say that political affiliation has become more of a tribal identity than just a declaration of which political party you decided to join. This shows up most clearly in the issue of climate change. Something like 90% of all Europeans get it that climate change is not only real, but that it is primarily driven by human activity. Many Republicans still maintain that climate change is a hoax. Apparently the majority of Republicans has come to accept that the climate is changing, but still refuse to believe that it's caused by human activity. Why? Because the party leadership says so. Why has the Republican leadership held a view so contrary to the considered opinion of some 94% of the published climate scientists in the country? Because 1) Big Oil told them so and as Deep Throat said, "Follow the money!" 2) Their base voters love they're gas guzzling muscle cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. And 3) they would have to admit that sometimes the only thing that will save our sorry butts is government regulation combined with, horror of horrors, taxes. Similarly, I've heard some navy Blue liberals say the most ridiculous things against changing a single word of the laws that created the pre-Clinton era US welfare system. But the fact remains, the reforms that the Republicans proposed at that time have lead to a lot more people getting off welfare and into employment than would have otherwise.

I consider myself to be a Progressive (I know, shocker!), that is, someone who believes that by harnessing our collective resources, government can make our country and even our world a better place. Nonetheless, I know that the first pillar of an American adult's self esteem is having a paying job because we're a work-oriented society. Some may argue we take that attitude too far, and I believe we do, but it's an inescapable fact here and that attitude got us through the early colonial period and to the Moon and back.

Is the current US welfare system perfect? Of course not, but nothing in any country's political systems is. I am saying, it's our welfare system is a whole lot better than it was because back then we were still willing to listen to one another and didn't reflexively reject ideas just because they came from the other side of the aisle.

[Ray]

That’s a very insightful piece, David.

The climate change comment is startling. I cannot believe that there are so many holding out against the proven concept.

Even if it’s all wrong, we still clean up the planet, and create jobs (or repurpose jobs) in so doing. I cannot see the problem.

All in all, a very interesting read.

[moonshadow]

That’s a very insightful piece, David.

Yes I agree, and as a resident of the U.S., I will vouch its accuracy. Even the remark about our politics being split more into thirds I'd say is a better assessment.

[moonshadow]

As for Uncle Dan, I can say the he and my father would get along perfectly, only thing though is he'd probably have to ditch the skirts... dad doesn't go for that...

[oldsalt1]

Thanks Jenn a very nice post.. I remember seeing the song some where on TV probably an early morning Fox thing.

A couple of things With out the US the world will being speaking Chinese

My biggest gripe is Disrespect for the Flag . Things may be changing but it is still the symbol for what this country was about.

Respect has gone a long way down hill my feeling is that part of this loss is because people want to be respected their way if you can understand what I am saying.

Now that we are all calm I can start the next battle I made up this sign and put it on my car window

PROTECT THE BLUE SO THEY WILL AROUND TO PROTECT YOU

Comments

[moonshadow]

couple of things With out the US the world will being speaking Chinese

Interesting hypothetical to explore... "what would the world be if North America was never colonized by European settlers?"

As to what language we'd be speaking... that's anyone's guess. Would China even be what China is today if not for the U.S.?

[beachlion]

couple of things With out the US the world will being speaking Chinese

Interesting hypothetical to explore... "what would the world be if North America was never colonized by European settlers?"

As to what language we'd be speaking... that's anyone's guess. Would China even be what China is today if not for the U.S.?

It might even be worse than that if the English did not kick out the Dutch from Nieuw Amsterdam in the 1600s. You would be speaking Dutch and that is not easy to master.

I still wonder if the Dutch got their $60 back they payed the locals to buy Manhattan. With compounded interest it will be a nice amount now.

[oldsalt1]

60 bucks for Manhattan Gee I took $60 out of my bank account this morning for pocket cash