tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post6347246435031478234..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: It's In the Voters' HandsOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-72531568293913805492018-09-07T18:18:13.521-04:002018-09-07T18:18:13.521-04:00Point well taken, Jay. When corporations can buy p...Point well taken, Jay. When corporations can buy politicians, those politicians will serve the folks who pay the bills -- their constituents be damned.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-57570894146498465112018-09-07T17:32:57.601-04:002018-09-07T17:32:57.601-04:00Turnout has, and will have as time passes, less an...Turnout has, and will have as time passes, less and less effect.<br /><br />Because the Electoral Votes, Senate Seats, House Seats are apportioned by State, as the Welfare States and Slave States continue to hollow out as the smart ones leave for the wealthy Blue States,<br /><br />that leaves the Gullabillies, Nazi's and Deplorables with greater and greater relative power.<br /><br />Democrats started barely talking about it when they lost the House, but they are really starting to talk about how to fix what's broken.<br /><br />When politics and policy are run for the benifit of Corporations, as it has been in the West since the mid-70's, it gets harder and harder to get out the vote.Jay Farquharsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335226520940843630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-66938383161620351712018-09-07T16:54:03.036-04:002018-09-07T16:54:03.036-04:00Conservatives in many places have understood, Jay,...Conservatives in many places have understood, Jay, that they don't have enough votes to implement policies, so for decades they have used a number of techniques to leverage their influence -- like gerrymandering and voter suppression. <br /><br />So I freely admit that it will be an uphill climb. But George Bush won the first time when total turnout was fifty two percent. That was about the same total percentage that elected Trump. Obama won with a 62% turn out.<br /><br />John Kerry is right when he says that those who didn't vote elected Trump. Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-88081772392643192562018-09-07T16:47:08.824-04:002018-09-07T16:47:08.824-04:00I understand your point, Cap. Hilary beat Trump by...I understand your point, Cap. Hilary beat Trump by three million votes and still lost. Still, it's all about turnout and strategy. The Republicans did everything they could to make Obama a one term president. They didn't succeed.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-79167145506866429482018-09-07T16:31:40.708-04:002018-09-07T16:31:40.708-04:00Asking whether voters are up to the job presuppose...Asking whether voters are up to the job presupposes free and fair elections. We all know those don't happen in the US. I don't know that voting alone is enough to change a system that governments have rigged with the collusion of the courts.<br /><br />CapAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-14332136468233768672018-09-07T15:42:36.782-04:002018-09-07T15:42:36.782-04:00While polling before the QAon-op-ed suggested both...While polling before the QAon-op-ed suggested both the House and Senate will turn blue, the ReThug's won't be "destroyed".<br /><br />There are structural compromises made to appease the Slave States that continue to compromise democracy in America.<br /><br />States manage the Election process, and only a few have handed the process off to nonpartisan neutral bodies. So the whole process is "rigged".<br /><br />Each State get's 2 Senators, as a result, the empty, welfare, Slave States and empty spaces have more representation and power, than the populous wealthy States that drive the economy. Demographic trends in the US suggest that by 2040, 17% of the US population will be represented by 70 Senators while 83% of the US will be represented by only 30 Senators.<br /><br />the same situation impacts the weight of the Electoral College, <br /><br />and of course, the House.<br /><br />As a result, a Gullabillies vote in North Dakota is equal to 117 Democratic votes in the Bay Area.Jay Farquharsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335226520940843630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-18810855110424103232018-09-07T13:04:50.562-04:002018-09-07T13:04:50.562-04:00I've just watched the noon newscast from the C...I've just watched the noon newscast from the CBC, Lorne. Forty-five minutes of the hour were given over to a speech Barack Obama was giving at the University of Illinois. He covered a lot of ground. But one theme he kept returning to was, if you want to restore democracy, get out and vote.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-86937148202171568532018-09-07T12:38:21.982-04:002018-09-07T12:38:21.982-04:00I see in his latest campaign-like rally in Billing...I see in his latest campaign-like rally in Billings, Montana to bolster to his fragmenting ego that Trump is telling his supporters to make sure he isn't impeached by voting in November. Clearly, he knows that ubiquitous and spineless Congressional Republicans are his best hope, Owen.Lornehttp://politicsanditsdiscontents.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-58293862131413758892018-09-07T11:41:01.409-04:002018-09-07T11:41:01.409-04:00It's pretty clear, TB, that the republic is se...It's pretty clear, TB, that the republic is self destructing.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-84991904157039779282018-09-07T11:32:43.574-04:002018-09-07T11:32:43.574-04:00So much for the checks and balances of the USA con...So much for the checks and balances of the USA constitution!<br />I doubt there will be any radical change with the removal of Trump as both parties are complicit in retaining the system .<br /><br />TBTrailblazerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08065775238162848249noreply@blogger.com