Friday, July 29, 2016

Friday's Thoughts: Election, Gary Johnson, and Wolf Children

By Kit

I barely watched the two conventions, though I did follow them. This election already has me worn out and there are about 90 days left until it finally ends. Unless, of course, it is a tie —a real possibility— proving once and for all that God has turned His back on America.

But here are some thoughts, anyway.

Parties United?

Despite the rancor online and on TV the parties are rather united, though not as much as they were in 2012. The cause of the ruckus in Philadelphia this week was largely due to the fact that, because so few local, grassroots Democrats were willing to go against the Clintons, Bernie had to dip outside the usual Democratic Party reservoirs to find delegates to represent him in Philadelphia. He had to find men and women on the left who did not care about making enemies of the Clinton family, which meant nutjobs, amateurs, and nutjob amateurs.

Folks who probably would not have voted Clinton, or even voted, anyway.

But… there are problems. Namely that you have two candidates that nearly everyone, except for their core supporters, loathes. They are damaged goods and we therefore have plenty of undecideds for either to pick up between now and November.


The Russian Connection

A few days ago Trump caused a stir (when does he not?) by saying, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

He was referring, of course, to the 30,000 emails wiped from Hillary’s private server. The media pounced on his statement, one Democrat panelist on Fox called it “treason.” Which begs to mind what she considers it to be when a Secretary of State uses a private server to exchange thousands of classified emails, opening them up to every foreign intelligence agency (including the Russians).

Of course, as over-the-top as the reaction on the Left is, it’s not like Trump hasn’t given them ammo. Evidence of coziness between Trump and Moscow are plenty. Let’s just look at recent events, shall we? Around Christmas he was praising Putin as a “strong leader,” a phrase which in his mind seems to be the highest compliment above all others to pay to a leader (one wonders what he thinks of other “strong leaders” like Stalin or Mao). When he dumped Lewandowski he hired Paul Manafort, a man who spent the past few years helping pro-Putin Ukrainian dictator Then in the week-and-a-half before the most recent statement he said he was not sure if the US should protect the Baltics if they don’t pull their weight in NATO (unaware that they do), talked about lifting sanctions and handing over Crimea to Moscow, and his folks pushed the RNC to soften its language on Russia in the platform. Any one of these would be eyebrow-raising, but taken together they craft a very disturbing image.

If he had spent the campaign season talking tough on Moscow then perhaps the Left’s accusation would have no weight, but since Mr. Trump seems to have a massive man-crush on the tyrant, it carries a bit of weight.


Why I’m voting Gary Johnson —or writing in somebody

I loathe the two candidates. James Woods recently posted a cartoon depicting a Hillary speech as fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. Well, I feel the same way about Trump. I feel that way about both of them. As Charles C.W. Cooke posted on Twitter, "Whichever candidate wins, I think I’m going to destroy my hearing with a screwdriver. Four years of listening to Trump or Clinton? No."

And, as I wrote above, it’s not just the aural aesthetics of their voices that annoy me. You could probably craft a Venn Diagram (they’re in, right now). They have both spent their entire lives using the government to advance their own ends be it the Clintons handing out treats to businesses in exchange for donations to their foundation or Trump buying treats from the government, such as getting the local government to try and force an old widow out of her home to make way for a limousine parking lot. They are symbols of everything that is wrong with modern America.

About the only really good thing you can say of these two crony parasites is that they seemed to have raised good families, but so did Joe Kennedy.

Charles Spurgeon said, “When given the choice between the lesser of two evils choose neither.” There is no reason I should have to choose between voting for Kang and Kodos, and I won’t. I will choose a third option. Since I am in Alabama, my vote won’t count much unless Trump has found ways to blow this election in ways So, that leaves my options rather open. I can actually register a protest vote, and I intend to.

I haven’t decided who, but by November 8 (my birthday, coincidentally) I will have made my choice. Which means I’m probably going to vote for Gary Johnson, or perhaps I will write somebody else in if my state permits it. Maybe F.A. Hayek, granted, he’s ineligible due to being dead and Austrian by birth but his Road to Serfdom is a perfect summary of our current state of affairs.

If I was living in a swing state like Florida or Iowa I would probably be racking myself a good deal more over the noxious choice between a crony politician and crony billionaire* but I don’t so I won’t. Instead, I will add my vote to someone else. It won’t matter much, but I figure every vote for Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, or some write-in is further evidence that both our major parties blew it. Big time.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go read Lovecraft. I could use the pick-me-up.

*Still not entirely convinced he’s a billionaire.


Wolf Children

If you want something cheerier, I recommend reading my review of Wolf Children a week ago, if you haven’t.

LINK

It’s worth a watch. It’s a wonderful film. The kind of movie that stays with you and it makes for pleasant repeat-viewings. Not in the “oh, wow, I never noticed this before” way but in the way of the warm feeling you get when you meet up with old friends. All of the emotions; the joys, the sorrows, you never want to leave and I always feel kind of sad when I do because I wanted to spend more time with Ame, Yuki, Hana, and Wolfman. But I'm happy that I got to enjoy the company.

I feel the same way whenever I re-read Harry Potter, by the way.

35 comments:

Kit said...

P.S.: If you know who Lovecraft is, you will get that joke.

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, I'm sorry for your pain.

AndrewPrice said...

I'm going to be late with the film. I need to take some short screamy people to a waterpark in Denver.


Other than that, let me say it never fails to amaze me how divorced the left is from their own rhetoric. The narrative they are selling is that the Democrats offered a hopeful, wonderful view of America, unlike Trump's dark vision of America. Let's see.

They in-fight to the point of violence about stolen democracy. They burn flags. They chant black lives matter during a tribute to fallen police officers. They believe the earth is heating/cooling/changing us all to death because of Americans. College kids can't afford college. Poor people can't find a living wage. Gay people are hunted for sport, as are black males. Mexicans are being ripped away from their families and sent away from this paradise. Guns roam the streets making people kill each other. Christians have stopped science cold. Employees have become slaves of corporations. Billionaires (ours, not theirs) control the political system. America is no longer a land where a man can't put on a dress and go look at little girls... or boys! It is a land where women have never held an ounce of power until Hillary became the nominee last night. It is a land of bullies who bully the beautiful starlets we all love. There are racists on the internet! Evil drug companies get rich letting old people die in the streets. Only the rich have healthcare. Jew banks run the world. There are antisemites everywhere! Wall Street something something. 10 out of 9 college women will be raped and no one cares! Holy shit America sucks!

So that's a positive view, huh? Anyone see a problem with this?

Kit said...

If Trump wins and is far better than I expected* then I might vote for him come 2020.

*My expectations are rather low so this is not impossible

Anthony said...

Trump says the shambolic GOP convention was not his fault. Anyone expecting management to improve under Trump is going to be disappointed.

http://www.mediaite.com/print/donald-trump-distances-himself-from-convention-i-just-showed-up/

In an interview with The New York Times, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump seemingly downplayed the role he played in planning the Republican National Convention, saying he just showed up for his speech.

The Times asked Trump about why his convention seemed haphazardly thrown-together, unlike the very coordinated and on-message Democratic convention and unlike Republican conventions of the past. “I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday,” he responded.

In a departure from his usual rhetoric, Trump even declined to say which convention he thought was better. “I’ve liked both shows,” he said.

Kit said...

Anthony,

re the ratings, in the last two presidential elections the candidate with higher ratings for his party's convention won.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - the only problem I see with your list is you forgot to add "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING...THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!!" Other than that, pretty spot on. Oh, and I am sure that no one noticed that they completely forgot about that little kerfluffle about Islamic terrorists/groups on the run...across the world wreaking havoc.

BevfromNYC said...

Kit - you are free to vote for whom ever you choose. I am still holding off on making any decision until I actually am at the polls on election day with ballot in hand. Then I will "vote my conscience".

But jsut a warning. I have first-hand knowledge of voting 3rd Party during 1992 elections. You can thank me now for Pres. Bill Clinton.

tryanmax said...

I think one should cast their vote as if it were the deciding vote no matter what. It doesn't make sense to cast a vote for someone you like or against someone you don't when you're enthusiastic about the decision but when the choice is hard, to say "my vote doesn't count." That isn't to say that a third party vote is inherently wasted, but you have to ask yourself, if it all came down to you, based on the knowledge you have, what would you do?

TL;DR: Clean hands are most often attached to limp wrists.

Anthony said...

Kit,

More people watched the Democratic convention but more people watched Trump's speech.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/donald-trump-convention-speech-beats-clintons-in-ratings/

Donald_Trump_by_Gage_Skidmore_2-1-650x433According to preliminary ratings from Nielsen, Hillary Clinton‘s Thursday DNC address was less-watched than Donald Trump‘s RNC speech a week earlier… but not by much.

In total, 30 million viewers watched Trump speak, while 28 million watched Clinton. Trump got better ratings on the Big Three networks by a slim margin (4.587 mil to 4.52 mil for NBC, 3.861 mil to 3.85 mil for ABC, and 3.80 mil to 3.65 mil for CBS).

AndrewPrice said...

Our town had baseball sized hail last night. Serious. Roofs, windows, windshields, trees, etc. were all destroyed around town. We got lucky and just got a lot of rain in our area.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Nice addition!

In terms of voting, I'm voting for Trump. I like his hair... just kidding. I'm voting for Trump for several reasons:

(1) Better someone with the potential for good or bad over someone who will be the worst case scenario.

(2) I actually think Trump may turn out to be decent. He's going to be lazy (like Obama) and hire political people to make the decisions. And I like the people he's hiring. Hillary, by comparison, will micromanage and her ideas are Obama II.

(3) The Clinton dynasty must end, even if I have to vote for Satan.

(4) Trump has the potential to fix various GOP flaws. He's abandoned the gay issue, which is key, and I think you're going to see him make inroads with Hispanics. At the same time, Trump can't really be used to smear conservatism because everyone has made it clear he's not one.

Moreover, the GOP may finally learn how politics works from Trump and stop being such ninnies.

(5) When Trump turns left, it might finally send all the Alt-Right types back to their whiny lairs to stay.

ScottDS said...

Andrew -

Whoa! The localized nature of the hail sounds like Florida where we have sunshine in our front windshield but dark clouds in the rear-view mirror. :-)

P.S. For any Babylon 5 fans (and I know you're out there!), actor Jerry Doyle who played security chief Garibaldi passed away - he was only 60. Oddly, he's also the fifth major cast member to die in the last few years. Show creator JMS' thoughts here.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I saw that and I've been talking to some friends about it. What a cursed show that so many of them have died. Doyle was always one of my favorites on the show too.

Colorado is like that too. Everyone thinks they have crazy weather, but few places really do. Colorado does: 3-hour hail storms, a downpour that stops in the middle of the street leaving the other side dry, rain without clouds, snow and heat waves on the same day, 45 degrees being warm enough to wear shorts, tornadoes, half the town getting flooded and the rest under drought, 40 degree temperature changes in minutes, etc.

Good times.

We have the best clouds too. I LOVE the clouds out here.

AndrewPrice said...

Florida has great clouds too.

tryanmax said...

I'm a big fan of clouds, especially rosy morning clouds and magenta evening clouds.

Colorado may be a close 2nd to Nebraska for wacky weather. I've literally driven in a shower where only one side of the car got wet.

Rustbelt said...

That sucks to hear about Doyle. He had great charisma. Interestingly, following his acting career, he became- get ready for it- a conservative talk show host! Truth be said, what I heard was pretty decent. Great radio voice. (He identified as libertarian.) No Beck-ish self-promoting or Hannity hate. Always sounded like he was having a chat with the guy next to him.
Several years ago, I read his book, "Have You Seen My Country Lately?" A pretty good read. He related how, before he acted, he was a private pilot and then a stockbroker. (He also admitted to being quite a devious prankster.)

He will be missed.

R.I.P.

(On the show's curse, to be fair, Andreas Katsulas apparently smoked himself to death. The higher powers of the universe can't be blamed for that one.)

tryanmax said...

So there's a spare of articles calling Trump "a unique danger" to the country. I have to laugh because that implies Hillary is a more conventional threat. These are the choices, people!

BevfromNYC said...

OH, your states got nothin' on Texas as far as weather and we have the extra added benefit of hurricanes! So there! 8-P. Our state motto is "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!" Okay, Scott, Florida has hurricanes too, but then you have all that hot air from NYers moving there...and boa constrictors and alligators.

Btw, I have actually had a car that was totaled in a hail storm. Well, the body was anyway.

BevfromNYC said...

But in all seriousness, Scott, take that Zika-virus mosquito thing seriously, now that it has been confirmed in Florida.

AndrewPrice said...

I've heard Texas weather is pretty wild. I've never seen much of Nebraska weather. The one time I drove through, it was hot and muggy and hazy the whole 400 hours -- it was August. But I don't doubt you.

A couple of interesting things Colorado adds: the altitude (6,000 feet in my city) make the sun super intense and the air thin, the temperature changes are dramatic. Literally, you get a 20 degree drop in the shade and it will swing 40 degrees when the sun goes down or comes up.

We are also in essentially a desert. So we have very little humidity. That means the sky is dark blue, a blue that doesn't exist in the South or at sea level. People are always shocked when they visit.

Bev, several people at my wife's job had their cars totalled the other day -- they look like hundreds of bullet holes. One lady had all the windows in her house broken and the glass shot around like someone shot the house up. Her daughter got flying glass in her leg. Many a garden gnome is headless today. :(

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, They've gone with the "he's dangerous" act for every Republican since Barry Goldwater. They really poured it on with Reagan. Even Republicans were whining about how dangerous he was.

AndrewPrice said...

Rustbelt, My sister liked his show a lot.

Katsulas died at 59 from lung cancer. Jeff Conoway apparently had drug issues and died from blood poisoning related to pneumonia at 60. O'Hare was apparently suffering from debilitating paranoid delusions and died of a heart attack at 60. The doctor (Richard Biggs) died at 44 from aortic dissection.

Now Doyle at 60.

Kit said...

re the "Trump is dangerous and unstable" thing.

Saying that liberal has accused Republicans since at least Goldwater of being dangerous and unstable does not itself disprove the charge that Trump is dangerous or unstable. It merely proves that the left has overused the charge (just as the Right has overused the charge of "socialist"). One has to look at the candidate's behavior.

They may be wrong but even darts thrown blindfold may on occasion strike the center.

tryanmax said...

Kit, I'm not saying your wrong, but the charge from Hillary backers is uniquely hypocritical. (Hee hee.) Compare the following:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-a-unique-threat-to-american-democracy/2016/07/22/a6d823cc-4f4f-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438296/trump-clinton-obama-matter-degree

Also, I came across this headline in WaPo which rather astounded me: Donald Trump and the dangers of a strong presidency

Not because I don't see the truth of it, but that WaPo did.

Kit said...

Oh, I don't deny that Hillary backers are engaging in hypocrisy.

There is a reason I can't vote for either of the two candidates at the top.

Koshcat said...

Since I live in a battle-ground state, I will probably have to make a choice. It really comes down to the devil you know verses the one you don't. We know what to expect from Hildabeast: she is and has always been a liberal fascist. This is why wall street is supporting her because the one thing large companies do not like is unpredictability.

Trump can be an asshole but the reality is we have no idea how he will run the presidency. In most elections, this would be a cakewalk for the incumbent, which is what Hildabeast truly is. However, the voters are getting increasingly tired of electing the insiders. Obama was sold as an outsider but turned out not to be. The initial Tea Party candidates were but were overtaken by crazies. Trump is the ultimate outside. Every time someone complains that he doesn't understand the system or isn't following protocol, his support rises. The dems think they have found the answer by going positive: the country is doing great! I suspect this will be as successful as an inflamed hemorrhoid.

I haven't decided who I will vote FOR, but I will never vote for the known fascist Hildabeast.

BevfromNYC said...

Koshcat, you are spot on, but I will add this. Many people are tired of being lied to and scolded by politicians. We are lost in a quagmire of political correctness where every syllable spoken or written is parsed out for indictment of our national character. Trump is a seemingly breath of fresh air because he will say anything. People are responding to that too.

Anthony said...

Trump is a lifelong member of the elite (who has used the power of the government to enhance his wealth) who has lied or switched positions on everything he's ever spoken about. He fantasized and bragged about meeting Putin up until five seconds ago, he supported the Iraq war but now claims he was always against it, he condemned the Klan, but now says he isn't sure they are bad people, etc.

Similarly, Trump is as happy as any politician to scold those who don't mindlessly support him ('I love you Daddy Trump and I believe everything you say, even if it contradicts what I've always believed or what you told me five minutes ago!').

I don't see where notions of competent Trump management spring from. He's declared bankruptcy multiple times, refuses to offer up his tax records and his campaign and the convention have been poorly run jokes. Trump is good at self promotion, but the Obama administration showed us how well self promoters who are uninterested in the business of governing work out.

*Sighs* Democracy always gives people what they deserve, and this year the choice is between two mendacious incompetents who believe in nothing besides the fact they deserve power. What fascinates me are the people enthusiastic about either one.

Kit said...

Anthony,

Trump's statements about the Khans are hurting him. He and his surrogates need to know that when you find yourself in a hole, put down the shovel. Unfortunately, between his tweets and the statements of pro-Trump folks in the media from Scottie Nell Hughes to Ann Coulter and Scott Adams, it seems they've decided to dig even faster.

The only good news for him is that today is a Sunday.

Kit said...

"What fascinates me are the people enthusiastic about either one."

Same here.

Kit said...

The Khans are a textbook case in "how to screw up your campaign."

Everything Trump is doing is hurting him. It probably won't take away his core support but he won't expand. Meanwhile, Hillary will continue to build up support and outreach in the PA and Ohio suburbs and entrench herself among hispanics in Florida...

Anthony said...

Kit,

This whole thing reminds me of that Simpsons Clinton/Dole episode. Time will tell who wins but I think 3rd parties are going to do really well this year.

tryanmax said...

Kit, *sigh* Stop making me do this. I don't like doing what amounts to defending Trump, but your eagerness to see him faceplant has you salivating over an empty plate. Anyone seeing the Khan story in their newsfeed will see quote after quote by Mr. Khan attacking Trump, "he has a black soul" etc. This will be most people's (including mine) first impression, which hardly sets the stage for "Trump has really done it this time." Rather, the impression is of yet another Democrat affiliated person declaring Trump to be the great Satan. Oh, and surprise, surprise, it's a Muslim family. That's a yawner, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. For those curious enough to dig deeper, they won't find what Trump said, because no one is publishing it. So that's a head scratcher. Instead, the stories just say Trump insulted or demeaned a Muslim soldier's family. That's about as specific as anyone gets, which is nowhere near specific enough to lodge in people's heads. And a rift in his own party over it? Oh tell me something else new while you're at it! Besides, this is all predicated on the story appearing in anyone's feed, which it isn't. I learned about it here! Nobody cares about this one, and those that do already have their minds made up. In fact, I'd say it bolsters Trump among those who are sick of the idea that pols should just endure attacks from people with sad stories. The only truly damaging thing I see Trump doing--or rather, not doing--is not doing more to point out that the Khans are political props, though he did draw a little attention to that fact.

tryanmax said...

P.S. When it comes to hypocrisy, I suggest not looking too closely at Johnson. You'll just find more of it.

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