07:26 – The 1972 presidential election was the first one for which I was eligible to vote. I voted for Nixon that time, and I’ve voted in every presidential election since then. Today, for the first time in 40 years, I’m not going to bother to vote. Neither is Barbara.
It doesn’t matter to us if Obama wins or Romney wins. Whichever wins, he won’t be our president.
A Libertarian voting for Romney:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/03/why-mitt-romney-is-only-sane-choice-for-libertarians/
Um, Root is a Republican. He left the LP and rejoined the Republican Party before he endorsed Romney. Big surprise. That article is dishonest.
A German’s view of the US at election time.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/commentary-total-capitalism-and-the-downfall-of-america-a-865437.html
Having lived in Europe for nearly a decade, I can attest that the juxtaposition of wealth with poverty and blight in cities, is something one just does not see in Europe. I never, ever saw boarded up dilapidated houses that were falling apart, anywhere in Europe, and we went everywhere. There is a boarded up house with the front door laying on the ground, just 3 houses around the corner from me. It has been that way since I got back (although some workmen were there the other day, so hopefully there is hope). Even the low income Turk neighborhoods in Berlin never looked worse than any other—except the buildings all seem to use a drab brown color instead of something more contemporary. Power failures, even in the few storms we had, did not exist, as all wiring is underground, not ‘dangling from poles’ as the author points out. And while we have power failure after power failure, there is never any push to bury the lines. We are stuck in 1950’s technology; even the cell phone system here positively stinks compared to Europe. I once showed a German that commercial about “Can you hear me now? (moves 5 feet) Can you hear me now?” They did not get it. I NEVER had one single call dropped or get fuzzy on me in 8 years with a cell phone there. And they even worked in elevators. Crystal clear, like Ma Bell used to be.
What utter crap.
Perhaps it is guys like him that hold the Libertarian Party back. I don’t know anything about him but what you said. Grass roots from the bottom up seems the way to go.
Dick Morris: “Prediction: Romney 325, Obama 213”
http://www.dickmorris.com/prediction-romney-325-obama-213/
I think that Romney can pull us out the ditch but only by extreme effort and pain. There will be many screaming and I do not know if he can take it. Much of the screaming will be from the Republican party.
Once again, we need a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.
Well, as I said three weeks ago, assuming the vote count is reasonably honest, I’ll be surprised if Obama gets 221, let alone 271.
“assuming the vote count is reasonably honest”
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it. Fight tooth-and-nail against voter ID laws, why? So you can pay people to “vote early and vote often”, once in each district you can bus them to.
I would love to see a post-election analysis of places like Dayton, Ohio. A swing state, a reasonably small city, meaning that not too many votes will make a big difference. Not one but two substantial slums. See how many people vote in which districts in the inner city. I would be willing to bet that some districts will have more votes cast than they have adult population.
The count can be corrupted both while and after ballots are cast and in the counting process. In Oregon an elections employee has been accused of modifying ballots to increase the vote for Republican candidates. http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/oregon_department_of_justice_i_1.html
This is what government is about now. Anything to get a dollar in the coffer:
http://www.news9.com/story/20010769/three-year-old-piemont-boy-gets-2500-ticket-for-peeing-in-his-front-yard
Very light turnout at my polling place in Tiny Town, according to my neighbors who are manning that polling precinct—although we are hardly a representative city for anything but high unemployment. Only 1 other person at the machines while I was in there.
What utter crap.
Which?
Pretty much the whole article.
Apparently over two thirds of the voters in Texas voted early this year so the turnout today is light. I am a BIG fan of early voting. In fact, let’s start voting for the 2016 election next week!
You can always just skip over the elected officials and cast your vote on the various state and local propositions. Many of those are worthy of a Yes/No vote.
Not in New York. If the “right” result isn’t reached, the question will be put to ballot again, often in a special vote. This will be repeated until the “right” result is reached.
I call BS. There aren’t any Republicans in Oregon.
We vote on these big tablet-like touch screens that are about the size legal paper once was. Talk about voting until you get it right. There were 7 pages to the ballot. I voted straight Libertarian, voted ‘not to retain’ for all judges on the ballot (my part for term limits and rotation in office), and left everything else blank.
Well, the red “Vote” light would not come on after I finished. When I hit it anyway, a dialog appeared telling me that I had not voted for many of the candidates. It then forced me to “Review” my whole ballot. When I got to the last page, it told me “You are not finished voting. Would you like to cast your ballot anyway?” I hit yes, the red “Vote” light came on, and I hit it.
Next thing you know, it won’t let me hit Vote, until I select the “right” candidate. Never had these kind of hassles with the mechanical machines.
“If the “right” result isn’t reached, the question will be put to ballot again, often in a special vote. This will be repeated until the “right” result is reached.”
Exactly like what Brussels did and does with its members. Goddamned ignorant peasant scum Mundanes will damn well keep voting until they get it right!
Mrs. OFD voted back in our old town where we are still registered. I did not, although I was sorely tempted to write in some names, which I’ve mentioned here before. I will return to voting in the next elections, but only for local and state candidates and issues, no more national charades for me. Our nation-state is on its way out, anyway. And good riddance to bad rubbish.
On the way to and from work today, however, I was stunned, astounded, confounded, dumbstruck and gob-smacked. A local Roman Catholic church is serving as an election voting station! And the traffic in and out was amazing; they had guys in fluorescent vests directing the traffic and parking. I have nearly sixty years on the planet, most of it here in Nova Anglia, and I have never before seen a church host a political election, let alone a Roman Catholic one. WTF? Any of youse guys ever see this where youse at?
I expect Barry Soetro to win tonight and sometime during his term it is quite possible that things will be so bad that a general steps in. If by some chance Bishop Mittens gets it, that scenario may be delayed into his second term; either way, whichever bozo will be presiding over the Titanic.
My church has been a polling place for many years. We’ve got that large space, should use it for something during the week. Also, it give the unchurched a chance to see our building and maybe come back on a Sunday.
Churches are often used for polling places in Canada, but typically it’s schools.
In fact, taking the kids along to see how voting is done is the only time either of my kids were in school to learn something.
dkreck wrotes: “I call BS. There aren’t any Republicans in Oregon.”
My first thought was that a Democrat was trying to discredit the Republicans, for that very reason. Right wing Oregonian, perish the thought!
Yeah, my experience until today was seeing the voting usually done in either school buildings or town/city halls. I was amazed to see it in a Catholic church.
I see the usual MSM cretins continue to report this as though it’s a dead-heat or they even have Mittens ahead right now. For boffo laffs, here’s my old pal Howie’s latest screed:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061172661&format=text
Would Oregon be a red state if the Peoples Republic of Portland fell into the see?
*sea
Quite a few churches are used as polling places here in Lower Alabama. The papists, being more or less a suppressed minority, aren’t involved.
Watching Al Jezeera streaming. They seem to be ahead of everyone else, and have very articulate coverage.
Yah, they are usually much better than our shitty nooz outfits here; also, Russia Today:
http://special-events.rt.com/US-presidential-election-2012-up-close/electoral-map/
OFD is gonna read himself to sleep now with the current issue of the Quarterly Review, a conservative English periodical edited by his friend Derek Turner. It’s 25 outside right now and dropping, and in the afternoon commute to our old house for wrap-up stuff today, I saw the surrounding mountains covered with snow in bright sunshine and against the blue sky, pretty amazing.
Pax vobiscum, and let’s hope whoever gets in tomorrow doesn’t do us as much damage as old OFD and others here think they will. Anyway, it’s not so much them anymore; it’s the people in back of them.
One of the reasons I like paper ballots is that they are easy to spoil.
Wow. Al Jezeera is significantly ahead of Fox and CNN.
I vote at Temple Beth El.
They’re calling it a win for BO.
BAH! It’s obvious at least half the country didn’t vote to re-elect the Prez.
Karl Rove says Ohio ain’t done and he may be right.
OK, I am going to cancel my new home purchase in the morning. I was banking on Romney killing Obamacare with its 54? new taxes and several crazy things that are going to happen on Jan 1. I was financially stretching to buy it before I sold my existing home so it is best not to do that now.
I have a friend with 108 employees who does not buy health insurance for his employees. They are all blue collar workers in a machine shop. His business is barely breaking even as is. He got a quote of $250K to buy minimal health insurance for his employees that he is sure does not meet the Obamacare requirements. He does not have the money unless he forgoes his salary. Not gonna happen.
With Obamacare staying in place, he is laying off 15 people over the next month and then splitting his company in two. Both companies will be under the magic number of 50 employees so he will not have to pay the penalty tax. I asked him if he is going to move one of the companies to another facility and he said no. I think that they will come looking for him and make him pay the penalty tax anyway. Tough to tell but I wished him well. He could just go ahead and shutdown his company anyway since he has downsized already many times but he wants to try to keep it going.
Does Mr. Obama even care about these people?
Sure he does. Someone has to pay the taxes to fund his dreams.
I’m glad I don’t live there. We have the left in control at the state and federal level, but at least our lefties aren’t lunatics.
Looks like we get to find out: Just how much can unfettered executive power achieve in four years, when you don’t have to worry about re-election? Will a Republican House ever grow the balls to intervene?
It will be Hillary on the ticket in 2016, and most likely she will be elected…
Even had Romney won, I don’t believe Republicans would have controlled the Senate, and without that, there would have been no chance of repealing Obamacare. Even the Tea Party did nothing to deliver on its promise to dismantle it. Obamacare was here to stay the day it was put into place. Too much healthcare lobbying going on with big money attached to it, for Congress to reject it—much less overturn it,—no matter who is President.
As I said years ago, I have lived in the future, and we are going to follow Europe, so make plans accordingly.
At 10:40, Al Jazeera showed how it would be impossible for Romney to win without 4 swing states where Nobama was already leading by wide margins. At 11:10, they determined it was all but impossible for Romney to win; at 11:15 they called it for Nobama, about 4 minutes before anybody else, by my observations. That is one impressive network, and the whole thing originated from Doha, Quatar. Absolutely amazing.
Busy rest of the week for me. Back for the weekend.
If we are going to follow Europe in the USA, which group? Southern or Northern?
We are all Greece now as far as I can see.
On the plus side, *every* state with a gay marriage bill voted in favour of equality. Or so I understand it. I must confess, I drank a bottle of fortified wine and started hugging every American I could find, so I’m not entirely sure.
…and now we reap the whirlwind…a little sooner, probably, than if Mittens had won.
This country really is radically split and that bodes no good. Way down the road a ways we are probably looking at choosing some sort of monarchy/dictatorship, either a Franco or a Mao, and if we did it this morning it would be Mao. And every time I see another Obama/Biden bumper sticker or lawn sign I will be thinking about that. Small comfort that most of these imbeciles have no clue what they’ve done and are doing.
We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
A Remington 870 and a Winchester 1200 do a very lovely duet sometimes.
I have a Franchi Spas 12 and a Browning .30-06. Close enough.
High Standard 10B and Remington .308
I’m looking at the new Rock River Arms Delta Carbine; an AK-47 on an AR platform.
http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=558&CFID=256241613&CFTOKEN=93010186&jsessionid=f03031f387e5162507a1
Those weapons are very effective against the rabble in the streets until you run out of ammo. However, the Marines are another matter. They own the night.
Yeah, but will the Marines be on our side?
As for ammo running out, I can’t make the point strongly enough that we cannot fight off bandidos running wild alone; we need to be linking up with our families, friends and NEIGHBORS. On the other hand, if multiple fire teams attack us from several directions with crew-served weapons, and/or armor and/or aircraft, we’re probably DOA PDQ. While bearing in mind that guys inside the armor and aircraft have to eat, sleep and live somewhere.
I don’t know about the Marines. On one hand, a lot of them did not get to vote yesterday and are fairly unhappy about it. On the other hand, they are taught to obey all lawful orders and taught hard.
BTW, Texas is a taker state. We get more federal money than we send in. Most of the states with large immigrant populations are. One wonders about the long term implications of that.
Key word in your first para is “lawful.”
The long-term implications of that are that eventually the Fed money is gonna run out. Then what? For either the large immigrant population or the folks who’ve been there all along? Mrs. OFD and I, by the way, have fond regards for Texas; she was stuck in Austin with her group from up here for the week of 9/11 when all commercial air traffic was grounded. The Texans treated them royally and couldn’t do enough for them, as was true also of local Canadians up in Newfoundland and Labrador who took in Americans from flights diverted there. Some of my own memories may not be so fond, mainly of boot camp and several subsequent tours of various other training, when it was freezing at O-Dahk-Thirty and scorching at noon. With rattlers and coral snakes in the vicinity.