Dirty Politics, Election Predictions and Sid Continues his "Technology" Rant.

Vote ...  Vote ... Vote ... Vote ... Vote ... Vote ... Vote

Dirty Politics

Looking at the now-concluding run-up to the 2012 General Election, it is clear that negative campaigning reached its zenith this year.  The TV ads with their horrid portrayals of the faces of an opponent are dreadful; the half, quarter and one-third truths which supplement the outright lies they contain are disgusting.  The slick multi-color circulars received daily in the mail are just as bad.  Appeals based on race or religion insult the intelligence of members of the groups being targeted.

The people who are willing to stoop to such abysmally low levels in running political campaigns do so because they totally disrespect the ethical levels at which such campaigns should be run, are a discredit to our political system, and should be banned from participating in it in the future.  Legitimate candidates should be ashamed of having them working for them.  

We need strict limits on the amount of money involved, from all sources, which can be spent on political campaigns.  The obscene Citizens United Supreme Court decision should be reversed in a manner which would still preserve First Amendment rights but not provide a legal avenue for unlimited funds from unknown sources to contaminate the election process. The Supreme Court Justices who voted for it should hang their heads in shame, as should the lawyers who represented Citizens United and who prostituted an argument in defense of First Amendment rights into a vehicle for the very wealthy to use to pour unlimited resources into the election.  

  

The other day I saw a car pulling up adjacent to a major intersection out of which a passenger jumped and uprooted campaign signs for all of the candidates of a particular party, throwing them into the trunk of the car.  And off they went to another intersection.  This is another indication of the depths to which politics in this country has sunk.  Have we become a banana republic? The state of Florida certainly behaves like one.

And the efforts to limit registration and early voting, to challenge voters at the polls and require the kind of ID some people can only obtain with difficulty are other indications that politics is the dirtiest game being played in this country today.  And no one is being penalized fifteen yards for unnecessary roughness.  Let’s change that.  If we do not, the democratic process of electing our office holders will be destroyed and we just might as well have a dictatorship, monarchy or some other unrepresentative form of government.

That being said, let’s get on with my gut feelings as to how this election will come out.  These are my personal predictions. I wouldn’t advise anyone, however, to place any bets on them.

If you haven't voted yet, get out there early on Election Day and do so.  (I still feel that the Election should be postponed one week because of the millions who will perhaps not go to polls because of Hurricane Sandy.)

If you have a friend or relative who lives in, a "battleground" state (Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire or North Carolina),  give them a call today reminding them of the importance of their vote.

Jack Lippman

                                         

Election Predictions:

The Presidency:

“Battleground” races are shown in Blue or Red based on how I predict they will vote.

Barack Obama will carry 24 states plus the District of Columbia.  (DC, WA, OR, CA, NV,  CO, NM, MN, WI, IL, MI, OH, PA, VA, NJ, DE, MD, NY, CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, ME, HA) for a total of 297 Electoral votes.

Mitt Romney will carry 26 states.

(AK, ID, MT, WY, UT, AZ, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, IA, MO, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, TN, KY, IN, WV) for a total of 241 Electoral votes.

The Senate:

The Democrats will pick up two seats that were held by Republicans.  These will be in Massachusetts and in Maine where the projected winner, Independent Angus King, is expected to vote with the Democrats as do two continuing Independents, Sanders (VT) and Lieberman (CT).  The Democrats, then, including the Independents, will have 52 Senators.

The Republicans will pick up three seats that were held by Democrats.  These will be in Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota, giving them 48 Senators.

The House of Representatives:

The present Republican majority of 242 to 193 Democrats will be reduced by about ten seats to a majority of 232 Republicans to 203 Democrats. This will occur as voters in a few ‘borderline’ districts throughout the country which elected Tea Party conservatives in 2010 revert to choosing a Democrat. Hopefully, these will include a victory by Patrick Murphy over Alan West in Florida.

(I referred to www.RealClearPolitics.com for background information for these predictions. The predictions, however, are my own.  In regard to the Senate, I happen to agree with that site’s predictions.)

JL

                                                          

                                                                                                                      

SID'S CORNER

MORE ON CHOICES AND TECHNOLOGY VERSUS FUNCTION   

I recently wrote about my experience with my wife’s new-fangled, high tech LG washing machine and it’s plethora of possible choices available via its technology-ridden control panel. Now I’m relating my recent experience with its mate…an equally high tech, matching LG electric dryer.

While my wife was out shopping, the washer finished the bed sheets; so I decided to be a good doobie and put them through the dryer for her as a surprise gift. As with the washer I gazed in awe at the control panel brimming with twenty-seven indicator lights, five push-button controls, five display lights, and five secondary option choices…plus the “power” and “start/pause” buttons. 

I was stymied by the five “dry level” push button selections of damp dry, less dry, normal dry, more dry, and very dry. So when I spotted the “time dry” push button that offered five simple drying times from 20-minutes to 60-minutes in 10-minute increments, I was euphoric. Although I thought that the five temperature options of extra low, low, medium, medium high, and high were two more than necessary, they were easily understood, meaningful choices that I could manage. The menu of eight cycles was a total bewilderment and beyond my understanding… they had to have been designed into the offerings by some nerdy geek raised on video games.  

Calling upon my vast engineering background I quickly chose just two options…30-minutes at medium high temperature…closed my eyes and pushed the start button.

Eureka! The beast rumbled into action and dried the sheets perfectly!

When my wife returned, I was eager to explain my success because I had often heard her frustrated lamentations as she stumbled through the maze of choices offered by her new “toy”.  She had been bouncing through the eight cycle choices with fixed times from 20-minutes to 55-minutes and was delighted to learn that using the “time dry” control also allows her to fine tune those times by tweaking the “more time” and “less time” buttons of the secondary option choices.

She then exclaimed, “That’s so easy. From now on I’m going to use these settings all the time.” To which I blurted out, “Then why did we get a new dryer? The old one did the same thing without electronic complications using reliable, time-proven mechanical controls. You know that I’m a firm believer in the Zen-honored credo that ‘less is more’, and echoed by choice psychologist Barry Schwartz as ‘more is less’.”

To which she responded, “Well, it looks pretty and matches the new washing machine.”

Not knowing when to shut up, I sputtered. “Then we spent hundreds of extra dollars for a maze of control options that will never be used!”

She countered with, “So what? At my age this is probably the last dryer I’ll ever buy. Why shouldn’t I get what I want?”

Having no suitable response, I smiled, and quietly kissed her forehead.    

Sid Bolotin 

  

                                                                                                                              

Most readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting appears.  If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by contacting me at Riart1@aol.com.  

Also, be aware that www.Jackspotpourri.com is now available on your mobile devices in a modified, easy-to-read, format.

Our family of web sites also includes www.politicaldrek.com.

Check it out, find out what “drek” really means and feel free to submit your thoughts and articles for publication on that site, as well as on this blog.  Just send them to me at riart1@aol.com.

Additional new material will continue to be posted on www.politicaldrek.com until the Presidential election, after which its future will be re-evaluated.

Jack Lippman

                                                    * * *   * * *   * * *

To view older postings on this blog, just click on the appropriate date in the “Blog Archive” off to the right, or scroll down until you see the “Older Postings” notation at the very bottom of this posting.  The “Search” box can also be used to find older postings.

To send this posting to a friend, or enemy for that matter, whom you think might be interested in it, just click on the envelope with the arrow on the "Comments" line directly below.