December 18, 2017: System is Rigged, Conservative Bias, A Mighty Hill

In a December 3, 2017 email, former Florida congressman Alan Grayson made a clear case for conservative bias in the electoral system and it's not what you think. Here is his argument in its entirety:

“The system is rigged, because to win, Democrats need more votes than Republicans do.

Seriously.

In two of the last five Presidential elections, the Democrat won the popular vote, and lost the election.  (In fact, the last time that any Presidential candidate, winner or loser, won more than 53% of the vote was in 1984.)  The explanations for winning the popular vote and losing the electoral vote don’t end with the “butterfly ballot,” or “Pizzagate.”

What would happen if the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates received exactly the same number of votes, nationwide?  Very likely, the Republican would win.

  

The Cook Political Report’s “Partisan Voting Index” (PVI) measures how states and congressional districts vote differently from the nation as a whole, based on the last two Presidential elections.  The “blue” states are “D+”; the “red” states are “R+”; the “purple” states are “even.”  If a state has a “D+2” PVI, that means that if the vote in the country as a whole is tied, that state would favor the Democratic candidate by 52% to 48%.

Thanks to the GOP’s domination of small states, there are 27 R+ states, 20 D+ states, and three that are even.  The R+ states give the Republicans 262 electoral votes, just eight short of a win, while the D+ states give the Democrats only 242 electoral votes.  Among the three even states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, the Republican wins with either Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, while the Democrats have to win both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Advantage: GOP.

In the Senate, the small states and the large states each have two votes.  There is one Senator for every 300,000 Wyomingites, and one Senator for every 20,000,000 Californians.  The fact that there are 27 R+ states and only 20 D+ states means that if the national votes are even, there would be something like 57 Republican Senators and only 43 Democratic Senators.  The GOP’s advantage in the smaller states puts them close to a filibuster-proof majority, when the national vote is even.  To get to a 50-50 Senate, the Democrats have to win nationwide by around six points.

Advantage: GOP.

In the House, gerrymandering gives the GOP a huge advantage.  The GOP’s control of many state governments has allowed it to “pack” Democrats into a small number of Congressional districts, while spreading a solid majority of Republicans (usually 57% to 43%) in numerous districts.  That’s why the Pennsylvania delegation, an “even” state, is 12-5 GOP, and the Michigan delegation, a “D+” state, is 9-5 GOP.

Nationwide, there are 238 R+ House seats, eight even seats, and only 189 D+ seats.  (Republicans hold only eight D+ seats, and Democrats hold only nine R+ seats.) 

218 seats make a majority.  The Democrats would have to win every D+ seat; every even seat; every R+1, R+2, R+3 seat; and at least one R+4 or worse seat to win that majority.

Advantage: GOP.

So the system is, in fact, rigged against the Democrats.  We need more votes than they do, just to break even.  How can we possibly make that happen?

Turnout.

Only 22% of Hispanics are Republicans.  But last year, only 48% of Hispanics voted.

Only 33% of voters under the age of 25 are Republicans.  But last year, only 43% of those young voters voted.

We have to get more Democrats to vote.  When Democrats vote, Democrats win.

Courage,

Alan Grayson”

Additionally, there are other structural forms of conservative bias, principally state and local governments. Since county lines are drawn geographically instead of by populations—there are more rural county governments than urban. Therefore, there are more conservative office holders in this country. More county judges, prosecutors, commissioners and the like giving the GOP a much deeper bench upon which to draw candidates for state and federal offices.

Yes it is a mighty hill to climb with the GOP always on the Democratic side of midfield. This is why we must organize, proselytize, and resist.

Impeach and Imprison.

December 17, 2017: Case Against Fox, Minions of Disgustus, Obstruction of Justice

“It is clear that Fox News, otherwise known as Russian Affiliated Television (RAT), is a clear accomplice in the ongoing obstruction of justice.”

----from “The Quotations of Chairman Joe”

State-run television, otherwise known as Russian Affiliated Television, otherwise known as Faux News, alias Fox News has been squealing like a stuck pig over the weekend. The Mueller investigation draws its nets ever more tightly about the neck of our very own Caesar Disgustus creating absolute panic in the ranks. Screaming foul and screeching like banshees in the wind, the likes of “Fox and Friends” (as if Murdoch has any friends), and Seen Hannity claim 'bias' in the investigation with 'guests' appearing and likening the FBI with the old KGB or Gestapo. Lately they have been claiming that there is an organized 'coup' in the works designed to overthrow the 'will of the people' and, therefore, nullify the last election. Never mind that Mueller is a known Republican, as was James Comey. Never mind that the Mueller investigation was set up by the very agents of Caesar Disgustus himself. Disgustus, however, now finds himself cornered by these very agents not reckoning that honesty, integrity, and a dogged determination to follow the facts and evidence—traits wholly lacking in the White House. Now we find that the venom has spread from hate radio to RAT television to the very chambers of the congress as Rescumlicans on the House Judiciary Committee parrot the nonsense filling the airwaves and threatening contempt of congress charges against any federal official who has the guts to stand up to them.

Let us make no mistake here. The minions of Disgustus, parroting hate radio are fast becoming accessories to the obstruction of justice and as such should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

It has been largely agreed that one cannot indict a sitting president. The rationale for this position is that to do so would violate the separation of powers that theoretically exists between the three branches of government and that to indict would mean that the Judicial Branch would, in effect, be declaring jurisdiction over the Executive. This, in my youth, was the general understanding, but admittedly the question has never been resolved and with the federal courts re-writing fundamental law in recent decades one is never quite certain. Nevertheless, the minions of Disgustus are presently laying the foundation for the firing of Special Counsel Mueller and ending the investigation through false claims of bias and violating legal procedures.

Or, alternately, discrediting the investigation so that when Mueller does issue his conclusions to the Congress and the people, the idiot wrong both within Congress and without will find cause to discount the conclusions and not act upon the recommendations. Either way, the investigation is therefore stymied

Since impeachment is necessary before charges are brought against the idiot-in-chief such action producing such outcomes would, therefore, abort any impeachment proceedings resulting in no charges being brought and Justice effectively obstructed.

Let's make no mistake about this. RAT television and the minions on hate radio as well as within the tin-hat fringe of the Rescumlican Party are, by their behavior, obstructing justice.

Rupert Murdoch, Fox News, Limbaugh and his ilk on hate radio as well as members of Congress participating in this smear of the FBI and the Mueller investigation should be charged with obstruction after the fact and face prosecution.

Impeach, Convict, Imprison.

December 10, 2017: Russian Affiliated Television (R.A.T.), Murdoch's Slime Machine, Hand it to Putin

“Fox (Faux) News is nothing more than Russian Affiliated Television (R.A.T)”.

----from “The Quotations of Chairman Joe”

The investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller proceeds, and is slowly closing in on the oval office. The recent revelations that former tRUMP foreign policy adviser George Papadopolous had pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I, and, more recently, the National Security Advisor to Caesar Disgustus has likewise copped a plea and is now cooperating with the investigations has hit the conservative community like a sledge hammer upon a tuning fork.

So, as predictable as the morning sunrise, Fixed Noise, Rupert Murdock's slime machine, is about the business of savaging both Mueller and his investigation as well as the FBI.

Sean (SEEN) Hannity, ever the reliable scumbag, ever the slime bucket for the cause, has taken to the airwaves condemning Mueller, protesting that he has no credibility and must step down. On his 'show' Hannity could be seen with a guest that with a straight face compared the FBI with the former Soviet KGB, if not the Guestapo, complaining of wiretaps and midnight raids. Hannity, limiting himself to simple charges of political bias, nevertheless nodded in agreement.

Never mind that both Mueller and former FBI director James Comey are life-long Republicans, that is until the recent emergence of Disgustus and his gang. Never mind that every 'institution' is filled with people who hold political beliefs and act upon them in their private lives. Never mind that the confessions of now two principles of possible colluding with the Russians and lying about it have given clear evidence substance behind the suspicions. Never mind that the professionals investigating these matters have experience and a long and noble track record of getting to the bottom of these things. Mueller has put together a first-rate team, including investigators who got to the bottom of the Enron scandal. Until now, no one has questioned the integrity of either Mueller or his investigation. Not until he started getting close to the truth.

But this is the problem for the White House. Disgustus knows he is guilty; Hannity and his corporate paymaster knows likewise that he is guilty; as do several brain-dead members of Congress, and that is why they have turned upon the authorities in an effort to lay the groundwork to discredit these investigations. The time of reckoning will, sooner or later, be upon us and the alternate universe of the idiot wrong will by then have done their work—discrediting the evidence, negating the facts, so that their knuckle-dragging constituencies can continue on their blessed paths of denial.

But in so doing, Faux News and the hate mongers on talk radio, InfoWars, Limbaugh and his ilk, will not only further enable Disgustus but will be material accomplices in the obstruction—by discrediting the facts—of justice. They will also be material accomplices of the Bannon-inspired efforts by Disgustus to discredit, diminish and besmirch everything about him.

You've got to hand it to Putin. He knows his 'useful idiot' very well, and the return upon his investments in this bastard 'presidency' are now obvious for all to see. Caesar Disgustus is our gift to Russia that keeps on giving.

Disgustus must go. It will be ugly, and the stench will linger for decades, but he must go.

Impeach and Imprison.

December 4, 2017: Those That Sent Us, Triple Whamy, Enabling the Swine

“We must deliver something to those that sent us here”

----Senator Mitch McConnell, (R-Kentucky)

In this simple, declarative statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out the justification for the worst tax legislation ever produced by the United States Senate.

Fearing the loss of their ill-gotten majority, Senate Rescumlicans, running roughshod and leapfrogging over all normal procedures rushed to produce something, anything, that they could take back to the people in order to justify their wretched existence. The 'people' in this case is not their constituencies, for McConnell was here referring not to the good people of Kentucky but to the real people who 'sent' him to the Senate—the billionaires, the Walton's, the Koch's, the Adelman's and Mercers as well as the giant national and multi-national corporations that fuel their campaigns and their policy stink-tanks. Here in one steaming pile of shit, the Senate presents the American people with the biggest transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest in the history of this country.

The details are, of course, sketchy. Having rushed this through without committee hearings, without informed debate—for the details of the bill were being altered up to the very last minute in order to fashion the 50 votes needed to gain passage. Finally, in the end, every Rescumlican save Bob Corker voted in favor. Gone were the 'principled' protests of John McCain, Susan Collins, and Jeff Flake. Gone were the so-called 'principles' of fiscal conservatism. Gone were the protests of the 'deficit-hawks' with the lone exception of the soon to retire Corker. All those 'principled' protests over the years, all those howls and screams over deficit spending, all the Rescumlican 'virtue' vanished in a flash as greed once again got the best of them.

This bill, of course, must be reconciled with the House version; and it is debatable at this point which steaming pile of shit stinks the most. The final bill sent to that great plutocrat posturing as populist, will nevertheless follow the general outline of transferring wealth through taxation from the working people of this country to the idle rich, societies parasites.

It will be presented, by the Liar-in-Chief, as a great Christmas present to the middle class. Of course, like anything else coming from this administration, this is a boldface lie. It will also be presented as a 'stimulus' bill benefiting everyone.

In fact it is neither. In fact the poor, the working poor, and the middle classes will experience a 'triple whammy' under the lash of this outrageous piece of legislation.

First, there will be a massive transfer of wealth from the poorest and the working classes to the idle rich, especially in the outlying years. By the middle of the next decade it has been estimated that over half the middle class will suffer significant tax increases, and those making less than ten thousand dollars a year could face up to a fifteen hundred dollar tax increase, while over 60 percent of the the tax relief goes to the top one per cent and corporations.

Secondly, no sooner will our very own Caesar Disgustus sign this bill and the Scums will be taking to the floors of the House and Senate demanding spending cuts in order to bring down the looming deficits. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, Head Start, farm subsidies and scores of others will suffer repeated assaults as the Scums use the mess they've made as a rationale for draconian cuts hurting the lower and middle classes, the very people who create—through their labor—our wealth in the first place.

Lastly, the Scums are presenting a 'stimulus' bill at a time when no need for such action can be demonstrated. With unemployment at a 17 year low, you can expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates much more steeply than would otherwise be the case, making the cost of consumer loans (a staple of middle class existence) more expensive and raising unemployment in an effort to 'cool' the economy and keep inflation low. Let us make no mistake about this. The Fed will view the increase in deficits as inflationary, regardless of the lack of any recent empirical connection, and will raise rates accordingly visiting hardship not upon the stock-jobbing vulchers, whose investments they are openly protecting, but upon the middle class upon whom the value of these stocks and bonds depend.

What is clear is that the middle class and the working poor are once again going to receive a beating by the Rescumlicans posturing as 'populist' tribunes of the working class. They are no such thing and neither is the head of their party. Disgustus will sign the bill into law. Disgustus, knowing nothing, will sign anything.

“Something is better than nothing” chant the troglodytes that inhabit the Rescumlican Party. This is not always true, especially upon close examination of these tax bills. In this case nothing is better than this, nothing at all, for by doing nothing no further harm to the middle class would come. But the Scums are in need of a 'victory' any victory will do, especially if it pays off their corporate and billionaire paymasters. So, like common prostitutes, they will perform the service however enthusiastically, but they will be destroying the middle class and enabling Disgustus in the bargain; once again giving to little lord Fauntleroy something he doesn't deserve.

Impeach and Imprison.

December 1, 2017: Ever the Birdbrain, Degradation of Politics, Debasing our Nation.

Every day brings new outrages. Yesterday our very own Caesar Disgustus, ever the birdbrain,

'tweeted' out a message to his 40 or so million bots and followers involving, among other things, a video of one young adult attacking another in the Netherlands. One of the attackers, being of dark hair and complexion, is seen attacking and beating another young boy being blonde and fair skinned. This video, traced back to a far-wrong British nationalist group calling itself “Britain First”, purports to show a young Muslim assaulting a law-abiding Dutch citizen as a means of demonstrating that the Islamic hordes are upon us—yea even unto the streets of Amsterdam.

Of course, it is a fraud, with Disgustus and his ilk it is always a fraud. The two teens so embroiled were both Dutch nationals, both having been born in the country. Neither of them was Muslim. No matter, trolling the depths of the cesspool that is the internet, our intrepid 'president' can be daily found snorkeling in the cesspool of conspiracy and persecution, xenophobia and paranoia, leading him by degrees to white nationalist racial hatred and other far-wrong websites, regurgitating the contents on the anti-social media thereby giving this crap a legitimacy and gravitas that are our daily national obscenities.

This behavior presents a clear and present danger to the republic. For Disgustus by elevating the likes of Steve Bannon, speaking favorably of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, and puking up the contents of the dregs of the internet is debasing the office he holds by elevating the worst among us. Disgustus also quickly evoked simultaneous rebukes from both the Dutch Government and the British Prime Minister from whose country the offensive material emerged. Calling out “Britain First” as a xenophobic hate group Prime Minister May expressed shock that the president would uncritically re-post the offensive material, stating flatly that the Disgustus was wrong to bestow legitimacy upon such offensive nonsense.

This 'presidency' has degenerated to such depths that senior members of his own party have taken to the Senate floor and sounded the alarm. It is not often that a sitting 'president' conducts open warfare with senior members of his own party. Yet here we have Rescumlican senators, all of whom vote with this administration over 90 percent of the time, now openly at odds with our unrepentant Disgustus. Senator John McCain, his party's presidential nominee in 2008 has criticized Disgustus for his inflammatory behavior, his denigration of our intelligence and military services, his abuse of military veterans and their families, his weakening of our alliances and his handling of our conflict with North Korea. Senator Flake, John McCain's Arizona Senate colleague took to the Senate floor to lament the “coarseness of our leadership” and the “flagrant disregard for truth and decency” and that “reckless, outrageous and dangerous behavior is not a political strategy but simply reckless, outrageous and dangerous behavior.” Senator Flake concluded by telling his Senate colleagues that “degradation of our politics should not be seen as normal”.

It didn't end there. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, first raised concerns that Disgustus was careening toward World War III, saying that the adults in the room, Secretary of State Tillerson, and Generals Hattis and Kelly all that keep us from outright chaos. Likening the White House to an “adult day care center” Senator Corker pointed out that “anger and resentment are not a governing philosophy”. Indeed the senator wrote the epitaph of this administration: “What he (tRUMP) will be remembered for,” concluded Corker, “with his constant untruth telling, is the debasing of our nation”.

That and for being Ye Public Ass.

“Alert the day shift” at the 'adult day-care staff', and “obviously the day-shift hasn't reported for work”, replied Corker to Disgustus' 'tweet-storms' aimed at the Senator from Tennessee. It is time, for the good of the nation, to stuff Disgustus into a straight jacket and lead him off to well deserved solitary confinement.

Impeach and Imprison.