election

Breaking News: Comey Testifies, Says Nothing

In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee today, Monday, 20 Mar 2017, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that his agency is in fact investigating whether the Russian government attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election, and who if anyone colluded with them in their actions.  As well, he spoke at some brief length on the process involved in ordering wiretaps, stating that President Obama could not have tapped the phone lines at Trump Tower during the election.

Before I go on, let me just say that his testimony (more…)

Did Russia Hack The Election?

The Washington Post broke a story on the 9th to the effect that Russia hacked the American presidential elections this year.

As is becoming the new normal in modern journalistic practice, the story has several different headlines, each fine-tuned to appeal to the target audience.  The main print version was released as “Obama Orders Review Of Russian Hacking During Presidential Campaign”, but the regional headlines differ slightly.  The online version was titled the eminently clickable “Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House”. (more…)

Write A Letter?

The news is full of it.  Lots of people are crushed by the results of the election.  Folks are taking to the streets and protesting; suicide numbers are up a little.  Despair is everywhere.

And that’s wrong.

I’m not going to tell you here just how great a guy Donald Trump is or (more…)

Popular Vote: We Still Don’t Know Who Won

This year, Google has a live results page for the presidential elections.  They’re reporting 100% of the results are counted in most states, and give a definitive result.  So does Politico, and so does CNN.  Each of the three draws their data from the Associated Press.

And all three disagree. (more…)

Discard The Electoral College? Pros and Cons.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while losing in the Electoral College.  This made her the fifth candidate to have that distinction, following Al Gore’s loss in 2000.

There’s been a growing movement aimed at eliminating the Electoral College entirely, and converting the country to a popular vote standard.  There are certainly (more…)

Don’t Waste Your Vote

Is Donald Trump a dangerous madman?  Is Hillary Clinton assassinating her political foes?  Is someone rigging the ballots and cheating us out of our elections?

I’m pretty sure Trump is far more clever and personable than he lets on, and I’m also quite certain that nobody who’s as much in the spotlight as Senator Clinton could sneak away from her Secret Service entourage long enough to commit murder.  But the answer to that third question is an emphatic “YES!” (more…)

Is Voting Third Party Wrong?

NOTE:  This is intended as a response to an article by T. N. Reider published at “The Conversation” entitled “Is the ‘lesser of two evils’ an ethical choice for voters?”  That article is well-written, and I recommend reading it.  All quotes come from there.

As I’ve discussed in other articles, despair is endemic in this country.  The presidential politics of this year underline this in a fashion seldom seen before, with the fiercest supporters of each candidate shouting loudly that their pick for president isn’t quite as bad as the only other choice.  People have stopped questioning the system, which seems to guarantee that the worst possible candidate always gains their party’s nomination.  Instead they like to shout at one another about how the other option is worse.

One thing that cannot be denied:  Americans hate both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and they do so in record numbers.  We haven’t seen this level (more…)

Why Gas Is Cheap (Hint: It’s Bad News)

Some of my olde– uh… more experienced readers may remember when gasoline first topped one dollar a gallon at the pumps.  If you’re finding it tough to put a date to the event, here’s some hints:  Jimmy Carter was President, there were hostages in Iran (which was about to be at war with Iraq), and America was in the grip of an energy crisis. (more…)

NY Times Endorses Kasich: So What?

As of this writing, it’s about twenty-four hours before the Iowa Caucuses begin.  This year there’s a good chance that we’ll know the results by the end of the night thanks to Microsoft.  (Watch the video; it’s awesome.)

Just before the caucuses, the New York Times decided to endorse John Kasich, the solidly conservative governor of Ohio.  And… well, let’s face it:  The man’s got zero chance in Iowa.  So who cares?

We ought to (more…)

Politics 2016: Can We Win?

Bernie Sanders may very well be the Democratic Party’s candidate for President in 2016, and Donald Trump is increasingly likely to be his Republican opponent.

And you could change that.

Interested yet?  Thought you might be.  Let me tell you what’s up and why it matters.

(more…)