Pure Blue Michigan

Conventional wisdom holds that the party of the sitting President takes a beating in the midterms. There was talk about a "Red Wave." I had my doubts of a wave but I did expect the Republicans to claw back enough seats to flip the House and maybe the Senate. It was just a question of how much. To my surprise the Democrats have done very well. As I write this, there are still enough seats in a tossup that no party has control of either chambers yet.

The Dems in my home state of Michigan did very well. Governor Whitmer was able to fend off Tudor Dixon. The Attorney General and Secretary of State also held their seats. Proposition 3 which would protect abortion access in the state constitution also passed. These wins weren't unexpected though. What I wasn't paying attention to was that the Democrats have now taken the State House and State Senate. I have always accepted that the Republicans would hold on to the legislature and it would take a massive shift in public opinion to kick them out. While I wouldn't say that there is a massive shift, I'm happy to be wrong all the same.

I expect the governor to take this power and run with it but let her be warned--what happens in the next two years will be on her and her party. I wish her well.

Abortion, Cake, and a Roof

I was a little too heated to write about my reaction to the SCOTUS leak that Politico published. The published draft of the majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade and remove the federal protection granting the right to abortion. It's not surprising and we knew where this was headed with Trump's justices. Still it is shocking and deeply disappointing. 

What is still making me angry are conservatives making hay over the leak of the opinion. Really? That's what's important? Not the overturning of Supreme Court precedent that expanded the rights of women? Democrats better take this issue and beat the drum into the next elections.

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I went all the way to Chicago for a cake. Yup. A cake. Mother's Day is coming up and I wanted to get my mom a mango cake that is made at a Filipino chain bakery called Red Ribbon. From her facebook post... looks like it was a smashing success.

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I've sent out signed paperwork to start the roof repairs. So now I've got to wait until I'm put on the schedule and that should be a week or two from what I've been told. I've also secured an extension of an existing loan that I have with my credit union. Based on the estimates, I will be able to get this paid and financed without too much trouble.

There is one thing that I still need to tie up and that is getting rid of the threat from the tree that still hangs over my house. I'm not willing to leave it up to chance anymore. All of it or at least the overhanging bit is coming down. However, I'm running into a problem where I've got three places that have still not returned my call. It feels like I've been blacklisted or something.

He's My President

The results of the election were not what I had hoped. There have been so many woulda shoulda couldas running through my head these past few days. From bad polling, to lack of voter turnout, --all the way back to choosing Hillary over Bernie. It no longer matters. What matters now is the reality of the situation.

Donald Trump is going to be the President of the United States. He will be my President. I bear in the collective responsibility that has brought forth this man upon ourselves and the world. For that, I am truly sorry. However, I will not wish failure upon him. Make America-not great again-but greater still. The Democrats should do everything in their power to work with him on policies that will bring us forward and everything in their power to obstruct his policies that will push us back.

When the World Around You Seems Insane

Lately I have been feeling a bit alienated from a good number of my friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I think, "what the fuck is going on? Is everyone batshit crazy?"

I have had to block a friend on Facebook because of his constant posting about the new Philippine president. He is a strong supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte. He and the vast majority of Filipinos (at least in the Philippines) are supporters. While I can overlook Duterte's colorful personality, it is the policies that he is pursuing that are worrying to me. His foreign policy is becoming misaligned with the United States' interests--particularly over the South China Sea. That isn't my problem with him though. It is his willingness to forgo liberal democratic principles for political expediency. In his fight against drugs, he is willing to abrogate Due Process and neglect his duty to protect citizens. Thousands have died in his goals of eliminating drugs. Not only does vigilante crime have his explicit encouragement, there are accusations that he is directly involved with them.

I would have hoped that Filipino Americans would see how destructive Duterte is but even my mother has noticed that many of her friends here are also supportive of the Philippine President. With some relief, she is not one of them but it seems that mom and me are in a minority. Perhaps that shouldn't be at all surprising since many Americans are hellbent on getting Donald Trump into the White House.

The polls are tightening in the US Presidential Elections. Hillary Clinton's commanding lead in the national polls have slipped to only a couple of points. However, she still holds an advantage when it comes to the Electoral College and Donald Trump has a narrow path to victory. If the trend continues where Trump continues to climb in the polls, we could very well see some of those battleground states flip from lean democrat to republican wins. While I understand why some of my friends are supporting Trump, I just can't even comfortably fathom why I would or could.

Perhaps the most distressing is the increasing xenophobic posts by one person that I highly admired. His constant attacks on Islam and muslims have caused me to de-friend him. It is one thing to criticize a religion (I do that constantly) but his posts have crossed into hatred of the Islam and those who follow it and advocated policy positions of open discrimination.

I used to believe that I could get along with anyone who had differing beliefs. Then again, I didn't have lines in the sands that I do now.

"Debate"

The final debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has wrapped up. That is, if you can call them debates.

This is the first election cycle where I have watched every single Presidential Debate. In the past I had always made a decision on who I was going to vote for before the debates occurred. This time, however, I wanted to see the interaction between the two candidates. In particular, I wanted to see Donald Trump put under pressure to see how he would react. Based on his past behavior and how insulated he is on the campaign trail, I didn't think he would react well. I think it is safe to say that I was right.

Hillary Clinton and her team have not only prepared well for the issues in these debates, she prepared for her opponent. What I mean by that is that she was able to figure out Donald Trump's weakness and exploit them. Everyone knew that she was the erudite candidate and that wasn't going to be enough to win a debate. Clinton knew that what worries people about Donald Trump was his temperament. If she could trip him up, Trump would show that not only didn't he have a grasp of the issues but that he didn't have the traits needed for the office. In all the debates, Trump started off well but Clinton would start getting under his skin and by the last half hour was rolling around, he was unhinged.

One thing of note about this third and last debate, the moderator, Chris Wallace, did a great job in bringing up great questions and this one probably had the most substance. I wish the previous two had more substance and I wish there were additional topics that were covered. There wasn't much on LGBT rights, climate change, infrastructure, the South China Sea dispute, and public education.

Brexit - A Decision to Live With?

Brits went to the polls yesterday to vote on a referendum on whether to leave or remain in the European Union. Then polls had just closed when I was getting ready for bed and only a few locations had reported their results. With the vote expected to be close, I went to bed as I figured that the result would be known by the time I woke up.

It came to 51.9% to 48.1% in favor of leaving.

Much like what happened in the Scottish Independence referendum, I had expected people who were dissatisfied with the system to do a last minute realization and vote to stay. Again the lessons are that all votes count and never underestimate the electorate.

Now that Leave has won, PM Cameron will be leaving. Perhaps the government will fall as well? Also, the UK will have to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the exit process which will probably take a couple of years. This is going to give the Brits some time think about what they have done and until Article 50 is triggered, they still have time to walk back from the cliff.

Most of the powers in Westminster and London will want to stay in the EU but now the will of the people has spoken. They can either live with this decision or find a way to get what they want. Parliament is supreme and they could refuse to accept the result. Not very democratic, though, is it? 

Personally, I think they should dissolve parliament and call for new elections, campaigning on whether to elect a government to affirm the exit or to not or perhaps on a second referendum.

Considering that the pound had taken a plunge in value, markets are being volatile, Scotland is talking about another independence referendum, and uncertainty about their own government, I wonder if the Brits are waking up with a hangover.  

Brexit to Nowhere

We are now beginning to see political ads running on the television because Indiana’s primary is coming up soon. While I was visiting my parents this afternoon, a series of them came on and I complained to my father that we were going to be subjected to this until November.

“The UK is going to have two campaigns over and done with by the time our campaign season is done!”

Normally my dad doesn’t concern himself with foreign politics so he surprised me when he asked me if I was referring to Brexit. If you don’t know, the United Kingdom is holding a referendum in June. Voters will decide whether they want to exit the European Union or remain a member.

President Obama recently weighed in on the issue and is urging the UK to stay. Usually I would rather not have us meddling in the political affairs of another country just as I would not want another country meddling in ours. I do think that this is a special case though.

My Dad probably can’t find much common ground with President Obama but all three of this are pretty much on the same page. The UK would not do well to leave the European Union. Let’s take it from the American perspective. The US has been pursuing trade agreements in Asia (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and in Europe (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). The President is quite right to say that a seceding UK would be put on a back burner as the US would be looking to these two larger markets. Sure, a lone UK could secure a free trade agreement and perhaps bring about an economic Anglosphere. However the agreements with Canada (NAFTA) and Australia (AUSFTA) took the US years to negotiate and finally ratify.

Then there are the uncertainty issues that an exit would create. What does it say about EU integration? What are the repercussions? 

As an American, it actually puzzles me as to the reasons why the UK wants to leave the EU. I think that the biggest argument is that Brussels is riding roughshod over their interests. If that is the case, isn’t that more of the UK’s fault than the EU’s? The UK is the third largest member of the EU after Germany and France. When it comes to the table, it has a large voice and it’s not like it hasn’t used its weight to carve out special deals for itself. Now, however, the UK punches way below its weight when it comes to manipulating policy in the EU. It shows up but it doesn’t play the game. The Brits have the potential to be a super player in EU, directing and shaping the largest economic and political union in the world. Why would they want to walk away from it?

Something about chickens... and roosting?

After years of using boogeyman issues, the Republicans seems to have distilled them into a real person: Donald Trump. The party's primary race is fascinating as Trump has been gone from being novel curiosity to panic-inducing threat. Watching both establishment and hard-core conservatives losing their minds over this guy has been amusing.

Trump has a plurality of support with the majority of republicans backing the other candidates. Sen. Cruz has made an appeal for those people to abandon those candidates and unite behind him. Basically if you feel "anyone-but-Trump" then Cruz is your man.

So let's say that Cruz takes on all the supporters of Rubio, Kasich, and of the candidates who have already dropped out. Cruz is poised to beat Trump at the party convention. Despite his earlier promise to the contrary, I think that Trump would make a run as an independent candidate. He'd see it as a stab in the back and would not have any reason to keep his word.

Which party's supporters are going to be siphoned off by Trump running as independent? Uh huh...

Pass the popcorn, Hillary.

Scalia's Death Starts the Race

I haven't been paying as much attention to politics lately as I normally do. I have pretty much written off the chances of voting for any of the republican contenders. Yesterday's death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has kick-started my attention.

Not long after the announcement of Scalia's demise, republicans have said that President Obama shouldn't be allowed to put a replacement on the bench. They say that the next president should make that choice. The arrogance from Cruz, McConnell, and the like is astounding. As if they have the presidency in the bag.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said that the Senate will obstruct any nominee that President Obama sends to them. More obstruction from congressional republicans. What else is new? I get that they have a political goal of not allowing another liberal onto the court and that they will use whatever powers that they possess. McConnells claims that the American people should decide. Well they did in the last election when they voted for President Obama and like it or not, it is job to put forth a replacement and it is the Senate's job to vote yes or no. But these republicans are saying that they will say no no matter what. If there is a claim that someone is not doing their jobs in Washington, I'm going to point to Senate Republicans before I point to the President.

As the obstruction in the senate goes on, Scalia's seat is going to be a rallying call to conservatives as to why they need to vote in this election. Considering how unhinged the they have been since Obergefell case, I think it will be a big issue. The democrats would do well, I think, to make it a point too.

A Speaker Resigns and a Parliament is Dissolved

It was an interesting day in international politics today. In Australia, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop, has resigned due to mounting pressure from an expenses scandal. Occasionally, I check into YouTube to watch Questions to the House. It's a lot nastier than the UK's Questions to the Prime Minister and it only got worse when I saw Speaker Bishop take the chair. I don't think that there could be any claim that she attempted to keep her position as partisanly neutral as possible. There is a series of YouTube videos by George Stenhouse that you should check out.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the Parliament dissolved. Campaigning begins for elections that will be held in October. The election cycles of both the UK and Canada have started and been completed in the time the US's Presidential Cycle has even begun. I wish ours were as short.

An important victory but not the end.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that bans on same-sex marriages were unconstitutional. It was expected that the court would rule on this beginning sometime last week but most thought that it would come towards the end of this week or possibly on Monday. While I was at work, Roy sent me this message about 15 minutes after the decision was released. I found a bit of humor that I would be getting US news first from Great Britain. 

I am happy with the decision and I think it was a correct one but I am disappointed that it was a 5-4 decision. I had really hoped that Chief Justice Roberts would have joined in with a 6-3 decision. In the arguments, he brought up that this could be gender discrimination and teased the possibility that he could be another pro-gay vote. It has been said that Roberts wants to avoid 5-4 decisions and has angered the right when he sided with the liberals when it came to the Affordable Health Care cases. On the other hand, his positions in the cases on DOMA and Prop 8 suggested otherwise.

I’ve been busy at work but I do intend on reading the opinion.

Just because gays can now marry, it doesn’t mean the march for equality is over. It seems that the backlash is going to be in the form of religious freedom (to discriminate) laws. And it is still true that society is divided. Even my own family.

Justice

I took a day off from work yesterday, traveled to Ann Arbor, and listened to a conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Two law professors that were her former clerks asked questions. I was expecting a more casual conversation with her doing most of talking.  I was hoping for a meaty lecture from her. Instead, it felt more like a Q & A for a magazine.

I found some points of the program to be interesting. Although I knew gay marriage wasn't going to be discussed because the issue hasn't been brought up and settled by the court, I was wondering if there was some reading between the lines that could be done. She brought up a story where a man lost his wife while giving birth to their child. He applied for social security survivor benefits but found that he did not qualify because those benefits were meant for widows and not widowers. He brought a case and she said that some of the justices believed that this was discrimination against the woman (because it assumes something about the worth of a woman-her earnings did not provide benefits to her husband whereas a husband's earnings does provide benefits to his wife). Others believed it was a discrimination against the man. She then said that one of them, then Justice Rehnquist, said that the real injured party here was the child - who doesn't care whether the surviving parent is the woman or the man only that the care is provided. I suppose her larger point is that rather than deciding whether a law should be thrown out or upheld-because throwing out benefits would be disastrous-broadening "imperfect laws" to cover discriminated groups is preferable. So read into that what you will.

She had some more light-hearted moments when she talked about her being known as The Notorious RBG. She also seemed delighted that there is an opera about about her and fellow Justice Scalia. 

The real big kick that I got out of was that she embraced being known for her dissents as well as her confidence that her dissents will one day be the prevailing view and or law. Her example was the Ledbetter case where a woman was suing her employer after finding out that her pay was lower than her male coworkers that were in the similar roles. The court said that she had to file within 180 of the discriminatory action--but this had been going on for years and she didn't know. Ginsburg was of the mind that the discriminatory action happened with every paycheck that she Ledbetter got. Although she wasn't in with the majority of the court, Congress then passed a law in which the 180-day requirement resets with every paycheck.

Unfortunately, the talk was only about an hour and a half. I enjoyed it so much and I could have listened for far longer.

Oh, one observation about the audience was that I got the sense that they were real fans of Ginsburg and were not so keen on Justice Scalia. They were well aware that Ginsburg and Scalia seem to be opposite poles on the court. I wondered how aware they were that those two are actually good friends.

Blocked

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been checking out the election reactions among the right wingers.  Apparently I must've gotten under the skin of Mr. Fischer here as I am now banned from reading his tweets. Oh, don't worry, there are plenty more just like me around to sass this guy.

Licking Wounds or Celebrating

It's been a couple days now.  President Obama has been reelected.  Generally speaking, my ballot was pretty much in line with the winners.  I was on the wrong side of Proposal 1--the Emergency Manager law.  That was defeated and the law will not take effect.  The rest of the Proposals were voted down much to my relief.  I hope Matty Moroun can take his Proposal 6 and stick it where the sun don't shine.

I haven't been paying much attention to the reaction on the left.  I expect them to be celebrating and besides, I get enough of it on my facebook newsfeed.  The reaction on the right has been far more interesting.  This was an election that they thought they had in the bag a year ago.  Now they have to figure out why they didn't succeed.  I think that the excuse most pundits are going with was that this was due to all the white evangelicals that decided to sit this election out.

The gay rights issues turned out great. Maine's Question 1, Maryland's Question 6, and Washington's Referendum 74 all passed allowing same sex marriage in those states.  Minnesota's Amendment 1 which would have defined marriage as, "only a union of one man and one woman," was defeated.  Although same sex marriage remains illegal in Minnesota, it does prevent a huge hurdle being placed into the state's constitution. I had to immediately check on @NOMupdate so how Brian Brown is taking this BURN!

Well the this season is over and done with.  Campaign season starts up in a few months for the upcoming midterms.  I know y'all are just bursting with excitement.

Election Day

My ballot has been cast and the wait shouldn't be too long for the results.  We pretty much only have to find out how Ohio voted and I have a feeling that President Obama is still going to win.  So how the various proposals did are what I'll be looking for.

Election Day Eve

I've just completed my last minute research on candidates that I will be on my ballot tomorrow.  My selections are pretty much set now.

I have struggled back and forth on whether I should vote for Obama and Romney.  I am more convinced by Obama's economic plans and see Romney's as a bunch of smoke and mirrors.  However, I can't get past what I am actually experiencing which is higher costs for medical insurance for less benefits and a job market that is still depressed. 

I will be voting for Debbie Stabenow for senate.  While there are policy choices that I disagree with--at least I know what they are.  Her republican challenger has nothing of value on his website other than broad talking points.  I have found Senator Stabenow's offering of policy initiatives and her listing of legislative efforts to be  impressive and I wish more candidates for office would be as helpful.

The ballot proposals were pretty easy to make snap decisions.  I will be voting Yes on 1 and No on the rest.   Of note are Proposals 5 and 6.  Proposal 5 would limit the ability for the legislature to impose taxes by requiring 2/3 of legislature to approve.  Proposal 6 would prohibit the state from constructing international crossings of bridges or tunnels without a state and local vote.  These are cynical attempts to keep the legislators and other gov't officials from doing the job that they are supposed to do.

I'm kind of kicking myself as I could have run for city commissioner.  There are three vacant positions but according to Publius, only two people are on the ballot.  I was in the process of asking local friends on facebook if they would write me in but I quickly found out that Michigan won't count them.  Turns out I needed to have sent in a declaration of intent a couple weeks ago if I were to have those write-ins counted.

More Fair!

You can't just go to fair only once!

Stacey and Logan

Believe me when I say that this kid is suffering from a family tradition.  :P

While walking near the commercial barns, we were approached by this cheery older lady.  She told us that the Romney bus was here and that we should go get our pictures taken with it and then we'd have a souvenir for when he was elected president.  Bless her for having such confidence.  I looked at Stacey with a raised eyebrow and thought, "whoa, is she talking to the wrong person."  No posing was done and Stacey maintained a building's length distance but I did manage to get a snapshot.  I could at least send it to my friend, Season, and rile her up some.  And I did.  :)

I’m probably a Hedgehog

While I was listening to NPR’s Talk of the Nation not too long ago. The show was about the human brain and how it handles flip-flopper politicians. One of the guests talked about how people can generally be grouped into two groups: hedgehogs and foxes. Hedgehogs tend to view the world through a single lens (or idea) while foxes tend to view the world through multiples lenses.

I was thinking about that in context of one of the country’s hot issue of the moment: mandated coverage for contraceptives.  Read a Washington Post article here.

President Obama would like employers that offer health care coverage to have that coverage provide contraceptives at no (apparent) cost. This is particularly controversial for Catholic backed employers that do not provide contraceptive coverage due to their religious beliefs.

I suppose if I was a fox, I would support this. After all, I would prefer that there would be coverage for contraceptives. I think it’s a good idea. Because, however, my lens is bent toward a libertarian view point, I am actually against it and I’m in the minority on this issue.

My view is that employers don’t have to provide health coverage at all. Whatever benefits a company wants to offer is their business. If, because of their religious beliefs, contraceptives are not part of that package, so be it. In the real world though, companies would want to provide a benefits package that can attract and hold on to valuable employees as long as it is cost effective. For people who choose to work for a Catholic backed employer--know who you're getting into bed with.  Either buy additional coverage out of your own pocket or go to an employer that offers it.  So this goes to the freedom of the individual (the employer) to offer what it feels is a valued benefit and to the freedom of another individual (the employee or prospective employee) to associate or not.

My view is also that the government should not force companies to offer benefits packages. If the government can tell a company that they must provide coverage for contraceptives, why not go further and tell them that they must provide a 401k, or hell—a pension. They can argue that it would relieve the pressure on Social Security.  And this goes to a freedom of the individual from a federal government that, in my view, does not have this power.  It is one reserved to the states.

Let this chapter end already!

With all this debt ceiling talk, entitlement reform, high unemployment, fragile foreign and domestic economies, upcoming recall elections, yadda yadda yadda-I'm beginning to feel a little depressed about the state of my country. I need another dose of feel-good history that gives me hope that our best days (and my social security checks) are still ahead.

Osama’s Death Causes Annoyance

I was surfing the net last night when word about Osama Bin Laden’s death started leaking out and that President Barak Obama was going to make an announcement. My twitter feed started going mad with updates. I immediately posted a tweet and facebook update on the matter and as the event when on I watched the television and the social updates roll in and it was interesting to see the reactions of my friends, followers, and those I follow.

The first round of reactions came from my Air Force buddies and could be basically summed up with “America! Fuck yeah!” I was basically in with this group. Hearing about the death of Bin Laden is a psychological boost. It’s been almost a decade with this guy in the back of our minds and largely symbolic of the mess that we are in the middle east.

The second round came from a couple sober friends that were quite disgusted in how a lot of us were reacting. They thought it was disgusting on how we were cheering over a person’s death. I suppose that’s a fair enough point but I have never subscribed to the idea that all life is precious or that a death of a human being—even the most monstrous—of us, should not be something to smile over. I think, though, that there is something more than just whether a man like Osama Bin Laden is alive or not. The death of John Doe down the street does not elicit the same kinds of responses in people that Osama’s does. As a result, I feel quite comfortable with my feelings of relief and happiness that something negative is gone. What undiscovered country we will move into now is another matter.

The third round, and my turn in getting annoyed, came when some people posted this:

A HUGE THANK YOU to our military, who have sacrificed, died, suffered, and worked hard, to fight people like Osama Bin Laden. YOU are the ones we thank. YOU are the ones who deserve ALL CREDIT. Thank our military for bringing due justice for those lost on 9/11 and all the victims around the world who suffered from his commands. Copy and paste if you agree...

Don’t get me wrong, I have a huge respect for our armed forces but I was getting annoyed by people with this sentiment which seemed to spread. While this operation would not have been possible without the military, it kinda gets me on to a peeve of mine that really isn’t a part of this story—and that is some people’s treatment of the military (and members) as a sacred cow. But anyways, I just think that something like this is insulting for all the others involved. Does not President Obama get some credit for making the elimination of Bin Laden a priority? (Something that was dropped by Bush administration, BTW) Does not the intelligence agencies get some credit for cultivating leads and providing intel?

Oh well, the social feeds have died down and are reverting back to mundane things like gas prices. I will still be looking forward to more information on the ops as well as the fallout. Will we see counter attacks? What is going to be politicized? We shall see.