Brief Thoughts on the American Election
Nov. 8th, 2012 08:05 pmMy wonk is still kind of burned out. I tried to avoid the US election as much as I could this time around. It was enough going into it that Rmoney was likely going to lose. I'm glad he did - the man was the damn near the poster child for sociopathic CEO. Anyway, on to my thoughts, shared by many:
1) Given the choices offered, you chose wisely. Hopefully without having to worry about re-election he'll pull out all the stops.
2) Secular/Progressive forces got a big boost. Keep it up.
3) Don't get complacent. The Democratic Party is still largely owned by the "sane billionaires"*. It's better than the "insane billionaires", but I'd rather it was "the people". However, today's Democratic party has moved significantly to the left. Not anywhere near what anyone else in the developed world would describe as "left-wing", but it's still a step in theright correct direction.
5) One party is trying to increase the number of people who vote for them. The other is trying to reduce the number of people who can vote for their opponents. The former is a better tactic than the latter.
6) Ubiquitous social media is becoming a wonderful way of stopping actual voter fraud. Faulty/fraudulent voting machines where on youtube damn near instantly. People where being educated about voter fraud tactics (for example, being lied to about a poll's location/timing) and asked to take/upload pictures of anyone engaging in them. Sunlight, as they say, makes the best disinfectant.
7) Pay close attention to anything the right-wing accuses you of doing. It means they're already doing it.
I might add more to this post later, but that's it for now.
1) Given the choices offered, you chose wisely. Hopefully without having to worry about re-election he'll pull out all the stops.
2) Secular/Progressive forces got a big boost. Keep it up.
3) Don't get complacent. The Democratic Party is still largely owned by the "sane billionaires"*. It's better than the "insane billionaires", but I'd rather it was "the people". However, today's Democratic party has moved significantly to the left. Not anywhere near what anyone else in the developed world would describe as "left-wing", but it's still a step in the
* No cite, but I think I got it from Matt Taibbi. US Politics is dominated by the fight between the sane billionaires and the insane billionaires and can be summed up like this:4) You can't buy an election... yet.
Insane billionaires: Let's kill everyone and take all their stuff!
Sane billionaires: I like your thinking on taking all their stuff, but if we let them live, they'll make even more stuff.
Insane billionaires: *grumble*
5) One party is trying to increase the number of people who vote for them. The other is trying to reduce the number of people who can vote for their opponents. The former is a better tactic than the latter.
6) Ubiquitous social media is becoming a wonderful way of stopping actual voter fraud. Faulty/fraudulent voting machines where on youtube damn near instantly. People where being educated about voter fraud tactics (for example, being lied to about a poll's location/timing) and asked to take/upload pictures of anyone engaging in them. Sunlight, as they say, makes the best disinfectant.
7) Pay close attention to anything the right-wing accuses you of doing. It means they're already doing it.
I might add more to this post later, but that's it for now.