Post No. 204: And Now for Something a Tad Radical - Before We Implode or Russia Attacks (Whichever Occurs 1st)

© 2022, The Institute for Applied Common Sense

I've had many problems during my soon – to - be 71-year-old existence on the planet.

It’s my mother’s fault.  She forced me to read anything and everything on which I could get my hands, and consider all points of view, even thought I may have vehemently disagreed with the positions of others.

And then to compound my wackiness (God knows she tried), when I asked a question, she would never answer it.  Instead, she would point to World Book Encyclopedias (which she sold in her spare time), and say, “Go look it up, and then come back to me with your question.”

Thereafter, she forced me to attend engineering school where I slept through the acquisition of an industrial and systems engineering degree.  Consequently, I think that everything in the physical universe can be fixed or tweaked, while conceding that humans cannot.

Now that we've had some time to appreciate the significance of the 4th of July, and perhaps ignore it, we peaceful citizens need to make an overwhelming statement as we approach the next presidential election. Simply put, it can't be close the next time around. 

 

No frigging 51%- 49% BS so that the disappointed can perform their rendition of a Marx Brothers routine. 

If: (a) Democrats are willing to "adopt" Liz Cheney (or write in her name); and (b) we can garner the support of moderate Republicans and Independents, we may be able to reach 70% - 75%.  (I know what you are saying, "Silly boy!")

 

Complicated? Yes, but can anyone suggest another pragmatic way to assemble 70% of the popular vote so that the next President has a legitimate mandate?

 

Biden can't do it. 

 

Harris can't do it. 

 

Trump can't do it.

 

DeSantis can't do it.

(Check out the pictures and ask yourself why they are always wrapped in the flag.)

There is simply no way that we will have peace if either party runs with their preferred candidate. We ordinary everyday citizens have more power than we realize, and we need to defy and tweak the system that has been forced on us. (That’s the engineer in me standing on my shoulder.)  We don't have time to form a viable 3rd party.  We may not be able to get around the primary impediments forced upon us.

 

However, we can try to cross party lines and occupy the middle, where (I firmly believe) there is a commonality of interests.  There is no way to get to 60% - 70%, unless we tweak the system, and form a "peace coalition." Can't be done by either party separately.

For all of you naysayers who disagree with this goal, PLEASE tell me an alternate SOLUTION.  If not, spread the word #LizCheney4Prez. (Mitt Romney is my 2nd choice but Cheney has been standing up more recently, and Liz and Prez both end with a z, which may be more important than we are willing to admit.)

Our country was founded through a balancing of competing interests so that we could all live as one people - citizens of one country. There has always been a "tension," and always will be should we continue to exist.

 

A wise former partner of mine once said, “A good settlement / compromise is when all parties walk away somewhat unhappy and partly dissatisfied," and I later added, "...not when one side bullies the other into submission through some type of power." 

 

P.S. 1: This post is well under 750 words, which my now departed mentors horse - whipped me about repeatedly. That leaves time for you to watch one of my favorite movies about the power of ordinary citizens. 

P.S. 2:  You Can't Always Get What You Want

Post No. 65: A Chat with the Man and the Woman on the Street – Reflections on the November 2008 Presidential Election

© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense

In Post No. 63, entitled, “How Political Polling Potentially Does a Disservice to the Democratic Process (http://theviewfromoutsidemytinywindow.blogspot.com/2008/11/post-no-63-how-political-polling-does.html), we discussed the various ways in which polling organizations have the ability to affect the outcome of a poll by doing certain things. We also discussed why there are wide disparities between polls.

Yesterday, following the election of Sen. Obama as President-Elect, we took to the streets of Greensboro, North Carolina and simply asked those with whom we came into contact, for their thoughts about the election result. We did not make any effort to assemble a representative cross-section of the population. We just stopped people who, as we walked about town, were willing to respond.

Their comments are outlined below. We have neither embellished nor otherwise modified them. We also received comments from others throughout the country via e-mail and during telephone conversations.

We are purposefully not providing information regarding the respondents, such as age, race, profession, etc., with one exception, which shall be obvious. Make of it what you want. It’s simply information. And this is the Information Age. We simply need to figure out how to interpret it and use it to our collective benefit.


Nobody’s paying attention to that nigger; the only reason that they would even let him win is because the country ain’t worth a s___ anymore.

There is still work to do. This is just the beginning. We as a people, all of us, have to work together. It will open up the eyes of young black males. They’ll have to change their way of doing things, and be more responsible. I have really been into it. I have not been sleeping. I told my doctor that I had electionitis.
As I heard Obama speak over time, I felt a kinship with him as he articulated his goals. The speech itself? He called for unity, and essentially said, “Here we are; let’s put this other stuff behind us.”

You can’t beat God.

Sixty percent of the world’s population consists of colored people. It is about time.

The age of whitey is over.

He’s going to lead us down a socialist, Marxist path. I’m concerned.

If only this historic moment could be replicated in our communities.

The message is that if you work hard, you can aspire to be whatever you want to be, and this proves it. Life is not always fair, it’s hard, but life is what you want it to be.

John McCain carried Kentucky by about 7 points...very close to his best popular vote performance. Period. I spent some time today with about 50 college educated adults of a certain age. Responses to the open ended question; "Well, what do you think?" varied on a more or less normal distribution, from disappointment to elation. Most individuals on the negative end of the spectrum expressed resignation, and relief that the campaign was finally over: "At least I won't have to look at any more of those damn ads." Virtually no one expressed any spontaneous or prompted anti-black threats or reservations. On the positive end of the spectrum, there was a similar absence of gloating. The most common universal response was; "God bless, and I hope he can fix this mess."This "mess" is the Louisville job market. This is a very small sample survey, but the word "Us," seems to have taken on a new meaning. God bless...let's hope...

I’m excited; very positive. I actually got a little weepy. I hope that it signals a big change. We need to quit viewing the world and our potential in such a negative fashion. We must bring our kids on board, and make them feel that they have something at stake. Their frequent use of the word “whatever,” reflects their attitude.

We must be practical and realize that one man can not do it all by himself.

Nobody cares about that nigger. We don’t matter. He’s just another nigger.

I am one of the few people who did not believe it possible. I was convinced that America was not ready to have a black president. I was sure that the religious fanatics, the rednecks, the narrow minded, the bigots, the skinheads, and the scared, would turn out in record droves, and join forces with the thinking conservatives, to prevent this. I’m actually quite surprised. I did not have an emotional reaction, because I still do not believe that it occurred.

Change started when Obama first came on the scene. There was a dramatic increase in the number of people who registered to vote. He provided a spark when people saw him. That he was allowed to even enter the arena is significant alone. That he is a successful black man is a message that will be sent to others. The force is unstoppable, and there is a lot of hope. I actually feel that he was “anointed’ by God. He’s too flawless. Perhaps not perfect, but no major flaws. There appears to be a feeling of unity. It means that all of the work done in the past to address racial discrimination has yielded some results.

A guy with whom I work said that he cried all night out of disappointment in his country.

Bush and his cronies were arrogant. Although I am generally not this cynical, I believe that they felt that America was on the decline, and they decided to take as much wealth with them for themselves, their families, and friends, and they are going to leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves. They “took the money and ran.” They’re not much different than lots of other money grubbing leaders around the world-- Idi Amin, Papa Doc Duvalier, Sadaam Hussein, and others. They just wore suits and were more subtle. And they did not kill their citizens. I do not get the sense that Obama is a crook, or greedy. I think that he will legitimately try to help as many people as possible.

I’m ecstatic. The masses or young people have prevailed. It proves that we could get it done. We are building on our past as opposed to being crippled by our past. The youth see this as an opportunity and are pretty ignorant of history. They’re looking forward. They did not get caught up in the bitterness of the past. It is an opening to newer, bigger, and greater things. It’s a fresh start.

I saw a white person walking down the street with an Obama sign, and I said to myself, “Even white folks feel that Bush screwed up.”

When I first went into the voting booth to vote, I paused and looked at the ballot in somewhat of a state of disbelief, and realized that something significant had occurred. I was really moved, and realized that it had happened. He managed to sidestep all of the usual pitfalls. He could have been equally negative and used personal attacks, but he was graceful and let it be known that he was interested in serving all of the people of the nation. In fact, I sensed a genuine concern for all people, and a desire that our nation become all-inclusive.

We needed a person who moved the heart. All of this craftiness will do very little in the long run.

He is the Person for This Time.

On election night, my buddy and I drove around looking for a celebration party. We came across a large group of white kids in an art gallery/living museum, who were staring up at a large flat screen TV suspended above their heads, while Obama’s voice resonated through the speakers. They were staring up toward him, speechless, and appeared to hang on every word. Without saying anything, they appeared to really be looking up toward him for hope. You could feel it.

It tells me that change is going to come. It is the moment that the world has been waiting for. It is the younger generation that put him into office. It represents pride for black folks. We now believe that there is nothing that we can’t do. I really believed him when he said that change was going to come. He really provided me with a sense of hope. There was an absence of hope during the Bush administration. They appeared to advance the interests of a small group of citizens, and ignored the rest.

This is their 60s. Obama is their Kennedy. Let’s hope they can avoid some of our mistakes....

From a mentally challenged, compensatory education student with an organic learning disability, in response to the question, “Hello, how are you doing today? “We have [pause] a black President!”