Brendan is off visiting family. Martin has lots to do for the Washington Monthly, some of which will likely be posted here at some point. Me? My brain is fried.
So what to talk about? I’ve got nothing new to say about ISIS, Ebola and Ferguson, et alia, that hasn’t already been said a million times before. As for the midterm elections, all I keep hearing is keeping the Senate out of Republican hands is unlikely. Not that electoral politics are my bailiwick, anyway.
In NY, my state, there really isn’t much going on. Cuomo, the Republican in Dem clothing will win another term as governor. I barely see any ads for any candidates except for a few local legislative races. Like most years, the New York elections won’t change much of anything, at the state or federal level. In a strange sense, I feel I’m completely out of the loop for that reason.
So, tell me, what is happening in your neck of the woods? Some of you live in critical battleground states (I hate that term, but can’t think of a better one), and I’d love to hear your thoughts about what you think will happen on November 4th.
And yes, this is an open thread. Here’s one of my favorite songs, by the way.
Ps. Don’t forget to check out the diaries, as there is some good stuff there, like this one, for example, by BobX.
Jim Wright has a new pointed blog about Doug Lamborn (R-Traitor) from crazy corner of Colorado…Interesting take from a retired CWO…
Link for those not familiar with Stonekettle Station:
http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/10/self-abuse.html
Hold on to your hat.
Thanks for your hard work keeping the frogpond going, Steven D.
In North Carolina, the Supreme Court decision upholding (at least for this election) the voting act the legislature passed means that same-day registration and allowing voting at other precincts is gone. The first action took three weeks of potential voter registration away from the activists of Moral Monday. The second means that county boards of elections can play hide-the-precinct with minority voters with last minute changes. Ohio folks should be familiar with this maneuver, which has included having two precincts at the same location without clear markings so as to maximize confusion and invalidated ballots.
There are not many yard signs out at this point except the ones the candidates placed at intersections and by the polling places.
The Thom Tillis advertising that I have seen are ads on Hulu craft and home remodeling channels slamming Kay Hagan’s assocation with President Obama.
Crossroads, the Karl Rove outfit, sent out two rounds of mailers associating Kay Hagan with a cap-and-trade bill. They must have had those left over from 2008 or when the legislation was actually active in 2009-2010.
That’s what’s been going on in this part of NC.
That’s really bleak. I guess mine was the who mom who taught their kids that it’s not winning if you cheat.
I don’t know whether it’s bleak or not. I’m limited in what I can see going on. On the D side in my area, it’s pretty much all incumbents. Other parts of the state likely are hopping a little more.
But in other news, just hours ago, a “federal judge in NC overruled state’s gay marriage ban, making marriages legal.” And there was much rejoicing.
We watched a sheriff’s deputy get married to his boyfriend in Wake County this evening, and wow, was that a happy event on local television.
I don’t normally do shameless self-promotion (nor diaries, for that matter), but I think most people do not understand that private banks really do have power – formal voting power – in the Federal Reserve system, as well as partial ownership of it, and I think this matters to understanding why the Fed behaves as it does, especially in understanding the bailout. Liberals tend to shy away from this topic because a certain breed of conservative embraces it and sometimes goes off the deep end. But to find truth you sometimes you have to step outside the common beliefs of your tribe. My recent diary on this relies exclusively on material from the Federal Reserve’s own website – mostly the Federal Reserve Act itself – so no one has to worry about flaky right-wing sources.
I’ll go read it. Thanks.
From a political standpoint here in Ohio, I get the sense that things are pretty bleak. But I have to keep things in the proper context since I live in one of the most heavily Republican areas of the state. But I am pretty pessimistic right now about what is happening around here. Quite a change from my generally optimistic outlook a few months ago. But I will keep plugging away and take the victories wherever I can find them.
Keep it up, Mike. There are many more electoral cycles in our lifetimes, and many more opportunities to improve our Democratic Parties’ leaderships. We’re also working right now to improve our State Legislature here in California, and the circumstances are more favorable here.
This was a pretty great discovery for me recently. I came for the part that literally starts at the moment that the audio cuts out here, but this deepens my understanding of how astonishingly talented Bonzo was.
Not so many for me. Whoever is elected in 2016 will probably be the last president I see.
Not sick, just old. You young people keep plugging. Hey! You can do a better job than we Boomers, right?
Secretary of State is the key race for the future.
Since I like music threads, here is Rene Marie. It’s the best version of Dixie I ever heard, and seemingly heartfelt, but is just an ironic setup for Strange Fruit.
I’ll post later this evening, the hostel has wi-fi.
Montreal is glorious today. Long drive -four hours- but today I hung out with my boy, I’m drinking a great IPA at L’amere a Noire, and then heading back to the hostel for sangria night with strangers.
Funny, I’ve never done the hostel thing (my regular hotel was booked), but it’s cheaper than a hotel, and everyone hangs out. I’m going to hostel more often.
By the way, we have a great front page team going right now. So proud to be a part of this.
The highlight of our week was the disappearance of Indiana anti-same sex marriage laws. The Gov. and House Speaker Bosma look pouty, but are grudgingly silent. Gay couples are getting hitched all over the state and there are lots of smiles all over.
We’re in a massive GOTV effort here in the IN-9th thanks to the Democratic challenger, Bill Bailey, who put together a targeted voter campaign with the help of several tech gurus and number crunchers that I hope will surprise a lot of people. We’ll know soon enough.
Some of our local elections have gotten really ugly this cycle – reptiles abound, it seems. I’m grateful for a few minutes at the frog pond every day where I’m reminded that I’m not alone in this. Keep up the good fight!
Targeted voter and canvassing. Good luck with that. I wonder who gets the Obama lists.
First report on NYFF screening of Citizenfour.
Spoiler:
Dare we hope that the new whistleblower brings even more shocking information to us?
It should be also unforgettable that Nat King Cole Show was wildly successful with audiences but could not garner advertisers. It ran one season Nov. 56-Dec. 57. Insidious racist capitalist censorship to remove African American faces from American culture.
Speaking of racism, Ferguson October. Who among is there or has contributed to the bail fund? My soul is there, but I’m recovery from a hip replacement. I am encouraged by the intergenerational and racial diversity in the protestors on site this weekend and in the last 90 days… but discouraged by the supportive talk everywhere else that hasn’t materialized into tangible ways to keep this movement alive.