election – Here in Van Nuys

“He cracked open a space where the light could shine through.”

November 9, 2020November 18, 2020Posted in PoliticsTagged Biden, election, Rainbow, Van NuysLeave a comment

“As the country waited for ballots to be counted, it was Biden — not the occupant of the Oval Office — who was reassuring people that this democracy was intact, that the system was working and that the center would hold. He was the voice of calm optimism in the midst of tumultuous times.

When he became president-elect late Saturday morning, he did something far more herculean than accepting responsibility for a worsening pandemic and a struggling economy. He removed a terrible, suffocating weight from the back of this nation. For the more than 74 million Americans who voted for him — and surely even for some of those who did not — Biden’s election allowed this country to laugh, to dance and to breathe. He cracked open a space where the light could shine through. Indeed, his victory caused people to weep in joyful relief as they became aware of the heaviness that had afflicted their hearts, after they’d suddenly been relieved of it.”-Robin Givhan, Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2020

Voting Day in Van Nuys.

November 6, 2012November 6, 2012Posted in PoliticsTagged 2012, California, election, proposition, voting5 Comments

It was voting day today, and like many Americans, I walked over to cast my ballot at the Voyager Motor Inn, joining men and women from my community, including unrentable females not normally seen on Sepulveda.

My neighbors up the street were coming out of the motel, and warned me that one door was green and the other red, and you did not have to wait in line for green but nobody would tell you.

I didn’t know what the hell that meant, but I walked into the crowded smelly motel and tehraned myself to the front of the line, walking past others waiting, and into the room where I handed my ballot to a volunteer at a table.

My name and address were clearly printed on back…. so the young lady asked for my name and address.

I signed my name into the book and was handed a long, skinny ballot which I then placed into a voting booth whose poster board walls would blow down if I sneezed.

Misinformed, manipulated, misguided, prejudiced, biased, open-minded, incisive and ignorant, I had already made up my mind about the propositions and what they really meant.

Two of the measures would provide funding for all children in California schools, 50% of whom are here by way of undocumented parents. There are 7 billion people on Earth and I wonder what would happen if any one country could just settle all its citizens here?

But I better not start that argument.

Another measure promised to stop union contributions and seemed backed by the Republicans who only believe that large corporations and CEOs should have a voice.

Mercury Insurance sponsored another ballot.

Warren Buffet’s partner’s daughter poured $100 million into Prop. 38 funding early childhood education. And I wondered why she could not have spent $100 million to redesign our voting ballot to make it graphically clear and readable.

Prop. 36 made the three strikes law only applicable if the last crime was violent. That made sense to me as my neighbor was almost imprisoned for life after he had two non-violent strikes and one DUI.

I almost voted to overturn the Death Penalty (Prop. 34), which I know does not deter crime, and is barbaric, but then I realized that we are quite a barbaric state, with people who tag church walls and murder congregants who step outside and confront. I think death is deserved for some, even if it is not logically warranted.

And I did not think it enforceable to require condoms on set for adult performers. (B) And I voted yes to accelerate public transportation because it is both a job creator and a civic necessity, bringing cleaner air and better development to Los Angeles (J).

Finally, or to begin with, I voted for the Presidental candidate who killed Osama Bin Laden, extracted us from Iraq and will do so in Afghanistan, saved the auto industry, and tried and partially succeeded in reforming our health care system which is so unfair, expensive and monstrously geared to the 1%.

I am all over the place, a liberal and a conservative, tolerant and racist, traditional and progressive.

I guess I am just a Californian.

Vote!

November 6, 2012November 6, 2012Posted in PoliticsTagged 2012, election, VoteLeave a comment

Today There Was Some Kind of Election.

May 19, 2009May 19, 2009Posted in PoliticsTagged 2009, California, election, proposition1 Comment

I cannot verify if this is true, but apparently, today in the state of California, there was an election.

I read about it in the Daily News. This is part of what they said:

“At the core of the governor’s reform effort is Proposition 1A, which extends a sales tax hike for a year; increases the state income and motor vehicle taxes for two years; and increases the state’s “rainy day” fund from 5 to 12.5 percent of the General Fund. It also gives the governor the power to make midyear spending cuts when revenues fall short of projections.

My comment: why not just raise the tax on gasoline by 50 cents?

Proposition 1B, which would take effect only if 1A passes, would restore $9.3 billion to public schools and community colleges, beginning in 2011.

My comment: so the second proposition can only take effect if the first one takes effect. Makes sense to me.

Proposition 1C allows the state to borrow $5 billion against future earnings on the state lottery.

My comment: the state of California is in the gambling business and encourages its citizens and others visiting here to gamble to support the state spending habit.

Proposition 1D would temporarily divert revenue from children’s health programs, while Proposition 1E would funnel funds from mental health services to reduce the deficit.

My comment: when times are tough, that’s when you have to get tough on children and the mentally ill.

Finally, Proposition 1F – the only measure currently leading in public opinion polls – would prohibit the governor, lawmakers and other elected state officials from receiving pay raises in years when the state is running a deficit.

My comment: only this one makes any sense

Even if the measures are approved by voters, the state will still be facing a $15 billion deficit. If the package fails, the shortfall jumps to $21 billion.

My comment: I didn’t vote today and I am not ashamed.

The Color Has Changed, the Situation Remains the Same.

November 6, 2008November 6, 2008Posted in PoliticsTagged America, election, liberalism, Obama, Politics, post-racial, race, racism3 Comments

In the aftermath of the glow over President Elect Obama’s win, the great national back pat and international acclaim for our nation, continues. WE ELECTED A DARK SKINNED MAN! Tears were pouring out, because our racist country could now point to that one example who surmounted the odds and would now take the oath of office in January 2009.

But as Shelby Steele points out in the Los Angeles Times, Obama has been masterful at putting forth an idealism that implies that a vote against him would be an act of cynicism. “His talent was to project an idealized vision of a post-racial America — and then to have that vision define political decency. Thus, a failure to support Obama politically implied a failure of decency.”

Steele argues that some white Americans would like to vote for a black person because it absolves them of the sin of racism. He writes that Obama’s racial identity, not his political views, form the strength of his new compact with the American people. “In fact, this was his only true political originality. On the level of public policy, he was quite unremarkable. His economics were the redistributive axioms of old-fashioned Keynesianism; his social thought was recycled Great Society. But all this policy boilerplate was freshened up — given an air of “change” — by the dreamy post-racial and post-ideological kitsch he dressed it in, “ Steele says.

But the larger issue, goes to the heart of how America sees itself in the world. We are convinced that our power is unlimited. That if we only put our minds and money to work, we can end terrorism, control global warming, make the Israelis and Palestinians love each other, and insure health care for everyone. True conservatives are wary of such great ambitions, but we have just come out of eight years of neo-conservatism with its doctrine of pre-emptive war and American exceptionalism.

When Obama takes office, the expectations will again be completely ridiculous. The world expects America to be different. Obama’s supporters think he will withdraw our troops from Iraq and begin to enact national health insurance. But by February 1, 2009 I expect the honeymoon will be over.

I voted for Obama. I like Obama. In fact, he made me cry several times during his election campaign. I’m glad he won.

But I am nauseated, tired and sick of hearing about how his melanin, and Kenyan father, somehow ushers in a new era of change.

Skin color as change is no change at all. It’s the same old racism.

Sarah Wears Obama.

October 5, 2008November 6, 2014Posted in PoliticsTagged 2008, election, Mask, Obama, Sarah PalinLeave a comment

Sarah Wears Obama., originally uploaded by Here in Van Nuys.

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