Tag Archives: politics

Dec 31 2011

Let’s Don’t Talk Politics, Please

I screwed up this week.    When I started doing a lot of socializing,  I made a conscious decision Not to get into discussions about politics.    And for quite a long stretch I managed that quite well.   It’s not that I never express any political opinions,  so much as that I try hard mostly to talk about other things.

I have strong political opinions.    I think most people do.   But in my experience all too often when people talk about political things online,  it all too often descends from basic disagreement to name-calling to flame war.    I am a veteran of many flame wars.   And to be perfectly honest,  I don’t want to do flames anymore.   In my experience flame wars ruin threads for most users and if a site, a group or a forum suffers from repeated and persistent flame wars,  it will almost certainly lose users until it becomes no longer viable.   And in all honesty,  I have only very rarely seen anyone’s mind changed about a political issue in an online debate.

There was a time when my online social life revolved around dating sites for gay men.    But since bonding with my partner,  those sites really bored me.    I have been involved in various online political and blogging related groups (and have seen many formerly great hangouts flame warred away.    So I try not to get into political discussions.   It helps that I often hang out with people from other countries,  who generally are not interested in getting into discussions of US politics.  But I have many friends here in the US too,  and being human I slipped up and got into the kind of discussion that I really try to avoid getting into.   I’m happy to discuss most anything,  but I’d really appreciate it if we DON’T talk about politics.

Jan 20 2010

To our Congressional leaders in Washington

It really just makes me want to SCREAM. For 8 years when the Demo’s were a minority party they were very consistently shit upon by Repthuglicans who (irrespective of the fact that President Junior was appointed by by the Supremes and was NEVER in fact elected by the people) and they pretty much just laid there and took it, almost never filibustering or otherwise going all out to try to impeded the R’s at every possible turn.

So Obama is elected with a clear mandate and the damned Dems spent their critical first year foolishly seeking bi-partisanship with R’s who have been united to thwart them at every turn. Hey Nancy and Harry, STOP BEING NICE AND PLAY HARDBALL for a change. You were elected to create change and get things done and it just aint happenin for us folks down here at the bottom of the line.

It was a huge mistake, Nancy, not to begin the current two year session of Congress with a thorough criminal investigation of all the Bushit the R’s pulled off during their spectacularly awful eight years. That opportunity has passed, most likely, and now the people of small towns in Massachusetts (who Already Have for themselves the benefits health care reform was to bring to the rest of the country) have thrown a monkey wrench into Harry’s tortuously obtained bad compromise. (Cornhusker kickback, Ben?)

First things FIRST, eliminate the super-majority requirement to end filibusters. The first piece of legislation to pass in the Senate is the sensible proposal to change it so that while breaking a filibuster on a first vote requires 60 votes, after two days a second vote can pass with 57, after two more days 55, etc. It is ridiculous and inexcusable that a determined minority representing a small number of people can endlessly thwart the ability of the elected representatives of the majority of our population to get anything done.

Then, start over on health care and write a VERY partisan bill that can win the support of 50 Senators and phuque the Repthuglicans. If you don’t, it’s a sure bet that Demo’s won’t continue to be a majority in 2011.

Aug 27 2008

recovering

I have re-gained the number three spot in Books on entrecard and my traffic and drops from there are back up nicely, thankyewverymuch. Ron is channel surfing and landed on the DNC for a few minutes. Personally, I am very glad Not to be in that loud crowded hall. And politicsNPR is twittering the vote state by state so I am following it as I browse and compose. I find myself hoping that now having been able to go ahead and vote for her at the convention, Hillary’s most die hard supporters will go on to support Obama. (Was appalled to read the other day that some of them are announcing they will support McLame rather than vote for Obama.) Mostly, though I am managing to just ignore politics these days.

I need to do another round of power dropping today and again tomorrow to firm up my hold on the number three spot. Then Friday-Saturday-Sunday I am back to work. We are blessedly closed so Monday is a paid day off, Yay! Bad news is after staying up all night Monday and then staying up all day yesterday I slept Forever and did not get up until one something this afternoon. I fear I will _never_ get myself back on a regular sleep schedule. Here’s hoping your hump day Wednesday is going well and I will hopefully be back again tomorrow just to say hey.