Gratitude and Happiness

I thought this was a good link on Thanksgiving Day, especially since many of us are nervous, scared and not very thankful these days.  CNN The Year of Living Thankfully

As I watch what is happening in Syria and Iraq, I think we should all be thanking heavens for our blessings be they big or small.  When I get frustrated and am feeling ungrateful, I draw a vertical line down the center of a piece of paper and label one side Good and the other Not Good. Then I start writing items down, and the Good list is always much bigger than the Not Good list...

Another trick is that I try to remember that I am not owed any effort by anyone. (except maybe basic politeness) This sounds negative, however I see it as positive.  It helps me to not get frustrated with other people doing differently than I wish. And it helps me to really appreciate when others choose to make my life easier.  I can see it for the gift it is.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

The Problem with Sanctuary Cities

Ibrahim is on a roll...  My first comment was that I find comments like the one below amazing.


Why is it that the folks who want higher incomes for low end workers, more jobs for minority workers, more social services / benefits for low income folks, etc seem to be the most vocal "Do Not Deport" illegal workers voices?


Apparently there are ~90,000 illegal workers in MN.  Now that is a lot of job openings if they were all returned home.  Wouldn't this be good for all of the legal low end workers and those who are unemployed? 


"Tripiciano said that if police officers were forced to round up everyone who’s here without authorization, there will be numerous businesses that would have to close down. “You don’t want to put the companies that employ their community members at risk by taking away a large chunk of their workforce,” she added. “That just doesn’t make any sense.”


Personally I think police should cooperate with ICE.  Thoughts?

The Robots are Coming

Ibrahim wrote a good piece here.


I accept that this is the future.  The question I posed is how is our society and education system willing to change to ensure NO Child is Left Behind.  It is critical that EVERY non-special needs child who graduates is academically and socially cable, and interested in working and life long learning.


You know my views:

• hold Parents accountable
• hold School and Social Service Systems accountable
• promote households with 2 mature adults
• other?

The Obstructionist Party

The other comment that did not make the cut here went something like this.

Now as you know, I am a fan of gridlock and slow steady change.  I like it when we take 2 steps forward, 1 step back, maybe a couple to the side. Anything to give people time to adjust to the social change and to allow our economy time to adjust to the new system.

For 6 years Liberal comments have been obsessed with how the GOP were OBSTRUCTIONISTS to the CORRECT function of Government.  They kept insisting that Government should be doing more of something in order to be deemed productive.

My big questions now are what are the Liberals going to call:

• the GOP as they work to pass laws, budgets, tax cuts, Justices, etc?
• the Democrats as they try to stop the passing of these?

Is the Democratic Party now the Obstructionist Party?  Thoughts?

Definitely NOT a Popular Mandate

Here was an interesting article that shows just how large Clinton's popular majority be when everything is sorted out.

Atlantic 1.5 million and Growing

And something interesting.

"Do All States Distribute Electoral Votes That Way?

No, but almost all do: 48 of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote there.

Which States Don't Use the Winner-Take-All Method?

Only two states award their electoral votes in a different manner. They are Nebraska and Maine.

How Do Nebraska and Maine Distribute Electoral Votes?

They allocate their electoral votes by congressional district. In other words, instead of distributing all of its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote, Nebraska and Maine awards an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes. This method is called the Congressional District Method; Maine has used it since 1972 and Nebraska has used it since 1996.

Doesn't the U.S. Constitution Prohibit Such Distribution Methods?

Not at all. In fact, it's just the opposite.

While the U.S. Constitution requires states to appoint electors, the document is silent on how they actually award votes in presidential elections. There have been numerous proposals to circumvent the winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes.

The Constitution leaves the matter of electoral-vote distribution up to the states, stating only that:

"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress." The key phrase pertaining to the distribution of electoral votes is obvious: " ... in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct."

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the states' role in awarding electoral votes is "supreme."

Are Electors the Same As Delegates?

No. Electors are not the same as delegates. Electors are part of the mechanism that chooses a president. Delegates, on the other hand, distributed by the parties during the primaries and serve to nominate candidates to run in the general election. "

Trump and White Old Men

It is hard to believe that Trump can not find more bright capable women and minorities to fill these posts.  Maybe all those folks are correct that say he thinks women and minority people are not as capable or smart...

Thoughts?

Politico White Men Dominate
WP Binder of White Men
VOX All White Men

FoxNews Michelle Rhee

Trump and Facism?

Those MP Moderators... MP Hope from Bad Week

"Methods: What I haven't seen is a discussion on methods: Seems that Mr. T used most every propaganda trick in the book that equates to Machiavellian and Fascism. ~ 5-6 months back a suggestion was made to fight fire with fire, however, it may have been you Paul, that suggested that the progressive not entertain that idea! So is it elitism, to try to play to folks logic, fact & intellect? Or; better to go the low road with the slogans, veiled realities, and UN-substantiated character assassination? 

Personally I think the low road: Got an in-law that was a CFO, did he check T's numbers before buying? Not a chance Just let that one blow on by. Hate to say it but plenty of fascism to go around in America, sold out for a slogan." Dennis

"So where exactly do you see fascism in America?" Ilya

"Anti Muslin Rhetoric, Anti Mexican Rhetoric, (in the 30's of Germany it was the Jews. Stephen Banner, "Far Alt right (Fascism Land) Strategist for Trump!" Dennis

"Personally I think it is the Democrats who seem more interested in centralizing power in Washington DC... The GOP seems fine with keeping most of the power in the States...  Interesting question...  "Facism - Webster Definition - a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"" G2A

"The central point folks like Ilya and Appelen always miss regarding their argument that liberals are more prone to Facism is the reference to a "dictatorial" leader. We live in a constitutional liberal democracy wherein our presidents are elected and subject to Constitutional limits. No amount of hysteria changes that central fact.

The reason people get worried about a guy like Trump and other republicans is historically dictators emerge from the right, or conservative ideologies, that's simply an historical fact. There's never been a truly liberal dictator, and the liberal preference for organized governance cannot be described as a latent tendency towards totalitarianism. And in fact republicans are more likely to tear up the Constitution despite their frequent claims to be "Constitutionalist".  

Republicans are for instance on the record as Theocrats who think this is a "Christian" nation. They have typically been the quickest to exercise extreme police force, and militarized policing based on racial and cultural stereotypes, i.e. "rounding up" millions of people and deporting them, creating religious registries, etc.  

Republican executives are also quite a bit more prone towards violating the laws, ignoring Congress, and overstepping authority; i.e. Nixon- Watergate and the illegal bombing of Cambodia, Reagan and the Iran Contra affair, Bush and his "rendition" program, the Guantanamo prisoner, use of torture, etc.  

And of course there's a plethora of policy initiatives from abortion to bathrooms where republican politicians are trying to regulate individual personal behavior in the service of their "values", which is a standard claim of all dictators.

Now some will point to the Communist model as an example of "liberal" dictatorship, and that's a common confusion that conflates left to right political spectrum's with discrete ideology. Marxism can be said to have emerged form the "left", but there was never anything liberal about Marxism or communism. Marx and the communist hated liberals and claimed that their ideology transcending liberal vs. conservative political spectrum's, i.e. it was all about the Dialectic." Paul

My answer went something like this:  Lenin, Castro, Chavez, Mao, etc, etc. Facism can come from the Left very easily.  For it to happen the majority of people need to be desperate and willing to sell their freedom and common sense to take from the wealthy... (ie pre-Nazi)  I think we are pretty safe...

Nolan

Trump, Bannon and FEAR

Those MP Moderators...   MP Hope out of Bad Week

"Mr. Rose did not care to answer my question. Would you like to? What do you think about the fact that the white supremacist/neo-Nazi contingent is openly prominent among the Trump coalition? What do you think about the fact that Mr Trump has appointed Steve Bannon chief of staff, giving these groups a direct connection to the policy and tactical nerve center of the administration? Did the vast proportion of Trump voters who are not racists, homophobes, anti-Semites, misogynists, etc vote for this? If not, do you expect that they will rise up in protest very soon?" Charles

"Well... First you will need to convince us Trump Voters that Bannon is as bad as you say, and that is unlikely to happen based on the background research I did. It seems that it is only the Left leaning folks and publications who want to lynch Bannon without a trial. It looks like he has a pretty diverse background and education.

Second, I voted against Hillary's far left platform and was not excited to cast a vote for Trump. However since he is going to be put in office I will happily wait and see where things go from here. Not much sense protesting something that has not happened yet.

What terrible actions do you see Trump and Bannon taking that are causing you so much fear?" G2A

"Regrets. I can't dismiss a year of barely controlled excitement for Trump on every white supremacist/neo-Nazi site; his open acceptance of the endorsement of those groups; and his appointment as chief policy adviser of a man whose chief undertaking since taking over the scurrilous Breitbart site has been to launder white supremacist messaging. Nor can I conceive of a cogent concept of right and left pursuant to which Clinton's platform could be classified as "far left." So I don't think we share a moral or analytical universe to an extent sufficient for meaningful discourse." Charles

Response went something like this...


Facts and Data:
CNN Trump denounces Duke and KKK


Hillary was a Liberal...  And then she stretched even further left to secure the Democratic Socialists votes of the Bernie followers.


Again... Other than deporting ILLEGAL aliens..  What terrible actions do you see Trump and Bannon taking that are causing you so much fear?"

Crazy Laws that are being Proposed

Things will certainly be exciting for us bloggers during the coming years...


I especially like the Suck It Up Buttercup proposed law.  Especially if it would allow us to toss anyone into jail who blocks a freeway, access to a police station, etc...  Preferably for weeks...  Not hours...


Please feel free to protest...  Just don't infringe on the freedoms of your fellow citizens.

What to Do with Rural Hicks?

So Hiram wrote some "fighting words" that I think deserve prime time billing and further discussion.

"The Democrats stopped addressing the concerns of Rural America." G2A

"We really don't actually. In economic terms, rural America has been on the decline for the last century or so, and nothing anything anyone does, can stop that. We do support rural schools, nursing homes, various forms of infrastructure stuff. Out state, Republicans campaign on things like the state office building, and the supposed arrogance of urban liberals, but they offer little of the way of substance apart from the easing of environmental regulations." Hiram

"Rural America may have fewer voters now due to automation and big equipment. That does not make it any less important to our country. Ignore them at your own peril. They are very high "value add" citizens who support many of our aspects of the American economy. (ie wealth creators) Besides they are able to influence elections as we have seen... :-)" G2A

"It's important, sure, but a lot fewer people live there. And those who do are faced with economic forces nobody can do anything about. Certainly the Republicans offer no solutions, which is why they spent so much time demagoguing the office building." Hiram

I personally find this map fascinating.  All those huge parts of the country that "nobody can do anything about"?  And all that RED...  Oh my...  Thoughts?
USA Today Election in 4 Maps

MP Where is the F in DFL
Guardian Democrats Deserted Us
The Hill Democrats Forgot about Rural America
Slate Rural Elected Someone Who will Not Help Them

How to Improve the Electoral College System

Here are some thoughts from Joel:

 

Well here are my thoughts on changes (improvements?) that could be made to the EC:

• Could we have national electors that would vote for the person who wins that national popular vote? These would be in addition to the existing 538 electors. How many would there be? One possible argument against is that it would effectively give a portion of the population more power than "one person, one vote".
• Each State still gets the two "Senator" votes, meaning that two votes go to the winner of the statewide popular vote
• Each congressional district still gets a single vote based on the popular vote within the district, with the following caveats:

With regard to Congressional Districts:

• Gerrymandering is outlawed (how?)
• District boundaries are not affected by State boundaries, meaning that all congressional districts would have to have, as closely as possible, the same population without respect to State borders. My questions regarding this are: Is there a good reason for congressional districts to be contained within States? What reason is there for it to continue? States already get electoral votes.

ACA's Replacement?

Since people want to discuss this.  Here is a starting point.


CNN Money ACA Replacement
Ryan's A Better Way: Healthcare

Thank Heavens for the Electoral College

Now this comment is worth further discussion.

"Election wise I always trust the inherent wisdom of the voters. It's up to them to get it right, and I trust their judgment, even when I disagree with it. This time, they chose Hillary. If only the founders had the same trust in America and it's people as I do." --Hiram

I personally am a huge fan of the Senate and Electoral college. I think these 2 systems are single handedly responsible for keeping us a group of "United" States. Could you even imagine the structural strain this country would experience if the coasts could ignore the will of the people in the "fly over states"? 


Somehow the relatively homogenous "progressive" city dwellers think they know better than those non-college educated rural folks who run the businesses that provide us food, energy and so many other things we rely on.  You should have seen Chuck Todd and David Brooks turn red on Sunday when the Progressive Farmer Opinion Writer called out all the folks like themselves who spent the election coverage "belittling" the non-college rural vote.  I think they finally figured out that a lot of these "uneducated rural" voters are highly educated, engaged and running large complex farms and businesses.  It made me smile.


I have never understood why the "herd" in cities should have more power than the folks in other States. Personally I think every city dweller should have to spend sometime in the country doing real work, it may improve our country. If not, maybe they can just watch /read The Ultimate Gift

CNN Results
MP MN Results
Progressive Farmer Rural America Roars
RF Donkeys Rare in Rural America

Why Muslim Woman Votes For Trump?

This woman is incredible !!!  She gets it !!!

WP Why Muslim Woman Voted for Trump
CNN Woman being Interviewed

Joel is trying to explain over here that...

"Here's a link that describes it a whole lot better than I can.
Cinemax Theory of Racism 

If you can overlook racism, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia to get what you want, then you are choosing racism, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia."

So by his logic this immigrant Muslim woman is apparently a closet...  racist, misogynistic homophobic xenophobe... Or his idea could be all wet.

Here was my view:

"I agree. Some folks here want to blame the loss on Hillary being a flawed candidate... I would have preferred to have voted for Clinton if her platform was not so far Left, Race / Sex based and politically correct... 

The number of times that negative labels like xenophobe, misogynist, sexist, racist, bigot, deplorable, etc are applied to our hard working fellow citizens is terrible and of course it has consequences." G2A

Silly Clinton

CNN Clinton Blames Comey  She runs on a platform that is further Left than any modern candidate except Bernie...  She is a secretive uptight introvert who never was open, approachable and honest with the public.  She fails to energize the Democratic base, especially the young folks.

Now she is surprised that she lost and looking for a "scape goat".  What a silly Clinton...

MP Romney vs Trump in MN  I mean Trump only got ~3,000 more votes than Romney.  So MN must have only been close because the Democrats did not come out for her.  This probably is why we have a GOP MN Senate and House now.

" On Tuesday, he was the 11th consecutive Republican nominee to lose the state’s electoral votes. But he finished just 1.5 percentage points behind Democrat Hillary Clinton, which is a very slim margin compared to President Barack Obama’s nearly 8 point margin in 2012 and more than 10 point margin in 2008. 

Trump and Mitt Romney, the Republican who failed to defeat Obama here, and ultimately, in 2012, got about the same share of Minnesotans’ votes for president — just shy of 45 percent. In terms of total votes, the counts were similar, too: Romney’s final vote count was within 3,000 of Trump’s 1,322,892 in Minnesota on Tuesday, according to the most recently available election results from the Minnesota Secretary of State."