BS: Election of the US President

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Bobert
Date: 09 Nov 12 - 08:50 PM

No, I do understand "politics", GfinS...

I just about hit the mark on the election and this was mine... I don't read blogs... Okay I missed by a couple House seats...

I was Jim Elam's campaign manager when he was elected the first black president of the Student's Union at Virgina Commonwealth University when VCU's black enrollment was 15%...

I worked for Bobby Kennedy... I worked for Jimmy Carter... I worked for Ralph Nader... I've worked for Obama (twice)...

I can name every president (in order)... I have degree in History and Poli-Sci... I have taught American History...

No, GfinS... I fully understand politics... Fully...

Not this is about "I" but...

... I understand politics and elections and stuff...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Nov 12 - 09:39 PM

Bobert - "The Dems of the 80s and 90s lost their way...

No one was talkin' about globalization or the fact the fact that the US government had joined the goons to bust unions... Ronald Reagan used the full force of the federal government to bust the Air Traffic Controllers Union and signaled that it was open season on unions... George H.W. Bush didn't change anything...Bill Clinton didn't change a thing... We are now in our 30th year of federal government union busting and wondering why our middle class is shrinking and the working man's wages have been stagnant since 1982???"

Right on, Bobert. I remember when Reagan arrested the Air Traffic Controllers for striking. Unbelievable! As far as I was concerned, that was the day when fullblown fascism came to the USA, and it's been a disaster ever since. Thatcher was basically doing the same kind of union-busting in the UK. The 80's was a very ugly era in western politics, and what followed wasn't much better.

We were all promised a "peace dividend" after the end of the Cold War in 1989. Remember? Well, that never happened. Just another big lie. The next great war (the War on Terror) was already being planned, in my opinion. As for the Russians, their society was utterly trashed after '89 by the corrupt drunk Yeltsin and all the carpetbaggers and Mafia who came forward to loot the place after Communism fell. The Russian public were lied to as well. They were promised "freedom" and prosperity by demagogues like Yeltsin...what they got was poverty, humiliation, betrayal, and corruption.

They know that now, Putin is busy restoring their strength, and I don't think they will be fooled again.

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 06:37 AM

""But then again, Don, you picked Reagan and the Bushes.""

No wonder you're so inarticulate, every time you open your mouth you stick both feet in it.

You dozy halfwit, I didn't pick Reagan and the Bushes. UK citizens don't vote in US elections.

If they did, people like Raygun and Geedubya wouldn't even get to be candidates, so don't judge us by your standards.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 07:58 AM

I'm also part of the 99% I was raised by a single mother didn't have much growing up but we made the best of it . I grew up in Boston.I'm also gay and far from being Christian so I can't relate at all to the 1% . My mom taught me to stand up and fight for any injustice directed at anyone even if it doesn't effect me personally I should stick by my fellow man/woman because I might need their help someday
-Shep

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: GUEST,Beachcomber
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 10:06 AM

There are some good people on this forum, there's no doubt,Bobert being one, but it is somewhat depressing to read about how ineffectual such people feel. I despair of my political system too, democracy is a joke.

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: sciencegeek
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 10:18 AM

Beachcomber, democracy is not something that you push a button & it takes care of itself. self government means that everyone has stake and needs to take care of their part of it.

If you don't want to participate, there are plenty of totalitarian regimes that would love to take over... but do you really want to live like that? ask a Syrian who is fighting for their basic rights what they think...

the conservative right wants to turn our democracy into a oligarchy, but they lost out ... this time... don't think that they don't hope to ultimately undermine the constitution...

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: number 6
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 10:29 AM

Well ... now that the ridiculous Amerikan elections are over it's good to see that things are now back to normal.

biLL .... ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 01:54 PM

You mean back to abnormal, don't you? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 04:23 PM

The electoral vote allocation for each state is not based only on population, but on total representation, House and Senate, in the combined Congress. The method for selecting the President of the United States is laid out in Article II, Sec. I of the Constitution. Two amendments also deal with the Electoral College; the 12th, which fixed an embarrassing flaw in the original Constitution that had allowed Thomas Jefferson to tie in the College with his running mate Aaron Burr, and the 23rd Amendment, which gives Washington D.C. electoral votes.

The Electoral College is composed of 538 electors chosen by the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Each state receives a number of votes in the Electoral College equal to its total representation in both Houses of Congress. For example California, which has 53 representatives in the House and two in the Senate, casts 55 votes in the College. Since the passage of the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia also receives a number of electoral votes (currently three) equal to the number it would cast if it were a state. No other U.S. territory has any voice in the election of the president.

Every State has two Senate representatives and a number of House representatives based on population. This provides a dampening or buffer to counter any impact of excessive enthusiasm on a purely popular front, which can (as we have seen before) be subject to mass delusions, fads, and other problems of the flesh.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: number 6
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 06:44 PM

LH .... no, I meant "normal" ... e.g. same old, same old as before the election, and as in, will continue after the election.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Henry Krinkle
Date: 10 Nov 12 - 07:23 PM

The War on Drugs came before the War on Terror. We are always at war here
=(:-( /)

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: GUEST,Beachcomber
Date: 11 Nov 12 - 11:29 AM

Yes, Sciencegeek, I agree that true democracy should be nurtured and cultivated but, can you tell me of a place where it flourishes uncorrupt ? {I'm in a mood to emigrate :) }

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: sciencegeek
Date: 11 Nov 12 - 11:32 AM

LOL... I believe the place you are looking for called Utopia... but it's not on any map I've seen yet....

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: GUEST,Beachcomber
Date: 12 Nov 12 - 09:55 AM

Oh well, that's it then, stay home and grouse. Over and out.

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Nov 12 - 12:35 PM

For better or worse, and as undemocratic as it may be, the Electoral College is probably here to stay. The electoral system can only be changed by constitutional amendment. An amendment proposal must be approved by 2/3 of both houses of Congress before it's sent to the states for ratification. There's no way that 2/3 of the House of Representatives is going to approve a direct popular vote amendment. Having influence over large blocs of electoral votes gives congressmen from more populous states more power when it comes to dealing with the executive branch. They're not giving that power up. If the delegations from only the five most populous states unanimously voted "No" on such an amendment proposal, that would be more than enough to keep it from going forward.

Subject: RE: BS: Election of the US President
From: Henry Krinkle
Date: 12 Nov 12 - 12:56 PM

Bastards
=(:-( 0)