Catching up
Sep. 25th, 2012 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoPhotos of that restored spinning wheel are here.
Photos from the handspinning craft show at the library are here.
And the Boone County Conservation District's Pioneer Days (last weekend) are here.
Trying to be amused rather than angry about political candidates who think that "middle class" is defined by income of $200K per year, or that commercial airplanes should have windows that can be opened at will. I will not be voting for either of the major candidates. As far as I can see, there is little difference between them. Obama is just as much a sellout to the corporate interests as Romney is, he just conceals it more carefully. And he not only signed the NDAA with that horribly unconstitutional provision for detention of US citizens (or anyone) without habeas corpus but is now insisting on appealing it after a federal judge threw it out as unconstitutional. Nope. Totally lost my vote. I'm voting for the Green Party again. Sure, they will never win, but at least I'm voting for what I believe in rather than the "lesser" of two huge and disastrous evils.
Photos from the handspinning craft show at the library are here.
And the Boone County Conservation District's Pioneer Days (last weekend) are here.
Trying to be amused rather than angry about political candidates who think that "middle class" is defined by income of $200K per year, or that commercial airplanes should have windows that can be opened at will. I will not be voting for either of the major candidates. As far as I can see, there is little difference between them. Obama is just as much a sellout to the corporate interests as Romney is, he just conceals it more carefully. And he not only signed the NDAA with that horribly unconstitutional provision for detention of US citizens (or anyone) without habeas corpus but is now insisting on appealing it after a federal judge threw it out as unconstitutional. Nope. Totally lost my vote. I'm voting for the Green Party again. Sure, they will never win, but at least I'm voting for what I believe in rather than the "lesser" of two huge and disastrous evils.
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no subject
Date: 2012-09-26 05:05 am (UTC)Also I should note that in all the previous US elections I can remember, there was always some burning issue that made the US election of prime interest here in Canada. But now, for the first time ever, it makes no difference to me who wins. So I don't care, I don't have to care, and I'm pretty happy about that too. :-)
no subject
Date: 2012-09-26 06:23 pm (UTC)I have the luxury of refusing to vote for Obama (whom I don't trust anyway) only because I live in his home state. Because of the way US presidential elections are rigged by the electoral college, if Illinois actually were to tip for Romney against its own home candidate, then a Romney win was an inevitable landslide anyway. Thus I can vote what I really believe in, rather than the lies and corruption of either major party.
The Electoral College is one of the reasons that presidential elections have become so bizarre in the last half century. It's an incredibly antiquated and unfair design that should have been dumped long ago. Unfortunately, the chances of actually doing that are very slim, since the people in power have always gotten there by taking advantage of the thing.
Single worst mistake made by the authors of the Constitution? They made lots, but the Electoral College is their number one critical error that may yet cause the collapse of the Union.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-26 07:40 pm (UTC)In the past two US elections in a row, out of fear of what the Republicans might do, I've wanted the Democrats to get in. After that, seeing the results having little or no correlation to the fears, I just don't buy into the fear argument anymore.
Here's one economic example: Bush gave us the first "buy American" clause, and then less than a year later Obama gave us the second one. Here's another: Romney said he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline immediately after taking office, while Obama is going to do it eventually after the election. No functional difference. Take any issue of trade between Canada and the US and it is a wash between the candidates.
As for social issues in Canada, those will depend ONLY on who gets elected as our prime minister of Canada, and will have nothing to do with who gets elected US president - the US has absolutely no leadership here in social issues. Actually, I can't think of many (any?) places where the US actually has leadership in social issues anymore.
So I'll be just (as) fine either way.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-05 01:59 am (UTC)Either vote FOR who you want to vote FOR, or don't vote at all, but don't blame someone for not using their vote if you are pretty much not using yours properly either.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-05 11:32 am (UTC)I do believe it is time to put a stop to this nonsense. There is nothing in the Constitution that is designed or intended to enforce a "two party system" on us. Circumstances and clever manipulation have created the illusion that there are only two choices, but even in the last 30 years we've seen significant votes cast for some maverick candidates. In the case of the presidency, Ross Perot and Ralph Nader both polled enough to shake things up and pose a threat to the status quo.
I believe the non-voters should vote, and that they should vote for the candidate that best represents their views. The Greens and the Libertarians, who would seem naturally to represent extremes beyond the two ends of the spectrum we assume the Democrats and Republicans to hold, are actually starting to look like the missing middle on many issues. There is no reason that we could not or should not start electing individuals from these additional party affiliations, but the only way it can happen is if we reject this silly notion that you are doing something "wrong" if you don't support either a Republican or a Democrat.
I do not support Obama. He has sold out to the corporate interests nearly as much as Romney would do. He's just better at disguising his real positions. His so-called health care "reform" actually gives more power to private insurance companies than they have had in the past. I think it will be a disaster. His endorsement of NDAA, the Patriot Act, and drone warfare have turned the US into a terrorist state just as much as any middle eastern dictatorship could be.
Romney would be even worse. He wants to turn the clock back to the repressive society of half a century ago, and feed corporate greed even more than Reagan and his successors have done. He has absolutely no concern for real people, other than those of his own wealthy class. The rest of us are just scum to him, so many serfs to be used and discarded at will. The conditions of 18th century capitalism in Europe would be the norm in the US if he got his way, and poverty and disease of Dickensian proportion would follow quickly.
I refuse to support either of these reprehensible and dishonest men, and I have lost any respect for those who will allow themselves to be tricked into doing so just to keep the other from winning. I will vote my conscience and beliefs by supporting Jill Stein this time. If all of the "lesser of two evils" voters instead cast votes for Stein or the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, it would at least shake things up for the better. And since election structures often depend on the percentage of votes polled by third parties, the next election and the debates associated with it would be opened to new views and positions rather than being censored as they are now to permit only two parties to speak.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-26 09:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-26 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-27 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-05 11:43 am (UTC)