Holes In Thoughts

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

A clear win

I hope for a clear electoral victory. This is for one simple reason: The Executive Branch would be able to modernize the system (maybe even go with direct representation). Investigate DieBold. Create transparency. Reduce the disparity in wait times in different counties. Address the quasi-"poll tax" of 5-hour wait times.

Bush's position of power depended on their assurance that the system worked, meaning that they didn't want to "fix" something they claimed over and over wasn't broken.

Hopefully the clear winner will feel less indebted to an inefficient and opaque system.

Labels: politics, voting

posted by Steve @ 9:44 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 26, 2008

For a voting test

I've had it. Right up to here, I've had it with the willfully politically ignorant. I understand people are busy. I don't expect people to understand the nuances of the U.S. medical care system. I don't expect dissertations on the pros and cons of economic models. I expect basic competence.

Am I mad? You bet. Smear campaigns have a long history, but when people can rationalize that Barack Obama is a Muslim and has a crazy Christian pastor -- those people need to stay at home on election day. Of course, there are dumbasses in both political parties.

In an ideal world, I would expect every single American to generally understand a lot of basic, basic ideas that have real-world effects - even if they don't know the term. For example, pick [A] or [B]: The price of a gallon of gas went up last summer, because a lot of people [A: bought more gas to go on road trips] [B: stayed at home and didn't drive as much as the rest of the year].

A very, very basic knowledge of the laws of supply and demand - and for that matter, logic - would tell you the correct answer.

Every single American should understand:

The very barest outline of American history (i.e., 1776, 1812, the Civil War, 1917, 1941, Vietnam).
How tax deductions work with a normal 1040.

Is this elitism? Am I looking down my nose at the "working-class" people? You bet. But I'm working class, too.

There's a strain of anti-intellectualism in the U.S., and I suppose it's rooted in our history of being the independent-minded that can't be told what to do. But when pride in being able to do what you like - pride in freedom - becomes an excuse to wear stupidity like a badge of honor, it's just an excuse.

Labels: idiots, politics, voting

posted by Steve @ 12:46 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 12, 2008

Why will you be voting?

We need a President who (choose one):

0 Wears a flag pin
0 Will solve all my problems
0 Makes intelligent decisions

You know what I would check.

Labels: politics, president, voting

posted by Steve @ 9:56 AM 0 comments

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Finding Love for America

Regardless of whether or not he wins the Presidency, there is one thing I'm grateful to Barack Obama for. I'm finding out just how much I like or dislike America.

The America I love is full of idealism and grit. It's the nation that got to the Moon, and always acts with its heart in the right place (even when it screws up). It's the nation that faced its demons of segregation head-on and won. The America I love is one in which the determining factor in success is work, not wealth or birth or luck. It retains the almost fanatical Puritan work ethic that built the nation to begin with.

The America that I can't stand is willfully ignorant, judicial, and blames all its problems on other people. It thinks that torture is OK, that Muslims are all evil and crazy, and is so much quicker to judge than to think. It's the America that can't get through a non-fiction book, a movie that questions their world-view, or a speech that asks them to work for what they want. It's welfare-think; group-think; pundit-think.

I know that America is both sides, just as I'm both hard-working and lazy in turns and circumstances. Obama, because he says things as honestly as he can, exposes both sides. When confronted with the anger of his own pastor, he didn't run away; He used it as a metaphor for American Blacks writ large. The America I hate is willfully ignoring that anger and bristles at the thought that anyone could be angry at America - even when a black person is 8.2 times more likely to be in prison than a white person. At that rate, about one in three blacks would have done some jail time during their lifetime.

So much for land of the free.

And Obama took that head on, and, more bravely asked America to look at themselves and their own families for that kind of racism. As an example, he acknowledged his own grandmother as occasionally saying some strong stuff. People freaked out! Oh my God! That nigger called his grandma a racist!

It's so much easier to point a finger than to think about yourself and your own family in a critical light. I've heard an occasional slur out of my friends, family, and myself, although here in Arizona it's much more likely to be directed at a Mexican. Or maybe I look at someone differently, or cross a street earlier than planned. But unless you are looking, you won't find it.

More recently, he acknowledged another kind of anger, and again it was used to manufacture some outrage. He noted how communities in the Rust Belt have been struggling for decades, and that struggle leads to anger that the politicians' promises never materialize. That anger is expressed not in right-left politics, because after thirty years, they know that doesn't matter. So instead it's expressed in the more-polarized politics of God, guns, and gays. But Obama caught flak for this because he, again, pointed out that yes, people are angry.

It's easier to be outraged than thoughtful.

I love to hear people disagree with the policies he wants to implement. That takes thought and at least a basic understanding of policy in general. I hate to hear people ignore his pleas for self-criticism, and for acknowledging anger and real problems within the nation.

So Obama will tell me how much I like this nation. I try not to let the pundits tell me what the nation thinks - they can't help but color their thoughts with their own opinions - and I know there is a bit of both, but who is the majority? I am so afraid and hopeful.

Labels: ambition, idiots, Obama, people, politics, president, voting

posted by Steve @ 12:09 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 07, 2008

Clinton FTL*

So, for all that angst I went through, and all the noise the Clinton campaign is making about momentum from their three (very narrow) wins over Obama last Tuesday in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island...

Obama came out ahead in the delegate count, by 4 delegates. How? Well, the margin of victory for Clinton on Tuesday was 4 delegates (out of 370, or 1%). But California modified its delegate count, reducing Clinton's share from 207 to 203, and Obama's from 163 to 167, an 8-delegate swing.

Which means that after Tuesday, Clinton actually is further behind Obama.

I am amused. I really hope that the Obama campaign picks up on this and uses it to deflate the 'momentum' bubble his opponent will try to float.

*FTL is Internet slang for "for the loss," which is derived from "for the win," (FTW) as in, "Here comes Steve Nash, shoots a three 'for the win' - yes!" - and is used any time someone is very awesome (Obama FTW), or very much a loser (Clinton FTL).

Labels: Obama, politics, voting

posted by Steve @ 9:55 AM 0 comments

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Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
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