Can we can expect some actual violence this election....

In the lead up to the midterms, the most repeated word to describe the constituency is angry. People are angry about Health Care reform, entitlements, do nothing politicians and do too much politicians. Some feel powerless and are genuinely frustrated with all of what goes on in Washington. But I believe their numbers are far fewer than media has represented. In truth the largest part of the voting age public is actually apathetic to who is claiming to be in charge and who looks forward to being in charge. The squabbles for political points, gotchas, and pandering have the majority of Americans flatly disinterested.
If we just look at those who are interested we find a few factions...Party Loyalists, Civic Duty voters, genuine (small i) independents, the first (well second) timers, and the Activists...those that are very impassioned about their vote, and their views. The super liberals, especially those upset with arguably the most liberal President ever elected, will grudgingly vote this midterm, and there is no doubt that Tea Partiers and super conservatives will be out en masse, so where will the violence come from?
There are individuals that have been so stirred by the rhetoric and whose values are already on such shaky civic ground that this election is likely to push them over the edge. The 3-second loop of the Black Panthers intimidating voters...in a majority Black district (not that it matters) will be replicated from the opposite side of the color spectrum this election day...and quite frankly, they probably wont be as nice. There are already small stories cropping up around the country about citizens organizing to confront voters at the polls and (illegally) demand identification. The ever-present spectre of voter fraud will rear its ugly head once more with tall tales of busloads of voters going from poll to poll to cast multiple votes throughout multiple counties (who has time for that?). At some point in time during the day, whether due to a broken machine, an untrustworthy poll attendant, misinterpretation, misrepresentation, or misunderstanding...violence may happen.
But in Richmond County we can relax, we know it won't happen here, not in the only county in the nation to experience election night violence on the evening of an historic election... right?

The New Political Strategies

Lie, Avoid, Deny, Attack the character of the accuser, and Dismiss. These are the key word to Tea Party/Republican’s campaign strategy going into the mid-term elections. In years past, any candidate would give his/her right arm for national presence and the opportunity to present their views on the national stage. How did we arrive at candidates running from cameras and refusing interviews? How did we arrive at bigots coming within a stone’s throw of major state office? How did we arrive at otherwise reasonable people willing to follow certifiably nutty candidates?
The press will tell you that the constituency is angered, incensed, and not going to take it anymore. They are so mad they are willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces…and candidates KNOW IT! So rather than present a level measured view to how to correct the issues of the day using either right or left wing principles, we are instead talking about witchcraft. We are talking about a candidate that wants to wean his own mother off of Social Security and reduce her Medicare benefits. We are considering candidates that would force a woman to have the child of a rapist or an family member in cases of incest. People proclaiming to want to change the fiscal responsibility in Washington, are themselves fiscally irresponsible. People that claim to represent the best in American values are enjoying the company of prostitutes, Brazilian lovers, and rented boys. People who decide how government will spend our taxes don’t pay their own. The press keeps saying people are angry…you ask the man on the street, he says he has heard that people are angry…people are angry, people are angry…if you say it often enough, and repeat it every news cycle, it becomes thee standard. If you tell people to go to a meeting and shout down the opposition-because they are angry…well you see the results. This isn’t political discourse, its Junior High School schoolyard shenanigans… barely worthy of mention. But just as sex sells, so does anger and reporters continue to look for the hottest buttons to draw the reader/viewer without regard for the fallout.
The other emotion about to determine who drives the car is fear. We are trying to scare common folks with exotic tales of madrassas, Kenyans, birth certificates, Black Liberation Theology – which most people can’t even define, death panels, draconian gun control, government collusion in 9/11, government takeover of your very ability to breathe, the death of marriage, international vendettas as cause for war, un-American presidents, and lying presidents. Up until now, the right has had complete control over the fear button… but that’s about to change.
The only chance Democrats will have this mid-season is to take control of the fear button and press it hard until November 2nd. Without debating the merits of using fear to incite the constituency, there simply is no other way. Poll after poll shows that the electorate is not satisfied with the first two years of Obama’s administration…wow, what have we come to when a president that has arguably accomplished more in two years than any other, is summarily dismissed as having done too much, not having done enough, over shot the mark, under shot the mark and done nothing, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
Some Democrats, and more importantly the Independents that voted for change in 2008, are unaware or apathetic to what is about to happen during the midterms. The sea change of the congress will have one, and only one effect on governance – There will e NO governance. In the past, when one side wanted a program or a tax cut or whatever… they would negotiate the merits of their idea while providing some benefit to the other side, that’s over. The negotiation would continue until most settled on a result acceptable to both parties… I think they call it compromise (haven’t seen any of that since the brother took the reins), that’s over now. Well if it didn’t happen before in the 60 or no Senate, you can bet your last dollar that it will never happen now- THAT is something to be feared. America cannot afford a stalemated government, we can’t afford a purely liberal government and we can’t afford a purely conservative government. What has worked, and what will work best for ALL Americans is a balanced approach…social services AND tax cuts, individual liberty AND freedom of expression, a strong Military AND a solid Education system. I don’t know when this cycle of extremes will end, but until it does, or until politicians learn to act sensibly, rather than appealing to their base in the interest of keeping their jobs, the stalemate will continue and the ONLY people that will suffer, is the American people, the American ideal, and many American Dreams.

I don't get, why they don't get it.

They didn't get it in 2006, they certainly didn't get it in 2008, and they still just don't get it. The American people want more from their leadership than lip service and ideology to a fault. They want plans, alternatives, and in the end; results! Its really not too much to ask for.

For whatever stubborn reason the conservative/republican party continues to this day to offer more of the same. Less than a hour after Obama completed his successfully informative news conference, one of the potential psuedo leaders of the Republican opposition puts out the call to his fellow republicans to oppose Obama if you don't agree.

"We are now in the position of being the loyal opposition," Jindal said at a Republican congressional fundraising dinner that only by coincidence fell on the same night as Obama's news conference. "The right question to ask is not if we want the president to fail or succeed, but whether we want America to succeed."..."the time for talking about the past is over," Jindal said




Well I'm not a politician, but how can you ever get anything done like that? Whatever happened to compromise? Whatever happened to offering alternative plans? It is hard to believe that they still don't get it, and by the way, they wont get it in 2012 either.

footnote: Adding insult to injury, Mr. Jindal, after the media entertained a short-lived debate about Obama's laughing during his 60 minutes interview, made a joking reference to his previous speech, and torture at GITMO...do these guys ever want to win?

'Fundamentaly sound' - exposed

There has been much ado about those two words of late, but before people go off cocked (or half-cocked), it is of the utmost importance that we review the context in which these statements were made. The words were used basically three times, first-during the presidential campaign by John McCain, second this past week by President Barack Obama, and most recently by economic adviser Christina Romer on Meet the Press. Lets break down all three so we can all be clear about what was said, apparently using this same phrase.

As Senator McCain was campaigning, during one of his famous town-hall meetings, in an attempt to diminish the value of the imploding economy, he stated that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong". Taken at face value, in the context of his speech, it is clear that he meant the basic principles that support our economy are in good shape. That statement of course, is not entirely true. While there very well may have been some portions (such as the resolve of the American people, the willfullness of the American worker, or the indominable American spirit) that were ok, the basic fundamentals, that is those blocks that are (were) on the bottom were crumbling at best.

President Obama used the same words, but in a slightly different context. His statement came in the form of an If/Then statement, specifically IF we pay attention to those underlying building blocks that support our economy that are currently strong, THEN "we'll get through this"...clearly, not the same statement. Obama's statement is conditional.

Now, Christina Romer - "The fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology," she said. "We know that - that temporarily we're in a mess, right? We've seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we're in a - in a bad situation." She clearly laid out and explained her answer as she made the statement, not as some post furor damage control. AND she used at least one of the same concepts McCain used when he did try to clean up the egg he laid.

In truth, these two words used together in a sentence have become taboo, at best they are capable of giving anyone a false sense that things just aren't that bad. At worst, they show how detatched the utterer may be from the crux of the issue at hand. Either way, the three statements are NOT the same.

Our Borough President

just got body-checked by the NY Daily News


It appears as though he has been acting as a one-man stimulus package for some pricey friends. See - http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/03/15/2009-03-15_staten_island_borough_president_james_mo.html

Now I don't personally have the investigative power to raise the question, but the first thing I would look at is his end-run around competitive bidding...and why. $70,000 to one firm, in one year, for photography?!?! Correction, for Information Technology and video equipment (I hope it was at least a purchse, and if it was, where is it now?)

I don't deny that Staten Island is very lacking in the tourism department, and that the Island could use some promotion. However, most of the promotion is self-promotion. These photos are not going to tourist centers or information kiosks, they are being passed out at his events, events where there are likely very few tourists.

It is this type of shady dealings that highlight the need for reforms and transparency at every level of government. By the time these issues are brought to light, the money is long spent, and the memory of just how things went down dims. I have seen some factions on the blogs calling for the elimination of this position altogether, and this behavior backs up that desire. So the question I put to my fellow Islanders is simple...What do we need a Borough President for?

Florida Fiasco moves north to Staten Island?

There are far too many variables that come into play with paper ballots. They leave way too much room for corruption and disenfranchisement. What is the backup plan? What if they run out of ballots in “certain” places? How will they be transported and who will do the physical counting? Hanging chads, pregnant chads, write overs, stray marks….my head is spinning as I FORESEE visions of Florida. Staten Island is about to make national news again, not for election night violence this time…..

That was my statement, when I discovered we would be using paper ballots, now here is my personal experience.

I worked the night shift Monday, so I went to the polls as I returned from the city. As I approached the table, a middle-aged African American woman had just placed her ballot in the box, and had a broad smile on her face. That smile turned to fear as she read a poster of the proper instructions for filling out the ballot. She turned to the worker and stated, I put a circle around the candidate, thats what you told me to do, but it says here to fill in the box. The worker replied that it would be “ok”, and that her vote will be counted. She asked if she could have it back, or do it over, but the poll worker insisted it would be ok. As visions of High school days, and military days, where filling in scan forms was a recurring event, I remembered how many times people had to ask for another one. Just because they couldn’t seem to follow simple instructions. At that time, it was my thought that the voter goofed, and to be honest, was about to get what she deserved. I voted, properly of course, and went on about my day, supporting the candidate I just cast a vote for. I called my wife to tell her the story, and to remind her to fill out the ballot properly for whoever she was going to vote for, as if I didn’t know (wink), she laughed at me of course…she thinks she is smarter than I am. As the day progressed, I accompanied her to vote, somebody had to stay with the kids, in the car. She came out with THAT look on her face. She was mad as…well you know. She told me the same poll worker gave her the SAME INSTRUCTION, and it was now some 5 hours later, and countless voters (ok maybe not countless) have passed through this same table with this same worker and the same faulty information. My wife admonished the woman immediately. She insisted that she tell people the correct information, and that it was important for people to vote correctly. From my perspective, it is impossible to know whether those ballots were counted or not, but for a ONE DAY event, uyou would think that the BOE would give them a script of what to say, and that the workers wouldn’t make up their own rules as they go along.

Why the BOE Simply Can't be Trusted!

Bear with me as I lay out the time line....all will become apparent shortly. First the paper ballots, in an excerpt from the Advance, political writer Tom Wrobleski, posted the following as part of a news story;

BOE general counsel Steven Richman said that the ballots will be secured in locked boxes during voting.

here is the link: http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/123548131973930.xml&coll=1


















Now I'm no rocket scientist, but not only are these boxes NOT locked, they are totally unsecure, masking tape and folded tops leads me to wondering, with all that already has, and still possibly can go wrong, why such a shoddy system?