Post Election

I wanted to post this the day after the election, but it has been a hectic week for me.

I was on pins and needles election night, and almost thought Romney was going to win, and I had to turn off the television for a while. When I turned it back on an hour later, I was rather amazed at how quickly things turned around, and how, to my understanding Obama did even better than the first time in terms of the popular vote and the electoral college.

In regards to other election results, I personally was not happy that marijuana was legalized here in Washington. Time will tell of course, but I don't really see anything positive coming from it.

And what should have surprised me, but didn't, is how quickly Republican candidates were pointing the finger everywhere but at themselves for losing. A perfect example is this article I read in today's Seattle Times about a call that Mitt Romney made to donor's of his campaign.

I was so happy that every single candidate that made idiotic comments about rape lost (including John Koster here in Washington). The sad part is, at least in Koster's case, he was whining that he lost because he felt that the Republican Party did not send enough funding his way. There was absolutely no recognition on his part that he lost because of what he thinks.
To hear the beliefs these guys were expressing in this day and age makes me wonder if they all are misogynistic neanderthals under the surface. I honestly am not holding my breath that they are going to look inside themselves and change and grow.
With the Republican Party, pretty much all I've been hearing the last week is about how they feel like they lost the election due to "changing demographics", and that they need to run a better election next time.  You can wrap crap in a new package, with a pretty bow, but it's still crap. And when they were claiming the day after the election that the Democrats were supressing the vote I about went through the roof!! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. They REALLY need to hold a mirror up to themselves, OMG!

But enough about politics....

Tom Cat and his injured leg

Two weeks ago Thursday, I had let Tommy out during the day while I was at work, and when I came home, he came in limping. I couldn't see any outward signs of an injury, so was in a wait-and-see mode before contacting the vet.
It didn't get any better over the weekend so I made an appointment to bring him in last Saturday. On Friday, the cause of the limp revealed itself; he had an infection that finally popped the surface. Obviously he got into it with another cat and was bitten.

We had to take the bus to the vet, and he actually did really well. I was worried that he was going to be yowling the whole time, but he didn't make a sound. They shaved his leg, cleaned the wound and gave him an antibiotic shot, and sent me home with medication to clean his leg twice a day.

I had to take off work this afternoon to take him back for a check-up to make sure that it was healing properly. He got a thumbs-up from the vet that he it is okay. He will be taking antibiotics for 3 more days. I'm relieved he did not have to have stitches, he's happy because he finally got to go out after being stuck inside for 5 days.....

More Election 2012

I don't want to say that I enjoyed  This blog post from October 29th on The Huffington Post, in the sense that it's not entertainment; but for me it really hits the nail on the head. I don't for a second believe that Mitt Romney really gives a rip about most Americans, and in making our lives any better, I think he just wants to be President for the power.

Mike Luckovich, October 31, 2012

 The B.S. that has come out of his mouth, along with Paul Ryan is astounding. I'm going to try and articulate it as best I can; it dawned on me this past week that to hear them talk, most of the Republican candidates and pundits act like the sky is falling, ALL THE TIME. They act is if the world is going to come to an end for every single decision that President Obama makes. The level of fear that they seem to be operating under would cause so much stress you would think it would shorten their lifespan. It would be a lot more comical, if you they weren't serious, but they are.
President Obama has not accomplished everything he intended in his first term, and not as much as I hoped he would personally, but I know that his intentions are good, and that he will continue to try. And he did try, but has been demonized by Republicans from the beginning. If Obama gets re-elected, are they going to continue to fight him every step of the way? It's become the new normal to just slap a label on your opponent, and then react to everything they say or do as if it is actually fitting that stereotype, even when it's not. For me, the most offensive was to compare Obama to Hitler. Really? Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Yeah, he and Obama have so much in common, I don't know how I could have missed that.

Mike Luckovich, November 1, 2012

Then they even threw Chris Christie under the bus for praising President Obama's handling of the clean-up for Hurricane Sandy. How dare he not continue the party line of criticizing every single thing Obama does?
This would be a perfect time for Romney to put his money where his mouth is and donate billions of dollars to help out the victims of Hurricane Sandy since he thinks it's not the government's job.
You know who is helping out? It's neighbors helping neighbors. Every single major natural disaster it's the folks that don't have much that give the most. The rich stay that way, because they all think they don't have enough money, and therefore hang on to it for dear life.

Today's Parade magazine had a cover article on the election, and this was a side feature that I thought was pretty good food for thought:

Illustration by Yarek Waszul

Fixing Government
GOP strategist Mark McKinnon
• Pass “No Budget, No Pay” legislation that would dock legislators every day they fail to pass a budget on time.
• Require an up or down vote on presidential appointments within 90 days or the nominee is confirmed by default.
• End the use of filibusters to prevent a bill from reaching the Senate floor for debate.
• Allow members the ability, if they have a majority, to anonymously override a leader or committee chair’s refusal to bring a bill to the floor. The names would be made public after the bill passes.
• Make members come to work five days a week in session. Sync House and Senate schedules, with three weeks in D.C., one week at home.
• Introduce a “Question Time” for the president; on a rotating basis, the House and Senate would host televised sessions. And schedule monthly news conferences for the president.
• Have the comptroller general present an annual televised fiscal report to a joint session of Congress.
• Allow no pledges but the Oath of Office.
• Introduce monthly bipartisan gatherings, bipartisan seating, and a bipartisan leadership committee.
• Expand presidential power to reorganize or eliminate redundant parts of the federal government.

Mark McKinnon is a co-founder of No Labels, a movement dedicated to ending partisan gridlock.
http://www.parade.com/news/

SNL - Saturday November 3rd

Current Cartoon Favorites

I've been meaning to post some of my favorite political cartoons that have come out recently.

Sherman's Lagoon, May 28, 2012

I love Sherman's Lagoon, and I thought they pulled this one off well.

I read all of the my cartoons online now that I only buy the newspaper on Sundays. Two of these cartoonists are on the Go Comics website. The website has quite a few cartoons and you can log in and register and save your favorites.

I read a brief bit on The Huffington Post this afternoon that Donald Trump has proclaimed himself to be Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential Pick. His ego will never cease to amaze and amuse me.
Here it is:

'Usually known for his eloquence and reserve, Donald Trump bombastically touted himself as Mitt Romney's vice president. Assuredly, he feels that if the "Seinfeld" chick can get elected in that HBO documentary, anyone can.'

The Jon Stewart Show

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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In a previous post I was referring to some comments by Rick Santorum that scared the crap out of me. The first clip contains those comments, and Jon Stewart dives in and exposes the insanity. But don't worry, Mitt Romney gets to show who he is at heart too. (The second clip is a continuation of the first).

Mitt Romney strangely referred to himself as 'severely' conservative; and I think Rick Santorum is 'scary' conservative. My concern is not that both of them are men of strong faith, but that they only really care about people of the same faith as themselves. They aren't concerned about humanity in general. Along with Newt Gingrich, they have basically demonized anyone that isn't conservative, and then somehow expect that everyone they've insulted along the way is going to vote for them in the general election. They are all trying to 'out-conservative' each other, clamoring to appeal to Republican voters as if that is the only group that will be voting in November. I guess they are counting on independent voters to not be paying attention.
There have been some outrageous comments from everyone but Ron Paul for the most part. And either they will stand by them 100%, or they will backtrack in damage control mode. But the reality is that the first thing that comes out of their mouth is really how they think, and that's the scary part.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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