Palin manic on meth? -- I finally figured out the bizarre buzz, the breakneck speed, & the glittering eyes. It's meth. Apparently Wasilla Alaska is the meth capital of the USofA.
This was my first reaction to the Biden/Palin Debate -- speed thrills before it kills. Sarah Louise does her go-go pills.
I watched the debate thinking What the heck is going on? Whence this uber-confidence, this inappropriate hyper-perkiness, this darting, pinballing lack of logic, the careening freight train of runaway energy? 'Winking' on the day after the economy lost a trillion dollars? The offensively feral feistiness. Weird cubed. Sursurreal.
An hour after the debate the light bulb went off. I remembered friends back-in-the-day forty years ago who did speed. I called one and asked, "How did it feel when you did speed?" He said, "Exactly what you saw in Sarah Palin tonight. You don't have a shred of doubt. You have a giddy, mega-exaggerated confidence in your expression and mental abilities. You feel brilliant, witty, and hyperhappy. In those days, you'd hitchhike with a truck driver who was on speed. The upside was that you'd be grateful he'd give you a ride for 500 miles. The downside was that he wouldn't stop talking for five hours."
To 'How do you feel doing speed,' another friend also a guy, younger, said, "You go into great detail. You have tremendous verbiage and excess energy. I felt like vacuuming. Every breath is a good breath, clear and sharp like eating horseradish. It makes perfect sense to me that Palin was on speed. She was all amped up. She exuded a manufactured confidence. Like if there were no two-minute limit, she would have just kept talking & talking. Because your mind is racing, you tend to overexplain, to blurt out whatever occurs to you -- like the snippy & flip "I'm not gonna answer what you people want' bit. Palin in the Debate is Classic Speed, a Case Study."
caucusdebacle@gmail.com
La Piranhas is an anagram of Sarah Palin.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Palin Manic on Meth?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
HFO & HAM
When I listen to wonderfull Hillary & Bill talk about the stakes, as heartbroken and enraged at the DNC (those rotten caucuses) as I remain, I'm reminded why, for all the principled temptation, I cannot be a puma but am an HFO & a HAM --- Hillaryette for Obama & Hillaryette Against McCain.
I'm really for our essential causes for which Hillary is such a brilliant and passionate champion. McCain cannot advance those causes of fairness and justice with health care, education, and a Green Future supplying jobs. So, with all the tears in my eyes, here I am, an HFO & a HAM.
Cheers,
caucusdebacle
Monday, July 21, 2008
Voters' Declaration of Rights .. action update
Voters' Declaration of Rights[Realize that Caucus States do not allow Absentee Ballots!] The DNC (Democratic National Committee) should and must stand for the Absolute Right of Every American to Vote.
Our Fellow Citizens who are disabled, have difficult mobility, are shift workers, have child care issues, or any impediment whatever to poll or caucus voting must be provided uncomplicated access to a Vote-By-Mail Absentee Ballot.
The Conscience of Democracy cannot endure the silencing of any citizen’s voice. We are all made mute, wronged, indeed shamed if we stand aside and allow a fellow citizen’s vote, their only voice, to be robbed of them by our Party’s action or inaction.
Our Democratic Party is a lie, is stained until we insist on simple, unambiguous, absolute access to Vote-By-Mail Absentee Ballots in all elections.
//
Sample Testimonies of Voter Suppression Shame
Voters in Caucus States are forbidden Vote By Mail Absentee Ballots
Iowa 2008.. 87-yr-old Vera “I can’t caucus, honey, I’m a cripple. If I can’t get there in my body, I don’t count.” ..82-yr-old Lorna, “Oh no dear, I don’t dare caucus, I’m off-balance.” .. 82-yr-old Ruth bed-bound by lingering pneumonia, “Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean I can’t think!” (Every 8th phone call in a Caucus State got me a similar anguished response.)
Nevada 2008.. Mary whose sister lives in a tiny town in Nevada, “My sister called me yesterday and said, ‘Mary, I can’t caucus. If my boss found out that I'm a Democrat and for Hillary, I wouldn’t have a job on Monday.’” (Caucuses don’t allow a secret ballot.)
Texas 2008.. In Texas Hillary's voters were plus 4% in the Primary & minus 12% in the Caucus on the same day! Suppose we had only seen the Caucus Results -- as we did in all the other Caucus States? This is appalling evidence of the Caucus Skew & Voter Suppression. This isn't about any candidate -- it's about the voters who couldn't vote.//
Six Years of Permanent Vote-By-Mail in California
I have Voted-By-Mail for 20 years -- since 1988 when I worked on a non-partisan SF Giants ballpark campaign & was poll watching far from my own polling place. The 2002 advent of Permanent Vote-By-Mail clearly saves paper & postage & aggro. Anyone who has used Permanent Vote-By-Mail loves it. Only those who haven’t used it have any concerns about it. Once you have spread your voting materials out in the unhurried quiet of your own home and voted in deep peace and profound responsibility, you will never go back to finding a parking place and having impatient voters behind you in line.
For 10 years Oregon has essentially voted totally Vote By Mail.
//
actions: write letters to editor; email DNC; email Howard Dean; email Senators & Congressfolk;
in Caucus States especially email State Senators & Legislators to demand Vote By Mail option for your state's citizens -- not just in the General Election, but at the time of caucuses!! Act now for 2012.
Write, call, email co-sponsors of HR 281, the Vote By Mail Absentee Ballots National Standards bill. Especially legislators from Iowa. I'd be grateful if you'd let me know when you get any positive or negative response for that matter. Knowledge will make our actions smarter.
//
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
Sunday, June 8, 2008
18 million = 4x Ireland
4x all of Ireland;
more than all of Denmark, Finland, Norway combined;
more than all of Chile;
1.5 or 1 1/2 times all of Portugal;
1.5 or 1 1/2 times all of Greece;
almost Australia;
twice all of Sweden;
twice all of Switzerland;
from wiki:
Ireland [4.3m];
Denmark[5.4m], Finland[5.3m], Norway[4.7m];
Chile[16m];
Portugal[10.6m];
Greece[11m];
Australia[21m];
Sweden [9m];
Switzerland[7.6m];
:::!!!:::
Saturday, June 7, 2008
A Fierce & Tender Speech
National Building Museum 06.07.08
A speech as fierce and tender and compelling as our Hillary always is.
If she is VP, I will absolutely support the Obama/Clinton ticket wholeheartedly.
She shines and whatever she does, she will be our champion.
Click Here to Read More..Tuesday, June 3, 2008
You Are Our Champion, Hillary
06.03.08 Tuesday
You are our champion, Hillary. You are our warrior. You are the hero for so many whose dispossessed sorrow or rage are transformed to courage at your example.
You should do VP. We need you. You and Senator Obama could do historic work together. Whatever you decide to do, you will hold the place in our time that Eleanor Roosevelt & Joan of Arc did in theirs. Never take a step on this beloved Earth, Hillary, without knowing that we love and honor you beyond words.
Click Here to Read More..Thursday, May 29, 2008
Only One Rule in a Democracy: One Person, One Vote
I say a clip today of you declaring that the superdelegates should follow "the will of the people." The will of which people? The Will of (Only the Healthy) People?
Housebound, bedbound, and disabled people in Caucus States were forbidden the Absentee Ballot so their precious voices and their will do not show up in the so-called elected delegates, their voices disappeared by 16% of the result in each Caucus State. These people don't matter to us Democrats? I spent my whole life since JFK was shot down on my 19th birthday fighting for the rights of the voiceless.
Superdelegates should be asked to THINK what the will of the people really is and judge wisely. The pledged delegates are a horrible indicator of the will of the people. (About 2000 voters gets you a pledged delegate in Idaho & about it takes about 11,000 voters to get you a delegate in a primary state.) The will of the people? I'm ashamed that such an emminent person in a place to educate us & reform us could be so hypocritical.
Intervene? I pray that you intervene on behalf of the true voice of voters, not snarled & inconsistent & arbitrary Party "rules." There is only one rule in a democracy: one person, one vote.
Sincerely,
Friday, May 23, 2008
Are You Insane? (Letter to Capus & Matthews)
I sent the following to bigwig Steve Capus & to Chris Matthews. I hope others will ewrite in a similar vein.
I'm agog.
Steve Capus <steve.capus@nbc.com>;
Chris Matthews <hardball@msnbc.com>
...
subject: Are You Insane?
Dear Mr. Capus & Mr. Matthews,
ANYone who imagines that Hillary was referencing anything but the primaries going into June with her 'my husband & RFK' remarks has lost their moorings in reality.
That grownups would sit around so-called seriously debating "what she might have meant" -- "Could she have meant she's waiting to see if Mr. Obama is assassinated" is simply insane & hysterical.
I'm ashamed of MSNBC and any commentator who would brook such nonsense for one second. Get a grip.
That I would have to write such a comment in 21st century America is embarrassing and shameful for you.
Sincerely,
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
By my Life & Sacred Honor - Count the Votes!
If I lost my vote, it would be an amputation. Suppose it was YOUR vote which was chosen not to count? I can't bear to think about it. It would break my heart & my very belief in what I thought it meant to be an American.
By my Life & Sacred Honor, I never imagined that votes would be suppressed on such a massive scale with the indifference of my beloved Democratic Party. Since JFK was shot down on my 19th birthday, I've fought for the only equality we are guaranteed in our America -- one voice, one vote.
The VOTERS in FL & MI are blameless. They are citizens whose ONLY voice is their vote. I tremble to think that my Democrats would not fight tooth & claw to count all the votes.
I'm within an inch of feeling completely abandoned by my Democratic Party. Apparently the suppressed votes of housebound & bedbound older women who were forbidden Absentee Ballots in Caucus States don't matter? And we'll just burn the books -- I mean the votes -- of many Florida & Michigan voters' precious votes? If the Republicans were doing this, we'd call it a Mockery of Democracy.
I beg you to count every FL & MI vote or to re-vote.
Sincerely,
..contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hurray Our Hillary! Hurray Village!
JFK was shot on my 19th birthday. I loved Bobby. MLK. And the dear hearts of Jimmy & Bill & Hubert & Walter & Lyndon & Anne Richards & so many.
But Hillary is my champion. She is our Strider. You can count on her through every trial, a candle in the darkness, and a beacon of shining dreams too. And the smart steps to make those dreams substantial in the lives of people. Thank you Hillary for being so brave and so gallant. The beauty of your spirit shines like the morning star.
Hillary is the champion for so many
whose dispossessed sorrow or rage
is transformed to courage at her example.
::::!!:::::::
Gave another $10.44.
email: caucusdebacle@gmail.com
image cathedral falls wva
Sunday, May 11, 2008
100,000 Disappeared Popular Votes in Caucus States
Voter Suppression of Hillary's core voters, housebound older women who,
forbidden the Absentee Ballot in Caucus States, are cheated, disappeared in the pledged delegates & popular votes count.
I am so grateful for your support of Hillary, the most electable & astonishingly prepared candidate of my lifetime. She is a champion for so many whose dispossessed sorrow or rage is transformed to courage at her example. You must forgive me if I sound a little overheated about the Caucus Scandal. It's been burning in my stunned brain since January. This information is distilled from 2400 volunteer phone calls.
The Will of the People?
Not housebound & bedbound older women people who are forbidden Absentee Ballots in Caucus States. "I can't caucus, honey, I'm a cripple,"said 87-yr-old Vera. "Just because I'm sick, doesn't mean I can't think," said 82-yr-old Ruth.
Not the blameless voters (also people except in the Democratic Party?) in Florida & Michigan who futilely imagined that their vote was their voice in their beloved Democratic Party.
In the Texas primary, Hillary's voters were plus 4. On the same day in the caucus with Absentee Ballots forbidden, they were minus 12. A 16% swing!
Suppose we had only seen the Caucus Results in Texas!
That's what happened in all those other Caucus States.
It’s a Mockery of Democracy. Upon my life and sacred honor, I always believed that the Democratic Party stood in essence for the voice and vote of each American? (Suppose 16% of black voters were forbidden to vote for Mr. Obama? Would there not be an outcry? Of course.) Superdelegates are designed to see this kind of hidden & horrible injustice against democracy & take it into account.
I have so much more specific info on this 16% Awful Caucus Skew. I am desperate to get the info out. When this story gets reported, the superdelegate dynamic will change. Sincerely, & heartbroken at the death of democracy, 16% Awful Caucus Skew
email caucusdebacle@gmail.com
image matisse
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Had To Quit You, Keith
I had to quit you, Keith. I watched several hundreds of your shows over the years with respect and glee. Thus I am crushed by your essentially ceaseless snide often vicious putative ‘reporting’ about Hillary.
The final straw was when you gave a full and breathless hour to Mr.Obama when you thought only he had had his passport peered at. The 60 minutes of baby-kissing Obama-ad B-roll that ran while you spittle-spewingly declared how The Constitution was Being Violated and Hillary-Supporting-Fanged-Aliens were about to land was projectile-vomit inducing.
Then the next night when it turned out that Hillary’s passport had been sneaked into as well, your outrage deflated to – well, zero. I was sickened.
I’ve tried to check in randomly to see if you’ve learned anything about the ugliness of misogyny, but every time I try, you and Rachel Madow or Richard Wolffe are snarking away at Hillary like hyenas.
I suggest you watch one whole show of yours alone in the comfort of your dwelling and see if you can’t see how oppressive and depressing it is to see your relentless unfairness and graceless nastiness.
In sorrow,
contact info
cc phil.griffin@nc.com; steve.capus@nbc.com
====
(re the intelligensia's Severe ObamaSwoon Syndrome: "The infatuations of the sensual and frivolous part of mankind are amazing; but the infatuations of the learned and sophistical are incomparably more so.” --I. Taylor from 1913 Websters).
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
28% of Hillary Voters Mad As Hell - Here's Why
Kind GateKeepers for Mr. Carville's email: I beg you to forward this to Mr. Carville. It is the only information that can give the superdelegates a public rationale to choose Hillary.
Dear Mr. Carville,
By fate I happen to be sitting on the Greatest Story Ever Untold about the 2008 election. If you know One Honest Journalist who wants a Pulitzer & isn't terminally afflicted by Severe ObamaSwoon Syndrome, please tell me who so I can crawl over glass to get her/him this information.
Headlines run along the lines of:
Hillary Actually Won Iowa //
28% of Hillary Voters Mad As Hell - Here's Why //
Dems Ignore Huge Voter Suppression //
Hidden Trap for Dems in Fall //
The Will of (Only the Healthy)People? //
Superdelegates Have a Real Job To Do //
A Mockery of Democracy //
The Math is NOT the Math //
Shocking 15% Caucus Skew //
I'll give you the gist & then work back. In Texas Hillary's voters were +4 in the primary and -12 in the caucus on the same day. A 16% swing! This startling & huge number is true tho hidden in ALL the caucus states. Hillary actually won Iowa. The shameful 15% Caucus Skew -- NO ABSENTEE BALLOTS for Hillary's core voters -- applies to ALL the caucus states. Suppose we had only seen the Caucus Results in Texas? That's what happened in Iowa & all the other caucus states.
If those disappeared votes showed up in Hillary’s column, she’d be easily ahead in those pledged delegates & popular vote, but apparently the Marshmallow Media & Mr. Obama’s other supporters don’t really care about the Will of the People. Which people? The Will of (Only the Healthy) People, apparently. It’s a Mockery of Democracy. In my 2400 volunteer phone calls for Hillary, an average of every 8th call in a caucus state got me 87-yr-old Vera, “Oh no, honey, I can’t caucus, I’m a cripple.” I say, “Couldn’t you vote-by-mail Absentee?” No Absentee Ballots for the house-bound in Caucus States. “If I can’t be there in my body, I don’t count.” Hillary didn’t “get back the women’s vote” in New Hampshire because she teared up in a diner. Baa baa Humbug. Bleating Unexamined Media Nonsense. Her New Hampshire voters got back the Absentee Ballot. There is an epidemic of house-bound older women in America, most with a terrible fear of falling. When the deplorable 15% Caucus Skew is revealed in detail, the (non-lemming) superdelegates will have to take into account the voter suppression against a large core group of Hillary’s voters and a bastion of General Election Democratic voters. These cheated voters all know they’ve been silenced, disappeared. Ruth, 82, “Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean I can’t think.” Lorna, 91, “I don’t dare go out to caucus, dear, I’m off-balance.”
Democracy is not a game. The rules of democracy are that each citizen gets her/his one sacred voice, vote. There is no metric by which the Democratic nominee is not chosen by the superdelegates. The whole point of (non-lemming) superdelegates is to think long & hard. Hundreds & hundreds of thousands of Hillary’s voters, the backbone of the Democratic Party, were cheated of their share of pledged delegates and popular vote because they are house-bound and were forbidden an Absentee Ballot. No organization, no 'ride' helps these folks, only the Absentee Ballot. This is voter suppression on a massive scale. Mr. Obama’s putative lead is The Big Lie. Imagine for one moment that 15% of Mr. Obama’s young or black supporters were prevented from voicing their vote for him. Would that feel just, feel democracy, feel American to you? Of course not. You’d rightly demand that reporters and superdelegates look into it & take it into account.
I put this as a polemic because I have fallen so hard for the Myth of American Democracy thru my life. John Kennedy was murdered on my 19th birthday. I was watching black & white flickering TV when Ruby shot Oswald. I wept for MLK, for Bobby. I had no plan to have this heart-wrenching story be dumped into my ear. Who knew that there were so many older women house-bound by this dread of falling? I have to speak out fiercely for Vera, Lorna, Ruth. This is doubtless their last vote and they shouldn't be suppressed by my beloved Democratic Party. I believed that progressives mean it when they say they speak for the silenced and invisible.
The Chuck Todds, David Gregorys, Tim Russerts, Matthews, Olbermanns -- and even Hillary's spokesfolk -- all have it wrong. Everyone knows generally & vaguely that Caucuses Stink. The missing piece is this huge specific number of disappeared Hillary voters who also are a vital chunk of the Democratic General Election force. Everyone prattles on about how upset the black vote and the young vote would be if the superdelegates decide that Hillary is the better candidate against Inevitable Republican Attack Machine. What no one talks about is that stunning 28% who say they won't support Mr. Obama in the General. I was shocked by the number until I remember just how many older women are enraged by not getting to vote & no one respecting them enough to complain about it and the staggering Media Misogyny which has bludgeoned anyone listening.
These non-coastal older women are seldom online so they aren't part of the Obama Blog Troll Army whose legions assault the Media. But they're there in force, hidden and furious and heartbroken. (They also don't have the give-money-every-few-days access that those of us online do, so Hillary's fundraising doesn't reflect her support at all.)
Mr. Carville, it's not because I'm smart that I have this info. It's just that when I heard Vera say, Oh, no, honey, I can't caucus, I'm a cripple. If I can't be there in my body, I don't count" and then the fourth call after that was another fear-of-falling Hillary supporter and the seventh call after that -- I began to keep track. Caucuses are not quaint and charming, not Tra la la to Grandmother's Caucus We Go, not hallmarkcard, normanrockwell -- they are a Mockery of Democracy. Most Grandmothers can't get there. This Caucus Scandal is rotten in our democratic soul. I am happy to talk about this any time of night or day. The only way to drive a stake into the vile heart of the Caucus System for the future is to show how drastically it twisted this election.
It's true that I would particularly love a woman reporter to get this Pulitzer because the journalism business is still so skewed against women reporters, but I'd take any reporter who groks (really gets) it.
Sincerely,
ps.
//Not in my focus for this protest, but also awful vs Caucuses. In Nevada I was talking to Mary in Vegas. She hoped she could get off work to caucus for Hillary but told me that she'd talked her sister in a small Nevada town named Tumbleweed or Dry Gulch or somesuch. "My sister told me, 'Mary, I can't caucus because if my boss knew I was a Democrat and for Hillary , I wouldn't have a job on Monday.'" Holy moly. It drove home to me why we have the Secret Ballot. It was chilling.
//Yes, I know that Maine has an awkward & complex way for a few voters to get an Absentee Ballot so I leave that state out so as not to muddy the waters.
//I also realize that a lot of other types of folks are disenfranchised by the deplorable Caucus System but they seemed to even out amongst the candidates. The big group disappeared for one candidate was the older women for Hillary.
//This is not about Hillary's campaign & its failings re Caucus States. It's about Hillary's voters who need an Absentee Ballot & neither Hillary's campaign nor those disabled voters could do anything about the lack of an Absentee Ballot in Caucus States.
//[Note re the intellectual epidemic outbreak known as ObamaSwoon Syndrome: “The infatuations of the sensual and frivolous part of mankind are amazing; but the infatuations of the learned and sophistical are incomparably more so.” --I. Taylor from 1913 Websters]
//contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Mockery of Democracy -- Memo to Geoff Garin
Geoff -- THANK you so much for asking!
Please tell the superdelegates that CAUCUSES ARE A MOCKERY OF DEMOCRACY for hundreds & hundreds of thousands of older women particularly. Lorna, "No, dear, I don't dare caucus, I'm off-balance." I have the Greatest Story Ever Untold about this election. Suppose (non-lemming) superdelegates knew that Hillary's older women voters were hugely cheated of their rightful share of pledged delegates and popular votes by a shameful 15% CAUCUS SKEW?
In Texas we see the final evidence: plus 4 for Hillary's voters in the primary & minus 12 in the caucus on the same day. A 16% swing! This ratifies my numbers from making 2400 volunteer calls for Hillary. Every 8th call in a caucus state got me Vera, "Oh no honey, I can't caucus, I'm a cripple. If I can't be there in my body, I don't count." Ruth, "Just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can't think."
Geoff, there is an epidemic of older women whose voices, whose votes were silenced, disappeared by the deplorable No-Absentee-Ballots Caucus Skew. The Will of the People? Which people? The Will of (Only the Healthy) People? This Caucus Scandal is rotten in our democratic soul. It is exactly this kind of hidden & hideous injustice that superdelegates were designed to account for in their thinking. Do they really want "the true popular vote" taken into account?
I don't sleep, Geoff, trying frantically to get this huge story out -- a story which will change the dynamic of the superdelegates. Please listen. I have much more detail.
Thank you for all you do. We can sleep on Nov 5.
///
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
END OF POST. THERE IS NO MORE
So Much Further in Race Than in Gender
We have come so much further in race than in gender. (Not far enough in either.) When I think of the astonishing effort that ECS (Elizabeth Cady Stanton) & all those meeting & marching women put in to get women to be considered five-fifths human enough to vote & I see how invisible women in history still are, I realize how many miles upon miles we have to go for justice. Did you see CNN do huge gorgeously produced pieces on women's battles for rights this year? In this very election, hundreds & hundreds of thousands of older women in caucus states are cheated of their share of pledged delegates & popular votes because they are forbidden the Absentee Ballot.
In Texas, Hillary's voters were plus four in the primary and minus 12 in the caucus on the same day. A 16% swing! Suppose we had only seen the caucus results?
Since I talked to 87-yr-old Vera in Iowa, "I can't caucus, honey, I'm a cripple," I've been trying, like Diogenes looking for one honest reporter, to get the 15% Caucus Skew covered in any media. I chirped up to Vera, "Could you vote by mail absentee?" 2008 may well be her last vote. She longs for the 44th president to be a woman, to be the superbly prepared Hillary who is a champion for so many of us, who bears both the vile and veiled misogyny with such grace and grit, who has remarkable visions for a green jobs economy, insourcing, and actually universal health care. "Oh, no, we can't have an Absentee Ballot in a caucus state. If I can't be there in my body, I don't count." Vera should count.
I made 2400 volunteer phone calls for Hillary. Every 8th phone call I made into a caucus state got me: "No, dear, I don't dare go to caucus, I'm off-balance." I'm still in shock at the extent of this problem. There is an epidemic of older women with a terrible fear of falling who are prevented from voting in the benighted anti-democratic Caucus States. No ride will help them. They know a fall is the death sentence. Ruth said in anguish and fury, "Just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can't think."
The appalling injustice of caucuses is just what the (non-lemming) superdelegates were designed to scrutinize. These older women for Hillary know they've been cheated, silenced, disappeared. The Caucuses are The Big Lie. The Will of the People? Which people? The Will of (Only the Healthy) People?
::::
on wowowow in Comment on Lesley Stahl's post. Comment is shown as 4/9/08 5:10 am about #119.
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
END OF POST. THERE IS NO MORE
Caucuses are The Big Lie
-- The Introductory Post
Shamefully, caucuses silence
15% of Hillary’s voters, older women.
[After this Welcome Post, please see daily new posts below]
Mr. Obama’s position is essentially ‘The people have spoken; you can’t go against the will of the people.’ Which people? American Democracy: Only Healthy People Need Apply.
It was said of the aged Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founding mother of the women’s right to vote, “she was weak of body, but keen of mind.” With no absentee ballot, these keen Hillary voters are unheard, disappeared citizens. Honest superdelegates will want to consider what the will of the people really adds up to.
Note that in Texas, Hillary was +4 in the primary and -12 in the caucus
on the same day!
Suppose we had only looked at the caucus results? A 16% swing. Hillary’s voters many pledged delegates and much popular vote in all those caucus states
are missing.
The caucuses debacle is a scandal in our beloved democracy.
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
Click Here to Read More.."If I Can't Be There In My Body, I Don't Count"
comment on Katharine Q. Seelye NYT
Clinton’s persistence
The so-called Math will be re-understood when The Greatest Story Ever Untold finally gets seriously reported by some smart reporter who loves actual democracy.
Suppose you and the non-lemming among the superdelegates knew that 15% of Hillary's voters in Caucus States had been cheated of their rightful share of pledged delegates & popular votes?
Every 8th volunteer phone call I made into Caucus State after Caucus State got me a Hillary voter who said, "Oh, no, honey, I don't dare caucus, I'm off-balance." No ride would help these folk who do not go out. The will of the people? The will of (healthy) people, apparently.
In Texas, Hillary was +4 in the primary and -12 in the caucus on the same day! A 16% swing! Suppose we had only seen the caucus results as in Iowa etc? It's the Absentee Ballot, Dumbish Folks!
Why do you think that 28% of Hillary's voters say they'll sit out November? Not because they aren’t fiercely loyal lifelong Democrats. Because they have been silenced, disappeared. THEY know that this pledged delegate & popular vote count is malarkey. THEY weren't counted. The Caucus Debacle is an appalling anti-democracy scandal. It is exactly the kind of injustice that the non-lemming superdelegates were designed to account for.
If you’d heard person after person lament, “If I can’t be there in my body, I don’t count,” you’d demand & plead that they have a say in the superdelegates’ thinking. Where are their pledged delegates and popular vote? Why does no one speak up for them?
Click Here to Read More..Dismayed by Speaker Pelosi
in Comment on Carl Hulse NYT On the Hill, Nancy Pelosi, Mystery Delegate 04.02.08
As a longtime follower of Speaker Pelosi, I am dismayed that she does not speak out for all the older women disenfranchised by the deplorable anti-democratic Caucus States. Older women are the backbone of the Democratic Party and it may be novel & thrilling to have a lot of new voters -- but you applaud them at your peril if you're willing -- in ignorance or in cowardice -- to allow your most faithful supporters to be silenced.
15% of Hillary's voters were cheated of their share of the pledged delegates because the antiquated caucus system prevents them from having an Absentee Ballot no matter how infirm they are. There is an epidemic in America of older women who have a deep dread of falling. They do not go out. They can't use a ride. They need an Absentee Ballot. (In Texas, Hillary was +4 in the primary & -12 in the caucus the same day. An Absentee Ballot, an Absentee Ballot, my democracy for an Absentee Ballot!)
I'm ashamed of Speaker Pelosi for not being a champion of these older Democrats. Only the will of (healthy) people counts in the Halls of Power, it seems. Don’t we expect superdelegates to think, to look, to account for? Do we really want superlemmings? Or superduperlemmings?
Weekend Warrior . 03.30.08
///
The deplorable Caucus system has robbed Hillary's voters of 15% of their voice, of their share of pledged delegates and of popular vote. Without an Absentee Ballot, voters with a terrible fear of falling can not participate. A ride doesn't help. This Caucus Skew must be noted by the thoughtful fairness of the superdelegates and taken into account.
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It is to be hoped that the superdelegates will take note that Hillary's voters were robbed of their voice by 15% in all those Caucus States. People infirm of body but keen of mind are prevented from participating because they have no Absentee Ballot. These are folks too off-balance to dare use a ride to the polls. Note that in Texas, Hillary's voters gave her +4 in the primary, but -12 in the caucus on the same day.
Note that in Texas, Hillary was +4 in the primary & -12 in the caucus on the same day. A 16% swing! (I found this shocking percentage in all my volunteer phoning in caucus states. 2400 calls is a good sample.)
Caucuses don't allow Absentee Ballots -- especially silencing older women who have a terrible fear of falling & do not dare go out to a caucus. "If I can't be there in my body, I don't count." The pledged delegates & popular vote that is stolen from these passionate Hillary supporters must be accounted for by the superdelegates in their thinking. Balancing out this kind of grotesque injustice is why they exist. Or maybe we mean only the will of the (healthy) people in America?
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Et tu, Sen. Dodd; Fie! Sen. Leahy
Et tu, Sen. Dodd
When I taught at Westminster School in Simsbury in the early '70s, I never thought I would feel such shame to be a Democrat.
As the first female faculty member paid half as much as my husband for identical duties (tho I was a much better teacher), I thought we had GOTTEN SOMEWHERE by now in my beloved America.
To hear you try to get our first woman candidate for president of the United States to quit -- I am enraged and dismayed.
I didn't hear you crying out for fairness for older women in the Iowa Caucuses when they were forbidden the Absentee Ballot, their only way to participate because they are deathly afraid to slip and fall if they go out to a caucus.
I used to be such a fan of yours as a sensible national figure for Democrats. I am ashamed of you for the deplorable disrespect you show to the aspirations of so many women in this country crushed by bad health and an unfair economy. Hillary is our champion.
[email Sen. Dodd ]
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3-29-08 2:34:57 pm
Fie! The Caucuses are The Big Lie .. Sen. Leahy
JFK was murdered on my 19th birthday. I have been a fervent Democrat ever since. Now I am so sad and ashamed for us.
Senator Leahy, I think of all the years I spent in Hardwick in the remote Northeast Kingdom of Vermont teaching middle school. I am ashamed that you would callously suggest that our first woman candidate in history just quit. What gall and narrowsightedness.
Why didn't you step up to insist on absentee ballots in the Caucus States if you really meant "the will of the people." Every 8th volunteer phone call of several thousand I made got me "Oh, no, honey, I can't caucus. I'm a cripple. If I can't get my body there, I don't count."
No ride can help an older woman who doesn't dare go out to caucus because of her terrible fear of falling. Fie. As a superdelegate you should cry out against this deplorable anti-democratic Caucus Skew.
[email Sen. Leahy ]
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
first posted 03.29.08
Sen. Kerry a Quisling?
Dear Senator Kerry,
On my 19th birthday I was at Mount Holyoke when JFK was murdered. I have been a passionate Democrat ever since. I have never felt such shame in all these years -- but when I see the way you and others are bullying Hillary to get out of the race, you seem like a quisling to all the democracy means.
I haven't heard you crying out against the appalling anti-democratic Caucus Skew which has disappeared 15% of Hillary's pledged delegates & popular vote in all those caucus states. Infirm voters need an absentee ballot they can get by mail. Their terrible fear of falling prevents them from using 'a ride.'
The will of the voters? Which voters? Only the will of healthy voters -- is that what you really mean? I expected finer from you. I phoned my heart out for you in 2004. I couldn't have imagined that you would turn on Hillary, the champion for so many of us. Fie! For Shame.
[webmail Sen. Kerry ]
ps. a quisling is a traitor, from Quisling, a Norweigan who betrayed Norway in WW2.
contact: caucusdebacle@gmail
first posted 03.30.08
The Will of the (Healthy) People
3-29-08 10:46:03 am to Howard Dean;
I am 63 years old. I have been an active and loyal Democrat since JFK was murdered on my 19th birthday. I am ashamed of Mr. Dodd, Mr. Leahy, & others trying to push Hillary, the best-prepared candidate in my life, out of the supposedly democratic process.
15% of Hillary's vote (therefore pledged delegates & popular vote) was robbed from her in all those caucus states. (In Texas Hillary was +4 in the primary & -12 in the caucus on the same day! You call this democracy? The will of the (healthy) people! That our first woman candidate would be given so little respect is sickening.
(email Mr. Dean .. http://www.democrats.org/page/petition/chairman)
contact caucusdebacle@gmail.com
first post 03.29.08
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Wonderfull Prayers for Silenced Elders
The following are wonderfull prayers by Lorie & Diana when they heard the plight of our beloved older kinfolk in our American family and planet family. These prayers dwell in my heart as seeds dreaming of flowers, soon & plentyfull.
Prayer: Namaste Beloved Father, Beloved Mother, Beloved Swami, I pray today for those elders in Texas, Nevada and other caucus states to have their voices heard. I pray for a way that their political votes be counted, and respected. I fervently pray that those who have difficulty with balance and fear of falling are assisted in all of their needs. May their bodies receive the nutrition needed. May they find ways of strengthening their bodies, and learning new ways to balance themselves for safety ALWAYS! 
Heart of the Universe, Love I join with Lorie and Wendy in prayers for our precious people of age. May their voices be heard and regarded politically. Bless their bodies with the best health possible, especially assisting those in need of better balance, to avoid falls. May their lives be lived in peace and comfort and may they always have what they need for their health and their joy. Goddess bless all people of age, Many they know that they are loved. So Mote it Be! (In the will of the Gods/Goddesses.)Monday, April 7, 2008
The Undemocratic Nature of Caucuses: Pat's Personal Story
The Undemocratic Nature of Caucuses: My Personal Story .. Pat Bakalian
I had the opportunity to work on the Democratic primaries/caucuses in Iowa and Texas, and I do not believe that caucuses represent the will of the people.
In general, caucuses disenfranchise people who are disabled, older, single parents, parents with young children, people who work swing shifts, those going to night school, the physically fragile who cannot stand for long periods, and so on. We are a 24 hour culture. We’re leaving people out any time we choose one time and place to let people’s voices be heard. There are always hospitals to be staffed, restaurants serving customers, streets to be patrolled, janitors cleaning buildings. This is NOT democracy. People can’t vote absentee in a caucus and they have no voice.
Specifically, I saw in Texas people standing out in the cold and dark for hours – until 11:00 at night while many older people and people with small children had to leave. At one site there were 4 precincts voting at the same location with only 6 voting machines, it was mayhem and total chaos as there was no parking for primary or caucus voters. At one site voting didn't finish until about 1am! In many cases, the venue was too small causing a fire hazard, no precinct chairs showed up, and no one was trained on what to do to run the caucus. Due to crowded conditions, the sign up packets were inappropriately passed down the pews and impossible to monitor. In other cases the packets were incomplete with no more than one sign up sheet resulting in people making their own, and no calculation sheet for determining the number of delegates, so the caucus vote was done by "guess work" from the Obama campaign work sheet. The voting Judge was overwhelmed, monitoring who had actually voted in the primary at that precinct was impossible to do under many of these circumstances. There was no way that any checking of these voters was done as some didn't have their voter's registration form.
In Iowa the only way to vote for your candidate was to go to a caucus site for one two- hour period on one very cold (even by Iowans standards) night and stand up in front of your spouse and neighbors without the advantage to having your vote be private. I talked to many people who would have caucused but they had to work the second shift or take care of an elderly parent or sick child, or simply did not feel comfortable being so public with their vote.
· So far there have been 13 states that have held a caucus instead of a primary. Barack Obama has won 12 of these states. In the 2004 presidential elections, Republicans won in 9 of these states.
In Texas, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 100,000, yet I believe she will lose the delegate count due to the state having poorly organized and poorly supervised caucuses.
· In Wyoming about 7,500 people caucused and they have 12 delegates. In my own Congressional District in California about 96,000 people voted and we have 5 delegates.
· At the Washington State caucus on Feb. 9 (the “official” contest recognized by the DNC to determine delegates to the Democratic Convention), a total of 30,000 people voted and 75 delegates were awarded. Their non-binding primary was held on Feb. 19 where 691,000 people voted and NO delegates were awarded.
Is this a democracy? Is this One Person, One Vote? Is this a way to pick a nominee who can best beat John McCain?
I urge you to look at the caucus vs. primary systems of picking our nominee and support Senator Hillary Clinton because she will be the strongest Democratic candidate to go up against John McCain.
Very Sincerely,
Pat Bakalian
pat@bakalianconsulting.com
first posted 04.07.08
